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Miss Annalena came to Borama six years ago, and one of the first things she did was to expand Borama Hospital facilities, by adding five new wards and other facilities to the existing infrastructure, including a two-story block dedicated for the administration of the hospital. Thanks to her, the services provided by the hospital improved substantially. She also invites twice a year specialized doctors to come to Borama hospital to treat patients that are coming from different parts of the country. Miss Annalena also treated thousands of TB patients in the hospital and eradicated it from Borama and its surroundings. Unfortunately, patients are now coming from different parts of Somaliland, and even from the eastern part of Ethiopia and Djibouti as such facilities are either non-existent or inadequate in other places. She is planning to extend TB centers throughout the country to treat TB patients across the Somaliland.
HIV/Aids affected people are also being taken care of at the center, and the awareness rate of Borama and its surroundings against this killer disease are amongst the highest in Somaliland. Miss Annalena also launched a campaign to wipe out Female Genital Mutilation, a custom usually carried out when girls are around seven years old. Though this custom is not a requirement of the Islamic religion, it is a taboo, and many men would not agree to marry a girl who has not gone through FGM because they think of her as loose. Miss Annalena made awareness programs (seminars, workshops) and educated both women and men via religious leaders, and intellectuals to eradicate FGM. As a result of her efforts, the practice has been reduced.
One of her other great achievements is the establishment of a school for the deaf for the first time in Somaliland. The school enrolled about a hundred students who came from different parts of Somaliland, and also trained teachers in this field of education of the deaf. She takes care of a great number of orphans at her residence and teaches them Koran when they are young.
Unfortunately, Miss Annalena who has been responsible implementing all afore- mentioned programs, is facing difficulties. Her work is demanding and some people in the community misunderstand what she is doing. I congratulate the Nansen Refugee Award in recognition of her relentless efforts against human suffering.
Abdirahman Ibrahim (Aleel)
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