Amanda Lindhout, the Canadian freelance journalist who was kidnapped and held for over a year in Somalia, brought her extraordinary story to Carleton University Saturday.
"My hope is that my story reminds you of the great strength and endurance of the human spirit which resides in all of us," Lindhout said to a crowd of students. "Pain is pain and we're all better served by finding a way to let it go and to heal that and forgive."
Lindhout was kidnapped while working as a freelance journalist in Somalia on Aug. 23, 2008. What was supposed to be a one-week trip to the volatile nation turned into a 15-month ordeal of torture and isolation.
Instead of focusing on the abuse she endured while she was held hostage, Lindhout says she feels compassion for Somalia, and even her captors.
Since returning home, she started the Global Enrichment Foundation which provides scholarships for Somali women. Less than one in 400 women in that country currently have the chance to pursue higher education.
In it's first year, the foundation provided university funding for 11 women.
"We've opened a door for them so their dreams can happen," Lindhout said. "It's so inspiring when I hear from them how well they are doing, how excited they are and how proud their family is."
Lindhout said she hopes to provide enough funding to educate 100 Somali women over the next four years.