About
My name is Naima Shaikh, and I’m a third culture kid. Technically, I’m not really a kid, though I continue to play one in real life, much to the annoyance of my kids.
I am Somali by birth, although I spent just over 3 years in Somalia as a child.
I am a technologist, coach, music-lover, fitness enthusiast and aspiring health-freak – if I could just lose the donuts.
Over the years, I grew up and was educated over four different continents, received a distance degree from the fifth, and while it is unlikely that I will ever go to Antarctica, I figure I’m already culturally diverse enough to indulge in identity crises once in a while.
I enjoyed learning new languages, meeting new people, studying World War II from several different angles depending on the country I was in – it taught me how the same facts can be viewed from such diverging perspectives.
I fell in love with technology at an early age and it is my one self-professed addiction – well, except for donuts and Somali halwa when I can get it.
I’m lucky to work in a field I’m passionate about – application development. The recent explosion of platforms and devices has just served to expand my playground!
I’m a trained CPCC coach, and interested in what makes us tick, what makes us engage fully on some days, and withdraw to a “duvet day” on others.
I am married to an Italian engineer who enjoys designing landmark buildings, and we are proud parents to two wonderful pre-teen third-culture kids. Both children were born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. We currently live in Dubai.
Naima!
Hurray!!!! so happy for you! you’ve got your site online!
Much love
Cherine
Hi Naima,
I really enjoyed reading your blog posts. I believe it to be absolutely crucial for TCKs everywhere to understand that they aren’t the only ones experiencing the things they experience, and that our upbringings make us some of the most fortunate people in the world. That is why I took the initiative to create ThirdCultured. We are an up-and-coming private social network for the third culture community and are currently seeking writers with an in-depth understanding of what it means to grow up amongst nations and would like to be featured on our website once it launches in mid September. If you consider yourself a global nomad, a news aficionado, and a literary superstar, we want to hear from you now! At this time we will not be offering financial compensation, but are instead offering an outlet for the third culture community whom of which are primarily students and alumni of international schools. There is over 500 international schools in the world, most of which are governed by the international Baccalaureate program. 70% of these students transfer to in-between international schools every few years and undergo loss of identity and constantly seek ways to stay connected with like cultured people. This will be a cultural phenomenon for the community and satisfy a long awaited need. Our site has been prepared by an expert marketing team and will be receiving loads of traffic once we launch, so our writing team will be attaining high levels of exposure right away. We have headquartered ourselves in Istanbul and the project is being developed here. We would like to sponsor you on our website. Please contact me via email for more details.
Warm Regards,
Rick