She was held captive by a militant group for eight months before her release. Her husband’s captivity lasted 18 months before he was shot and killed on December 6, 2014.
But Yolande Korkie bears no bitterness, as her Christian beliefs have enabled her to forgive the militants responsible for the couple’s capture in Yemen and Pierre’s (husband) death.
Korkie, 53, addressed a gathering at the City Hill Church in Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday, where she spoke mainly about her “love story”, her time in Yemen, and making peace with Pierre’s death.
Pierre, a schoolteacher, formerly from the Free State, taught English in Yemen while Korkie was involved with humanitarian work at a hospital for widows and orphans.
Their two children, teenagers at the time of the kidnappings, lived with them in the Arabian peninsula country.
She said her captors gave no assurance that she would be kept alive or released . Korkie had no contact with her family or children and only hours before her release, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of Gift of the Givers, who assisted her bid for freedom, told her that the children were safe and in South Africa.
“Pierre unfortunately died without ever again having contact with our children or his family,” she said.
Much of her Yemeni experiences of five years has been covered in the book she penned, “558 Days”, which was released in February 2016.
She described the multi-themed “558 Days” as a “donkey laden with a variety of goods”.
“It is a story that shares the unspeakable questions that every person in distress asks God; it is a journal that reflects respect and understanding between Christians and Muslims, and it is a personal memoir that speaks about impossible choices, spiritual truths, humour and hope, but also a love for the Yemeni people.
“Above all it is a love story!”
Korkie decided early in her kidnapping ordeal to keep a journal of how things unfolded.
Once she started to write the book afterwards, it took about eight months to complete. But there were times when the “heartache overwhelmed me, and I wanted to hit the pause button”.
“But the Lord gently encouraged me that this story was not about me or Pierre but that this was about Him.
“It was hard and bitter-sweet, but very therapeutic. Writing helped to sort out the different themes and my hope has always been that others would find some kind of healing as they read the book.”
She has no regrets about her time in Yemen.
“We’ve formed the most remarkable and lasting friendships there, we’ve learnt about the generous Yemeni people and loving other cultures and religions.
“Pierre is in heaven, and we miss him on a daily basis, but we also treasure what we learnt while in Yemen and never regret our time there.”
As a possible reason for her capture, Korkie said foreigners had a perceived value, and some groups aim for their country to be free from any religion other than the one they follow.
At the time of their capture, Korkie said they were preparing to travel to South Africa the following day to attend her father-in-law’s memorial service and were kidnapped en route to collecting their visas.
“It was only when the door on my side of our car was opened, that’s when we realised something terrible was happening. Kidnapping is an ‘ongoing incident’, in our case one that would last 558 days.”
Having recovered from the hostage experience, Pierre’s death, and being able to move on with life together with her two children, Korkie had the desire to help others whose lives were ravaged by crisis situations.
Korkie approached INcontext International, an NPO that gives a Christian perspective on global news events, and explained her vision of working with churches and organisations to strengthen their support to their communities dealing with crisis situations
It resulted in the formation of the Crisis Response Network (CRN), a Cape Town-based NPC with a local and international presence. Korkie is CRN’s founder and a director.
“Our aim is to alleviate the suffering of people by working with grass roots partners and support their readiness, response, and restoration responses in their communities.”
Korkie said CRN was not a traditional first-responder humanitarian organisation. They network with grass roots partners who make known the needs of a community in crisis to CRN. Then, assistance is drawn from CRN’s resource partners.
The resources include financial donations, basic daily living items, debriefers, experts in water, sanitation and hygiene and agriculture.
CRN was actively involved during the 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal, and assisted local partners. The organisation sourced aid from this from their resource partners such as Rise Against Hunger Africa and iTau.
They have conducted various crisis relief programmes in Uganda and their work has also extended to places like Mozambique, Uganda, Ukraine, Syria after the earthquake, and the Mexico/US border.
Korkie said they were involved with many local projects currently and the challenges they faced were similar to what other NGOs faced, but celebrated each individual who had their hope restored and redeemed from “the dark moments of their crisis”.
Vera Vencatasamy, who attended Korkie’s talk in Hillcrest, was left feeling “inspired“.
“Her words resonated with profound simplicity and touched the hearts of all present. Her tangible peace and unwavering connection to a higher purpose was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Her love for both God and humanity left an indelible mark on us, reminding us of the boundless capacity we have to care and uplift.”
Vencatasamy said Korkie’s “extraordinary ability to extend forgiveness” was a reminder that one’s purpose exceeded imagination.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE