Posted on 05/18/2012 2:25:18 PM PDT by Da Bilge Troll
Joplin is getting another big boost from the Middle East as the Missouri city rebuilds and prepares for the anniversary of a devastating tornado that killed 161 people.
United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba was in Joplin Friday to announce that the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation is donating $5 million to Mercy Hospital for a pediatric section and the development of a neonatal intensive care unit, a first for the Joplin hospital.
Mercy was one of the most prominent of 8,000 buildings destroyed in the May 22 twister. The towering structure was left little more than a shell after the EF-5 tornado cut a wide swath through the southwest Missouri community. The hospital was knocked 4 inches off its foundation. Every window was blown out. Several people inside were killed or injured.
Mercy has relocated to a temporary space with plans to have a new 825,000-square foot, 300-bed hospital in operation by 2015.
"The resilience of the people of Joplin is an inspiration to the entire world," Al Otaiba said. "Emiratis have watched this community recover and rebuild from the disaster last year, and we are honored to help Mercy deliver an enhanced level of medical care to children."
It was the second major donation to Joplin from the UAE. In August, the nation announced a challenge grant that could be worth up to $1 million to purchase new laptop computers for all 2,200 students at Joplin High School. The high school was destroyed in the tornado and students are attending classes in a converted department store until a new school can be built.
Volunteers from the UAE also made the 7,000-mile journey to help Habitat for Humanity build homes in Joplin.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Now if the rest of the ME would follow their example
PR campaign.
Countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey are also well represented on Google Trend’s top-10 list for populations searching for different kinds of animal sex, etc. Arabic is the language that is most often used for searching for “donkey sex”, Indonesian is most used for searching for “animal sex,” etc.
If this money comes without a requisite sharia indoctrination, then I applaud them.
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