To
say that Siobhan is a brave woman would be an understatement (She is on
the left of the photo, Caragh on the right). She tells of her time in
Somalia. Prior to that she worked as a nurse in the USA. When she
looked for a placement in Africa she was put in Somalia. Somalia has no
Government to speak of, it is the rule of anarchy. There are three main
tribes, and they constantly rotate ruling the country by means of the
two underdog tribes ganging on the top tribe, and so on. There is
constant warfare. When she tells people that she worked there they are
always surprised and impressed.
During her stay there, the bullets were literally flying overhead. One night while she was standing by the fridge, she bent over to open the door and a bullet flew right over her head in the place she had just been. As she wasn’t sure if someone was shooting at her or if it was just a stray bullet, she went back to bed. No point in waking people up to say someone just shot at me!
Another story is of a little girl of 14 months old who came into her house with a bullet hole through her head. There was an entry wound and an exit wound, and she was sprouting blood. They thought she wouldn't make it, but she lived on without surgery or intervention.
Pain seems not to be something you expressed. When young children underwent surgery without anesthetic for removing bullets, their mothers would sit next to them and hit them on the head if they made a noise or cried, this was not acceptable. But Siobhan says the Somali people are very special, very nice, with a strong sense of self identity.
One time a woman came in with an x-ray for some back pain. To the surprise of the staff, the x-ray showed a huge bullet in her breast. The women didn't even know about it!
Somalia is now infamous for its pirates. They have kidnapped ships carrying anything from oil to weapons, and there is little the shipping companies can do about it. The Somalis take the ships to places where no one would dare venture so they pay the ransom. It is possible they will soon have to change the shipping lanes, at great expense. Nasty Somalis!
But from a Somali point of view, the story is a bit different. The Somali fishermen made a living from their small boats. Every time a big ship came by, it tore their nets and carried right on. You don't mess with Somalis, so they turned to piracy. Now they make up to 20 million dollars a haul, and when they do, they distribute the money evenly between the villagers in the vicinity. Another form of socialism.
Case 118 has a recurring dream where he is following a group of people. They all go into one room, but he goes on alone. In another dream he sees a group of people mauling some pigs. He shouts at them and they run after him. He climbs a tree and they can't catch him.
His main characteristic is a total lack of fear. He is not scared of lions, cheetahs or snakes. Once he was chased by a lion, but he was not scared. Another time a python ate his dog, so he ripped it to pieces. If he is challenged on anything, like building a stone house which he has never done before, he will do it to completion.
His only fear is to fight. This is because he once fought his younger brother and hurt him badly. He does not want to hurt anyone again, he knows he is too strong.
I used one rubric only: 'Courageous', and selected Plutonium –nit 30C.
Like a country with nuclear weapons, case 118 knows that his power is too strong to use.
During her stay there, the bullets were literally flying overhead. One night while she was standing by the fridge, she bent over to open the door and a bullet flew right over her head in the place she had just been. As she wasn’t sure if someone was shooting at her or if it was just a stray bullet, she went back to bed. No point in waking people up to say someone just shot at me!
Another story is of a little girl of 14 months old who came into her house with a bullet hole through her head. There was an entry wound and an exit wound, and she was sprouting blood. They thought she wouldn't make it, but she lived on without surgery or intervention.
Pain seems not to be something you expressed. When young children underwent surgery without anesthetic for removing bullets, their mothers would sit next to them and hit them on the head if they made a noise or cried, this was not acceptable. But Siobhan says the Somali people are very special, very nice, with a strong sense of self identity.
One time a woman came in with an x-ray for some back pain. To the surprise of the staff, the x-ray showed a huge bullet in her breast. The women didn't even know about it!
Somalia is now infamous for its pirates. They have kidnapped ships carrying anything from oil to weapons, and there is little the shipping companies can do about it. The Somalis take the ships to places where no one would dare venture so they pay the ransom. It is possible they will soon have to change the shipping lanes, at great expense. Nasty Somalis!
But from a Somali point of view, the story is a bit different. The Somali fishermen made a living from their small boats. Every time a big ship came by, it tore their nets and carried right on. You don't mess with Somalis, so they turned to piracy. Now they make up to 20 million dollars a haul, and when they do, they distribute the money evenly between the villagers in the vicinity. Another form of socialism.
Case 118 has a recurring dream where he is following a group of people. They all go into one room, but he goes on alone. In another dream he sees a group of people mauling some pigs. He shouts at them and they run after him. He climbs a tree and they can't catch him.
His main characteristic is a total lack of fear. He is not scared of lions, cheetahs or snakes. Once he was chased by a lion, but he was not scared. Another time a python ate his dog, so he ripped it to pieces. If he is challenged on anything, like building a stone house which he has never done before, he will do it to completion.
His only fear is to fight. This is because he once fought his younger brother and hurt him badly. He does not want to hurt anyone again, he knows he is too strong.
I used one rubric only: 'Courageous', and selected Plutonium –nit 30C.
Like a country with nuclear weapons, case 118 knows that his power is too strong to use.
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