Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Liz Waid.
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And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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May 5, 2010. The sun has just come up. It is spreading light on a large area of land filled with small simple houses. The light touches small family farms. It falls on a two-story hospital.
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Violence and terror are common around this area of Somalia just outside of Mogadishu. This country has experienced war for over 20 years. Guns and fighting in the streets are common. Much of the country has been destroyed. People everywhere have lost their homes. It is difficult to find food. And it is difficult to find health care.
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But inside this group of buildings there is peace. The sun is rising on Hawa Abdi Village. Here, people can find food and water. They can find free health care. Their simple houses are on Dr Hawa Abdi's land.
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Today's Spotlight program is on Dr Hawa Abdi. Today we tell how Dr Abdi created a community for people who needed her. And we tell how she defended her community against a violent group of men with guns.
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On this morning, May 5, 2010, violence enters this small area of peace. 750 men invade the group of buildings. They surround the hospital. They are carrying and shooting guns. The owner of the hospital is Dr Hawa Abdi. She hears gun shots in this early morning. She looks out her window and sees the violent group. The group sends in their youngest members. These are boys about 15 or 16 years old. These boys push through the hospital. They cause much damage. They shoot medical machines. They smash windows. And they tear up hospital records. The leaders of the group gather the employees of the hospital. They kill two of them. They demand that Hawa Abdi give them control of her hospital. But Dr Hawa Abdi will not give in to their demands.
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Mohammed Ibrahim and Jeffrey Gettleman told Dr Abdi's story in the New York Times newspaper. The violent men were part of the extreme Islamist group Hizbul Islam. They are one of the most violent and dangerous groups fighting for power in Somalia. Dr Abdi is Muslim. But Hizbul Islam believed that she should not be operating the hospital because she is a woman. Ibrahim and Gettleman write that the men from Hizbul Islam shouted: "Why are you running this hospital? You are old. And you are a woman!" But Dr Abdi did not back down. She remembers:
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"I told the gunmen 'I am not leaving my hospital.' I told them 'If I die, I will die with my people and my dignity.' I shouted at them, 'You are young and you are a man, but what have you done for your society?'"
Voice 1
The men took Dr Abdi into a private room. They kept her apart from everyone else for five days. During this time Dr Abdi was able to use the telephone. This way, she was able to talk to news sources. News of the attack on Dr Abdi's hospital spread around the world. Somali people living in other areas of the world protested. The women living in Dr Abdi's camp protested. Hundreds of them gathered near the hospital. Finally, Hizbul Islam began to back down. They said they would leave. But they demanded that they become the directors of the hospital.
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Still Dr Abdi refused to give in to their demands. In fact, instead she demanded that they pay for the damage to her hospital. And she demanded that Hizbul Islam apologize to her.
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Finally, Hizbul Islam left. They did apologize to Dr Abdi. But they did not pay for the damage to the hospital. Dr Abdi told journalist Eliza Griswold:
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"The windows, the doors, the operating tables, the hospital beds, the cleaning equipment, they destroyed it all. Every, every, every, instrument they took or they broke."
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Dr Abdi has always been a strong woman with big dreams. At the age of 12, Dr Abdi watched her mother die during child birth. She decided then to become a doctor. She told Ibrahim and Gettleman:
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"I used to think and dream that one day I, myself, could save lives so no other mother would die helpless."
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At the age seventeen, Dr Abdi won a scholarship. This money was to help her study medicine in Kiev, Ukraine. She studied gynecological medicine - the medical study that deals with the health of the female reproductive system. She was the only female student in a group of 91 students.
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After studying in Kiev, she returned to Somalia. She worked in government hospitals. And in 1983, she opened her own one-room clinic. She opened the clinic on her own land. It was for women and children. She began by helping nomadic women give birth. These women had no permanent homes. Her clinic grew more and more popular. And when the government of Somalia fell, Dr Abdi continued to offer health services.
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In fact, Dr Abdi provides all medical treatment for free. No one is ever denied treatment. Donations of money from people all over the world help Dr Abdi to run the hospital. Today, her one-room clinic has grown into Hawa Abdi hospital. It has 400 beds and three operating rooms. The hospital has also expanded to include other forms of care for people. Here, children and adults can also increase their education. 800 students attend the school there. And Dr Abdi also teaches women about nutrition so they can feed their families better meals.
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But there are also rules in Hawa Abdi village. She tells Hiiram Online that people cannot continue connections to their tribe inside the village. If a person brings this kind of thinking inside the village, he or she must leave. Also, inside the village, Dr Abdi does not permit any violence. For example, if a man hits his wife, he must go to a special room. It is like a prison.
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Somalia is a dangerous place. But Dr Abdi can see hope here. She believes this hope begins with the women of Somalia. She believes that women can lead Somalia out of violence. She knows they can help to improve everyone's lives. She told [journalist] Nicholas Kristof,
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"We are trying an experiment. We women in Somalia are trying to be leaders in our community."
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The writer and producer of this program was Liz Waid. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users can find more Spotlight programs on our website at This program is called "Somali Hospital."
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
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