“Whatever I do is only a fraction of what needs to be done for our people so am grateful that I have been given the opportunity to do it” Dr Edna
By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Amid a multitude of encumbrance’s fruits of the Edna Adan maternity Hospital are visible to all.
Master Raghe Mohamed Ali is a vibrant 9 years old boy who was born at Edna Aden Maternity Hospital in April 2003 when proper medical facilities were few in Hargeisa while other regions had none at all.
On the six month of Raghe’s life in his mother’s womb, the soon to be father Mohamed Ali started making plans to have his wife deliver in a neighbouring country as his was fearful of the ramshackle facilities then available.
The absence of these medical facilities that were a result of the massive destruction meted upon the country by Dictator Siyad Barre were also operated by very energetic but quack medics who are worth credit for jump-starting the health sector.
Though deliveries were ongoing within the ramshackle facilities, Mo Ali the father to be, had other reasons for worry since his last child was born 12 years before the pregnancy in question.
Somalilandsun came upon this story when I noticed that the Medeshivalley.com website provides free advertisement for the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital and thus a subsequent communication with the Editor of the site Mr. Mohamed Ali who happens to be the father of master Raghe.
This is what Mo Ali said, “My youngest son Raghe (the late comer – named because his next kin of my family in age is 12 years older than him) was born at Edna University hospital in April 2003, which is one of the reasons why I have decided to give free permanent advert to the Hospital at the front of my webpage. This is not the first that I have supported the noble humanitarian work done by Edna and her staff for the women of Somaliland and others from Somalia. I have indeed published photos and articles from the Hospital in Medeshivalley photo gallery page where more than 4000 viewers from all over the world have accessed to see how the staff and management of the hospital headed by Edna Adan , as well the Western supporters of this humanitarian work is saving lives in this young and emerging democratic nation . Visit www.medeshivalley.com to access the Edna Adan Hospital site”
Mo Ali who lives and works in Surrey England, says that the dedication of people like Edna Adan and her professional medical facility is behind the belief in his homeland thus being among a few landers in the diaspora whose families reside back home in Somaliland.
Asked if she basks in her ever increasing a larger than life international repute for her efforts towards alleviating local child mortality through provision of safe motherhood, Dr Edna Adan said, “Whatever I do is only a fraction of what needs to be done for our people so am grateful that I have been given the opportunity to do it”
Though she is now the face of Somaliland women health internationally, where she globetrots in search of support for safe motherhood Dr Edna Adan remains abreast of things past and present as testified by her vividly remembering not only the birth of Raghe but the date as well.
Said she, “I hope that all is well with Raghe and that he is by now following his intermediate education”
As per the token appreciation of a grateful father who uses his site to advertise her hospital Edna Adan said , I Thank Mohamed Ali very much for his kind support and encouragement which is very much appreciated.
The Somalilandsun is calling upon others to emulate Mo Ali and support Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in any way possible.
Hospital Profile
The Edna Adan University Hospital is situated in Hargeisa, Republic of Somaliland. The hospital is a non-profit charity that was built by Edna Adan Ismail who donated her UN pension and other personal assets to build the hospital in order to address the grave health problems that endanger the lives of women and children in the Horn of Africa.
The construction of the hospital was started on the 1st of January 1998, and as it progressed, private individuals, business people in Somaliland and elsewhere, as well as international organizations, also made valuable contributions enabling the hospital to become functional on the 9th of March, 2002.
The Project has the approval of the Government of Somaliland, and the Local Government of Hargeisa has donated the Land that measures 9,600 Square meters. The hospital is on the main road near the Bank of Somaliland at Dumbuluq, and is located in a less affluent area that contains a third of the population of the city in a part of the town that has never had a hospital in the past. The site is centrally and conveniently located, is well served by public transport making it easily accessible for emergency referral.
The Hospital is supplied by the city piped water supply and to the city electricity power. The hospital also has its own electricity back-up generator.
The Hospital started with 25 maternity beds. However, as the need for hospital beds became pressing, and as personnel became trained, the hospital services expanded to accommodate an additional 8 paediatric and 13 medical and surgical beds, and a Private Room. The present total capacity of the hospital, including newborn babies, is 69 patients. While the hospital became fully operational on March 2002, the training of Nurses and Laboratory Technicians was in progress while the hospital building was under construction.
Mrs. Edna Adan Ismail (who was appointed Minister of Social Welfare in August 2002 and then Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Somaliland in May 2003) is the Director of the Hospital and runs the Hospital activities with appointed Deputy Directors and the Hospital Administrators.
An 18-Member Honorary Board of Trustees, consisting of persons of good standing, and from different nationalities and clans of Somaliland, has been identified and invited by the proprietor, Mrs. Edna Adan Ismail, to advise on Management and verify to the Authorities the Charity Status of the facility as well as to scrutinize Auditing results.
For more on the hospital visit http://www.ednahospital.org
