Ethiopia: ADRA Provides Food Aid in Drought-affected Area ... The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing emergency food aid for 13,000 people in the severely drought-affected area of Gode, in the Somali region of Ethiopia. ADRA is working in one of the worst affected areas, Adadle Woreda, a district in the Gode Zone that consists of 40 villages, where malnutrition and death rates are higher than most other parts of the country. Recipients will receive special therapeutic food during the worst period of the drought, starting June 1. Each will receive enough food to last them for one month. Those who suffer from HIV and AIDS will also receive more than six pounds of a high-energy, vitamin-enriched food supplement. The project, worth nearly $300,000, is funded primarily by the German Government, in partnership with the ADRA office in Germany. The intervention will continue through August. [Nadia McGill/ADRA]

United States: Doctor Invents Fibroid Surgical Technique ... A doctor at Adventist-owned Florida Hospital has invented a technique to achieve better outcomes for women who suffer from large uterine fibroids. Dr. Steven McCarus has invented a technique for minimally invasive or laparoscopic hysterectomy that would allow for a much smaller incision and shorter recovery time than a traditional hysterectomy. Dr. McCarus has now published “The McCarus Technique” and is training hundreds of doctors in performing the procedure.  [Melanie Trivento/Florida Hospital]     

Taiwan: Adventist Hospital Welcomes 100,000th Baby ... Doctors and medical staff welcomed and celebrated the arrival of the 100,000th baby delivered at the Taiwan Adventist Hospital Monday, May 15. Sun Wei-hung, the first baby entering the world via the Taiwan Adventist Hospital on Section 2 of Bade Road in Taipei 51 years ago, was among those on hand to welcome the arrival of the 100,000th baby, a baby girl born at 8 a.m. According to Sun, his parents chose the Adventist Hospital because they were from a Christian family. The number of babies born in Taiwan has dropped from 750 per month in the 1970s to now only 200 per month across the island.  [The China Post]

Sao Tome and Principe: Former ADRA Worker Appointed Minister of Health ... A former staff member of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency’s (ADRA) office in Sao Tome and Principe, Dr. Arlindo Carvalho, was named Minister of Health for that country. Carvalho joined ADRA in July of 2005, serving as the Health and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Coordinator for its malaria-reduction program in the West African island republic. “We are very proud of Dr. Carvalho’s appointment,” says Emanuel G. da Costa, country director for ADRA Sao Tome and Principe. “This honor recognizes the quality of ADRA’s staff, and considering the excellence of his work, as well as his knowledge of the national health situation, and his strategic planning capacity, it comes as no surprise to us.”  [Nadia McGill/ADRA]

United States: Union Elects First Woman Vice President ... Delegates at the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s local Mid-America Union broke new ground by making Elaine Hagele the first woman in Seventh-day Adventist history to be vice president for finance of a local church administrative unit also known as a union. Hagele has served as the associate vice president for finance in Mid-America for the past five years. [Mid-America Union Communication Department/AR]