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Dear Family and Friends, It has been a while since I have been able to get a message off to you. Our administrator was gone for a month and I have been doing a bit of double duty again. We have also been preparing for a dedication ceremony for our new hospital building. Well, yesterday we had the ceremony. It was a big event and was held in the new hospital building on the third floor, in the auditorium. We had a nice ceremony that was well attended. There were about 350 people there. First, at about 8:30 in the morning, people began to arrive, then at 9, we had the local church pathfinder group, march by wearing uniforms, waving flags and singing songs. This really drew the crowds. It also warmed our heart since some of the kids were only 4 years old. The had a display of marching and songs. Then they presented flowers to the special guests. This all happened on the dirt road outside the front of the new hospital building. We then had a ribbon cutting ceremony. After this, we all went into the building and on up the ramp to the third floor where we had the ceremony. There were a number of speeches, but what thrilled us so much was to have the founder of the hospital, Dr. Caude Steen, with us. He came out here to Gimbie in 1947, as a young doctor, to start the hospital. What a great time it was. He brought along three of his sons and several grandchildren as well. The crowd roared with applause as Dr. Steen and his family were introduced. Finally, all the speeches were done, and a tour of the building was given followed by a lunch for all the guests. Our food committee had been cooking for days to prepare for this opening. They cooked up 5 sheep and 15 chickens along with loads of onions, potatoes, bread and other food. There was a bit of crisis two days before our ceremony when the shoppers went to the market and discovered not a single sheep was being sold. We discovered that this week as a fasting week for the Ethiopian Orthodox church, which means they can still eat, but not meat. The farmers figured that business would not be good for sheep, so they didn't bring any to the market. After some diligent searches and visits to farms, our shoppers were finally able to track down the sheep, since culturally this is the kind of food that should be served at this function. The food ladies had erected a tent out behind the building and set up three rocks stoves to cook everything. The stoves are made with three rocks, a pot on top, and the spaces between the rocks are where the fire wood is pushed under the pot little by little to keep the flame going. They did a wonderful job of it with such simple foods. There was food left over after the ceremony so this was given to the poor in community. All in all, a good day for everyone. As for the new building, let me give you a visual picture of it: The building is on the side of the hill, so the main entrance is on the second floor. As you enter, there is a lobby. To the left is the men's open ward. As you walk through the open ward, you get to the emergency room on the other side. There is actually a separate door for the emergency room from outside on the front as well. If you turn to the right from the main lobby, you enter the private ward. This is where there are private and semiprivate rooms. From the main lobby there are stairs going up to the third floor. On the third floor, there is a lobby, just over the entrance lobby. From this lobby, if you go right, you go into the main auditorium. This is an open hall that can be used for meeting or classes. If you go left from the third floor lobby, you will go into the offices and guest rooms area. Going back down to the main lobby on the second floor, if you take the steps down, they will lead you to the first floor. If you go right from the landing, you will first go into changing rooms that lead into the O.R. area. There is a recovery room on the left, then two O.R.'s on the left. On the right are storage areas and instrument preparation areas. From the landing if you go left, you will see our new delivery room and past that you will enter the OB ward, the pediatric ward and the women's ward. Besides the steps, there is a ramp behind the building that will lead up and down from the main building. This is for wheel chairs and gurneys. I hope you enjoyed the tour. Sincerely in Christ, Nick, Phosfe, Christopher and Ian Walters
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Updated 2 May 2003