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Somaliland Africa's Best Kept Secret

“..But it is Somaliland that has accurately been dubbed Africa’s best kept secret.

“In June this year, the region held its second democratic presidential election, which was observed to be free, fair and credible by observers from the US, the UK, Norway and South Africa. To top it all, Somaliland witnessed a continental rarity in the peaceful transfer of power to the opposition candidate, Ahmed Mohamed Silaanyo.”

The EAH, located in Hargeisa, Somaliland, is a non-profit charity community hospital built by the Hospital Director and founder Edna Adan Ismail. The hospital is the main teaching institution in country for midwifery with a history of training community and post basic midwives. Since declaring independence in 1991 Somaliland has suffered many of the problems associated with post conflict including a critical shortage of health professionals. This rewarding position offers a unique opportunity to be involved in the development of human and institutional capacity, crucial for the rebuilding of the health system in Somaliland.

Role

The post holder will lead the implementation of a high quality BSc Midwifery Programme for qualified midwives, the first BSc level Midwifery course to be run in Somaliland. In consultation with EAH and the UOH s/he will take overall responsibility for the delivery and evaluation of the course. As the course lead, s/he will be responsible for planning the teaching programme; supervising course tutors (including short term international technical support) and ensuring effective mentorship of the students.

Essential

• Practicing midwife and registered in own country
• University graduate, educated at least to Master’s Level
• Education qualification or proven extensive experience of midwifery teaching at BSc level, with strong clinical and theory skills
• Fluent English speaker (the course will be delivered 100% in English)
• Strong research skills
• Strong IT skills – word, power point and excel
• Able to work independently
• Innovative and adaptable, able to work effectively in a resource constrained environment
• Strong interpersonal skills, able to communicate and collaborate effectively with people from a wide range of backgrounds
  Desirable
• Substantial developing country work experience, preferably North / north-east Africa or sub-Sahara

To apply, please send a CV and a one page covering letter to Rachael Coker, THET, 1 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 0AE or by email to rachael@thet.org.

Closing date for applications is 31st December 2010
Interviews mid January 2011

While the American Academy of Pediatrics agrees that FGM serves no medical purpose, it argues that the current federal law has had the unintended consequence of driving some families to take their daughters to other countries to undergo mutilation. The pediatricians say that “it might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm.”

But is this plausible? I fear not.

I am familiar with this debate in two ways. First, I come from a culture where virtually every woman has undergone genital cutting. I was 5 years old when mine were cut and sewn. Second, while serving as a member of parliament in the Netherlands, I was assigned the portfolio for the emancipation and integration of immigrant women. One of my missions was to combat practices such as FGM.

Read the full article by Ayaan Hirsi Ali at The Daily Beast:

This opportunity offered free surgery and free pre and post operation care. To make this chance known to all those who could benefit from it, we utilized all the media available to us. We made radio announcements, took out ads in the local newspapers and even sent out mass SMS / mobile phone messages.

The response was the largest ever at our hospital. Over 30 women, from both Somaliland and Somalia, took part in this fistula camp.

Many of the moving stories that were related to us by the women brought tears to our eyes. One particular story stands out of a woman who has been suffering from an obstetric fistula for 20 years. She visited every traditional healer and tried every outlandish method, but she was never told that her condition could only be repaired surgically. After 20 years, she is dry and we are so grateful that we were given the chance to help this woman and others like her. We are indeed blessed.

We’re grateful and proud that the visiting team contained 2 female surgeons from Ethiopia. They were excellent surgeons and well experienced and they were also great role models for our medical students, nurses and midwives and all hospital staff who worked with them.

This woman suffered from a vesicovaginal fistula for 20 years.

This intensive fistula camp was also a great opportunity for Somaliland doctors to take part in the surgeries and work with an international team.

A simple thank you is not enough to express our gratitude for the support and excellence of the WAHA and UAE Red Crescent team. The qualifications of the professionals and the quality of the surgeries performed were inspiring and unequaled.

We very sincerely hope that WAHA and UAE Red Crescent will keep us in their future plans for a visit once or twice a year, as much work still remains.

Read more at the WAHA web site: Somaliland Patients come from Somalia to be Operated in Obstetric Fistula Camp

We are proud to let you know that two of our Midwives received the Best Midwives Awards from the SNMA. Both were trained at our hospital and both work at our hospital and really deserve the honor.

Somaliland Nursing & Midwifery Association

Meanwhile, blogger Andrew Sullivan, among others, is horrified to learn that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has endorsed a ‘kinder gentler’ form of FGM:

NEW YORK, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — International human rights organization Equality Now is stunned by a new policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which essentially promotes female genital mutilation (FGM) and advocates for “federal and state laws [to] enable pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ‘ritual nick’,” such as pricking or minor incisions of girls’ clitorises. The Policy Statement “Ritual Genital Cutting of Female Minors”, issued by the AAP on April 26, 2010, is a significant set-back to the Academy’s own prior statements on the issue of FGM and is antithetical to decades of noteworthy advancement across Africa and around the world in combating this human rights violation against women and girls. It is ironic that the AAP issued its statement the very same day that Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) announced the introduction of new bipartisan legislation, The Girls Protection Act (H.R. 5137), to close the loophole in the federal law prohibiting FGM by making it illegal to transport a minor girl living in the U.S. out of the country for the purpose of FGM.

More…

Edna Adan receives French Legion of Honor

As noted by the Ambassador in his speech conferring this honor, Edna might have chosen to receive the medal in Paris under a golden roof but, instead, chose to receive it here at the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital:

Edna, you were awarded the Legion of Honor because of your outstanding example as a human person. I cannot say more than these two words: a Human Person with all the dignity attached to this quality. The French Republic at the top has recognized in you a person who has promoted the Human values for which the French Republic stands in the world. That is the true meaning of your recognition. Many times we are not living up to our expectations as defender of human rights but we recognize this as our duty, our special mission in the world, in international politics and everyday life. We recognize when somebody in the world raises these expectations. We recognized you.

…Everybody should be made conscious that this other end of the world, best known as the land of chaos, we call it with you: Land of Hope.

Edna Adan speaks accepting Legion of Honor

The occasion was combined with the graduation ceremony for a class of 26 newly-trained Laboratory Technicians.

Of these, 19 were boys and 6 were girls. In the final examination, the top three graduating students were all girls!

Given the diminished status of women in Somaliland culture, this is considered to be excellent good news!

The French ambassador went on to say:

“We want to recognize future Ednas, maybe in the assembly today. I address the young nurses and laboratory technicians or pharmacists in training here: Are you ready to follow the path opened by Mama Edna Adan Ismael?

“Are you ready to become the new Ednas?

“It’s your turn now for the sake of yourself, your own dignity, the health of your sisters and daughters, we want you to give birth to healthy children who will be the strength of Somaliland tomorrow, mothers and babies defending peace and prosperity in this region the Horn of Africa.”

We have a new page in the main web site dedicated to this occasion. You can read the speeches by both the Ambassador and by Edna Adan:

Read More > Edna Adan Awarded French Nicolas Sarkozy

Letters of Congratulation include this one from Tropical Health and Education Trust, which partners with the hospital on training activities. It was such a proud occasion for Somaliland that the national television station will present a one-hour program about it tomorrow night.

Edna missed getting a photo of the encounter, herself, but happily somebody else did.

The two go way back.

Says Edna:

“I had a longish chat about FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] with Hilary Clinton and reminded her of our first meeting in Beijing in 1995 during the Women’s Conference there when I was the first person on that occasion to raise the question of FGM.”

Here are four of the best of what was taken.

There are many (many!) more photos in the Edna Hospital Photo Galleries.