Our friend, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has, again, written about Edna Adan. This time, the occasion is Mother’s Day.

“In a few days Americans will celebrate Mother’s Day with roses, chocolates and fine dinners, inducing warm and fuzzy feelings all around. But, in addition, I’ll bet helping mothers less fortunate would also render any mom giddy.

“That’s what some Americans have decided to do: commemorate motherhood by saving the lives of mothers halfway around the world – such as in this impoverished nook of Somaliland in the horn of Africa. Beyond celebrating moms with fleeting flowers, they are helping an extraordinary Somali woman, Edna Adan, run a maternity hospital here to make childbirth safer.

“We in journalism often focus on villains, but Edna is one of my heroes. She’s a tireless 73-year-old whose passion is to save her countrywomen’s lives, get them access to family planning and end female genital mutilation.”

The article goes on to describe the important work of the hospital.