Somalia

In Somalia, Surviving A Kidnapping Against 'Impossible Odds'

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:28:00 +0000

In 2011, Jessica Buchanan was an aid worker in northern Somalia, helping to raise awareness about how to avoid land mines. The north was the relatively safe section of the country; that October, she traveled to the more dangerous southern region for a training. The night before she left, she texted her husband, Erik Landemalm, also an aid worker in Somalia. She asked him a question: "If I get kidnapped on this trip, will you come and get me?"

On the trip back from the training, Buchanan and a colleague found their convoy surrounded by armed Somalians.

'Impossible Odds' Details Aid Workers Rescue From Somalia

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:40:00 +0000

David Greene speaks with Jessica Buchanan and her husband Erik Landemalm about their book Impossible Odds. It's the story of Jessica's abduction, along with a fellow aid worker, by Somali pirates in 2011. In the first of the two-part interview, we hear how Jessica was abducted, and how she refused to fall into despair while in captivity.

Saving Newborns: 'Kangaroo Care' Could Go A Long Way

Jason Beaubien — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:08:00 +0000

In the developing world, a baby's first day of life is often the most perilous.

Roughly 3 million newborns die each year, the nonprofit Save the Children reported Tuesday.

A Funky-Fresh Sound From Somalia, With A Political History

NPR Staff — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:49:00 +0000

Imagine the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu, in the 1980s. You can't, right? Neither can most music critics. That's why the recent re-release of a record by a popular '80s-era Mogadishu dance band has caught the attention of critics lately.

The founders of Dur-Dur Band now live in Columbus, Ohio.

Western Money, African Boots: A Formula For Africa's Conflicts

Gregory Warner — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:24:00 +0000

For the past six years in Somalia, Western countries have been putting up the cash and African nations have been supplying the soldiers, a formula that has pushed back al-Qaida-linked militants and allowed Somalia to elect it's first democratic government in 20 years.

"We can fix our problems in Africa," says Brig. Michael Ondoga, a contingent commander with the African Union Mission in Somalia or AMISOM.