Somali Bantu community to open new after school center

Saturday, June 06, 2015

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Scores of Somali Bantu students lined the walls of empty rooms in East Utica, books under each of their noses.

Soon, they’d be led to an outdoor classroom to make room for another group of students — nearly 500 in total — who had just finished school and would continue learning at the Mohawk Valley Somali Bantu Community Center.

“We are a people really in need here,” said Mowlid Hussein, secretary of the Mohawk Valley Somali-Bantu Community Association. “We try to help each other, but we’re still struggling.”

The Somali-Bantu community’s students have quickly outgrown their after school center at 615 Elizabeth St., where they take English classes, do homework, are tutored and stay out of trouble.
But soon, they’ll have more than enough space.

Hussein says the city gave the association a deal on a property at 313-315 Nichols St. Nobody from the Urban Renewal Agency returned request for comment.

According to meeting minutes, the property was purchased for $1,000, and “the bidder plans to renovate for use as an after school program for the Somali community.”

The building is in poor condition, Hussein said, and he hopes the community will come together to help get it ready for students. He said the association also is asking for donations — whether monetary or in the form of school supplies.

Halima Mnondwa, 19, graduated from Thomas R. Proctor High School last year. Still, she visits the center, learning math, and helping younger students learn the alphabet and how to count.

“We come here and they ask us what we learned in school, what we need help with,” Mnondwa said, as her younger sister sat on her lap tracing letters. “It’s really helpful.

In 2014, meeting minutes show the Urban Renewal Agency received an offer of $5,000 from Khadija Muday and Halimm a Mudey to convert the property into a Mosque contingent on zoning approval. That plan was not followed through.

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