Inspirational: Afri-Culture Interviews Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Dr. Hawa Abdi

There are some notable people who have shone through adversity and not only made the best of their situation, but spread that to others. Dr Hawa Abdi, of Mogadishu, is easily one of the most noteworthy examples. Dr Hawa has been administering medicine to Somalis in need since 1983, when she established an Obstetrician service to some 25 people a day in the Shebelle region. When the Somali central government collapsed in 1991, the clinic was slowly transformed into a 400-bed hospital providing required medial assistance to refugees. As the hospital grew it added a feeding center, a small farm, and even a school, eventually being renamed the ‘Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation’. At its peak, the foundation was providing services to almost 100,000 people before it was forcefully suspended. Despite this, she continues to administer medical assistance to those in need, rising above clan-politics. It is worth noting that Dr Hawa is not doing this alone – her two talented daughters, both doctors in their own right, accompany her. Dr Hawa managed to establish this service in the middle of a conflict zone, while raising two children. It is no wonder she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012! We were fortunate enough to catch Dr Hawa after her book tour (her book: Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman: 90,000 Lives Changed, is available on Amazon.com). Her answers are unedited – the words are those of the doctor herself. Her Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation is always grateful for assistance, and can be found here. We urge our readers to help as they can, and follow them on facebook or twitter. Dr Hawa, What drew you to medicine in the first instance? Surely, it would have been unusual for a Somali woman to pursue medicine in the 1960’s. When I was a young girl, my mother died from delivery complications. I was very, very sad. My mother was suffering in front of my eyes, but I could not support her. When she died, I felt a very deep pain. Many children like me also lost their mothers. It was that time that I decided to be a doctor. I wanted to help future generations and children avoid the pain I felt. That’s why I wanted to study medicine in 1960s. In Somalia, and also in the community I was in, it was unusual that a woman would study medicine. Somalia was still a colony at that time, and even amongst the Italians and British, there were not even women doctors. But I wanted to study medicine for the children in the future. Dr Hawa Abdi and her two daughters, Dr Amina Mohamed and Dr Dego Mohamed, receiving the BET Social Humanitarian Award, 2012. (Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Glamour Magazine) What lead you to pursue a second degree in law? When I finished my studies in the Soviet Union, I came back to my country, Somalia. During that time, I saw that in our system that people were oppressed. People couldn’t speak about what was wrong. There was no debate, no freedom of speech. When I was working at the hospital, I used to see women who were chained to their beds. They were women who were sent to jail, who got sick in the jail, and were sent to the hospital. Many of the doctors I was working with did not want to touch them, simply because these women have been to jail. But I treated them anyway and kept talking to them. Through the conversations, I realized more and more that these women faced injustice. So I decided to become a lawyer to defend human rights. It is important to defend society, and also to defend yourself. Where do you find the resources to establish a food outpost, a school and a hospital in a conflict zone? First, I already had my farm and I grew food to give to those who could not afford their own food. Overtime, it was not enough and I did not have the money and investment to expand the farm. But I had friends. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Food Programme (WFP), Médécins Sans Frontières Switzerland (MSF Swiss) all supported me to save a society that was dying. You have spoken previously of the difficulties of women in Somali society – how the various militias who have caused your difficulty do not respect you.  It takes bravery to rise against this sort of cultural barrier. Where do you find your inner strength? When all the society is suffering, and the people are looking up at you, searching for something that would help alleviate the pain, I get some strength. It is the people that give me the strength to be courageous find ways to help them. Dr Hawa Abdi at work in her hospital. (Credit: Kuni Takahashi/Getty Images) Doctors are sworn to do no harm above all else. Have you had challenges to your Hippocratic Oath in Somalia? How did you overcome this? I have never had a challenge with this. I was doing it the right way, treating both my enemy and ordinary people the same. That is also the core of all of our services, to treat everyone regardless of colour, politics, religion, clan, gender. Enemies or friends, we have to treat equal. ‘Mama Hawa’, as you are known, began as an Obstetrician. Is it difficult to deliver a child under the conditions you face in Somalia, and what are the greatest challenges that face the children you deliver? From 2007-2009, we had unprecedented deaths. Numbers we have never seen before. It was very unusual. Every pregnant woman, at 8 to 20 weeks, suffered miscarriage with heavy bleeding. There was fighting; but it wasn’t just weapons and bullets. I suspected there was something more, some poisoning that was happening in society, affecting the women. I know now that there was some toxic waste dumping on the Somali coast, and maybe it was the toxins from that that was the cause. Maybe the bullet contained some toxins too. But there were thousands of miscarriages during that time, and there were no children being delivered. For children being born in Somalia, the biggest challenges are hunger and disease. They are dying of malnutrition and from diseases that can be easily curable. You must be proud of your daughters following in your footsteps and contributing to the wellbeing of Somali people in need. What are their specialties, and how do they fit into your world? My daughters are very active. They are both doctors who have followed in my footsteps. For the entire 22 years of the civil war, they were with me and they have seen how difficult life can be. Through struggling together, they have learned how to support the people, how to remain resilient even with fighting and hunger all around. They supported me a lot morally. Now, they are running the Foundation. They are the future leaders. But still, poverty is still the biggest challenge. Before we can manage hunger, we must fight poverty. When we admit a malnourished child at the hospital, we treat the child, and then we discharge. However, when the child returns to the home, the family has nothing to feed the child. So after a few days, the child will come back to the hospital with the same conditions. The most important thing is to fight poverty through creating jobs in the farming, cattle rearing, fishing, and business sectors. In order to create these jobs, we need food security and investment. Those who have found refuge through the services of the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation number more than 90,000. They remember when they received a hand up. I meet many people today who come up to me and say, “my mother told me you treated her before I was born.” We are a society, an important one that makes up 1% of a nation that is 9 million population in size. I hope that this society will stand up and will work for themselves and feed their children. In my daughters’ work now, I want them to fight poverty as well. At the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation, this is what we do now – to give the people opportunities to be self-sustainable. Dr Hawa Abdi and her two daughters, Dr Amina Mohamed and Dr Dego Mohamed. (Credit: Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation) Being detained by militias who are determined to dismantle all that you have worked so hard to establish must be a frightening experience. What would you say to your al-Shabaab opponents, and how do you maintain your calm with them? I have my self-confidence. I knew that I was right and I told them. They said to me, “We are men and we are young.” I said, “Yes, you are a man, you have two testes, but even the gods have two testes- what have you done for this society?” You have to do something for your society. Some of these men were not happy, but some of them were reasonable and listened, as I was telling the truth. Sometimes people are not all bad, you can always find someone who is reasonable and understand what is wrong and what is right. The moving memoir of one brave woman who, along with her daughters, has kept 90,000 of her fellow citizens safe, healthy, and educated for over 20 years in Somalia. Lastly, what can readers expect from your book? The real life. The true life. It is not fiction, but what has really happened and what is happening today. We sincerely wish you, and your foundation all the best, Dr Hawa. Your work is of vital importance to the Somali community, and long may your efforts continue to be a beacon of hope for them.

Interviewed by: Dr Martin Lee Science & Technology Editor