Migration in recent years has continued to be shaped by conflict, displacement, and global instability. Hundreds of thousands of people seek protection across the European Union each year, many fleeing violence, insecurity, or economic collapse. Among them are women from Somalia, often mothers, whose journeys involve not only geographic relocation but also the rebuilding of family life, health, and community in unfamiliar environments.
For Somali women, migration rarely ends when they arrive in Europe. The transition into new healthcare systems, languages, and social structures presents ongoing challenges. While countries such as the Netherlands provide access to structured medical care and social services, the absence of extended family networks, central in Somali culture, often leaves women navigating pregnancy and motherhood with limited informal support. Integration can also be affected by language barriers, unfamiliar institutions, and differing cultural expectations around parenting and wellbeing.
It is within this context that local community initiatives have emerged to bridge gaps between formal systems and everyday lived realities. Mothers Project is one such initiative that took place earlier this month in New-west Amsterdam.
Mapping Support Across Cultures
On February 10, the Mothers Project from Road of Hope, concluded the five-week course “Motherhood Across Cultures”, developed in cooperation with Stichting SomAstel. The final session gathered 27 Somali women for a day that combined reflection, learning, and celebration, including stretching exercises, discussion groups, feedback sessions, certificate presentations, and a shared lunch featuring Kenyan dessert and traditional Somali ginger coffee.
A central activity of the session focused on creating a “map of resources”, an inventory of support systems participants could rely on during pregnancy and motherhood. These were explored in four categories:
- People: family members, friends, neighbors, nurses, doctors, and trusted individuals.
- Services and institutions: general practitioners, mental health specialists, and social organizations supporting women.
- Strategies and techniques: breathing exercises, physical activity, prayer, connection to faith, gratitude practices, and time in nature.
- Internal resources: personal strengths, resilience, patience, and beliefs that sustain them during hardship.
The exercise sparked open discussion about life in the Netherlands. Participants expressed appreciation for accessible and attentive medical care. “I got nice medical care in the Netherlands during a difficult and complicated birth,” one participant shared.
At the same time, many emphasized the emotional and practical impact of being far from extended family networks. “We have few family here and it is hard for us to take care of our families, especially when we are sick. Here we would need so much more help,” another participant said.
Mental health services, which are still underused in some communities, were also discussed. A few women shared positive experiences seeking professional support. “I went to a psychologist when I was upset about my son’s medical situation. It was a difficult time for me,” one mother explained.
Strength and Self-Compassion
Discussions around internal resilience revealed both pride and reflection. Participants highlighted the strength often associated with Somali women.
“Somali women are some of the strongest in the world,” said Raho, director of SomAstel.
Yet facilitators and participants also explored the importance of self-compassion, recognizing that strength can include vulnerability and seeking help.
The session concluded with a feedback discussion in which participants expressed appreciation for the course and suggested future topics such as mental health, toddler care, social media literacy, and recreational activities. Certificates, small gifts, and shared appreciation marked the closing, including flowers presented to facilitators, reinforcing the sense of community built over the program.
“The course was nice. We learned to solve some issues and spend some nice time together,” one participant reflected.
Community as Integration
Programs like Motherhood Across Cultures illustrate how integration unfolds not only through policy or services but through relationships and shared spaces. By combining cultural familiarity with practical knowledge, initiatives such as this help migrant mothers navigate systems while rebuilding networks of trust and belonging.
As migration continues to reshape the cities, the experiences of Somali women highlight a broader truth: integration is not solely about access to institutions, but about restoring connection to community, to identity, and to the everyday support structures that make family life possible.