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\n2013 Women’s History Month honoree, Amina Sheik Mohamed | Photo Credit: Jim Spadoni<\/span><\/p>\n

By Monica Medina<\/span>
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The following article appeared on the new KPBS blog, Hey Neighbor!<\/a> Written by KPBS Director of Diversity and Engagement Monica Medina, Hey Neighbor! explores the people and places that make San Diego an extraordinary place to live.<\/em><\/p>\n

San Diego\u2019s City Heights neighborhood is home to one of the largest Somali populations<\/a> in the nation. Many arrived here as refugees in the early 1990s, during a time of civil war strife in Somalia. One of those who settled here at that time is Amina Sheik Mohamed. Today she is manager of the African American Campaign for the Network for a Healthy California<\/a> operated locally from the University of California, San Diego. She is also a 2013 Women\u2019s History Month Local Hero honoree.<\/p>\n

Mohamed is elated by the recognition. \u201cI\u2019m really honored. Last February, I received an Equal Opportunity\/Affirmative Action and Diversity Award from UCSD, but winning this award for Women\u2019s History Month, means so much to me, because I am always thinking about women globally and how I can help them, and I just connect with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohamed always knew she wanted to pursue a career in public health. \u201cIn one of my early undergraduate classes at SDSU, \u201c she recalls, \u201cThe professor asked if anyone knows where they want to be in five years. I raised my hand and said I want to study public health and work for the United Nations, and help the community back home in Africa. The professor was surprised on how decided I was on my goals. I was the only one in class who already had a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hasn\u2019t gone to work for the UN yet, but that\u2019s because Mohamed saw that she could realize her goals right here, in San Diego. In her position with the Network for a Healthy California, Mohamed is charged with promoting a healthy lifestyle for African American women, and the part of her job she loves most of all is helping women who have come here from the same region of the world as she.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelping East African women is important to me,\u201d says Mohamed. \u201cBecause of life in Africa, and seeing people die from diseases that can be prevented, I knew I wanted to educate women about health. I felt I could do something here and give back to my community at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the projects she and her sister, Sahra Abdi, have helped make happen involves working with the Copley YMCA to offer special pool hours<\/a> for women only, so that the women can swim without having men present. For most of the women, it\u2019s their first time being in the water and experiencing the sensation of buoyancy. They\u2019re also getting swim lessons, and Mohamed says that once they learn the basics, the Copley YMCA will be offering them aerobic classes, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very emotional for them to be able to do this,\u201d notes Mohamed. \u201cImagine not letting your kids in the water because you don\u2019t know how to swim. With mothers learning along with their daughters, together they are learning water safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohamed\u2019s other efforts have led to an increase in access to healthy foods, as she has helped a group called City Heights Hope develop a cooking class program for mothers and daughters. Then, last summer, she co-launched My Hair and Health Matter<\/a>, as a way to show African and African American women that it\u2019s possible to workout, work up a sweat, and still maintain the style and condition of their hair.<\/p>\n

Recently, Mohamed has been noting a change in the women she has been helping. \u201cDo any ever call me after hours? A long time ago, yes, all the time. But now, most are self-reliant. They\u2019re doing translation advocacy, and being interviewed for KPBS Speak City Heights stories. They are becoming more stable here in San Diego, and they want to help. It\u2019s just beginning. These women are very motivated to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month, Mohamed is heading to the United Nations, after all. But not for a job. She has been chosen to participate as a delegate in a Conference on the Status of Women to be held at UN headquarters, and Mohamed couldn\u2019t be more pleased. This annual meeting, led by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, evaluates the progress on gender equality, identifies challenges, sets global standards and formulates policies to promote gender equality and women\u2019s empowerment worldwide.<\/p>\n

Mohamed, who is married and has two young children, finds that helping women lead healthy lifestyles is a full-time, round the clock job. Still, she wouldn\u2019t want to be doing anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like its part of me,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s empowering. I work all the time to help the community, but it\u2019s not something I\u2019m going to complain about. I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s even work. I\u2019m not going to ever turn off my phone and say I\u2019m not at work. I\u2019m not going to say my volunteer days are only on Saturdays. I will continue as long as there\u2019s a need. Because I feel as though if something needs to be taken care of, I\u2019ll do it, and I\u2019ll do it with passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2013 Women’s History Month honoree, Amina Sheik Mohamed | Photo Credit: Jim Spadoni By Monica Medina The following article appeared on the new KPBS blog, Hey Neighbor! Written by KPBS Director of Diversity and Engagement Monica Medina, Hey Neighbor! explores the people and places that make San Diego an extraordinary place to live. San Diego\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,159,404],"tags":[1234,2102,450,393,2104,1235,1236],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-health","category-voices","tag-amina-sheik-mohamed","tag-health","tag-network-for-a-healthy-california","tag-somali-refugees","tag-voices","tag-womens-health","tag-womens-history-month"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n