In Remembrance: Dr Hawa Abdi

So very saddened to hear about the death of the extraordinary Dr Hawa Abdi - a human rights activist and doctor - Somalia's first female gynecologist, who opened a clinic on her family's ancestral land and offered free healthcare to every neighbor that came to her door. Her one room clinic became a hospital, school, and camp that served over 90,000 people. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee she was affectionately known as Mama Hawa.I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Abdi a few years ago when she came to DC to receive an award from Vital Voices. Here's an excerpt from that interview:"My mother, when she became pregnant with her seventh child, immediately she felt pain, abdominal pain. At that time there was no doctor, no healthcare in our country. At night she could not sleep because of pain, whole night. I was trying to ask her, what are you feeling, where is it paining. She’d say here, and I would press it. But the pain was just persisting. I wanted to protect her from this pain. After one year, she died, after feeling so much pain. I felt sad, very very sad. I did not know why my mother died. I decided immediately to become a doctor. To at least help the other people so other children would not feel the pain I felt. My father supported me. At that time, going abroad was very difficult. My father persisted. He believed that I and the other three daughters could become doctors; we could do what the boys could do.He allowed me to go to the Soviet Union at that time. I was happy going, but going far from my father and sisters, I was sad. I cried that morning when I was leaving. I was away for seven years; came back twice to see my father and sisters. My father was always writing to me. He would write letters, calling me “Dr. Hawa”. And I was trying to be real doctor. I studied hard. And I finished my materials. I got ‘excellent’ in all subjects except four. But before I could came back, before I finished, my father, he died. My father’s name was Abdi. I like being called Dr. Abdi. My father’s name."RIP Dr. Abdi.