Amanda Lindhout

Facts of Amanda Lindhout

Full Name Amanda Lindhout
Nationality Canada
Date of Birth 1981/6/12
Birth Country Canada
Birth Place Red Deer, Alberta

Amanda Lindhout is a Canada-based public speaker and philanthropist who talks about humanity. She is widely known for her book A House in the sky: A Memoir, where she has written the experience and torture she felt when a Somalian terrorist group took her as well as her friends hostage.

Lindhout is serving as the executive director of the Global Enrichment foundation which she founded in 2010. Its main objective is to provide university scholarships to females in Somalia. Recently, Amanda has also shared her story in the episode of Date Line.

Early Years

On June 12th, 1981, Lindhout was born in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. She was not given the opportunity to grow up in a typical and cozy setting.

Amanda Lindhout smiling
source: Wikipedia

Her parents divorced when she was still a young child, forcing her to live with her mother in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. Lindhout read the National Geographic News as a child.

Lindhout was born in accordance with the current astrological sign of Gemini. When she was younger, she had done some modeling since she wanted to be a model. Similar to this, she was a waiter before beginning her reporting profession. You may also like to know about Kareem Rush.

Family History

The members of Lindhout’s family are her parents and her siblings. She was raised by her mother along with her brothers Mark and Nathaniel after her parents divorced.

Amanda Lindhout and her mother Lorinda Lindhout
source: Global News

Despite working at a minimum-wage job, her mother Lorinda Lindhout reared her three children well. On the other side, Lindhout’s father needed to rely on his disability payments due to a chronic medical condition.

Lindhout also expresses gratitude to her mother for securing her release and claims that she would have died if it weren’t for her mother’s assistance.

What is the Net Worth of Amanda Lindhout ?

According to estimates, Amanda Lindhout has a net worth of $1.5 million, which she has amassed through her job as a journalist. She also makes some money from the sale of her memoir, A House in the Sky.

She is the executive producer of the charitable Global Enrichment Foundation, which has benefited several people.

Was abducted by a group of armed Somalis.

Two days after their arrival in Mogadishu, Amanda was abducted by armed Somalians. Her mission companion Nigel Brennan and a few of the Somalian guys they were traveling with are the people that were caught with her. This incident happened on August 23, 2008.

Lindhout, who was in Somalia on assignment for France 24, was on his way to interview some internally displaced people (IDP) when a gang of armed terrorists from the Hizbul Islam extremist group stopped and kidnapped him.

For fifteen months, Lindhout and her companion were held captive and subjected to extensive torture and cruelty. The captive footage was uploaded by the kidnapper to Al Jazeera, along with a $2.5 Million ransom demand.

The sum eventually dropped to $1 million. The assault group issued many threats to their parents. To get the ransom money, they had to sell their belongings.

She and her friend were freed when the transaction was completed through a business that specializes in paying ransom money. She was hospitalized in Nairobi Hospital for two weeks after their release to address acute malnutrition.

Her digestive system took two years to recover from the damage done to her teeth.

Torture and Mistreatment Lindhout Suffered While a Prisoner

Lindhout endured physical and mental abuse as she was held captive for several days. She would consider killing herself daily.

Also she endured numerous harsh beatings, a horrific rape, and little to no nourishment. She had to drink the water that was tainted with mosquito larvae since she was underweight.

Lindhout was imprisoned in a pitch-black room with a chain around her ankle. She was ill, but no medication was given to her.

Speculation That She Is Married to Her Kidnapper

It was rumored that Amanda married Adam, one of the kidnappers, even though she was held hostage for more than a year.

Maybe they were only rumors that Adam spread because he believed he would one day wed her. However, neither Amanda nor Adam regard the other as their spouse, and neither has clarified this issue.

Rumored To Have Become Pregnant While Being Held Hostage

While Lindhout was being taken hostage by a group of Somali terrorists, she was viciously abused. She endured psychological and physical abuse.

She was frequently violated by her captors, and it was said that she gave birth to a child while she was being held captive by the terrorist.

If the rumor is real or not, it is still unclear. She has only mentioned that she has endured numerous horrible horrors.

Converted to the Islamic faith

In order to avoid being killed by their captor, Amanda and her buddy Nigel changed their religion to Islam.

Amanda Lindhout and her friend Nigel Brennan converted their religion to Islam
source: Sowetan live

They were given an English translation of the Quran, which made it easier for them to spend time alone. It was also a way for Amanda and Nigel to communicate. They would italicize words that, taken together, had some meaning. The reference includes a page number to help you find the words.

Ader Ali Omar’s arrest

Ali Omar Ader served as the primary mediator and was accused of threatening and kidnapping Lindhout. Ader, who has been introduced as Adam, sent Hello to Amanda in a message. She called the Royal Canadian police because she was so afraid.

Ali Omar Adar, one of the gang members that kidnapped Amanda Lindhout
source: BBC

They claim that a string operation took six years to complete in order to capture Adam. Ader begged for pardon and claimed he had changed into a different kind of villain.

He pleaded for pardon and release. According to him, his family was struggling and had no one to help them.

It was discovered that he had no criminal past and had carried out this heinous act for $10,000. Ader received a 15-year prison sentence on June 12, 2015.

Are Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan still friends?

Brennan claims that the unpleasant event has disturbed their way of life and that they haven’t spoken to one another in more than seven years. He testified in court against Ader.

They don’t appear to be interacting in public. Brennan claimed that while being held captive, he was made to watch while his companion was beaten and sexually assaulted.

A House in the sky: A Memoir

Together with journalist Sara Corbett, Amanda wrote the book A House in the Sky: A Memoir. She described her experience of being kidnapped in this book. It was a 2013 New York Times bestselling book, winner of the CBC Bookie Award for best Canadian nonfiction, and a 2014 Libris Award finalist for best nonfiction book of the year.

A House of the sky: A Memoire book authored by Amanda Lindhout
source: Amazon

The book is being offered for $9.74 on Kindle, $17.50 for the cover, and $10.25 for paperback. It has a 4.7 rating on Amazon. The book was also chosen to be adapted for the big screen, and Roonie Mara will play Lindhout.

Charitable work

After her release, Amanda started working as a humanitarian and public speaker. She gave a speech regarding women’s rights to the UN Association in Ottawa. She also expressed her thoughts, opinions, and awareness on a variety of forums, such as Google Ideas, the Calgary One Billion Rising event, and others.

Also she  established the Global Enrichment Foundation, which supported refugee aid and helped educate Somali women. She ultimately returned to Somalia as a result. She was also able to get rid of the fear she had accumulated from difficult situations.

Awards and citations

In June 2012, Lindhout received the Red Deer Women of Excellence Award in Human Services from the Red Deer & District Community Foundation.

She spoke at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative in March about the Global Enrichment Foundation’s humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa. Lindhout was awarded an honoris causa doctor of law degree by the University of Lethbridge on May 30, 2014.

Social Media

Amanda prefers to keep her private information private and does not enjoy being the center of attention. Her social media accounts have been kept private.

This can be the result of her frequently receiving critical, threatening, and abusive texts about her physical appearance. Facebook and Twitter are both active for Lindhout.

Her Facebook account has more than 5.6k followers. Likewise, she uses a private Twitter account under the username @AmandaLindhout in which she has amassed more than 15k followers. You may also like to know about Delora Vincent.