Life in Somalia: Abdidir's story

Eight residents of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, tell us what the new government's priorities should be and how they have survived 13 years of anarchy.

Mahamut: Scrap metal worker "I smash the foundations of the US embassy wall to get steel rods to sell" Nimo: Khat dealer "The government should regulate khat - it's bad. I wish I had another job" Abdullahi: Cattle-herder "We were chased off our land by a group who had more weapons than us" Abdi: Refugee "I see a dark future for my children. There are no schools or health services"

Abdidir: Bus driver "We can accept President Yusuf even though he is from northern Somalia" Bashir: Gunman "The gun rules Somalia today - my gun is how I support my family" Halima: Refugee "I am too busy looking for food to think about the peace process" Idi: Singer "Only members of the armed clans can have big parties for their weddings"

Abdidir Ali Hashi

I am 22 years old. I am married but we don't have any children yet.

I drive this bus on a 30km route to Mogadishu. On the way, we go through six check-points run by different militias.

I hope that education would be free again

At each one, I have to pay 50,000 shillings ($3). This covers the whole day.

I cannot do anything about it, if I had armed guards on my bus, there might be a gunfight and passengers would be killed.

Because of those fees, it's really hard to get by and I have to keep the fares for my passengers high.

I support the government - we need a government.

We can accept [President Abdullahi] Yusuf even though he is not from here but from northern Somalia.

We have a saying: "A man who marries your mother becomes your uncle."

This means that if we really want to, we can all live together again.

The first thing the government must do is to take down the checkpoints, disarm the militias and restore law and order.

I also hope that education would be free again.

Then I could go to school, get some qualifications and work in an office instead of driving this bus.

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