Getting ready

Lots of people have been asking about my summer trip to Hargeisa, Somaliland, so I decided to blog for the next two months. I've never blogged before, so this might turn out poorly...just providing advance warning. But, here goes.

For a little background, Somaliland is an independent region in the northwest of Somalia. It has its own government and is considered a peaceful and autonomous region, but it has not been recognized internationally by other countries. So, technically, it is part of Somalia. If you look more into the history and current political circumstances of the country you will see that there are lots of problems in Somalia (14 transitional governments since 1991). Unfortunately for Somaliland, it gets clumped in with Somalia almost all the time despite its independent and peaceful nature. Without international recognition, Somaliland does not receive any political stance, legitimization, or outside aid. I don't want to go on and on, but there is a lot of interesting background to this region of the world. Go read more on it if you are interested.

I will be at the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital located in Hargeisa, which is the capitol of Somaliland. Edna Adan Ismail started the hospital in 2002. (http://www.ednahospital.org/) For some more (brief) background, Edna was born in Somalia but received training as a nurse-midwife in England. After returning to Somalia, she married a politician who would later become Somalia's Prime Minister, worked for the World Health Organization (WHO), after Somaliland declared independence (1991) she served for a time as Foreign Minister, and she started the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital. I'm pretty stoked to meet this lady!

I found out about the hospital somewhat randomly in late November/early December 2009 while researching obstetric fistulas for my introductory interdisciplinary studies course. I've been in communication with Edna since December and decided in early March I wanted to spend the summer in Somaliland. I have been trying to prepare as much as possible over the last few months as far as reading about the history of Somaliland, Edna, culture, and maternal health issues in the region. I do not know what I will be doing day-to-day but Edna has provided some possible projects I might be working on, all related to maternal health. Hopefully, I will be of some help. Although, going into this, I am pretty positive I will be learning way more than any help I can provide.

I leave tomorrow! I'm finally all packed up. My suitcase weighs 46 pounds, so at least I am making it under the weight limit. Although I leave tomorrow afternoon, I do not arrive in Hargeisa until Wednesday late morning. I'll be going from St. Louis to Washington, DC to Frankfurt, Germany to Dubai to Berbera. I am to be picked up in Berbera (coastal city in Somaliland) and driven to Hargeisa. I'm excited to be there, not sure I am so excited about the hours of planes and airports. Don't get me wrong, I love to fly! But two full days of travel sounds slightly grueling.

Talk to you on the flipside.