Hawa Abdi
- In full:
- Hawa Abdi Dhiblawe
- Died:
- August 5, 2020, Mogadishu (aged 73)
Who was Hawa Abdi?
What inspired Hawa Abdi to become a physician?
What is the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation?
How did Hawa Abdi handle militants’ takeover of her camp in 2010?
What recognition did Hawa Abdi receive for her humanitarian work?
Hawa Abdi (born May 28, 1947, Mogadishu, Somalia—died August 5, 2020, Mogadishu) was a Somali physician, lawyer, community leader, and human rights activist. Amid the dangerous landscape of the Somali Civil War, Abdi organized a safe shelter, school, and clinical camp for internally displaced people, which grew into a city-sized community.
Early life
Abdi’s father was a port worker in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. When Abdi was a child, she accompanied her mother to a hospital and was impressed by the doctors’ compassion and dedication to those in need. Abdi later said that she chose to become a physician so that other children would not have to experience the pain she felt while seeing her mother suffer.
Abdi went on to study medicine in Kyiv, then located in the Soviet Union (now in Ukraine), after winning a scholarship. She chose to specialize in gynecology after witnessing her mother die during childbirth. In doing so, Abdi became one of the first gynecologists in Somalia. She later completed a law degree at Somali National University in Mogadishu.
Somali Civil War and clinic beginnings
Before the start of the Somali Civil War, Abdi identified the need for a rural women’s health clinic in her region and opened one outside Mogadishu in 1983. At the clinic, which started as just one room on her family farm, Abdi assisted women with childbirth and provided health care for children. The clinic led to the creation of the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation (DHAF).
“If I had unlimited funding and unrestricted freedom, I want to educate the 25,000 students who have grown up in my camp. I believe education is the key to everything. After their education, I want to create jobs for the students.” —Hawa Abdi speaking to In-Sight Publishing about her dreams for Hope Village, 2013
The Somali Civil War started in 1991, leading to governmental collapse. Many displaced people arrived at Abdi’s clinic seeking shelter, food, education, and health care. The clinic grew into a 400-bed hospital and became a refuge for about 90,000 people. The community, which had grown to be the size of a small city, was renamed the Dr. Hawa Abdi Hope Village, or Hope Village.
Abdi prohibited the community from declaring a political affiliation in order to remain neutral during the civil war, thus protecting the camp. She oversaw the construction of a primary school, high school, and women’s education center. The community developed a local agricultural project that used simple technology to grow crops and feed those in need during cycles of famine caused by the war. As southern Somalia was normally reliant on food aid from other countries, the agricultural project allowed the village to become largely self-sufficient.
Abdi’s daughters, Amina Mohamed and Deqo Mohamed, followed in their mother’s footsteps as doctors. During the height of the war’s violence, Abdi and her daughters saw hundreds of displaced and injured Somali refugees a day.
While Abdi was under house arrest, many at Hope Village protested to show their support for “Mama Hawa,” as she was known in the camp. Abdi later revealed to The New York Times that she had said to the militants, “You are young and you are a man, but what have you done for your society?”
In 2010 Abdi’s camp was taken over by Islamist militants who surrounded her hospital and killed two employees. The militants stole medical equipment and ordered Abdi to surrender management of the hospital to them. Abdi refused to give in to the militants’ demands and was subsequently placed under house arrest. The militants eventually ceded control of the camp back to Abdi and wrote an apology letter for their transgression.
Death and legacy
Abdi’s dedication to humanitarian work in the face of unprecedented danger was recognized internationally and earned her much acclaim and renown. On New Year’s Day 1993, during a trip to visit American troops stationed in Somalia, U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush received a tour of Abdi’s refugee camp from Abdi herself, who was the first Somali citizen the president met on the trip.
In 2010 Glamour magazine counted Abdi and her daughters in its women of the year list, hailing them the “saints of Somalia.” In 2012 Abdi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her lifetime of humanitarian work. That same year Abdi was awarded the John Jay Medal for Justice, given to individuals dedicated to pursuing justice. Abdi and her daughters were also honored by Black Entertainment Television during its 2012 Black Girls Rock! Awards show. Abdi’s memoir, Keeping Hope Alive, which recounted her experiences leading Hope Village, was published the following year. Harvard University presented Abdi with an honorary doctorate in 2017.
Abdi died of an undisclosed illness in 2020. Somalia’s Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development praised her advocacy on behalf of Somali women and children. Somali Pres. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed lauded her ambition in undertaking generous humanitarian efforts to support the people of Somalia. Although the Dr. Hawa Abdi Hope Village closed in 2020, the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation continues to provide support to civilians in Somalia.