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| Hassan Farah opened HEAL-International Inc. to help immigrants get acclimated |
and Ken Obstarczyk
Bengal News reporters
Rewind your memory back to the fall of 2001. It’s been 10 days since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Hassan Farah, 13, and his family have just arrived in Buffalo.
Civil war broke out in Farah’s birthplace, Somalia, in 1990 and after living in the war-torn city of Mogadishu, he and his family fled Somalia for Kenya then Uganda before deciding enough was enough.
Now, nine years later, Farah, 24, has something special on the West Side at 233 West Ferry St.
HEAL-International Inc., which stands for Helping Everyone Achieve Livelihood, was founded by Farah in September of 2007. It is a center that helps refugees from all over the world with education, employment and social services.
HEAL’s basic functions are to help refugees get accustomed to their surroundings and to teach them to become viable members of the community. It has five divisions it focuses on accomplishing Women’s Empowerment, Youth Services, Education and Training, Community Services and Conflict Resolution.
HEAL also offers a Summer Enrichment Program in which students, from the ages of 14-21 years old, are taught skills in leadership, communication, Finance, law enforcement and Buffalo’s history.
Students attend workshops and complete community service, receiving pay for their work. Compensation is possible because HEAL received a grant from City Hall.
The fact that Farah and his family were fortunate enough to come to America and given the chance to succeed was a big part of his motivation for starting HEAL, he said.
“The opportunity to give back,” Farah said. “There were so many people who helped us get to where we are today, it is only fair that we pay them back by continuing to help others.”
It seems like a simple story about refugees helping refugees, but it goes much farther than that.
Farah’s father, Awil Karshe, and his mother, Hawa Hersi, always stressed the importance of education to their children.
“We had the parents to put us in place and say, listen, this is it, you guys are the future and you have to do it,” said Farah.
Farah stayed true to his parent’s advice, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University at Buffalo in economics and international studies. He was also very active in student government and his strong educational foundation allowed him to start a refugee center at just 22 years old he said.
Hassan Farah’s sister, Fadumo, a junior bio-chemistry major at Buffalo State College, volunteers at HEAL filling out welfare forms, providing job opportunities and playing a major role in the Summer Enrichment Program.
Farah said two specific factors led to the creation of HEAL.
“It was because for one, the need was there, and for two, I was developing the leadership skills and the social skills to do the work,” said Farah.
Students that participated in the Summer Enrichment Program said it was a great experience and helped them get a better understanding of life in the U.S.
Mariam Abdo, a junior bio-chemistry major at Buffalo State, said the program really helped her with communication skills and she was “really thankful for them.”
Faduma Muhammad, a freshman at Erie Community College taking up general studies, came to Buffalo in 2007 from Syria. She said it was great working for the summer program because it was a great opportunity helping people and cleaning up streets on the West Side, which is now a place she calls home.
Besides expanding its workforce, which is a non-paid staff consisting of 11 officers and countless volunteers, HEAL hopes a bigger, better facility will improve operations, Hassan Farah said.
The new building in the works is located right across the street from their current office at 240-244 West Ferry St.
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| Farah surveys the potential new office for HEAL |
“The project started in early July and for the past three months, we’ve been working on interior demolitions,” said Hassan Farah.
Hassan Farah hopes the new building will be open soon and for that to happen, he knows money still needs to be raised.
“Besides our banquet at the end of the year, we will continue working with the city of Buffalo for funding,” said Hassan Farah.
Edited by Heidi Friend and Kristine Starkey
Unless you’re aided by HEAL, volunteer at HEAL or are part of a sister organization HEAL works with, you’ll never meet Hassan Farah. He is an extraordinary young man and is the face behind the organization that helps refugees on the West Side and beyond.
ReplyDeleteFarah’s story of escaping his war-torn homeland, and coming to America just 10 days after the Sept. 11 attacks, is a tale of adversity most will never understand, but to me the fact that he’s seized the opportunity he’s been given, is equally impressive.
Farah attended the University at Buffalo, majoring in both economics and international studies with a minor in political science. He served as student government president, drafted legislations as part of the student assembly and, of course, starting HEAL after graduation in 2008. I can’t wait to see what else he accomplishes down the road. --Mike Gambini
One of the more interesting concepts I took away from my interview with Hassan Farah was the importance of education.
ReplyDeleteWhen Hassan had talked about how he left a civil war in Somalia to eventually end up living in Uganda, he stressed the importance of starting school as soon as he arrived in Uganda, because he would be able to learn things that other refugees who were still in Somalia could not.
Hassan was learning the alphabet among other things that helped him further his education in the U.S. His refugee center, HEAL, strives to help refugees with their education so they are able to get better accustomed to their surroundings.
Hassan’s parents always preached that education is key because his generation is the future. - Ken Obstarczyk