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An American aid worker, Jessica Buchanan, who was kidnapped by Somali bandits and held hostage in the desert for 93 days before a dramatic Navy SEAL rescue mission brought her home will be the keynote speaker at the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger Results Luncheon on Tuesday, February 7, at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport.
(At left, iconic actor and director, Clint Eastwood, stands with Jessica Buchanan's best-selling book about her kidnapping in the background. Eastwood announced he will be directing the movie version of Buchanan's story as his next project.)
In 2011, Buchanan was 32-years-old when she was in Somalia helping distribute food to children and teaching children how to avoid landmines and helping with the with fellow care worker Poul Thisted. Their car was hijacked by Somali bandits with AK 47's. For the next 93 days, she and Thisted slept outside, sometimes in the cold and pouring rain. They were given only one small can of tuna and a piece of bread to live off everyday. After three months in the desert, Jessica developed a urinary tract infection and was in extreme pain. In the final call to the hostage negotiator she said she believed she was going to die. It was this call that set in motion a chain of events which would ultimately lead to her rescue. Just when she began to lose hope, she had no idea what was being planned by the U.S. government and never in a million years thought that the President would know her name and where she was. On the night she was rescued, when she heard the gunfire, she thought it was a rival Islamic faction come to kidnap her and probably kill her. She explained what happened: "I hear my name. But it's not a Somali accent, it's an American accent. And I can't compute. Like I can't understand that somebody with an American accent knows my name. And they say, 'Jessica we're with the American military. We're here to take you home, and you're safe'."
The ordeal is detailed through the perspective of Jessica, and her husband, Erik, in their New York Times bestselling book, Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six. In October 2016, the movie rights to Buchanan's story were optioned to Clint Eastwood, who plans to direct the film as his next project.
Buchanan will share her riveting and compelling story with attendees at the 2016 Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger Results Luncheon, and also help to announce the final fundraising total of the 2016 Campaign. "We could not be more pleased to have Jessica agree to attend and speak at our Luncheon. Her story is both fascinating and mindboggling. Her commitment to ending hunger and children are why she agreed to attend and speak, and we are grateful that she will be a part of this event. It should be a memorable day for all attendees," remarked Jon Paradise, Vice President of Governmental and Public Affairs for the Maine CU League.
Invitations to this special event will be sent out to all Maine CUs and other invited guests later in January.