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By Sally PollakFree Press Staff Writer
Omar Hussein Mohamed, 37, plays guitar and piano. He's a self-taught musician who likes to write and play love songs.
One recent day in his Colchester home, Mohamed took out his acoustic guitar and electric piano, and sang songs in Somali. Three of his sons, including 1-year-old Sheikuna, formed an attentive audience.
Mohamed sang an original composition, whose lovely melody accompanied a Layla-like story about a man who needs to speak the truth to the woman he loves. The problem is, she might love someone else.
The singer explains to the woman that it's his responsibility to speak the truth of her love, though she may love someone else and not him. "We may come together again," Mohamed sang. "Let me just say the truth."
Mohamed plays with other Somali Bantu musicians who moved to Vermont from refugee camps in Kenya. Writing and playing music is a central piece of his life, one that he's carried from Somalia to Kenya to Vermont.
His music and that of other musicians in his community is the subject of a master's thesis by musicologist Simeon Chapin, 31, of Plainfield.
"The most interesting thing is that the music is still completely applicable to their lives here in the United States," Chapin said. The thesis, for Tufts University, is titled, "Music of the Somali Bantu in Vermont: Music, Identity and Refugees."
In the refugee camp, Mohamed was part of a performance group that used theater and music to pass information around the camp, Chapin said. The information ranged from basic messages like, This is where you go to get water; to more complicated information about female genital mutilation and AIDS awareness.
At a performance in Burlington, Mohamed sang a song about the importance of education and one about the Somali-Bantu people, Chapin said.
More traditional Somali music, featuring African drumming and percussion, is played here at weddings -- major community gatherings featuring dancing and drumming.
Simba, which means lion in Bantu-derived languages, is the name of a musical group that achieved prominence in Somalia. The group stayed together in Kenya, performing at important functions and playing for visiting dignitaries at the refugee camps, Chapin said.
Members of the group are spread out across the country in the United States, a consequence of refugee relocation. They live in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, Utah and Vermont, Chapin said.
"I think the fact that there is so much diversity in music in Vermont can go very unnoticed, very easily," said Chapin, a percussionist who grew up in central Vermont.
"It seemed like a very timely and very meaningful research project," he said. "Turning attention to my home state is kind of a matter of looking at myself -- and looking at my home -- and what it has become."
Contact Sally Pollak at [email protected] or 660-1859.
Song title: "Doolar" ("Dollar")
Language: Af Maxaa
Translation by: Omar Hussein Mohamed of Colchester
Performed by: Omar Hussein Mohamed, who sings and plays all the instruments
To listen, go to www.burlingtonfreepress.com:
Hadaan doolar badan iyo
dunidaba bar leeyahay
yartu igama durugteen
rag kalana madamacdeen
Dantuna ceeba malahee
dadkun baysku nacayee If I would have plenty of dollar or
half the world would be mine
she should not leave me alone
she should not love another person
If someone doesn't have money doesn't mean he is poor
but people hate each other Daqon maaha ninliita, diric maaha kii ladan
Maaha dahab iyo lacage kalgacaylku waadooq
Dantuna ceeba malahee
Dadkun baysku nacayee
Dumartaan ka caashaqay doolar iga raacdee
Madaayaa jacaylkoo dib ma uga haraa
Dumar iya Jacayl haba ila degtee
Dib ma uga hara A poor person is not foolish, and a rich person is not wise
The love is not to have money or gold, the love is to love each other
If someone doesn't have money doesn't mean he is poor
But people hate each other.
The only girl I loved left me because of dollar
Should I leave all love? Should I step back?
A woman and love
Should I step back
Song courtesy of Omar Hussein Mohamed and Simeon Chapin
SOURCE: Burlington Free Press, November 11, 2007