Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/912991
28 t m c » p u l s e | d e c 2 0 1 7 /ja n 2 0 1 8 A pink crown A modest, low-slung building behind Hillcroft Avenue began to fill with Somali women, carrying salads, spongy Ethiopian flatbread, fragrant trays of vegetables and meat, and thermoses of milky-sweet shaah hawash—a spiced tea loaded with cardamom, cloves and ginger. Here at the Islamic Community Center, there were two reasons to celebrate: one woman was expecting a child, and Ilhan and Maryan were just days away from returning to Africa. A spacious shoe rack in the narrow entryway remained empty, while the floor below flooded with shoes hastily kicked off. Warfa, who had hosted Ilhan and Maryan for a month and introduced them to this circle of Muslim friends, marveled at the bond between this mother and daughter. "You can tell the attachment level," said Warfa, who came to the states 26 years ago to attend college in Manhattan and ended up starting a family in Texas. "I don't know how anybody does it with 10 kids because everybody needs your attention. Maryan's youngest is 6 months old. She left the baby with her sister, and when she gets back home she's going to leave Ilhan with the same sister because she doesn't want the younger or older kids, while they're wrestling or playing, to hit her too hard." Ilhan, at age 7, is the same age as the first-graders Warfa teaches. "I've been taking Ilhan to Kohl's," Warfa said. "I bought her little girly dresses and stuff like that. She's really enjoying those. Tomorrow we're going to Target. Ilhan really likes the shopping. Maryan could care less." Women in jewel-toned hijabs and robes continued to arrive at the center, which hosts religious classes for children to learn the Koran. Many walked straight to a back room to pray, as the sun had already set. Over the next few hours, the women vis- ited in chairs lined up against the walls. Ilhan stayed close to Maryan, who stayed close to Warfa and Wright. "I'd like to take a moment to thank Ayisha for hosting Ilhan and Maryan, for caring for them and translating over the phone at ran- dom times, and literally seeing them through a storm," Wright said to the group, as she handed Warfa a small, wrapped present. It was a photo of Ilhan from the hospital, wearing a pink crown that she had made herself. As the women ate and talked—even breaking into song, at one point, pounding on chairs to keep the beat—Warfa explained that the community to which Ilhan and Maryan were returning was not unlike this tight-knit Somali group in Houston. "They have a community of loving people and their relatives live close by," Warfa said, adding that Maryan was somewhat mystified by American life. At Warfa's home one evening, Maryan said, "You have all this stuff, all these com- forts, but where are your people? You go to work, come back home, park the car in the garage and then you're inside the house for the rest of the evening. I don't see anybody outside. There's nobody. What's going on? What kind of life is this?" Maryan told Warfa that her African neigh- bors and friends helped care for Ilhan, and stuck together through difficult times. "She told me they eat together," Warfa said. "If somebody doesn't have food one day, you can always find someone who will share what they have." As the evening wound down, Ilhan, who had been in and out of her mother's lap, found a quiet spot by herself and polished off a piece of cake. The adults started to clean up. Maryan looked over at her daughter, smiled, and said: "She's tired. She wants to go home." Left: Somali women and other guests enjoy dinner at the Islamic Community Center. Below: Ayisha Warfa displays her gift from HeartGift-Houston for hosting Ilhan and her mother. Ilhan finishes a piece of cake.