A new Cabinet took office in November in the capital, Mogadishu, and it's loaded with Somali-Americans. Some have given up quiet lives in the U.S. suburbs to try to turn around one of the world's most dangerous countries.

"I told my wife and she thought I was nuts," said Abdulkareem Jama. They talked it over and decided they should return and try to make a difference.

Jama used to work in IT management in Virginia but now is the Somali transitional federal government minister of information.

(READ or HEAR the story at NPR)