By Abdi Sheikh

Overcoming huge odds, 20 doctors and dozens of teachers graduated from university in Somalia last week, the first graduation ceremony for almost two decades in the failed Horn of Africa state.

Somalis are renowned for their entrepreneurship, resilience and plain ability to survive the anarchy they have endured since the early 1990s. Those skills have been tested to the limit by an Islamist insurgency that erupted nearly two years ago.

"We could be a leader among African universities if not for the security problems," said Abdirizak Yusuf, head of the medical students' association at Mogadishu's Benadir University, which held its graduation ceremony last week. Two classmates were killed in the crossfire of recent clashes, and expensive equipment was damaged as the campus was forced to move out of the dangerous city centre 18 months ago.

Earlier last week, a car on the route used by the university bus hit a roadside bomb and caught fire, then a gun battle broke out.

"The bus had to turn abruptly ... We risked our lives and missed our lessons," Yusuf said. "There's no mercy in Somalia. A whole bus full of students can just be blown up at any time."

The need for doctors in Somalia has never been higher.

The fighting has killed 10,000 civilians since last year, wounded many more and driven one million from their homes. Combined with drought, it has triggered a humanitarian crisis that aid workers say is the worst in Africa.

"We're very proud to be able to produce qualified doctors and teachers, despite the insecurity and lack of funds," said Mohamed Maalim Muse, president of Benadir University.

Life must go on

Twenty doctors - 12 men and eight women - and several dozen teachers graduated from its medical, education and computer science faculties. Many are already working in schools or have started internships at clinics.

The ceremony was just the latest example of a Somali trait that has allowed a semblance of normal life to continue for many despite the bullets, bombs and feuding politicians.

Ingenuity - and the absence of taxes - has let many small businesses thrive, especially mobile phone services and the ceaseless export of livestock and charcoal from Somali ports.

Many young men have also sought rewards in less constructive ways: a wave of pirate attacks at sea and the kidnappings of foreigners for ransom onshore.

The university's 500 students and 70 staff were able to celebrate the party with over 2,000 attending it.

There were many other Somalis from abroad who cashed in leading local mobile companies Hormuud and Telcom to pay for all the calls, as well as pledging more funds and free lines for the university.

Hafsa Abdirahman graduated as a doctor after six difficult years at Benadir. She lived with friends while her London-based mother paid her annual tuition fees of $1,500 by remittances.

The 25-year-old is now working in the maternity ward of the city's Madina Hospital and is determined to specialise in a much-needed area: gynaecology and obstetrics.

"I never stopped my studies, even though all my family fled the violence here and I was left alone," she said with a smile. "My childhood dream has finally come true."