In order to become famous, Canadian female journalist Amanda came to the Somali pirate den in 2008 to photograph the real pirate life and become famous in one fell swoop. Due to the level of danger, no journalist has ever photographed the life of a pirate.
However, as soon as she arrived in Somalia, Amanda and her boyfriend were kidnapped by pirates and extorted a ransom of $3 million. After 460 days, the ransom was paid and Amanda was released, and Amanda, who had regained her freedom, was tortured and dying and suffered from depression. Now 16 years later, how is Amanda doing now?
In 1981, Amanda was born in an ordinary family in Canada, and lived like an ordinary person since she was a child, until she saw a World Geographic magazine, which broadened her horizons, and she had the idea of going to all over the world. After work, Amanda used the money she saved to travel to several countries, and she wanted to work as a freelance writer, write down what she saw and heard through travel and send it to newspapers, preferably long-term cooperation with newspapers or magazines, so that the travel expenses would also be covered.
As a travel enthusiast, Amanda is competent, she has a curious heart that is not afraid of hardships, she has been to war-torn Afghanistan and Iraq, but as a freelance writer, Amanda is a failure. Only the newspapers in her hometown have used her articles, and the other big media have rejected her. But Amanda still didn't give up on her dream, and met her boyfriend, Australian photographer Nigel, on the way to travel.
Amanda shuttles through dangerous war zones, hoping to become famous through freelance interviews, but the idea fails. By chance, she saw the life of a famous reporter, who relied on undercover agents to get popular news, thus becoming famous and gaining fame and fortune in one fell swoop.
Amanda wondered if she would have a chance one day. One day in 2008, the overwhelming news was that Somali pirates extorted sky-high ransoms, in those years, Somali pirates were very arrogant, driving speedboats, holding AKs and RPGs to intercept cargo ships around the Red Sea, extort ransom, and even dare to intercept warships.
But the world only knows the arrogance of Somali pirates, but no one knows the real life of Somali pirates. So Amanda came up with the idea of going to Somalia in person, filming the real life of a pirate with a camera, and as long as she returned safely, then she would become famous and wealthy in one fell swoop. When she told her boyfriend Nigel about the idea, he was a little tempted, but remembered that pirates kill people without blinking, and it was too risky to go.
Amanda said: "It's dangerous because then there will be no competition. "Seeking wealth and danger is the best interpretation. In this way, Amanda seduced her boyfriend with fame and fortune and made him agree to accompany her to Somalia, and then the two came to Somalia with equipment and passports. What they didn't expect, however, was that the trip to Somalia would completely change their fate.
Amanda and her boyfriend
When Amanda and her husband came to Somalia, they wanted to find out what was going on with their colleagues. So I found Robert, a reporter from National Geographic magazine, who was also trying to get first-hand information about Somali pirates, and the cards of National Geographic magazine were still very large, but he didn't dare to go deep into the pirates' lair to shoot.
When Amanda told Robert about his intentions, he advised Amanda not to go, it was very dangerous, he was caught by pirates, and it was good to be able to hand over the ransom, but if he couldn't, I am afraid it would be difficult to say. But Amanda only wanted to get the news and become famous, and she didn't realize what the danger was in Robert's mouth. Seeing that Amanda had made up her mind, Robit could only persuade her to disguise herself, once she was found to be a reporter, she was afraid that life would be worse than death.
On August 27, 2008, Amanda and her boyfriend came to the pirate's den in disguise, at first the two of them relied on disguise, hired bodyguards and dollars to open the way, and did photograph real pirates, and interviewed women in Somalia, Amanda did not know that the so-called Somali pirates, most of them are pirates in busy hours, and fishermen in their spare time.
On the third day after entering the pirate's lair, Amanda and her boyfriend were kidnapped by pirates with AKs. Speaking of which, Amanda and her boyfriend were unlucky, the target of the Somali pirate kidnapping was Robert a reporter for National Geographic magazine, but Robert was very cautious and did not go deep into the lair.
Also blame Amanda, who is too high-profile, uses dollars for interviews, and dares to enter the pirate's lair, two white men with white faces, dangling in the pirate's den, are naturally targeted by the pirate's eyeliner. No, after Amanda and her boyfriend were kidnapped, the pirate leader extorted a total of $3 million in ransom from them.
3 million US dollars is an astronomical amount for Amanda and her boyfriend's family background, they have no choice but to report to the Canadian government, soon, Amanda and her boyfriend were kidnapped by the media of various countries, this time Amanda reached the name, and the Canadian government sent people to negotiate with Somali pirates, after all, 3 million US dollars, they do not want to come out.
In this way, the negotiations dragged on several times, and Amanda and her boyfriend were treated inhumanely. At first, the two were still locked up in a house, because it was close to the sea, it was humid and stuffy, but for the sake of the ransom, the two were still treated as hostages, of course, they ate a little, and the living conditions were also very bad.
However, as the negotiations dragged on, the Somali pirates were impatient, presumably knowing that the ransom was not easy to take. So she stopped being civilized and moved against Amanda, her boyfriend wanted to resist, but in exchange for punches and kicks, just like that, in front of her boyfriend, Amanda was violated by many pirates in turn. This is where Amanda's nightmare begins, and that's when she remembers what Robert said is better than dead.
Pirates don't support idlers, and when the ransom is not collected, Amanda is used as a tool. Later, in order to survive, Amanda and her boyfriend took the initiative to believe in Muslims. Because according to the doctrine, it is forbidden for believers to rob and rape, but they are too young. For pirates, when it is useful, it is faith, and when it is not even a fig leaf.
Nigel was beaten every day, Amanda was often violated, the scraps they ate were cold, and the place where they lived was damp and dark. Seeing that there was no escape, Amanda was so distraught that she later wrote in her autobiography that she was violated by 12 pirates on one night. A year later, the Canadian government announced that it was abandoning the rescue because the ransom was too much to negotiate.
On November 25, 2009, 460 days after Amanda's abduction, she and her boyfriend were finally released. It turned out that after the Canadian government abandoned the rescue plan, the humanitarian organization contacted the pirate gang, and after several negotiations, the pirates agreed to a ransom of 1.2 million US dollars, and Amanda's family could only raise the ransom through fundraising, and finally raised the ransom. For $1.2 million, Amanda and her boyfriend were released, and at this moment Amanda was not relaxed, only resentment towards pirates.
After Amanda was rescued, her body was devastated, her eyebrows were gone, her hair was almost all gone, she was covered in scars, and she had a fungal infection, almost not like a person. When she was in the pirate's lair, after being violated once, Amanda's hands were untied, she once thought about suicide, when she cut her wrists with a rusty blade, she saw the bird in front of the window fluttering its wings on her, she felt that it was God's will, told her that there would always be a day of freedom, so she survived strongly.
After returning to Canada, Amanda suffered from depression and had to be treated by a psychiatrist. With the help of her family and many humanitarian organizations, Amanda slowly came out of the psychological shadows. and wrote his tragic experience in Somalia into an autobiography "The Pavilion in the Sky".
In 2013, the book went on sale, and under the media hype, Amanda participated in many live shows and interviews. The New York Times broke the news that Amanda gave birth to a mixed-race child named Osama from Somali pirates, but was left in the pirate's den, and Amanda has not responded to this revelation.
Amanda became famous for her book, and she always remembered how grateful she was when she was rescued by humanitarians, so she decided to become a humanitarian. In 2010, Amanda founded the Global Abundance Foundation, a non-profit humanitarian organization, and raised a large amount of money through a speech fundraiser to educate young Somali women and to help Somali girls and abused women.
In 2011, it was one of the first humanitarian organizations to deliver food to the famine in East Africa. Over the years, Amanda has lectured everywhere, traveled to many impoverished areas for humanitarian relief, and became a well-known international humanitarian, which can be regarded as the completion of the idea of alternative fame. But she is not complacent, but has always practiced it, and she has not changed her original intention.
Resources:
460 Days of Canadian Female Journalists Captive, Gang-Raped, and Abused by Terrorist Groups Interface News
Netease News: "Ms. Amanda, a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in Somalia for 460 days and sexually assaulted in captivity, and now she has forgiven."