 You know, I wanna, I wanna tell you guys out there, like, try and give Somali a chance. You know what? Coming to this country, a lot of people told me so many things. Even when I arrived the very first day, they refused to allow me to enter. It took me like nine good hours at the airport, but I was still, I mean, positive to come to the country. Just to come and see what the entire media is talking about is so true. I'm not here to tell you that Somali is the safest country in the world. If I should tell you that, which means I'll be lying to you, but I'm telling you that Somali is just like any other country in Africa that I've ever visited. I mean, coming in here, I see similarities between Mogadishu and Dakar of Senegal. I mean, maybe some part of Ghana looks like this, so my brothers and sisters, give Somali a chance. Go live your life, come and explore. And you know what? What I'm gonna tell you, people said it. Welcome to the easternmost part of Africa, Somalia. The country Somalia has been through a lot and it's currently famous for so many wrong reasons. Can I ask you a question? But make sure you reply me in the comment section. What did you know about Somalia before watching this video? To be honest with you all, I was also a victim because I was super scared of coming to Somalia. I believe that I took the risk of coming to this country. But when I learned that, I learned something new and I just have to share with you all. Touching down with Mogadishu is super crazy, man. It felt like we were touching down inside an Indian Ocean, man. I'm like, can we see the land already? Behind me is the Mesjid Ka Espehasega, or the Islamic Solidarity Mosque. This mosque was built in 1987 by the Hammer Company with the support of the Saudi King. It was temporarily closed back in 1990. Of course, as you all know in the history, there was civil war. But then it was reopened back in 2006 and it's considered one of the most important mosques. The reason is, it's actually one of the largest, not one of the largest of the Islamic mosque in the Hornab Africa. Let's continue with more history. Who put this man? It looks like a legend. This man, he's representing the common people. So, you see he's holding the rock and he's making one step forward as you're about to throw a rock. Okay. So, the name is Daghah Tur. Daghah is a rock. Tur is throw. Throw a rock. It's basically the literal meaning. So, what it represents is when we were trying to get rid of the communists, the British and the Italians, basically saying, get out of our country. Get out of our country. We are the people. We rule our country. We're going to defend our country. They didn't have guns. They didn't have anything to use against the communists. Exactly. They were using rocks. So, the symbol of this man is the symbol of the people throwing the rock. Wow. We have to start somewhere. Wow. I mean, you're a village boy. If you defend yourself and you have nothing, you've got to start with this man. I'll start with the slippers. What does this monument represent? So, Maya, welcome back again. Today, we are here at the SYL Monuments. As you can see, these are the 13 youth that came together to form a political party. It was the first youth political party, actually. That was, like, it's built the road for independence for the whole country of Somalia. So, basically, yes, 13 youth, sorry, they came together. They came together to bring the whole country together and form an independent independence. Wow. So, yes, so it has a significant spiritual and inspiration for many youth in Somalia. I don't think just in Somalia, but the entire continent, because I've been telling you guys that Africa is the future because the youth of Africa needs to take up the mandate to fight for the freedom of our continent. Absolutely. And I'm so glad that I came here, man. Yeah, man. Wow. Yeah, so that's why we built this to just come and, you know, like, get inspired by them, like, why they, like, they started the whole initiative. And we need to bring back the, like, the whole achievement that they have fought for. So that's the year 1943, right? Yes. That's when they formed that political party. But now, now we have this beautiful country because such are these amazing men. That's beautiful. So this is how a taco monument is a very important monument to the Somali people. As you can see, it's the women. She's not only representing women, she's representing the Somali independence. As you can see, there's a spirit going through her heart. She was killed in the middle of the action, like in the middle of protest. That tells you this country comes from a very far place. People shed blood to get the country where it is. The taco, not only was she a woman, she was a mother and she was a representative of the Somali country. And as you can see, the light she's holding, that's the hope that we still have today. Mogadishu is a beautiful and big city. We have beautiful beaches, food, incredible culture. And we love to stay here every single time. Wadamayo, welcome home, welcome home. We really love you. And we always love to watch beautiful videos that you are promoting the beautiful Africa. We love. So I just bump into one of the most famous musicians here in Somalia. And my brother, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Tell me something about your country. Yeah, I'm Somali singer. My name's there. So my welcome to Mogadishu. Wahama Center. Yeah, we are beautiful people and amazing. Okay. So we love bees. Welcome to Berserkalatu here. Thank you. And here. Thank you man. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. The country Somalia got one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Reading about the longest coastal line in Africa. And I never knew where they would come. I would actually be walking along the longest coastal line in Africa. I mean, this is what makes me happy to go out there and go live my life. I am currently in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Somalia? Yo. So from this perspective, what do you see in the buildings? I mean, I've been here less than 24 hours. And what I can say, like Mogadishu is the city of contrast. Because you see a beautiful building right there. And you see another building that was deteriorated during the war. So literally, I feel like things are getting better, you know. So with time, definitely when you come to Mogadishu, you will see Mogadishu. This way. Because everything is changing. Because you can't see it for yourself, right? Because this was affected during the civil war. Right? The building behind is beautiful, you know. So it's happening, man. It's lit. Before the civil war, Mogadishu was the white pearl of the Indian Ocean. But the war destroyed everything. You ever have an idea of the Battle of Mogadishu? Or the famous movie Black Hawk Down? Where we are right now, this is the exact location where the Black Hawk Down was shot down right here. So yeah, Black Hawk Down is happening here. And you know, it's not a good moment, but it's good to be here. Believe me or not, the spirit of the phrase Never Give Up exists inside the people of Somalia. Because despite the years of struggles and challenges, the people never gave up on this beautiful country. Mogadishu is rising. You know, one thing that I've noticed here in Mogadishu that makes me so happy is that when I got to Mogadishu, I found out that businesses in this country are actually owned by the people of Somalia, which makes it more interesting. So if you're a tourist coming to Mogadishu or coming to Somalia, know that as an African, whatever money that is spent in here goes into the pocket of the people of Somalia. Like, just take a look at the apartment right there. I would love to do a video on this, but I don't really have enough time. But this shows that the Maya would definitely come back again in the next three months to show you what Somalis are doing in their own country. I always want to show you proofs, you know. I don't like talking about certain things while I know that it doesn't exist. Look right there. That building is owned by Somali. This one right there is owned by Somali. This one right here that you're seeing is owned by Somali. The one over there is owned by Somali. So you know what? You just have to get rid of what you think about this beautiful country and give this beautiful country a chance. Welcome home. Welcome to Mogadishu. Welcome to the beautiful Somali. In the past six years, we have witnessed the most booming buildings and constructions. People from the diaspora have been coming back to the country, taking part in investment and rebuilding and making businesses. We're going to meet many of them in the town. They open coffee shops. They open massive restaurants and hotels like from one star to five star hotels. It's really amazing. It's incredible. Especially during the security fiasco in the country, imagine if we have a long-term peace without any of these crazy, hustling explosions and all that and the insecurity and political crisis that we have. If we have a long-term peace and the people decide to agree and agree to live in peace, imagine what could have Mogadishu become. Back in the days, we used to call Mogadishu the pearl of Africa, by the way. That's the nickname of Mogadishu back in the days. So we want to get it back again and make it the pearl of the whole Africa and the pearl of the whole region. So welcome back to Mogadishu. I was so excited to see more Somali diaspora returning back to make Somalia home again. Which year did you move to Somalia? Which year? 2014. Do you regret moving back in here? I don't. I don't. You can. You can. Do you have a message for other Somalis living in the diaspora? If you have a message for the world, that message be. Be like you and be a free bird and travel and see it, right? You got to see it to believe it. Absolutely. I just met this guy right here. My name is Mohammed. Yeah, we have seen you on YouTube before. I was watching you last night, actually. Oh, really? Yeah, I was watching you last night. I'm meeting you right here. I was thinking, what are you doing here? Like, am I dreaming or something? Come on, like... Are you from Somalia? I mean, I love Somalia. I'm so glad that I came, man. What are you going to tell people out there who has nothing, no idea about Somalia? Come back to the country, man. This is the motherland. Everyone come back. That's a message for Somalis? Yeah, everyone. Everyone needs to come back home. Why do they have to come back home? It's the motherland. It's the motherland. Nothing is better than home. Oh, no. Born in Somalia, but grew up in England. And why did you come back? We got married, actually. You got married to have to come back? We got married, yeah. Congratulations, man. You look like someone that I know, man. How are you doing? We look good. You look good. Yeah, you look like someone that I know, man. Are you from Somalia? No. Charlie! Charlie! How are you doing, man? I'm from Somali. Born and raised in Somali? Toronto. Why is it everyone lives in Toronto? No, not everyone. I'm from Italy, yeah. You see? No, man. You know what? I've got a lot of people out there who have no idea how Mogadishu looks like. I mean, the city Mogadishu. Do you have something to tell them? The city, you only hear bad, but once you come here, you know what I'm going to ask you? I'm going to flip it. I mean, I feel like it's just like any other city in Africa. Just like any other city? No, you didn't offensive that. I feel offensive right now. How? I mean, it looks basically the same everywhere. It does, it does. You're right about that. They like lights in Africa. They like bright lights. That red, green, blue. Show them right there. Show them that little ice cream shop right there. I'm not going to buy ice cream though. I'm going to take you out to a juice spot. We're going to support small businesses. I'm going to take you out to a juice spot to get an avocado date drink. Fantastic. I would love to check that out. Alright. Thank you. I feel all you get is the one of real estate. Oh, really? Because I'm an architect, you know? We're going to drop you like some nice spot. Definitely. And then you're going to tell me after the dishes like the other city. I love it. Were you born and raised in Mogadishu? No, in Kuwait for a portion of my life. And eventually I decided to move to Somalia. Is everything okay with you? Everything is fine. Of all the places, why would you move to Mogadishu? Long-term dream. I just came several times. So I came in 2013 for the first time. And then I followed it up with another kid from 2016. And it just became like an obsession. I needed to be here. So when I came in 2017, I was here for like three months. I decided to volunteer at a hospital. And then I decided, you know what? I'm happy here. Why do I need to be in the West? I went back, packed my bags and I moved here. Do you regret moving back to Mogadishu? No. And... Making money in Mogadishu. Do you think there are opportunities here in Mogadishu? Of course. There's so much opportunities. It's like for Thailand, for any sort of idea that you have. You want to open a business, there's so much things you can do. There's so much... There's so much open areas. You want to open... I just saw recently, a girl opened a flower shop. And I was like, amazing. We need flowers. I want flowers, you know? So there's so much opportunities here. I think it's... a bit scary in the beginning. But once you're here for a little bit, you realize it's actually not so scary. If you have a message to your brothers and sisters living in the Diaspora, who has given up on Mogadishu Somalia, what are you going to tell them? I would say, before they... like, just stick to that idea, they should give it a chance. Like, I'm not going to say pack your bags and move. I would say, come visit, sometimes here, not two weeks. You need to be here at least a month, two months, and then maybe you'll actually enjoy it. And I've met a lot of people that after being here for a while, did decide, you know what, I could live here. I'm going to move here. So just give it a chance. Don't believe what you see on the media. Tell us something that we don't know about Mogadishu Somalia. Something that Mogadishu Somalia is actually safer at night. Surprisingly, people, they think that, you know, night time is a dangerous time to go out. But here, when it's 9 o'clock, you can say, you know what, now I'm not afraid, I could go outside. There's not going to be any bombings, you know? So that's something interesting. Interesting. How is life in business here in Mogadishu? It's not very easy, it's difficult. But when you understand how to run here, actually this culture. When you understand, you can easily run. So... So is it worth it to invest in Mogadishu? It's more than any other country. Especially in the western because this is a virgin country. You can invest small money with big businesses. If you have a mentality to do your own business and expand our business, you can do a really good job here. I want to ask this question. I think I forgot. What are the kind of business opportunities that you see around that you think people can invest their money into? I think you'd be better at answering that. He's really into businesses. You know, number one is poverty. Land and other things. And the other opportunities that are very available here are small businesses. Even coffee shops. We need more coffee shops. We need to open more restaurants. We need to open more local brands. And then we can take that brand to the world or maybe Africa. So I think there's a lot of business. I want to say thank you so much for talking to me.