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VALLEY PROFILES
Thursday, March 26, 2020
A former teacher in his home country, Abdulkadir finds new ways to serve in St. Peter By CARSON HUGHES chughes@lesueurcountynews.com There were a lot of things in his life that Mohamed Abdulkadir had never planned for. He hadn’t planned to be an educator in his home country of Somalia or to later flee that country in the wake of the Civil War. While today he stands in an unexpected place, the founder of the St. Peter Islamic Center stands tall as pillar of and mentor to the Somali-American community. When he’s not making connections between refugees and employers through his job at Managed Resource Connections, Inc., Abdulkadir is spending his nights tutoring the Somali-American children of St. Peter at the Islamic Center’s after school program, Hikmah, which means “Wisdom.” Education is a passion of Abdulkadir’s, but as a younger man, he wouldn’t have imagined himself spending time outside of work to teach children English language skills and assist them with their homework. When he was fresh out of high school, Abdulkadir recalled that he had other interests, but Somalia’s Board of Education ultimately placed graduates on career tracks.
Mohamed Abdulkadir serves the Somali-American community as an educator and a leader whether its connecting refugees and employers through the MRCI, bolstering a center of worship through the St. Peter Islamic Center or teaching children through the Hikmah after-school program. (Carson Hughes/Le Sueur County News) building a successful life in the area. That all came to a halt when the Somali Civil War broke out. The conflict between the government and rebel groups led to the collapse of the Somali government in 1991 and hundreds of thousands of casualties in the years since. More than 1 million Somalis have been displaced from the region, including Abdulkadir who fled with his family from the country in 1991.
Mohamed Abdulkadir assists a student with her homework at the Hikmah after school program. (Carson Hughes/Le Sueur County News)
with the culture, so it is very difficult couldn’t pay them anything without for them to place themselves.” a job. Now he has money that he can send back to his family.” After moving to Minnesota, Abdulkadir took up a position as Abdulkadir added that these services an interpreter, consultant and job were important for companies, as coach with Managed Resource Con- well, because the cultural trainnections, Inc., of Mankato, to help ing allows companies to tap into a Though being an educator hadn’t refugees and employers overcome workforce that is ready and willing “My life was shaken,” said Abdulkabeen his decision, it wasn’t long language barriers while assisting to commit to a job. dir. “I had a good job. I had been before Abdulkadir would prove with job and housing searches. These successful in the job. In Somalia, he married at that time. I thought that resources are crucial for refugees, Beyond his work, Abdulkadir deditaught math and chemistry to high I had everything that a young man said Abdulkadir. cates much of his time serving the “Luckily, in Georgia, there was a dreamed. I had a house. I had a car. school and middle school students Somali-American Community. In group of people that came before at a public boarding school between So I thought I had everything, but “I remember one man from the 2017, Abdulkadir opened a mosque, me, which made it easier to find a when the Civil War broke out, everythe city of Afgoi, the capital of Minneapolis area who was desperate the St. Peter Islamic Center, after job, but that was not enough,” said thing that you had just disappeared. Mogadishu. Math and chemistry opening a mosque in Mankato of Abdulkadir. “I was lucky that I could to find a job,” said Abdulkadir. “So weren’t very popular classes among The only thing you think about is the same name. The building stands speak good English. Everything I found him a job, and every other your life.” the school’s 2,000 students and as a place of worship, a center for I’ve seen here is that when people week, he will come up to me and the food was terrible, according to don’t have a formal education, they say, ‘Thank you very much.’ He has the Muslim community and a focal Abdulkadir, but he was on his way to Abdulkadir and his family were point of education and English lanstruggle with language, they struggle a family he left back home, and he stationed in a refugee camp, until family members with ties to the United States helped him immigrate stateside in 1994. But when Abdulkadir arrived in Georgia, he arrived alone. He would remain separated from his family for the next seven years. There were many difficult stretches, but Abdulkadir considers himself lucky, because he had an education and resources that other refugees lacked.
guage learning for Somali-American students through the center’s afterschool program Hikmah. He also ran for the St. Peter School Board in 2019, vying to be the only non-white member of the board. He finished fifth in the voting among 10 candidates, though, one spot short of making it on. Still, he offered a different perspective during the forums and campaigning ahead of the election. “I really admire Mohamed for all his accomplishments,” said Nancy Kremer, who works with
NEW WAYS
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