Text: Hedgehog
01
This is a heartbreaking true story that happened 10 years ago. The
story took place in Somalia, which is known as the most dangerous country on earth. There are frequent civil wars, pirates rampant, and violence can be seen everywhere. is precisely those fatal dangers that may fall from the sky anytime and anywhere, and Amanda Linhot, the protagonist who once tempted to get the story of , became curious.
Amanda was born in a remote town in Alberta, Canada. Because of family constraints, Amanda learned to pick up scraps and sell money from an early age. In addition to subsidies for household use, they are mostly used to purchase the publication "National Geographic". At that time, she learned that there is still a mysterious, crazy and even bloody place in the world called Somalia.
At the age of 20, Amanda used the money earned from being a waitress in a bar to start traveling around the world, and has been to Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iraq and many other countries. During her travels, she had the idea of being a freelance journalist all over the world.
In 2008, the thought hidden in Amanda's heart became particularly strong: I am going to Somalia! I thought that she would be able to use free interviews to get exclusive news and win fame, but she couldn't predict that waiting for her was a terrifying nightmare-on August 23 of that year, Amanda and her ex-boyfriend and On the third day of photographer Nigel's arrival in Somalia, a group of kidnappers launched a raid and kidnapped them to a desolate, closed western town, and demanded a ransom of $3 million from their families. Although
boyfriend Nigel comes from a middle-class family in Australia, the family can only spend $25,000. Amanda’s family is poor, her mother’s income is low, and her father lives on subsidies for the disabled from the government, unable to raise even thousands of dollars. To make matters worse, the robbers locked the two in a dilapidated little black house. They only had half a bowl of corn for a day, and no drinking water was provided. In addition, every two or three hours, gangsters rushed into the house to punch and kick them...
In just a few days, the two were beaten to be physically and scarred. Immediately afterwards, the disease also came to her door. Amanda was infected with a fungus, her face and mouth were covered with mildew, and her eyebrows and fingernails gradually fell off and fell out.
In order to protect herself, Amanda thought of a way: convert to the sect, hoping to exchange for kindness. However, this did not work for . The ransom was not seen, and the atrocities intensified. Amanda soon became a sex slave and plaything of the kidnappers-
One afternoon, several kidnappers forced her to lie on the bed and put a gun against her head, playing Russia. Roulette is a death game with life as a bet!
03
After being imprisoned for more than 100 days and nights, Amanda and her boyfriend decided to risk their lives and escape.
is in a dangerous situation, maybe only by fleeing can we win the first chance. On this day, they went up to the toilet one after another and jumped off the windowsill nearly 4 meters high in the bathroom. There is a temple not far from
, the crowd is bustling, it should be the closest place to freedom!
"Help me, please help me!" At that moment, Amanda screamed loudly in blunt Somali, asking for help. However, every pedestrian turned and walked away quickly. Amanda realized that no one would dare to save them here. The
kidnapper came after him, followed behind with his submachine gun, and teased the "prey" with a laugh. The two "prey" stumbled, as if they had seen death coming.
And when Amanda was in despair, suddenly a middle-aged woman rushed out of the crowd and pulled Amanda into her arms: "My sister, come home with me." Seeing this, the kidnapper became angry. They pushed the woman away frantically, and then abused the two in the street...
04
After 460 days, the family finally collected 1.2 million US dollars and rescued the skinny Amanda and her boyfriend from the kidnappers.
At this time, Amanda has suffered from extremely severe anorexia, darkWith claustrophobia, long-term psychological treatment is required. Unexpectedly, in just one year, Amanda has appeared in the world's vision again.
In that year, Amanda performed a set of rituals before getting up every day: asking God to forgive those who hurt her.
She told herself time and time again that those kidnappers were only the product of violent circumstances and endless wars. Rather than hate, forgive them. In 2010, Amanda also founded the non-profit "Global Abundance Foundation", which aims to help Somali women receive education and provide medical care and psychological counseling to women who have suffered sexual abuse.
In addition, she has returned to Somalia several times to personally provide welfare to local women.
Amanda's practice of repaying grievances with virtue naturally makes many people incredible. Until September 2013, Amanda, who took part in the news talk show with the new book "Castle in the Sky", recalled the nightmare again and mentioned a person.
is the middle-aged woman who tried to rescue her from the kidnapper's gun.
05
"I can see the kindness flashing in her eyes, but I can also understand the unimaginable oppression she has suffered in Somalia. I think that only by improving Somalia and giving women hope can we reduce violence in that country. So , I choose to cheer up for the kind eyes, for forgiveness, and live strong."
Forgiving others, especially those who have harmed themselves, is not easy. Sometimes, it is like a point on the horizon, out of reach. But, as long as we look up to it and keep moving towards it, one day we will approach it, reach it, and embrace it.
The fact is like this. When we learn to forgive, we also have the power to penetrate the darkness and welcome warmth.
Author: hedgehog
Copyright: article from "The Secret History of fish sheep" original production, and copyrighted. Unauthorized, no reprinting, welcome to repost in Moments.
