Thursday, April 1, 2010

Sheikh Ahmed, whose Father Sheikh Zayed who was the President of the UAE and now his brother, Sheikh Khalifa is the President, died this past week when his glider crashed over a lake in Morocco. Yesterday was the funeral and now there are 3 days of mourning.   So to make that a little more clear, Sheikh Zayed was the the previous President of the UAE and died in 2004.  His son Sheikh Khalifa is now President and his other son Sheikh Ahmed who passed away was the Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

This morning, Trey went with a few men from the hospital to Abu Dhabi to pass along condolences from the hospital to the ruling family.  This afternoon, I will be going with a few women to visit Sheikh Ahmd's mother and other family who are present. 

Sheikh Ahmed was born at Oasis Hospital and used to play with the kids of the missionary family that started Oasis.  We received an email this morning about memories the kids had playing together.  Oasis has had a pretty big impact on the community and many of the royal family has and continue to be born at our hospital.  It's a unique place with unique opportunities.

I wish we were going to visit the ruling family for other reasons than a funeral.  Throughout the coming year, I'll go with other women from the hospital to give greetings from the hospital as women have babies and as celebratory times come about such as Aid during Ramadan.

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