Much news to report in the four months since our Holiday Newsletter. On the downside, at the
start of April a raging fire destroyed Hargeisa’s open-air central market, at the heart of the city’s
consumer economy. Miraculously no one died in the blaze, but hundreds of small business
owners saw their shops and stalls burnt to the ground. Edna cut short a speaking tour in London
to return home, where she urged her countrymen to stay determined as they strive to rebuild:
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Somaliland, along with its neighbors in the Horn, has also been facing its worst drought in forty
years. The 2021-22 drought followed three poor Gu (spring) rainy seasons in a row, decimating
the herds of rural pastoralists and forcing families to flee to towns and feeding centers to avoid
starvation. Edna’s staff witnessed the crisis first hand as they dealt with thousands of
malnourished mothers and infants. Following Edna’s appeal for relief, the Stirling Foundation
and LDS charities funded an emergency water delivery project, with Friends facilitating the
transfer of funds to defray the costs of hiring 165 water tanker trucks and workers to pump,
deliver, and distribute water to stressed communities in the Hargeisa region. Crises like this
remind us that Edna’s public health mission faces challenges that those of us in the West can
scarcely imagine. As we went to press, there were signs that the Gu rains had begun in a few
districts, though much of Somaliland remains at risk of famine.
Through all of these unanticipated events, the usual work in Edna’s maternity wards continued,
with an average of 125 deliveries a month, making for a total of nearly 31,000 deliveries since
the Hospital opened in 2002. The Hospital performed 750 surgeries in 2021, including 360
C-sections, 125 Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida and 126 Cleft lip and Cleft Palate cases. Your
donations have helped support training programs for new teams of nurses and midwives in
Berbera, Gabiley, and Erigavo; supplied new equipment for the Hospital’s laboratories; and
provided a facelift to the physical plant, including fresh coats of paint and the replacement of old
plumbing and wiring. This year, the University will be graduating its first batch of 18 medical
students trained entirely at the Edna Hospital, with external examiners from the UK, the US, and
Kenya. And seven doctors (4 women and 3 men) are enrolled in the new one-year Postgraduate
Diploma course in Obstetrics and Newborn Care.
Finally, in March we learned that the Edna Adan Hospital Foundation, our long-time partner in
fund-raising for the Hospital, had been dissolved by decision of its Board of Directors. Friends
will be reaching out to the Foundation’s network of donors to encourage them to continue their
commitment to the Edna Hospital, and we will keep you informed of the added responsibilities
and initiatives that we now expect to be taking on.
Meanwhile, as we do every year at this time, we invite our readers to consider a donation to
Friends in the name of a mother or father—living or deceased—to support Edna’s dream of
delivering the best health care to every parent and child in Somaliland. On behalf of Edna, her
team, and the families they serve, Friends thanks you sincerely.
Dr. Lee Cassanelli, President of the Board, Friends of Edna’s Maternity Hospital.