They have been to hell and back, but on Friday afternoon there was just joy as Yolande Korkie was reunited with Anas al-Hamati for the first time. The Yemeni hostage negotiator working with Gift of the Givers in his native country risked his life to free her from her al-Qaeda kidnappers.The two had not seen each since they parted ways in a hotel in Aden, where Yolande stayed after her release from eight months in captivity in January last year.Yolande, 45, and her husband, Pierre, were kidnapped in the Yemeni city of Taiz in May 2013, triggering a horrendous two-year journey, a ransom demand of R30-million and constant fear for their lives.Hamati spent months tracing the couple, often having to travel in the dead of the night to meet the kidnappers to secure Yolande's release.story_article_left1Pierre, a former Grey College teacher, was killed during a botched rescue mission by US special forces in December last year.At the time, everyone had hoped he would make it home for Christmas.On Friday, Yolande - who now works at the University of the Free State - said Hamati had worked right down to the very last moment to help free her husband, too."He is a godsend; he put his own life, and that of his family, at stake to help us."Their emotional reunion brought back memories of Yemen, a country they both love and which is systematically being destroyed by civil war."In the hotel in Aden, Anas gave me one of the phones and said to call if I needed him. I stood there with the phone in my hand and I thought: 'I don't know how to use a phone any more.'"She said she had lost the ability to use technology after eight months in captivity.Hamati had to flee Yemen and briefly took refuge in a neighbouring country following Yolande's release after the kidnappers accused him of taking the ransom money.The two were brought together this weekend to deliver food parcels on behalf of Gift of the Givers in Bloemfontein.Sitting next to Yolande on a couch at a hotel in the city, Hamati apologised for not being able to bring Pierre home.full_story_image_hleft1But Yolande would hear none of it. "There was nothing more that he could do, nothing," she said."The fact that we had made it that far means he did everything right, the rest wasn't in his hands ... wasn't his mistake."Yolande is trying to rebuild her life and credits her two children for keeping her on track."They have made it worth trying to continue ... it's a journey. Each day brings new challenges. I do not think too far ahead. Tomorrow is not here yet."Hamati will be in South Africa for the next few months to continue his work with Gift of the Givers.He said he had spoken to Mali negotiator Mohamed Dicko to help prepare him for negotiations in the case of another South African, Stephen McGown, who has been held captive in Timbuktu since 2011.Yolande is now working on a book, scheduled for release early next year, about her and Pierre's ordeal. She said the writing was helping her to deal with the effects of what happened."It's really hard to be a hostage; time goes very slowly. One should never think that it is a situation a person can adapt to. Therefore I want to voice my support for the efforts to see Stephen McGown safely released."..