- Amanda Lindhout
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Amanda Lindhout 
Born June 12, 1981 Nationality Canadian Occupation Humanitarian Organization Global Enrichment Foundation Known for Kidnap victim Home town Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada Website http://www.globalenrichmentfoundation.com Amanda Lindhout (born June 12, 1981)[1] is a Canadian humanitarian and former freelance journalist who was kidnapped on August 23, 2008 in Somalia. She was released 15 months later on November 25, 2009.[2]
Contents
Journalism career
Lindhout was based out of Baghdad, Iraq and worked on a freelance basis for Iran's Press TV,[3] and had a column for Alberta's Red Deer Advocate newspaper.
John Goddard writes in The Star, that her reports for the Iranian Press TV "begin to raise questions about her judgment. As a reporter, she became a propagandist for the Iranian regime, oozing anti-Americanism and contempt for Western media."[4]
Kidnapping
On August 23, 2008, Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan, a 37-year-old freelance Australian photojournalist from Brisbane, were kidnapped along with their Somali translator, Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi, their driver, Mahad Isse, and a driver from the Shamo Hotel, Marwali. They were believed to be traveling in a vehicle and were stopped by gunmen as they were going to visit a refugee camp.[5]
On September 17, Al Jazeera featured footage of Lindhout and Brennan in captivity surrounded by gunmen.[6] On October 13, 2008, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of US$2.5 million by October 28. On February 23, 2009, the Canadian Association of Journalists urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to help secure the release of Lindhout and Khadija Abdul Qahaar, a Canadian woman who was kidnapped in November.[7]
Elmi and the two drivers were released on January 15, 2009.[8] The kidnappers later lowered the ransom demand to $1 million.[9]
After kidnapping
No longer working as a journalist, Lindhout studied Development Leadership at the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and is the executive director of the Global Enrichment Foundation.[10] Lindhout has yet to speak publicly about the specific details of her time in captivity but has become a much sought after speaker on the topics of forgiveness, compassion and social responsibility.[11]
Since her return to Canada, she has had interview requests from numerous media outlets including the Today Show, 60 Minutes, Dateline, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Lindhout is currently writing a memoir, titled A House In The Sky to be published by Simon and Schuster in 2012.[12]
The Global Enrichment Foundation
The Global Enrichment Foundation, founded by Lindhout in May 2010, is dedicated to developing strengths already within women in developing and conflict-ridden countries to assist them in changing their lives. Lindhout currently serves as the organization's Executive Director. "I've never questioned whether or not it was the right thing to do," Lindhout said to CBC's The National "What else to do after the experience that I had, than something like this?"[13]
During her captivity, Lindhout says that she gained keen insights into how poverty and lack of education has destroyed Somalia, which, in 2010, was the poorest nation in the world. She sees the issues of children becoming soldiers in Africa as directly connected to a broader lack of educational opportunities. Lindhout believes the teenage Somali boys who kidnapped her were a product of their environment. “I used to wonder how they would have been different if they had had the opportunity to have an education, to understand something of a broader world view and learn something about tolerance,” she said.[14] Lindhout established a donation-funded scholarship program, The Somali Women's Scholarship Program as a means to empower the most oppressed section of Somali society and create female leadership through university education. In 2011 the GEF is sponsoring the university education of 36 women who will go to become doctors, teachers, environmentalists and engineers. In 2011 the GEF launched SHE WILL,a micro-loan initiative for female Somali refugees in Kenya, with a goal of creating economic empowerment for widows and other women severely affected by poverty. In May of 2011 the GEF became the sponsor of one of Somalia's only female basketball teams, The Sankaroos; providing uniforms, balls, hoops, and other equipment- supporting female leadership through sport.[15]
The charity has also branched into famine relief through it's Convoy for Hope program. The program recently received a US$1 million donation from the Chobani Yoghurt company.[16] Recently a group of high school students in Alberta raised over $23,000 to support the GEF's educational work.[17]
See also
References
- ^ "Amanda Lindhout turns 28". 2009-06-12. http://communities.canada.com/ottawacitizen/blogs/notebookchina/archive/2009/06/12/amanda-lindhout-turns-28.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout freed". CBC.ca. 2009-11-25. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/11/25/amanda-lindhout-free.html. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "The work of kidnapped journalist Amanda Lindhout". National Post. 2009-08-23. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/08/23/the-work-of-kidnapped-journalist-amanda-lindhout.aspx. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "Canada's 'gutsy' forgotten hostage". thestar.com. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/645338. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ "Canadian journalist reported abducted in Somalia". CBC.ca. 2008-08-23. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/23/somalia-journalists.html. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "Foreign media say Somali kidnappers will kill Lindhout if ransom isn't paid". 2008-10-13. http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081013/EDM_lindhout_081013/20081013/. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "No word on Alberta journalist kidnapped in Somalia". CBC.ca. 2009-02-23. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/23/cgy-lindhout-somalia.html. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
- ^ "Cbc.ca". Cbc.ca. 2009-01-16. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/01/16/somali-journalist.html. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ Dawn Walton. "Theglobeandmail.com". Theglobeandmail.com. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/im-afraid-ill-die-in-captivity-kidnapped-canadian-says/article1241303/. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ "The Global Enrichment Foundation, founded by Amanda Lindhout-developing strengths already within women to assist them in changing their lives". Globalenrichmentfoundation.com. 2010-08-24. http://www.globalenrichmentfoundation.com. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ Concrete / Visia. "Amanda Lindhout | Global Enrichment Foundation | Lavin Speaker Profile". Thelavinagency.com. http://www.thelavinagency.com/speaker-amanda-lindhout.html. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ "Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett". Curtisbrown.co.uk. 2011-07-28. http://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/amanda-lindhout. Retrieved 2011-08-06.
- ^ "Amanda Lindhout Forgives Captors". CBC. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2010/08/24/lindhout-somalia024.html.
- ^ "Amanda Lindhout Speaks out for women in Somalia". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/814127--amanda-lindhout-speaks-out-for-women-in-somalia?bn=1.
- ^ "Teacher's Spread Hope Through Sport". Sprucegrove Examiner. http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3121201.
- ^ "Chobani Pledges $1 million to Famine Relief in Africa". http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chobani-pledges-1-million-to-famine-relief-efforts-in-somalia-130262543.html.
- ^ "Students answer call to empower women half a world away". http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111024/EDM_lindhout_111024/20111024/?hub=EdmontonHome.
Further reading
- Brennan, Nigel (2011-06-27). The Price of Life: A True Story of Kidnap and Ransom. Penguin Books (Australia). ISBN 9781921518782. OCLC 704565552.
Categories:- 1981 births
- Canadian people taken hostage
- People from Red Deer, Alberta
- Living people
- Canadian journalists
- Founders of non-governmental organizations
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