I write stories about amazing people who are making contributions and discoveries – large and small – that are taking us towards a fairer and more sustainable world. I spend a lot of time doing online research, to find them and then to tell their stories. But they are usually people I have never met, much as I would like to. 

So this is why today’s post is different. I have met Edna Adan Ismail, who is now in her 84th year, and had the privilege of staying at her hospital in Hargeisa more than a decade ago. I have heard her tell some of her stories in person, and I have sat at the dining table in her apartment sharing meals with some of the women who work at the hospital. She is one of my heroes, and in many ways, she encapsulates the history of Somaliland, which – unlike neighbouring Somalia – is now a peaceful, self-governing country that has truly been built by its people.