Rayaan Ahmed

Headshot of Amy Cohen

 

Project: We Keep us Safe 

The plights of this pandemic have highlighted the importance of community and building a long-standing relationship between one another in times of crisis. Now more than ever when one person in our community is struggling, we can come together and support them on multiple different levels. We have developed innovative ways of ensuring each other's safety from refined grocery delivery services to community gardens equipped with taking what you need and giving as you can refrigerators. My scholarship is focused on providing young people with the tools they need to facilitate change within their communities through the concept of Mutual Aid. The community programs Southside Child Development Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Al-Aqsa After school program in Mogadishu, Somalia are sisters  programs waiting to be reunited, building this connection will bring these two communities together and put them at the forefront of the conversation of mutual aid showing that prosperity does not have to necessarily come from negative circumstance but instead of being a proactive instead of reactive. This opportunity will help the students pursue their dreams of making change in ways that honor their personal, family, and caregiving responsibilities.  

This will lead to research on how communities have uplifted themselves through the process of mutual aid in Minneapolis to Somalia. Demonstrating that the outcomes for young people are shaped by the successes of families and communities, so the recommendations require multi-generational solutions. Many humanitarian groups lack the interpersonal skills necessary to carry out philanthropic efforts that end the cycle of poverty. It is important to address the systemic inequities created by philanthropy that does not invest in the equal redistribution of wealth and does not provide people with the tools they need to sustainable make change for themselves. We will instill confidence in the systems that people have built for themselves and aid them in the process of engaging and mobilizing the public as partners in change. We will directly support and build strong partnerships by increasing resources to ensure students are committed to service learning. With this fellowship, my goal is to build a bridge between the students in the programs and help them understand just how interconnected we are and find innovative solutions for the populace.