Sharifo Adbulah

Sharifo Adbulah

We are here today to honor Mrs. Sharifo Abdulah. We are grateful that Mrs. Abdulah visited our class and shared her inspiring life story with us. We learned so much about working hard, taking care of our families and being a strong and caring person. She especially taught us about the importance of mothers and how important it is to appreciate your Mom. Mrs. Abdulah works here at Eagle Heights and Oak Point. She helps keep the playground safe for everyone at recess and she helps keep the lunchroom a nice place to eat for everyone.

Mrs. Abdulah’s Mom died when she was very young. She was only four years old when her Mom died. She was living in Somalia at the time, and although her sister and other relatives were there to help take care of her, she missed her Mom very much. She was born in Mogadishu the capital of Somalia. She grew up in the big city and went to school. She has six brothers and five sisters – a really big family. Her father died in the war when she was 17.

She was 17 when she left Somalia and moved to Saudi Arabia. After living for a few years in Saudi Arabia her husband decided to re-locate the family to the United States. After applying for and receiving a visa they came to live in Chicago. After being in Chicago for a few years they decided to come to Minnesota where there was a larger Somali community. Her brothers and sisters live all over the world in Oregon, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Oregon and Saudi Arabia.

Mrs. Abdulah has a husband and 4 daughters. She loves her children and she feels very grateful to be a Mom. Her oldest daughter is in fifth grade at Prairie View and her youngest daughter is in preschool. Mrs. Abdulah shared that in Somalia it is the Mom’s responsibility to take care of all of her children until they are adults. When the children are adults it is their responsibility to take care of their Mom. She noticed that in America it is a little different. In American when children become adults they are supposed to be independent. Then the parents take care of themselves and the children take care of themselves. That is a big difference.

Mrs. Abdulah said that if she could have one wish come true - she would wish that everyone in the world lived in a safe place. She wished that we didn’t have any more wars and everyone treated everyone else with respect. She shared that the war in Somalia has been very painful for many people. She hopes to visit Somalia someday because she misses her country. She hopes that things can be better for everyone who still lives in Somalia.

Mrs. Abdulah shared that she wants everyone to try their best in school. She said that we are very lucky to have the chance to go to school and that we should learn as much as we can so we can achieve our dreams. She said that everyone can achieve their dreams if they work hard in school and learn all the great things they are hoping to learn.

We are here today to honor Mrs. Sharifo Abdulah. We hope you like your song! We would like to thank Ms. Abdulah for coming into our class and sharing her life story with us. We would like to give you this rose and photograph as appreciation.