Naima Said Salah,
Reporter
Naima Said Salah’s journey into journalism was quite a struggle. Her first challenge came from her family: “My family were not at all happy for me to become a journalist. They said it ran against our culture and that women should not work in male-dominated environments.”
Another problem was money. After completing secondary school in Hargeisa, Naima could not afford to go to university. She managed to find a free journalism course and obtained a diploma before doing a two-year unpaid internship with Bulsho TV. She then worked for a number of media houses in different parts of Somalia, including Garowe, Bossasso and Mogadishu. Her financial problems did not stop there as she was often paid irregularly or not at all.
Naima also faced the challenge of clannism, especially when she worked in places where her clan was considered the enemy. She says her colleagues believed her clan identity meant she would not be able to be neutral. She says clan discrimination led to her being bullied, made to do extra work and not being paid her salary.
Naima is especially interested in reporting on the vulnerable in society and covering issues usually considered untouchable in the Somali media. She tells human stories, including that of an old man who has lived for years with HIV/AIDS. Another story focused on a grandmother whose mentally ill daughter ran away from home after it was destroyed by floods. She has never been seen again, leaving the old woman to care for her grandchildren alone.
“I believe Bilan will be a game-changer for all women in Somalia and for me personally,” says Naima. “I hope it will give us the freedom and safety to do a different kind of journalism beyond Somalia’s usual media diet of male- dominated politics and conflict.”