PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. — The U.S. aid worker rescued by Navy SEALs in Somalia was a student leader at her Christian grade school, attended a religious college in suburban Philadelphia and “fell in love with Africa” while doing student teaching in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Rev. Don Meyer, president of Valley Forge Christian College, said everyone at the small school in suburban Philadelphia is thankful their prayers have been answered after word that 2007 graduate Jessica Buchanan, 32, was rescued along with Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark. The two had just finished giving a workshop on land mines when gunmen kidnapped them in October.
“Ever since Jessica was captured, we all as a community have been praying for her safety and for her safe release,” Meyer said in a telephone interview.
President Barack Obama ordered the rescue after intelligence indicated Buchanan’s health was failing, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly. A Danish Refugee Council official said Buchanan was “not that ill” but needed medicine.
Buchanan’s family reported that her health is good, Meyer said. Relatives did not immediately comment.
The family had asked people at the school not to discuss the case while authorities tried to negotiate Buchanan’s release, Meyer said. Now, he said, the school wants to offer its “deep gratitude” to those who worked to free her.
Buchanan was an elementary-education major at Valley Forge Christian — which has about 1,100 students — and had done a student-teaching stint at Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi as part of her course work.
“She fell in love with Africa,” Meyer said. “She could hardly talk about Africa without tears in her eyes.” The Associated Press
