Hawa Abdi

Hawa Abdi
حواء عبدي
Hawa Abdi in 2012
Born	(1947-05-17)17 May 1947 Mogadishu,Italian Somaliland
Died	5 August 2020(2020-08-05)(aged 73) Mogadishu,Somalia
Nationality	Somali
Alma mater	Somali National University
Occupations	Activist physician
Website	dhaf.org

Hawa Abdi Dhiblawe(Somali:Xaawo Cabdi,Arabic:حواء عبدي,17 May 1947 – 5 August 2020) was aSomalihuman rights activist and physician. She was the founder and chairperson of the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF), a non-profit organization.

Early years

Abdi was born inMogadishu,and lived in south-centralSomalia.Her mother died when she was 12 years old. Abdi thereafter took on family chores, including raising her four younger sisters.Her father was a professionalwho was employed in theport of the capital city.

For her early schooling, Abdi attended local elementary, intermediate and secondary academies.In 1964, she received a scholarship from the Women's Committee of the Soviet Union. Abdi subsequently studied medicine at aKiev Medical Institute,graduating in 1971. The following year, she began law studies at Mogadishu's newly openedSomali National University.She would practice medicine during the morning and work toward her law degree in her spare time, eventually earning it in 1979.

Personal life

When Abdi was twelve years old, she entered into aforced marriagewith a significantly older man who was a police officer. The short-lived planned marriage ended several years later, before she left Somalia for Moscow and then, Kiev. During her years in the USSR, she met Aden Mohammed, a fellow Somali student.

In 1973, Abdi married Aden and gave birth to her first child two years later.They had three children: Deqo, Amina, and Ahmed. Ahmed died in a 2005 car crash in Hargeisa, while on a visit to his father who had since separated from Abdi.Both Deqo and Amina became physicians.

Abdi died on 5 August 2020, at her home in Mogadishu. She was 73; no cause of death was specified.

Career

Rural Health Development Organization

In 1983, Abdi opened the Rural Health Development Organization (RHDO) on family-owned land in the southernLower Shebelleregion. It began as a one-room clinic offering free obstetrician services to around 24 rural women per day, and later evolved into a 400-bed hospital.

When thecivil warbroke out in Somalia during the early 1990s, Abdi stayed behind at the behest of her grandmother, who had advised her to use her qualifications to assist the vulnerable. She subsequently established a new clinic and school for the displaced and orphans.

The RHDO was renamed the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF) in 2007.It gradually expanded to include a relief camp, which during the2011 droughthoused 90,000 people on the 1,300 acres surrounding Abdi's hospital.

Two years prior, at the height of theIslamist insurgencyin southern Somalia, militants had laid siege to the compound and attempted to force Abdi to shut it down. She stood her ground and the rebels left within a week, following pressure from local residents, the UN and other advocacy groups.The militants again stormed the area in February 2012, leading Abdi to temporarily suspend services until their eventual departure.

Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation

Hawa Abdi Center C

The Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF) was run by Abdi and her two physician daughters, CEO Deqo Adan (also known asDeqo Mohamed) and assistant Adan (also known as Amina Mohamed),who followed in their mother's footsteps as ob/gyn specialists.As of 2012, the organization has a multinational staff of 102 workers, augmented by a 150-member team comprising volunteers, fishermen and farmers.

DHAF is a non-political organization that is not affiliated with any government, political movement, religion or clan. DHAF decides what projects to undertake and what relief to provide based on the ground needs of the village. DHAF is also a financially independent organization. All of the funding is provided through donations from the people around the world and other charitable endowments. Government funding is prohibited. Since 1991, DHAF has provided services to Somalis who are independent of their clan. Services are provided to the people of Somalia at no cost.

The DHAF compound includes a hospital, school and nutritional center,and provides shelter, water and medical care to mostly women and children.Since its establishment in the early 1980s, the complex has served an estimated 2 million people.

Although services are offered at no charge, Abdi operates several fishing and agricultural projects within the compound to inculcate self-sustenance. The hospital also contains a small plot of land, where vegetables and maize are grown and later in part sold to cover some of the facility's maintenance costs.

Funding for the compound's equipment and medical supplies is mainly secured through remittances from Somali expatriates as well as general contributions to the DHAF.Since 2011, the organization has also received support from theWomen in the World Foundation.

Awards

Abdi was namedHiiraan Online's Person of the Year in 2007.Glamourmagazine later named her and her two daughters among its 2010 "Women of the Year".Two years later, she was nominated for theNobel Peace Prize.She also received the Women of Impact Award from the WITW Foundation,BET's Social Humanitarian Award,and the John Jay Medal for Justice.

In 2014, Abdi received the RooseveltFour Freedoms Awardin Middelburg, the Netherlands.She was conferred the Pilosio Building Peace Award one year later.

Abdi was granted an honoraryDoctorate of Scienceby theUniversity of Pennsylvaniain May 2016.On 25 May of the following year, Abdi received the honoraryDoctor of Lawsdegree fromHarvard University.

Works

• Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman—90,000 Lives Changed.New York City: Grand Central Publishing. 2013.ISBN9781455599295.

References

• "Dr. Hawa Abdi: Somalia is my Golden Jubilee".Sabahi.22 March 2012.Retrieved8 March2013.

Further reading

• Waweru, Nduta (21 August 2018)."The heroic Hawa Abdi, one of Somalia's first female obstetricians who saved thousands during the civil war".Face2Face – Africa.Retrieved22 March2019.

External links

• Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation
• Dr. Hawa Abdi + Dr. Deqo MohamedatTED
  • "Mother and daughter doctor-heroes" (TEDWomen 2010)