Young Woman Defies Cultural Norms, Saves Casualties of Terrorist Attacks

Just 60 miles from the border of Somalia, in conservative Wajir County, Kenya, it’s extremely rare to see a woman driving along the wild, dusty roads, let alone speeding along in an ambulance. But that’s exactly what 23-year-old Bishara Farah does as the area’s only female ambulance driver.

Also the youngest member of the ambulance crew, Farah at times puts her life in danger tending to the casualties of the al-Qaida–affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group located just across the Kenyan border in Somalia. She also picks up victims of car accidents and animal attacks and pregnant mothers in distress. Though her job is fraught with danger, nothing can stop her from pursuing what she describes as her calling to save lives.

Farah has become well known in the area, and while she has become accustomed to the disapproving looks and comments from men in the male-dominated society, she is a role model for other young women. They often circle around her ambulance to chat with her on her rounds. Not wanting to discourage them, she downplays how hard the job can be.

“'They would be surprised if they knew what being the driver of an emergency vehicle meant,” she tells the BBC. “I am sure they would be filled with empathy if they knew that I wake up late in the night and get into risky situations.”

Farah is on call around the clock and is often called in the middle of the night to remote areas, something her family is not thrilled about.

“They are concerned because of the times I am woken up in the middle of the night,” she says. “My brothers are forced to take me to the vehicle so that I can drive to the emergency scene.”

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Being an ambulance driver is a tough, high-pressure job, especially with having to navigate miles and miles of unlit dirts roads in a conflict zone. But Farah is undeterred.

“My job involves saving lives, and this requires me to be alert the whole day,” she says.