Reconstituting Lives: Somali Women's Efforts to Reformulate Household and Community Values in Kansas City, Missouri

Abstract

The research addresses what Somali women living in Kansas City, Missouri do to assist their households and communities to come to terms with the consequences of forced migration. Women's contributions to wellbeing are found in a variety of contexts: taking care of the sick, teaching a sense of Somaliness to children, enforcing religious precepts, sending remittances, securing citizenship, and building networks to benefit family members and friends. The research also reviews those situations that strain strategic problem resolution, like raising children in different and unfamiliar conditions, improving strained relationships with African American neighbors, and increasing literacy skills for adults. By using a phenomenological framework, I describe the actions people take to reformulate a local moral world in a new setting. The research shows how the interpersonal agency among mothers helps to recreate proper households that extend beyond the walls of home and enters the community.