Feven Getachew `24 did not prepare for the Iowa cold. When she arrived at the Des Moines airport from Ethiopia in January 2021, she said, “I thought, ‘Okay, I will just wear a hoodie and something underneath and that will be good enough.’” Luckily, she said John Edwards, director of international admission, brought her plenty.
Renfrow Hall, set to open its doors on the esteemed campus of Grinnell College in Iowa, stands as a profound tribute to the enduring legacy of Edith Renfrow Smith, a
Saving the lives of babies born too early in Ethiopia
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Assosa, Benishangul-Gumuz region
By Feven Getachew
In her hospital room, 21-year-old Sibo Bekele cradles her three-day-old baby girl. Leto is Sibo’s first baby and the name means branch. The baby was born prematurely and weighed less than two kilogrammes at birth.
“When my water broke at seven months, I was not worried,” says Sibo. “My husband brought me to the hospital and the nurses took good care of me and my baby.”
Sibo’s assurance came from seeing her own sister give birth at seven months a few years ago.