28/07/2026
ታሪክ፣ ዘላቂ ትሩፋት እና ታላቅ ራዕይ ወደ አዲስ ምዕራፍ!
የእውነተኛ ፍቅር፣ የከበረ በጎ አድራጎት እና ለሀገርና ለወገን የመኖር ታላቅ አርአያ የሆኑት የክቡር ዶ/ር በርናርድ አንደርሰን (የጃማይካው ጎንደሬ) እና የሕይወት አጋራቸው የሲስተር እማዋይሽ ገሪማ ዘላቂ ራዕይ ወደ አዲስ ታሪካዊ ምዕራፍ ተሸጋግሯል።
የጎንደር ዩኒቨርሲቲ ከሲስተር እማዋይሽ ገሪማ የኑዛዜ ወራሾች፣ ከተጠቃሚዎች እና ከባለአደራ እንደራሴያቸው ከአቶ ዳዊት ደርበው ጋር በመሆን፣ ግንባታው የተጀመረውን ሆስፒታል ሙሉ በሙሉ አጠናቆ ለሕዝብ አገልግሎት ለማዋል ታሪካዊ የጋራ መግባቢያ ስምምነት ተፈራርሟል።
ይህ ውሳኔ የሁለቱን ታላላቅ ባለውለታዎች ስም ከመዘከር ባለፈ፣ ለሀገራችን የጤና እና የትምህርት ዘርፍ ዘርፈ-ብዙ ጠቀሜታዎችን ይዞ የመጣ ነው፡
1. የዕንቁው የውርስ ስጦታ (Endowment) ዘላቂነትና ዋስትና፦
ባለ 70 መኝታው ዘመናዊ ሆስፒታልና ሙዚየም ወደ ጎንደር ዩኒቨርሲቲ መካተቱ፣ ፕሮጀክቱ በጠንካራ ተቋማዊና ሕጋዊ ማዕቀፍ እንዲመራ ያደርገዋል። ይህም የባለእምነቶቹ ውርስና ንብረት (Endowment) ሳይበረዝ፣ ሳይከለስና ሳይቋረጥ ለታለመለት የሕዝብ ጥቅም ለዘላለም እንዲውል ሙሉ ዋስትና ይሰጣል።
2. ጎንደርን የሕክምና ቱሪዝም (Medical Tourism) መዳረሻ ማድረግ፦
ዶ/ር በርናርድ በሕይወት እያሉ ያስጀመሯቸውን የጉበት፣ የጣፊያ፣ የልብና የደም ሥር የቀዶ ሕክምና ስፔሻሊቲዎችን ይበልጥ በማስፋፋት፣ ማዕከሉ ከፍተኛ ጥራት ያለው የሕክምና አገልግሎት የሚሰጥበት ይሆናል። ይህ ደግሞ ከሀገር ውስጥ አልፎ ከጎረቤት ሀገራት ጭምር ሕሙማንን በመሳብ ጎንደርን የሕክምና ቱሪዝም መዳረሻ ያደርጋታል፤ የሀገሪቱንም የውጭ ምንዛሬ ፍሰት ያግዛል።
3. የምርምርና የልህቀት ማዕከል፦
ይህ ተቋም የሕክምና አገልግሎት ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ ለቀጣይ ትውልድ ሐኪሞች ጥራቱን የጠበቀ የድኅረ-ምረቃ ስልጠናና የምርምር ማዕከል በመሆን ያገለግላል። ዶ/ር በርናርድ በዩኒቨርሲቲያችን የጣሉት የማይረሳ የአካዳሚክ አሻራ አሁን ይበልጥ እንዲያብብ መንገድ ይከፍታል።
“የጃማይካው ጎንደሬ” ዶ/ር በርናርድ አንደርሰን ማን ነበሩ?
ዶ/ር በርናርድ አንደርሰን እ.አ.አ. በ1937 ጃማይካ ውስጥ ተወልደው፣ በአሜሪካ ዋሽንግተን ዲሲ እጅግ የተደላደለና ታዋቂ የቀዶ ጥገና ሐኪም የነበሩ ቢሆንም፣ “ወደ ጥቁር ሕዝብ መኩሪያ፣ ወደ እውነተኛዋ የትሕትና ምድር እንመለስ” የሚለውን ጥሪ ተቀብለው በ1997 ዓ.ም. ሙሉ ሕይወታቸውን ለጎንደር ሕዝብ ሰጥተዋል።
የፍቅርና የትሕትና ተምሳሌት፡ የመክፈል አቅም የሌላቸውን በራሳቸው ወጪ በማከም፣ መንገድ ላይ የወደቁትን በመኪናቸው ጭነው ወደ ቤትና ሕክምና በመውሰድ ያሳዩን ፍቅር በቃላት አይገለጽም።
የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ እምነትን ተቀብለው የኖሩና ሕይወታቸው ሲያልፍም በገዛ ፈቃዳቸው በደብረ ፀሐይ ቁስቋም ማርያም እንዲቀበሩ ተናዘው በማረፋቸው ድፍን የጎንደር ሕዝብ፦ "የማን ዘመድ ሞተ አትበለኝ ሀገሬ፣
ጎንደር ሰው ሞቷታል እናላቅሳት ዛሬ" ብሎ ማልቀሱ የሕዝብ ልጅነታቸውን ህያው ማረጋገጫ ነው።
ዶክተር በርናርድ የሕክምና ምሁር ብቻ አልነበሩም፤ ዘመናዊ ቴክኒኮችን በመጠቀም ውስብስብ ቀዶ ጥገናዎችን በማከናወን ረገድ የተካኑና በዓለም አቀፍ ደረጃ በስማቸው የተመዘገቡ ሁለት የሕክምና መሣሪያዎች ፓተንት ያሏቸው ባለሙያ ነበሩ።
ከዚህም ባለፈ በእውቀት የተቃኘ የታሪክና የፍልስፍና ሰው፣ እውነተኛ የአፍሪካውያን አስተሳሰብ አምላኪ፣ "ሊምቢክ ግሊምፕስስ" (Limbic Glimpses) የተሰኘ የግጥም መድብልና የምርምር መጽሐፍ ያበረከቱ ደራሲ እንዲሁም አስደናቂ የስዕልና ቅርጻቅርጽ ችሎታ የነበራቸው ጥበበኛ ነበሩ።
የጎንደር ዩኒቨርሲቲ የዚህን ታላቅ ሰው ውለታ ለመመለስ፦
1. በየዓመቱ በሥነ-ምግባራቸውና በሙያቸው ለተመሰከረላቸው ምርጥ የሕክምና ምሩቃን “የዶ/ር በርናርድ አንደርሰን ሽልማት” ይሰጣል።
2. የጎንደር ዩኒቨርሲቲ 70/100ዓመት ምሥረታ ባከበረበት ወቅት በሰፊው ከዘከራቸው መካከል አንዱ ሲሆኑ ለአስር ዓመታት ያስተማሩበትና ያገለገሉበት የቀዶ ሕክምና ማዕከል “የዶ/ር በርናርድ አንደርሰን ቀዶ ጥገና ማዕከል” ተብሎ በስማቸው ተሰይሟል።
በእሳቸውና በባለቤታቸው ሲስተር እማዋይሽ መታሰቢያ የተሰየመው የሆስፒታሉ ክፍል "የዶክተር በርናርድ ዋርድ" ለታላቅ ቅርሳቸው ምስክር ሆኖ ያገለግላል።
ከፊርማ ሥነ-ሥርዓቱ በኋላም የዶ/ር በርናርድና የሲስተር እማዋይሽ መታሰቢያ ሙዚየም በታደሚዎች ተጎብኝቷል።
ይህ ታሪካዊ ስምምነት የዶ/ር በርናርድና የሲስተር እማዋይሽ ገሪማ ራዕይና ትሩፋት ከትውልድ ወደ ትውልድ እንዲሻገር፣ ለኢትዮጵያ ዘላቂ የጤና አገልግሎት አዲስ ምዕራፍ የሚከፍት ወሳኝ እርምጃ ነው!
፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥
ሐምሌ 16 ቀን 2018ዓ.ም
History, a Lasting Legacy, and a Grand Vision Reach a New Chapter!
The enduring vision of the honorable Dr. Bernard Anderson (affectionately known as “The Gondere of Jamaica”) and his life partner, Sister Emmawayish Gerima, who stood as towering role models of true love, noble philanthropy, and selfless devotion to country and community, has officially transitioned into a historic new chapter.
The University of Gondar, alongside the legal heirs of Sister Emmawayish Gerima, the beneficiaries, and their trusted trustee, Ato Dawit Derbew, has signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding to fully complete the construction of the hospital and open its doors for public service.
Beyond honoring the memory of these two great benefactors, this milestone brings multifaceted benefits to our nation's healthcare and education sectors:
1. Sustainability and Safeguarding of a Precious Endowment
By integrating the under-construction, modern 70-bed hospital and museum into the University of Gondar, the project will now be guided by a robust institutional and legal framework. This provides absolute assurance that the benefactors' legacy and endowment remain pristine, uncompromised, and uninterrupted, serving the public good for generations to come.
2. Positioning Gondar as a Destination for Medical Tourism
By expanding the specialized surgical disciplines initiated by Dr. Bernard during his lifetime, including hepatobiliary (liver), pancreatic, cardiovascular, and thoracic surgeries, the center will provide top-tier, high-quality medical services. This will draw patients not only from across Ethiopia but also from neighboring countries, establishing Gondar as a medical tourism hub and boosting the nation's foreign currency inflows.
3. A Hub for Research and Academic Excellence
This institution will serve as more than just a hospital; it will be a center of excellence providing high-quality postgraduate training and research opportunities for the next generation of physicians. This path will allow the unforgettable academic footprint Dr. Bernard left at our university to flourish even further.
Who Was Dr. Bernard Anderson, "The Gondere of Jamaica"?
Born in Jamaica in 1937, Dr. Bernard Anderson was a highly successful and prominent surgeon in Washington, D.C., USA. However, answering the profound call to "return to the pride of Black people, to the true land of humility," he moved to Ethiopia in 2005 G.C. to dedicate his entire life and wealth to the people of Gondar.
An Icon of Love and Humility: Words cannot describe the love he showed—treating those who could not afford medical care at his own expense, and picking up the destitute from the streets in his own car to provide them with shelter and medical attention.
A True Son of the People: Having embraced and lived the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo faith, he willed to be laid to rest at the Debre Tsehay Kuskwam Mariam Church upon his passing. The grief of the entire population of Gondar, who wept chanting, "Ask me not whose relative has passed, my country; a giant of a man has died in Gondar, let us mourn him today," stands as living proof of how deeply he belonged to the community.
A Man of Multifaceted Talents: Dr. Bernard was far more than a brilliant medical scholar. He was a master surgeon skilled in performing complex procedures using advanced techniques, holding international patents for two medical devices registered in his name. Beyond medicine, he was a deeply knowledgeable historian and philosopher, a true Pan-Africanist thinker, an author of research texts, a published poet who penned the collection “Limbic Glimpses,” and a gifted artist skilled in painting and sculpting.
Repaying a Noble Debt: The Commitment of the University of Gondar
To honor and preserve the immense contributions of this great man, the University of Gondar continues to strengthen its dedicated initiatives:
The Dr. Bernard Anderson Award will be presented annually to outstanding medical graduates recognized for their exceptional ethics and professional excellence.
Having been prominently honored during the University of Gondar's historic anniversary celebrations, the surgical center where he taught and served for a decade has been officially named “The Dr. Bernard Anderson Surgical Center” in his honor.
The specific hospital unit named in memory of him and his spouse, “The Doctor Bernard Ward,” stands as a testament to their monumental legacy.
(Following the signing ceremony, attendees also toured the Dr. Bernard and Sister Emmawayish Memorial Museum.)
"This historic agreement is a decisive step that ensures the vision and legacy of Dr. Bernard and Sister Emmawayish Gerima are passed down from generation to generation, opening a brand-new chapter for sustainable healthcare in Ethiopia!"
፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥፥
July 23, 2026
