Dr. Amina Mohamed Abdi, Dr. Hawa Abdi and Dr. Deqa Mohamed AbdiOn a still, hot morning last May, hundreds of Islamist militants invaded the massive displaced-persons camp that Dr. Hawa Abdi runs near Mogadishu, Somalia. They surrounded the 63-year-old ob-gyn’s office, holding her hostage and taking control of the camp. “Women can’t do things like this,” they threatened. Dr. Abdi, who is equal parts Mother Teresa and Rambo, was unfazed. Every day in Somalia brings new violence as bands of rebels rove ungoverned. Today Somalia remains what the U.N. calls one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. On that morning in May, Dr. Abdi challenged her captors: “What have you done for society?” The thugs stayed a week, leaving only after the U.N. and others advocated on her behalf. Dr. Abdi then, of course, got back to work. Her lifesaving efforts started in 1983, when she opened a one-room clinic on her family farm. As the government collapsed, refugees flocked to her, seeking food and care. Today she runs a camp housing approximately 90,000 people, mostly women and children because, as she says, “the men are dead, fighting, or have left Somalia to find work.” While Dr. Abdi has gotten some help, many charities refuse to enter Somalia. “It’s the most dangerous country,” says Kati Marton, a board member of Human Rights Watch. “Dr. Abdi is just about the only one doing anything.” Her greatest support: two of her daughters, Deqo, 35, and Amina, 30, also doctors, who often work with her. Despite the bleak conditions, Dr. Abdi sees a glimmer of hope. “Women can build stability,” she says. “We can make peace.” Source:Glamour Magazine
"We've celebrated the most famous women in the world, but the women readers tell us they're the most moved by, year after year, are the women they've never heard of before," says Glamour's editor-in-chief Cindi Leive speaking at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards event 2010 New York CityGlamour is working with the nonprofit Vital Voices to distribute funds to support Dr. Abdi’s crucial work. Donate here.
“Everyone in the Dr. Hawa Abdi hospital is a Somali—no clan affiliation is allowed here. If someone brings such affiliation, he or she will be expelled from here,” she recently told Hiiraan Online.
...Asked how she would explain her two daughters’ decision to become OB/GYN doctors, just like her, Dr. Dhiblawe said: “My daughters want to follow my roots, because they love their nation and their people. They are dedicated to help their people. Sometimes, when I told them to stay away from the medical profession, they declined, and decided to work for their people.”
...she distinctly remembers one fateful day after the 1991 civil war that brought down the military regime. Her hospital was overflowing with injured men from one of the sides who were engaged in the war. Militiamen from the other side marched on her hospital and demanded to get access to the injured men of the opposite group, so that they can kill them.
Engrossed with deep respect for humanity, Dr. Dhiblawe told the attacking militiamen to “kill me first, before you can kill my patients.” It was a defining moment in her career. That stubbornness saved her patients.
Dr. Dhiblawe’s mother died when she was 12. As the eldest of her siblings, she had to help with family chores, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her medical studies dream. The daughter of an educated father, she became a doctor at a very young age.
“giving up and leaving the whole country,” something she’s fully capable of. But, she added: “Then, I think about who is going to take care of my patients. If I could get a Green Card for all of my patients and all the displaced people here, I would ship them to the United States.”
If you need to take part on Dr. Hawa Abdi's humanitarian work, please contact her at
E-mail: dwaqaf@yahoo.com
Source:Somalionline
Dr Hawa Abdi received her medical training in the Ukraine, the former Soviet Union nation, and returned to Somalia in 1983 to open her own clinic in the outskirts of Mogadishu.MORE INFORMATION:
Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation http://drhawaabdifoundation.org/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63336303744
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/09/eveningnews/main7038748.shtml
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