Tags / diaspora

September 3rd, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 3rd, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 3rd, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 2nd, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 2nd, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 2nd 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 1st, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 1st, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 1st, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 31th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 31th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 31th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 31th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 31th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

August 29th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 27th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 27th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15,000 Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their business and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Havana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Israel.

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

September 26th, 2015, La Habana, Cuba. Before the 1959 revolution in Cuba, there was about 15 thousand Jews living within the country's borders. Today, a mere 1500 are left. Most Jews in Cuba were business people thriving due to the adequate business environment within the country. With the arrival of Fidel Castro and his Communist ideas, many of these Jews lost their bunsiness and moved to the US, mostly in Miami. Though never persecuted, but rather well treated by the regime, most prefered to leave to prosper economically somehwere else. There are three main Jewish/Synagogues within Habana which are quite active in keeping the renmants of the community together, with the help of money coming from Jewish organizations in the US and Isreal. (Jonathan Alpeyrie/Transterra Media)

Palestinians from across the West Bank and Israel gathered in confiscated Palestinian villages, on both side of the 1967 Greenline, to commemorate Land Day. Land Day is seen as a day of resistance action in defense of Palestinian land. Annual Land Day events are held by Palestinian communities within the State of Israel, in the occupied territories, and in the Palestinian diaspora.
Land Day events in 2015 included a 'return march' by the community-in-exile of Lifta, many of whom today remain only a kilometer or two from their original homes. Today there remains a small but very active community-in-exile of Lifta's refugees in East Jerusalem, and it was this group, under the banner of their community grassroots organisation 'Sons of Lifta' who spent Land Day inside their home village. Although many of the village's houses remain intact and the refugees live only a ten minute journey away, they are denied their rights to return to live in the vilage by the State of Israel.
Land day first started on March 30,1976, when mass demonstrations broke out among Palestinian communities in the State of Israel in protest at an Israeli state plan to confiscate 20,000 dunums (2,000 hectares) of land around the Palestinian villages of Sakhnin and Arraba in the Galilee. This was one of the first examples of mass coordinated action being carried out by Palestinian citizens of Israel. Protests were held from the Galilee in the north all the way to the Negev (known as the 'Naqab' to Palestinians) in the south. Over the course of the day 6 Palestinians were shot dead and more than 100 were injured. Ever since these events, Palestinians have commemorated March 30th as 'Land Day', or 'Yom al-Ard' in Arabic.
In Another Land Day event, activists in the village of Wadi Fukin in the West Bank attempted to plant 350 olive tree saplings on land that is threatened with expropriation by the expansion of the Israeli settlement of Sur Hadassah. All Israeli settlements within the 1967 occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are illegal under international law. Before more than a handful of trees could be planted in Wadi Fukin, Israeli soldiers rained clouds or tear gas on to the activists bringing the Land Day event to an abrupt halt. For Palestinians, Land Day is an important annual event which brings together many thousands of Palestinians across historic Palestine in the defence of Palestinian land.

Somali women in Minneapolis, Somalia's largest diaspora in the Western world, hold the destiny of an entire community abroad, badly bruised by more than 20 years of civil war, in their hands. They realize that America offers them opportunities they would never dream of in their own country. And while they are taking advantage of what America has to offer, Somali women are also determined to preserve their African and Muslim identity while raising their children. Successful, hard-working, they are three times more likely than their male counterparts to study in Minnesota, the northern U.S. state that is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the western world. Yet this success is coupled with an unexpected challenge: how to find a Somali husband when you’re so qualified. The problem is so acute that some of these female refugees have no choice but to return to Africa to track down a man.

Somali women in Minneapolis, Somalia's largest diaspora in the Western world, hold the destiny of an entire community abroad, badly bruised by more than 20 years of civil war, in their hands. They realize that America offers them opportunities they would never dream of in their own country. And while they are taking advantage of what America has to offer, Somali women are also determined to preserve their African and Muslim identity while raising their children. Successful, hard-working, they are three times more likely than their male counterparts to study in Minnesota, the northern U.S. state that is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the western world. Yet this success is coupled with an unexpected challenge: how to find a Somali husband when you’re so qualified. The problem is so acute that some of these female refugees have no choice but to return to Africa to track down a man.

Somali women in Minneapolis, Somalia's largest diaspora in the Western world, hold the destiny of an entire community abroad, badly bruised by more than 20 years of civil war, in their hands. They realize that America offers them opportunities they would never dream of in their own country. And while they are taking advantage of what America has to offer, Somali women are also determined to preserve their African and Muslim identity while raising their children. Successful, hard-working, they are three times more likely than their male counterparts to study in Minnesota, the northern U.S. state that is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the western world. Yet this success is coupled with an unexpected challenge: how to find a Somali husband when you’re so qualified. The problem is so acute that some of these female refugees have no choice but to return to Africa to track down a man.

Somali women in Minneapolis, Somalia's largest diaspora in the Western world, hold the destiny of an entire community abroad, badly bruised by more than 20 years of civil war, in their hands. They realize that America offers them opportunities they would never dream of in their own country. And while they are taking advantage of what America has to offer, Somali women are also determined to preserve their African and Muslim identity while raising their children. Successful, hard-working, they are three times more likely than their male counterparts to study in Minnesota, the northern U.S. state that is home to the largest Somali diaspora in the western world. Yet this success is coupled with an unexpected challenge: how to find a Somali husband when you’re so qualified. The problem is so acute that some of these female refugees have no choice but to return to Africa to track down a man.