Lindhout felt 'fear and panic' on return to Somalia

CTV.ca  View larger image Canadian Journalist Amanda Lindhout was kidnapped in 2008 while working in Somalia and held hostage for 15 months.  View larger image Just four months after her release, Lindhout started the 'Global Enrichment Foundation' - a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of Somalis. Updated: Thu Dec. 22 2011 07:49:33 CTVNews.ca Staff Amanda Lindhout admits she had to swallow her fears when she landed back on Somali soil this past summer. "There was a lot of memories that came back," said Lindhout, recalling the moment on CTV's Canada AM. "There was a sense of fear and panic. But I knew that I was doing the right thing." Lindhout was there to help deliver aid in the wake of a famine that put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk, a task she took on a second time when she made a second trip to Somalia later in the fall. It was a big decision to return to a country that she once said she was never likely set foot in again. It was in August 2008, that the former freelance journalist first travelled to Somalia to cover an ongoing famine. She had only been in the country for a few days when she and an Australian photographer named Nigel Brennan were then kidnapped by gunmen. For the next 15 months, Lindhout and Brennan were held against their will. At times, they were beaten and tortured and left to spend their days in windowless rooms. Eventually an undisclosed ransom was paid and Brennan and Lindhout were freed. Upon returning to Canada, Lindhout withdrew from public view for a few months, but announced the following May that she had founded an organization dedicated to helping women in Somalia. The Global Enrichment Foundation is now an incorporated non-profit and Lindhout serves as its executive director. Lindhout is also now writing a memoir, which will include stories from her personal travels to Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as her ordeal in Somalia. The part on Somalia is focused on the things that changed inside her, rather than the abuse she suffered. "In regards to the captivity, I'm really focused on the personal transformation that occurred within the most difficult experience you can really imagine," she said. These days, Lindhout said she is focused on forgiveness and on helping people in need. She doesn't want her ordeal in Somalia to define her life. "It's difficult and it's a choice that I have to make every single day and choose forgiveness and not allow fear to take over," she said.