But it had been a difficult school year and Fadumo welcomed the idea of a break as a chance to repair their crumbling relationship. Onboard the aeroplane, her mother had explained that they were flying via Mogadishu to see their family.
But Fadumo was sure something was wrong, so she searched the hotel room and found the plane tickets. When her mother told her it was an old ticket, Fadumo asked to see the new one. Her mother said she did not have it but she would have it tomorrow. Tomorrow never came. That evening, Fadumo was in a car with her family. As they left the city lights behind, and the roads became bumpier, she realised they were leaving Mogadishu. I thought maybe we were there to visit someone.
The place was intimidating, surrounded by barbed wire, with tall gates guarded by armed men. A man told her to come inside and join her family. Everything suddenly came into focus. Finally, she was told the truth. Shock and anger hit Fadumo. Then one of the men told her mother it was time to go.
Dhaqan celis is a well-known phenomenon in the Somali diaspora, where parents often feel their children have become too westernised. But in recent years, dhaqan celis has come to mean cultural re-education centres, offering an experience like a boarding school or boot camp, with a robust Islamic education and strict routines to straighten out attenders.
Facebook and Google feature innocuous pictures of exteriors and promises that the centres rehabilitate young people who disobey their parents or use drugs. Some feature videos of young Somalis talking positively about their experiences at these centres. But many Reddit threads and TikTok videos feature anxious young people who fear their families plan to send them away for dhaqan celis. If anyone asks where they are, the response is vague: they are in Hargeisa, or Puntland, or with an aunt in Nairobi, or at a boarding school.
