I know firsthand how critical support systems are.

The same men who are placing all these outrageous restrictions on women’s freedoms in southern Somalia – that type of mentality – that’s what I had to deal with in captivity.

Every day I have many choices to make about who I want to be.

Maintaining my dignity is so important for me.

I don't only long for the thrill of being in the middle of a war, I must understand it; I must make other people understand.

Christmas was the one time of year when my brothers surfaced at home, when my parents and grandparents congregated to eat my mother's roast turkey.

We all waited on an afterlife. Only I planned to be alive for mine.