BSSC welcomed the remarkable Abdi Aden yesterday to share his remarkable story of survival, and resilience, despite incredible obstacles.
Google Books give a brief account of Abdi’s life recorded in Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man, by Abdi Aden and Robert Hillman.
Abdi’s world fell apart when he was only fifteen and Somalia’s vicious civil war hit Mogadishu. Unable to find his family and effectively an orphan, he fled with some sixty others, heading to Kenya. Only five survived … eventually Abdi made his way – alone, with no money in his pockets – to Romania, then to Germany … and was just seventeen years old when he arrived in Melbourne. He had no English, no family or friends, no money, no home. Yet, against the odds, he not only survived, he thrived. Abdi went on to complete secondary education and later university. He … is constantly thankful for his life and what he has.
Acknowledgement of source: google.books.com.au
Abdi has now been in Australia for more than 25 years and in his role as a youth worker, he first began to notice how powerfully young people responded to hearing a real story. The shocking lessons of his young life morphed into opportunities for him to reach out and support people from many different backgrounds.
“I never thought my life story could make a difference to someone else,” Abdi says. “Yet just earlier this week a student said to me, ‘You’ve made me change the way I look at the world’.”
Abdi discovered Australians, like Somalians, appreciate the use of humour, and young people everywhere do not like being talked down to or judged.
He has come to believe the constant striving for success can leave people forgetting to focus on doing the right thing in the present.
“That is the most important focus,” he says. “Don’t aim for success—aim to do the right thing today and tomorrow.”
If you missed the wonderful opportunity to meet with Abdi yesterday, his book makes inspiring and compelling reading.
