Deka Ali lives in the northwestern town of East Grand Forks Minnesota. As a Somali immigrant, interpreter and community organizer, she has gained the respect of her rural community for bringing people together. In 2025 Deka is working with In Progress to identify and guide families through an intergenerational storytelling project focused on sharing stories of immigration, cultural identity and place.
Her daughter Sana Nür and son Sajid Nür collected her story and shares it here as part of the Waterers Oral Histories Program.
