Cooperation with St. Mary Hospital in Aksum

Current project of Hawelti e.V.

We not only had equipment for a hospital, but also many ideas for helping the people of Aksum. However, we were unable to provide the necessary equipment, partly due to a lack of expertise. Nevertheless, we are working closely with the hospital, even without an ‘official cooperation agreement’.

For our trip in September 2015, we had planned to visit a municipal hospital to get an idea of the medical care available. So we made an appointment with Dr Zekarias Merha from St Mary’s Hospital in Aksum.

We learned that poor people can apply for an ‘eligibility certificate’ from the city, which entitles them to free treatment and medication. The remaining patients must pay for treatment and medication themselves.

There are a total of four municipal hospitals in Aksum; two of them are specialised and the other two provide general medical care. In addition, each hospital has an outpatient department.

St. Mary’s Hospital, which we visited, has 53 nurses and 153 beds in the following departments:

Surgery
Internal medicine
Paediatrics
Maternity ward with a section for premature babies

There are also various outpatient departments (including ophthalmology, dentistry and general medicine). A total of approximately 1.5 million patients are treated annually.

One major problem is the energy supply; only one of the two electricity generators is working. During our visit, for example, hospital laundry was washed by hand because the electricity was needed to prepare food.

Currently, there is only one functioning device available for blood tests, and a donated tomography device is not working. In the physiotherapy department, we spoke with a physiotherapist: here, too, various devices and aids are missing.

As medical care plays an important role for us and we have already received several offers of medical equipment, further discussions followed with the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Gebremichael Weldegebriel (economic clinic manager), and the Chief Clinical Service Officer, Dr Tsegazeab Tschaye (medical clinic manager).

In addition, there are various outpatient departments (including ophthalmology, dentistry and general medicine). A total of approximately 1.5 million patients are treated annually.

And on 1 October 2015, Mr Weldegebriel and we signed a cooperation agreement. This is a great success for us as a small association.

This cooperation agreement enables us to organise and carry out medical aid transports. We will now inform the hospital about medical equipment that has been offered to us. In consultation with the other municipal clinics, we will assess whether there is a need for this equipment. If there is, we will store it, load a container and transport it to Djibouti. From there, the equipment will be imported by the clinic and transported to Axum.

The first offers made to us in Germany have already been agreed with the hospital and are now waiting in a warehouse to be transported to Axum.

During our trip in 2016/2017, we were in constant dialogue with the hospital. In many conversations, we learned about the continuing tense situation and other equipment needed by the hospital. We received a list, which we have now distributed to various organisations and helpers in Germany.

Above all, however, our attention was drawn to the problem with the existing premature baby ward. The need for space has continued to grow in recent years, so that this ward has become too small. As no other suitable rooms were available, the staff social rooms were converted and the ward moved in.

However, there is still far too little space here, which means that hygiene conditions are also inadequate. Up to three babies lie under one red light lamp at a time. There are insufficient funds for the new building. While still in Ethiopia, we tried to secure the support of a German foundation. This attempt failed because the costs for buildings are not eligible for funding; the eligible equipment is already available in the hospital.

After visiting the hospital and the ward, we decided to help St. Mary’s Hospital finance the urgently needed building. This financing is an independent sub-project.

Project update December 2019:

A new neonatal ward has now been built with the help of additional donors, so we currently see no need to provide support in this area.

Medical equipment that was donated to us was to be transported to Aksum in a container. We have received approval for a transport subsidy from Global Engagement in Bonn. However, this is conditional on a ‘southern partner’ taking over the import and transport from the port to the clinic. Unfortunately, this has been very difficult for some time. Therefore, with a heavy heart, we have decided to offer the equipment to other organisations.

Regardless of this, the hospital is very interested in a clinic partnership. A letter expressing this wish is currently being drafted in Aksum. We will then forward this letter to hospitals in Germany and make ourselves available as ‘mediators’.

If you have any relevant contacts, we look forward to receiving your email or phone call.

Project update 2024:

The hospital was also one of our targets during our first trip after the war.

We had already worked indirectly with St. Mary’s Hospital during the war, as our local partner repeatedly helped babies in this hospital during the many fundraising rounds.

This time was no different. One fundraising round helped 17 babies and children who are being treated here for severe malnutrition.

In addition, we donated 144 pairs of glasses to the eye clinic, mainly reading glasses.

Project update 02/2025:

Over the past year, we have tried to help the hospital by making requests to organisations such as Cap Anamur. To our great regret, this support failed, mainly due to the authorities in Addis Ababa.

As we are not medical professionals ourselves and find it difficult to bring materials and equipment to Aksum, our support during and after this trip has been limited to several fundraising campaigns in which malnourished and/or sick babies receive donations.

And because we are still unable to offer the hospital the urgently needed help/support in the form of buildings, equipment and medicines, we are ‘officially’ ending this project. Of course, we will continue to keep our eyes and ears open.

AND this does not, of course, exclude further support for families with malnourished and/or sick babies.