By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer
Three Somalis earn bachelor’s degrees in a field that needs people.

LEWISTON – Five years ago, Hassan Alew, Ali Mohamed and Mohamed Farah were working and taking adult education classes toward earning their GEDs or improving their science.

Last month, they graduated with bachelor’s degrees, among the first in the local Somali community to earn college degrees here. On top of that, they graduated as nurses, a profession that is suffering from shortages.

Two already have jobs at local hospitals, and the third has applied. All are excited about their new careers.

“I know it’s very hard,” Alew said. “But if you pursue it, you can do it.”

Their experiences of living in a war-torn country and in refugee camps, and moving to a new country where they had to start over and learn a new language, will help them deal with the stresses of nursing, they said.

Alew, 34, lives in Lewiston with his wife and four children. He came to Lewiston from Georgia after fleeing Somalia in 1996. “The opportunity here is much better than my country,” he said. “I’m happy to have the opportunity for education.”

In Somalia, he saw many going without care. “Death is something I’m very familiar with,” Alew said. He lost brothers and other relatives to war and disease. Heath care in Somali “isn’t comparable” to that in the United States, he said.

After coming to Lewiston-Auburn five years ago, he worked nights at Gates Formed-Fiber Products in Auburn while he studied for his high school diploma and helped his wife raise their children. “I’ve seen what my capabilities are,” he said.

Alew is working at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

Mohamed, 33, came to Maine in 2002 from Georgia. He and his wife have six children and live in Auburn.

“I’ve always had a dream of getting a college degree,” he said. “It’s so rare in my country to have that opportunity.”

He got his high school diploma in Georgia and looked into the job market when he got to Lewiston. He thought he could help with the nursing shortage.

In Somalia, he saw the impact nurses have in difficult situations, when people are really hurting, he said. “They console people, heal them both physically and emotionally.”

That inspired him.

Many are leaving nursing because of long hours and high stress, but “if you like it, you can find the passion to do it,” Mohamed said. “I’ve met so many nurses who, despite the shortages and workload, they’re very happy. This is what they want to do for the rest of their lives. That’s what I want.”

Farah, 35, and his wife have five children. He came here in 2001 after leaving Somalia in 1998.

A distant cousin to Alew, the two attended adult education and worked nights at Gates. They talked about what they should do. Understanding there was a shortage led them to nursing.

After two years in the degree program – described as one of the toughest by college spokesman Roger Philippon – Farah began working as a care associate on the cardiac floor at Central Maine Medical Center. His new job is as a nurse on the same floor.

He said he admires what nurses do. “I saw nurses in peacetime, in war. I saw how passionate and caring they are.”

While going to college, he was giving his children a good example to continue their education, Farah said.

Two of his daughters, ages 4 and 8, plan to follow their father’s lead, he said.

“They’re planning to be nurses, too.”