May Chidiac’s mother, Yvette El Soury, was in the garden planting roses when she found out her life had been abruptly uprooted.

Her daughter had been attacked, targeted in a 2005 car bomb explosion that nearly took her life.

“Somebody had decided to silence me forever,” said Chidiac, a journalist from Lebanon.

Chidiac, Gao Yu of China and Elena Poniatowska of Mexico, all recipients of the IWMF’s 2006 Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement awards, participated in a panel discussion Oct. 25 at the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC.

The panel was moderated by Maureen Bunyan, anchorwoman at WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, DC.

 “I think it was a miracle that I escaped,” said Chidiac, a broadcast journalist with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation who lost her left hand and left leg in the attack.

But Chidiac didn’t let the incident deter her from fighting for press freedom. She returned to her job in July, even more determined to be a voice for free speech in Lebanon.

“I used to talk about everything without being afraid of anything,” she said.

Chidiac, who also teaches journalism at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, emphasized the importance of discussing global issues.

It’s a pity that media in the United States seem to pay little attention to the rest of the world, said Poniatowska. The renowned journalist and author pointed out that other countries “enrich each other.”

Still, it’s an ongoing struggle to get people to communicate. Gao, who was twice imprisoned for her writing, explained that “China is secret from U.S. media;” she had no choice but to learn about the U.S. from media outlets approved by the Chinese government.

The awardees fielded questions from the audience about their work as journalists and what it takes to persevere in the face of adversity. And they continue to strive for worldwide press freedom and the presence of women’s voices in the media.

“I have to continue my mission,” said Chidiac.