Women prepare to enter the newly built permanent building of Oasis Hospital in Al Ain in 1964. The woman on the right has her hair tightly braided as was customary for women at the time. Different braiding styles were used by different tribes.
The hospital's first cement-block building housed 20 patient rooms, a nurses' station/nursery and a utility room. The hospital was the sole source of medical treatment for the residents of Al Ain and nearby Omani border towns. Soon after opening, the staff were seeing nearly 200 patients per day.
When Pat and Marian Kennedy, medical doctors and the hospital's founders, arrived in 1960, the infant mortality rate in Al Ain was 50 per cent, and the maternal mortality rate was 35 per cent. Thanks to the hospital, infant mortality rates are now about one per cent and maternal mortality is rare.
Funded by a grant from Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, a new, state-of-the-art-hospital is scheduled for completion in 2012 on the existing hospital site.
Time Frame is a series that opens a window into the nation's past. Each week it features an image from the archives of both prominent institutions and private collections. Readers are invited to make contributions to yourpics@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
