European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                S&3 Karfo Doug tily patients walk the dimly tit hath of the Bairoa Hospital. Bairoa Hospital workers tend to a patient amid peeling Walls and rusting Beds. Somalian hospitals operate on a Generator and a prayers amps Vince Crawley s4s Vince crawl Var. Mohamed Hussein sits in his cluttered office. By Kevin Dougherty staff writer tacks of papers and books on d r. Moha med h us be i n s desktop serve As a sort of Buffer that allows i m to peer across his office to the doorway giving ntf1 the tactical advantage of being Able to see anyone who enters before they see. Whether the Buffer is by design or not the somalian doctor knows it is important to be vigilant about one s surroundings. And Hussein s surroundings for the past couple of years have been a cluttered office at Mogadishu s differ general Hospital though it looks As if Hussein just moved in Quot i live and work Here Quot says Hussein the Deputy director of the 60g-bed Hospital. I was living in theol but that was before the civil War. The Hospital is Niobe secure than the  but Somalia s largest civilian Hospital is rot Safe enough for most of his former medical colleagues a y of whom left the Hel Lacious somalian capital for the an injured child sits with his Mother awaiting care at the Bairoa Hospital where medical supplies Are limited. Countryside or to practice in a neighbouring land. Since september 1991, the Hospital s medical staff has dropped from 70 to 24, Hussein says. At the height of the civil War the Hospital was attacked and sorted though today it is relatively Calm. The signs of pillaging Are still evident however. Electrical wires Dangle from where Light fixtures once Hung. Damaged and stripped Hospital equipment is haphazardly piled into an unused operating room. The dark and shadowy hallways Are eerily void of decor typically found in hospitals. A Quot we Don t have Antiseptic machines but we have the room and tools to operate Quot Hussein says. Inside Hussein s office the gaunt looking doctor sits behind an expansive wooden desk and takes a dragon a half smoked kenyan cigarette. An associate sits nearby but says nothing. On the other Side of the room is Hussein s unmade cot which is enveloped by a Green Mosquito net. The late afternoon Sun is the Only source of Light. A. A at this hour the Hospital s generators Are resting. Hospital staffers run the generators from 8 . To 2 . And from 6 . To Midnight. The four hour break is designed to conserve diesel fuel which is supplied by i inthe f r us \ a a i s Quot a a. Is amps Kevin Dougherty a sign addresses one threat to Good medical care the United nations. There have been some discussions Between Hospital and . Officials for additional Aid. The Hospital is not receiving any direct Aid from the United states but Hussein figures there probably is som assistance that is routed through International Relief agencies. Quot this is the first step Quot Hussein 43, says of the . Assistance. Quot we Hope they will follow with the rehabilitation of the  the country s health care system is in critical condition because of civil unrest and widespread shortages of just about everything from doctors to antibiotics to a Ray film. In Bairoa for example Hospital patients sleep on Beds fitted with sheets of plastic in lieu of cloth linens. For now somalian hospitals Are entirely dependent upon the Good will of humanitarian organizations and donations from abroad. Hussein says differ receives supplies from an array of humanitarian groups such As the International committee of the Redcross world health organization United nations children s fund and pharmacists without Borders. Quot they Are giving us everything they can but it does t mean that we Are getting everything we need Quot Hussein says. In Bairoa the Only Hospital in town manages to remain open despite the Lack of running water and electricity. Hospital workers rely in the generosity of humanitarian organizations. Abdullahi Hassan 28, a nurse at the Bairoa Hospital says the agencies do provide him with some supplies but he says he could always use More antibiotics and painkillers. His Supply of a Ray film is Low As Well. Hassan makes his rounds through Ward 1 wearing a Green Short Steeve Smock from holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City Utah. He walks across an  wept Concrete floor and past Watts with peeling White paint As he checks on 14 patients including several amputees. Like Many other somalian health care workers Hassan labors under Adverse conditions for Little or no pay. He stays he says because his people Are at risk. Quot if i go my people they die Quot Hassan says. Not everyone is so committed. Aside from working in Quot a War Hospital Quot Money was a key reason Why so Many doctors left differ Hussein says. His staff has t been paid in three years. Quot i can say that i have moral satisfaction in my work but there Are people who Don t even have this satisfaction Quot Hussein says. On this Day there were 350 patients at differ. Hussein says nine out of 10 patients Check in with either gunshot or shrapnel wounds. Differ was especially chaotic following the oct 3 raid that left 18 . Army rangers and More than 300 somalis dead. The Hospital received the bodies of 25 dead somalis and 253 people wounded in the attack. Seven of the injured later died. While the violence in this troubled nation continues to overburden hospitals the famine has been declared Over. Abdullahi Ahmed Dis sow who has worked at the Hospital in Bairoa since july 1992, says there is a world of difference in Bairoa Between then and now. Quot it was a lifeless place Quot says Dis sow 38, a University geography professor by Trade. Quot people were in a very sorry situation. They were like stick  16 the stars and stripes Tuesta 0< �mb�r21, 1993 the stars and stripes