What was happening in your country at that time?

There was a revolution in our country from 1969 to 1990s when the civil war started. At that time there was the nationalization of our whole country because of the revolution. The military took over our Somalia and we were ruled by a military government. I was in Grade 5 or 6 when this all started. My family were not affected so much because they were on the farm. The target was usually political figures or those who had wealth enough to challenge the government. Otherwise, the general population was not targeted.

The revolution started in October 1969. What happened was that the military brought in a lot of opportunities for the people - jobs, education, sports, and things like that. Before that, people did not have as many opportunities. When the military came it reinvigorated the country. It was like a new era. For the people who were in power before the revolution, the parliamentarians and so on, it was an oppressive government but for the general population and the common people it was reinvigorating- taking ownership of the country.

When did you leave your country to come to Canada?

That was in 1989. I think it was June 7^th 1989 when I left Somalia. At this time, I was married to Hodan, my wife and we had 3 daughters. I got the basketball coaching clinic permit to go to Italy for 2 weeks. I was supposed to come back to Somalia. While we were in Italy, the civil war started getting very serious.

They started killing high ranking officials in the country- a major general, a captain, people were being killed because of their position within the government. People started protesting against the government and there were a lot of demonstrations. The military started shooting and killing people. I got a call from my wife back home- she said it’s getting very serious now, and people are revolting against the government and people were being killed. There was a revolution against the military government and there was a civil war at the same time. My wife said to me that I better not come back to our country because it was getting too dangerous and it was getting worse.

I went to Rome, Italy for a basketball coaching clinic and then the civil war started and I couldn’t go back. And in August, I realized I couldn’t go home.

I had been thinking about coming to either the United States, Australia or Canada as a refugee. I had a lot of my friends from the College of Education who were living in Italy at that time. They had a contact with the Christian Brothers - De La Salle, they had a refugee hostel at Keele and Lawrence. I got the name and address of Brother George Morgan, who died about two or three years ago, also Patricia Phalen and Sister Mary Jo Leddy. She’s a professor at University of Toronto. She was one of the first persons who welcomed me at the hostel. I went to the United Nations in Rome and applied to be a refugee to come to Canada. It was very hard to do that- it meant I had to leave my family.

Shukri was only about 3 years old. I used to send some money to them when I could. Things were getting very bad and then they had to move from the capital city Kisimayo and they bought tickets for the ferry from Kisimayo to Kenya, Mombasa - my wife and three daughters. At this time I was living in Rome and Florence and I was working in an Autodrome, where they had Formula One racing cars. I had already sent my application to the UN for refugee status. It took about a year for everything to be processed through immigration. I was living in Florence and went back to Rome for the processing.

I came right to Toronto from Rome in August 6^th 1991. Brother George Morgan and Patricia Phalen picked me up at Pearson Airport. And we had a car accident right at the airport, one block away. I had some injuries to my back, my neck. It was quite serious. I stayed near the Romero House at Keele and Bloor. At the time my wife and 3 kids were living in Nairobi, Kenya.

What were some of your first impressions when you came to Canada?

I had a very warm welcome- they were so kind to me. They gave me a place to stay and helped me to get a job. The first job I had was a kitchen cabinet place. Within a week of coming in, I had a job at Canartic Drive, I took the TTC to Finch and Keele- it was very far.

Abdi and his children on Cather Crescent

I had never come to Lawrence Heights before. I was with a good friend of mine, Said - he showed me around the neighbourhood so I could have a look before we moved in. We looked at the mall- Lawrence Square, the schools and the two subway stations and the location was very good for us. So we came to Cather Crescent.

When we moved to Lawrence Heights in 1994, there were only 3 Somali families living here at that time. There was Sukri Duale’s family, Dunia and another family.

How did you find each other?

Someone saw another person and we connected. The 3 Somali families came together and we had tea at my house and we had a discussion about the community. We all felt it was a very good place to live. On one side, we were concerned about safety issues, but at the same time it was very quiet here. People were living their lives here. The community really welcomed us. My children started at Flemington Public School. At the time I was still working at Visualizer Fixture Company.

I knew a lot of people from the Somali community here. A friend of mine, his name is Abdirashid Warsame- he knew me back home as a basketball coach and in 1993 he connected me with the City Parks & Recreation city-wide basketball league and I started coaching a team in that league. It was led by Ken Jeffers. The Somali Canadian Sport and Arts Centre were based at Swansea Community Centre- Sister Mary Jo Leddy helped us with that space there.


“..One day Abdi phoned me, great excitement in his voice. “I have a dream. We want to come over and tell you about it”. That evening, four Somali gentlemen appeared at the door with a decorated cake. “We are celebrating the birth of the Somali-Canadian Sports & Arts Centre”

Sister Mary-Jo Leddy- “Dreamers” in At the Border Called Hope- Where Refugees are Neighbours, Harper Collins Publishing, 1997




Over the years, you have had many leadership roles in Lawrence Heights and beyond. Can you tell me about that?

I was always a community activist, advocating for youth, especially within the Somali community. Mr. Warsame and I formed 3 teams for youth to play basketball- 10-12, -12-14 and then 15-17. The teams played in the Parks & Recreation city wide league. We used to practice at Swansea Community Centre and at Bishop Romero High School at Bloor & Dundas.

When moved to Lawrence Heights and my children transferred to Flemington Public School, I became Chair of the Parent Council. We were the first Somali people to go to the Lawrence Heights Community Centre. I went to the Centre and asked Helen for space to run the basketball program. Helen welcomed us into the community and gave us space for our programs. We started working with the youth then, mentoring and leadership. They came from all over the city, every Sunday. That`s how we started (laughs) It was a continuous journey.

So that’s how I came to be involved with the Community Centre, and I’ve been there ever since.

I’ve been an advocate for the community as well. When it comes to safety issues and concerns, I’m always involved in the community, meetings and that kind of things. I’m always encouraging people to get involved in civic life, encouraging people to vote. Politically, within the community and city that you live, it’s always important to vote- for whoever you like- it’s just important to have your voice. When I came here, a lot of people weren’t voting and they weren’t involved in the community. We have a lot of children in our community and we want them to have a good future. So it’s important we elect people who will represent our community and work with agencies for the programs we need. I was working day time at the Visualizer Fixture Company and during the evening I was talking to people in the community, about education, employment opportunities, and encouraging them to get involved in the life of our community. I encouraged the new residents in the community, especially from the East African communities to get involved in their children’s schools. I saw there was a big gap in people being involved in their children’s schools, especially the older children in high school. Chris Spence and also David DeBelle, Principals at Lawrence Heights Middle Schools- both great supports.

I was also a community animator with Toronto Community Housing for the revitalization of Lawrence Heights. I wanted to research what the plans were for our community and dispel the rumours. When I heard about revitalization, I decided to get involved because I wanted to know was going to happen with our community, how it would impact our community, what were some of the benefits that could come to our community, and what were some of the disadvantages of revitalization. I think it’s a great idea to reduce stigmatization and segregation of our community.

Abdi and Councillor Josh Colle, photo: Taejon Cupid

I would love to see people participate in the revitalization process, especially when it comes to job opportunities, for youth in particular. In the long run, eventually buying a home. This is my dream. We also need to constantly communicate and make efforts include people in the process - engage with the community.