Stories from the Community
Mahad
“This illness I have is called Fibrosis. It’s caused by many things like Asthma, chemicals sprayed in the home, dust, and fuel pollution. I started experiencing this illness about twenty years ago. Because I was a smoker, I always had a fear of hospitals. Usually, men [in my community] don’t go to the hospital [for check ups] because of the fear of being diagnosed with an illness. But that fear caused the illness to progress to an unmanageable level. Ultimately, that is my condition today.” – Mahad Ali Maslah, 52.
Omar
“A lot of people have mental health problems, but it’s just not diagnosed,” said Omar Mohamed, 24. Omar believes stigmatization of mental health problems in the community is a huge concern. He said, “Us, Somali people, and humans in general, we stigmatize people with mental health problems. We try to isolate them, we try to push them away, we try to look at them like they may not be as equal because they may not be there mentally.”
Ali
His advice is to quit smoking because “the problem that made my lungs not function and collapse was smoking. I want to say to whoever wants to hear any advice from me: If you smoke … quit smoking. If you want a good life and not to suffer, QUIT SMOKING!”