u/EastMuzzie

I (29F) have a wonderful 24 year old sister who is a devoted single mother to my nephew (turning 3 soon). She discovered last year after a couple of tests that he has delayed speech due to fluid buildup in both ears (I don’t remember the exact medical term) which has affected his hearing. This diagnosis hit her pretty hard and after trying different methods he actually had to have surgery this year to address this. Sadly she found out today from his GP that the surgery hasn't been as successful as hoped. The doctor suspects he’s still experiencing muffled hearing especially in one ear and further tests are being done to confirm this.

One of the most challenging aspects is the financial burden. She had to pay for most of the surgery out of pocket otherwise she would have to wait for a long time. My siblings, parents and I try to support her financially when we can but this situation as a whole has been a significant cost on her. I find it truly disheartening that vital healthcare for toddlers in Australia of all places seems to cost so much???
My nephew has a healthcare card along with a Medicare card and just today she had to pay around $80 for a bloody ear solution in addition to around $400 for the second hearing test appointment with a specialist. She works full time but has no financial support from his dad so managing these ongoing specialist bills, parental costs, household bills etc etc is overwhelming. The father lives overseas now and isn’t an Australian citizen so there’s no way to force him to pay for things and honestly I wouldn’t even want her to deal with him again anyway.
Today is particularly tough for her because it’s her birthday. Her friends and I are taking her out this weekend while my parents baby sit him for a couple of days. She even had money put away to get her hair, makeup and nails done but that money is now depleted (my family and I are making sure she still gets all this done and her birthday runs smoothly).

I’m reaching out for advice especially from parents who may have navigated similar situations as this seems to be an ongoing process. Is there a way for her to see specialists ENT or otherwise at a more affordable rate? and also any general advice for dealing with ear and hearing difficulties in young children would be greatly appreciated!!
My partner and I have no children, I feel like a big sister that can’t really help much as I have no experience with weathering child health concerns. It’s heartbreaking to see my sister and nephew having to take on so much at such a young age. He is such an adorable, intelligent and fun little boy and although this does not take from that, she is worried about how all of this will affect him.

I apologise for such a long post but my mind has been racing and I feel like I’m word vomiting. 😭

I (29F) have lived in Australia my whole life and can honestly say that what we’re seeing now is the worst mass hate directed at Somalis I’ve ever witnessed. I know that most of us take pride in our identity and that our resilience is our strength during challenging times. However I’m genuinely concerned about the younger generation of Somalis especially the high school age ones. It’s hard to watch my youngest siblings disconnected from our culture even more so than I was at their age.

Many Somali kids in the west struggle with the Somali language and have barely any understanding of our history. We come from a rich cultural heritage that spans centuries yet we fail to impart that knowledge to our children. Embarrassingly, we’ve only lived in the west since the early 90s yet other diaspora cultures that have been in western countries for far longer are miles ahead of us in making sure their language and culture survive.

Another problem i personally have is that while we always defend other communities facing bigotry, we too often minimise or overlook the hate towards our own community. The lack of reciprocity is extremely frustrating. I know of only a couple of non Somalis right now who seem genuinely concerned and are vocal about the current hate campaign against us. This genuinely has led me to stop posting about issues affecting other communities on social media.
Why should I engage when we are always abandoned? Why as Somalis are we often left to support each other alone?
African, Muslim and other immigrant or minority groups that even personally know Somalis have constantly been disappointing me. The only people I’ve actually seen actively defend us constantly are white leftist groups.

I know we keep telling ourselves that we are enough, but allies are important. We are a very small population worldwide, majority of us are working class with no real influence or power. We are also one of the youngest populations in the world, with more than 80% of us being under the age of 35. We need help and it’s not shameful to state this!!!

My main point is that we have to stop viewing this issue as trivial. This campaign is paid for (with a LOT of money) by connected individuals for very nefarious reasons. It affects all of us regardless of our beliefs or differences. We can always address our internal community issues but we need to focus and unite against this threat for the sake of the next generation.
I’m also deeply concerned for the most vulnerable among us. The Somalis who live in oppressive conditions or refugee camps etc. Those of us in more stable situations have a responsibility to speak up and advocate for change before it blows up completely.

How do you all think we can effectively use social media or even offline to combat this hate?
This post has just been me thinking out loud but I’d love to know how many of you have been feeling this way and what random ideas you’ve had?

One more thing - I’ve noticed an alarming trend of many people from Somaliland expressing negativity towards other Somalis and spreading harmful misinformation and propaganda online. To those I ask: are you truly unaware of the consequences of your actions? Do you think your families living abroad will be unaffected by this division?
Remember any harm you inflict on other Somalis ultimately harms yourself. Stop the disgraceful behaviour and seek help because it’s beyond embarrassing at this point.