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The people of Somalia just do not have a voice. They are to me the most forgotten people in the world.

What happened to me in Somalia doesn't define me.

I don't have much in me left for Somalia, because the country is so broken, it's not realistic to daydream about it.

Somalia is an important story in the world, and it needed to be told.

I left Somalia when I was seven years old, but I witnessed a whole year in a war.

An oversupply of national sentiment is not the problem in Somalia. The problem is a lack of it. The problem is an oversupply of sub-sub-clannish attitude.

Going into Somalia, I didn't anticipate how many people's lives would be affected by it. In hindsight, I certainly wish I had taken more time to think about that, but I can't change it.

I think the biggest challenge for Somalia has been the sense that it is a hopeless case of incomprehensible internal conflicts and there is nothing we can do.

It is only the Somalis themselves - and I don't hide that fact when I meet the political leaders here - they themselves have to stop their old practices of fighting each other every time they have a problem. They have to learn how to do peaceful conflict resolution.

I think now, we in the international community are belatedly wanting to show our solidarity with the Somali peoples and also do our best to help them move to better times.