The Westgate Attack – 8 years on

Truth be said, I have always had mixed feelings about whether to talk about the Westgate Attack or not. I still do. I often meet people who think that, by now you should have gotten over it, it happens all the time, at least you survived or why keep dwelling in the past? Inasmuch as such responses are irritating, sadly they don’t surprise me. Atrocities of this nature are now commonplace, world over. Therefore conversations around such events, especially those that happened in the past, do not carry premium airtime anymore. It is normal.

But the question that begs is; is it normal to be shot at in our homes, malls, hotel, markets, etc, maiming and killing with no regard to life? No, it’s not. It is abnormal! The numbing frequency of attacks around us should cause us to be indignant and raise our voices even louder. We should not be silenced.

I have witnessed so many attacks in Somalia in which so many have lost their lives, got injured and even lost their properties. Sadly, the magnitude of these events has the power to silence people. “It is just too much” I often thought. Too much to deal with, too much to process…it’s better not to think about and remain silent. Who I am anyway to talk?

Hence my inner conflict to resist conversations around Westgate. But as I mull over it, one singular experience in the hands of terrorists is fodder enough to keep reliving the horrors and impact of that fateful day. Thus, as a survivor of the Westgate Attack and who carries painful memories to date, commemorating this day serves me an avenue of self- reflection and healing. And I will not be silenced even by my own internal resistances! 

So to every survivor of any form of human atrocity, whether fully healed or partially healed, we must raise our voices towards the quest for a peaceful and tolerant society, both now and for the generations to come.