Update on Work

Our work, especially out doing surveys, has slowed down as we are out of names/referrals to pursue for interviewing.  We've taken this time to focus on health education:  both raising awareness regarding our surveying, as well as increasing knowledge about lung disease in the community.  There are many misconceptions about lung disease- even the terminology does not match up very well- everyone uses a different word for TB, or pneumonia, etc.  Some people "have the lung," and others say they "were touched by the cold" and thus are sick.  Our education is along these lines:  We have taught two education sessions that are hosted by the government health extension workers, and we have another one this week.  This week we are also spending time doing education within our own support groups.  (I, of course, can't help throwing in a one man drama involving lots of coughing...)

One problem is "false" referrals- we are pushing for people to give us names to survey, but many of the names we are now getting are people assuming they will gain something for other health complaints from our project.  Once we sit down to interview them they may say something like, "Well, I cough sometimes, but my ears have been pussing since I was a child" or something like that.  Sammy is screening carefully before surveying.

We are, however, now up to 15 TB patients.  They are all taking their medication well- Sammy went to the health center this morning to verify that none of them have defaulted.  They are also all improving well and we try to visit each of them every week or two.  Some of course need more visiting/support than others.

My next project is to use the GPS data we have:  I would like to map out Kebele 09, with borders, and plot where we have surveyed, where we have TB positive cases, and where we have done education sessions.  How broad have our activities been when compared with the borders of the kebeles?  Are there pockets we haven't touched yet?  This would inform how to proceed.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful it is rainy in Addis today- makes it feel more like the holidays at home.  I am thankful to live in a old cozy Italian house with a fireplace, big veranda doors, and stone steps.  I am thankful that I know the holiday table at home is one of happiness and peace, and is going to be beautiful and full of good food.  I am thankful for friends here is Addis that become like family, because we are, and can share tables of peace and beauty tonight.  I am thankful for my husband, who is my home, and has made my home Ethiopia.  I am thankful that my palate doesn't really notice chicken in place of turkey, and that food coloring can make the yams look just right.  I am thankful for the strength and pioneer courage of the people who founded my home country.  And for our God, who loves us and challenges us today to be strong and courageous for His name and His kingdom.

It is a happy Thanksgiving!!

The Great Ethiopian Run

Brian and I, the guards, and 35,000 other people ran Sunday morning in the Great Run!  It is so fun being out on the streets with so many other runners.  I felt SO hot and tired- I should have carried water- that I wasn't too happy with my time, but it was really fun to be out there.  Our guards were limping the next and claiming, "My legs won't obey me!"  Not sure they are used to running that far!!

Bingham Races, and Visiting

Things are going well- Brian has same long days but good days with lots of after school activities.  Last Thursday was a Bingham only cross country event, and this Saturday there will be about 7 schools at Bingham for the big meet:  the Greek school, Italian school, American school, French school, etc.!  Seeing the little kids run last Thursday was just so cute- they make the 1 km loop and when they come through the finish line, their faces look like they are in so much pain!  Sweet little things!  I always see a lot of my gal-friends when I am at Bingham so it is really fun chat time.

 

I had lunch with a nurse friend Becky yesterday.  She is doing some community work somewhat similar to mine, but she has started lots of small group Bible studies- she says the only thing she uses is just the Bible stories.  It was really inspiring- could that ever work in our neighborhood?  Maybe I could get the ladies together around Yiftu's house and tell them a story?  I know our project has a spiritual arm that I don't feel connected with- I want to talk to the spiritual relations man.

 

We went to visit the house of another of our guard friends- I would like to visit each of their houses sometime.  We were tired (from the Great Ethiopian Run 10k) that we ran on Sunday morning and I was looking forward to a nap in the afternoon when he invited us, but then I started thinking and realized how much these visits connect us- we went and had a good time.

 

Community Education.... Drama involving a cough!

Visiting...Typical home scene

Weekly update

We've been visiting Yiftu almost every day this week!  She is perky and cheerful, even though she is so thin she looks wasted away.  We're trying to encourage her to drink more, but she eats and drinks as little as she can because she doesn't have anyone to get her up to the bathroom.  I took a physical therapist yesterday to see her who suggested a chair/bucket modification to be a potty chair!  Brian is the one with all the wood tools, so I'm asking him if he'll help me make something!  I think she could get herself there if we did that.  We prayed for her in her house last week, too.

Otherwise, Brian is taking his 9th and 10th graders on a camping trip this weekend- it is part of their curiculum!  They have to pack their own food and, to some extent, find their own way.  He got permission for me to come along- I'm excited to use my new pack I got for a wedding present, and share a tent with my favorite person!!  The forest/park we're going to is just an hour outside of Addis.

After we visited the north of Ethiopia, I was thinking of all the "legends" that the tour guides talk about, and how skeptical all of us/the kids are.  "The legend is that angels helped King Lalibela build the churches, that's why they were built so fast".  Lots of vague statements like that.  

So how about our Bible?  Maybe it all sounds just like a bunch of "legends."  So I wanted to talk to Brian's 8th graders about the reliability of the Bible, the manuscripts, the historical records, etc. I think they would love hearing some of the interesting archaeology!  So Brian and I are going to team-teach some Bible classes in the next few weeks.  I hope that gives them the desire to know their Bibles more!  Lots of the kids come from non-Christian homes.

Images from married life

Peace on the streets...

The quiet of a Sunday morning.... sitting at our new desk... we can see the gorge from our windows, and our compound speaks of peace and happiness- a new marriage and a new home.

 

Then we're out on the streets as we run an errand together... People yell at us as we drive by, and when we stop to buy hay, we gain a crowd- five young boys and five more teenage boys stop within a foot of me just to stare, a drunk unkept man decides I am interesting and starts commenting, one of the hay loader announces to an old woman that I am his wife, and every passerby stares.

 

Where was that peaceful feeling I just had this morning?  The Bible sure is refreshing when I watch the sun rise and read a Psalm, but what about when it comes to putting the teachings of Jesus into reality when I am on the street and getting lots of verbal harrassment?  My thoughts and attitudes toward the starers are far from benevolent.

 

As I am walking out into Kebele ("neighborhood") 09 almost every day now for our TB project, we are walking through small streets without cars where life happens outside.  Everyone finds the white person interesting, and often their comments are rude.  I am often angry and loose my love for the people.

 

I recognized that this week and said to Brian, "When Jesus said 'pray for those who persecute you' do you think He also meant 'pray for those who harrass you?"  I think I might know the answer.

 

Tim Keller's book on the ministries of mercy (thus titled) has been a great read for me at this point.  He talks about what motivates Christians toward mercy and love.  He says, "...the person who knows that he received mercy while an undeserving enemy of God will have a heart of love for even (and especially!) the most ungrateful and difficult persons."  (pg. 60).

 

I am somewhere on that path to such an internalization of God's grace that I see every sinner differently.  What is it in my flesh that lashes out in anger when the kids call out "give me money," or when I'm driving and there is no drivers etiqutte?  How do I change it?

 

I want the calm I feel here in my home, but I want it out there, too.

Fixing a meal in the village

Tuberculosis Active Case Finding

Public health is so interesting- so different from treating people on a case by case basis!! Here you are dealing with an entire community- and a community problem.

So we are surveying for undiagnosed TB cases. Funny thing is, we have found less than we thought- after 160 surveys, we found 5 active cases. Are the numbers lower than we thought? Are the diagnostics bad? Are people honest about their HIV status? Is the health system working? We are always asking questions.

Our five patients: Alem, Bekelech, Berhanu, Habtam, and Mesfin.

Alem found out she had TB the same time she found out she has HIV. Funny, she's on treatment now and we walk by her house all the time- she beams when she sees us! I think she didn't know why she was sick and must feel a lot better now.

Bekelech is old and really cute. When she got on the scale at the health center, she weighed 40 kg, which is under 90 pounds. She was exTREMEly dramatic about how thin she is, waving her hands around and saying, "I'm not even 50 kg???" Only confirmed in my mind that she really did have TB- consumption- and her body was being consumed away!! She is on treatment now, and has a huge smile every time we come around.

Berhanu has been treated so many times for TB, when he realized he was getting same intensive treatment at the health center instead of going to the TB specialist hospital (the health center ruled out MDR based on his history of meds and negative smears) he was SO disappointed. Amazing to see him- sad, discouraged, pushed around by the health care system so much. He's convinced this round of treatment won't cure him- we've got to keep him encouraged enough not to default off his medications....

Habtam makes her living begging at Mexico, big intersection in Addis. She said, if the people I live with know I have TB, they will kick me out. She also suspects her baby has TB because he is sick, too, so we are getting him checked out. We said we would visit her somewhere else, not at her house, because we don't want to cause problems.

And Mesfin.... came in so sick laying down on the benches outside our office, brought in by his mom. And his mom is crazy, strong personality, with NO desire for anyone from a Christian project to come visit her, just wants her son better. In fact, she has always had a negative view of her HIV positive neighbors, and spreads rumors about them and talks bad about them. How strange that she would come through the gates of our HIV/TB project herself for her son's sake!!

Progress....

Things move along... We have a clinic to send our patients for x-ray, talked to the radiologist yesterday. We visited a couple patients this morning that haven't improved though it looks like they are TB negative.... Hard to guess what these patients need.

Being in their homes is so insightful- helps put together their social situation influencing their health.

Seems- as we heard yesterday- that one positive AFB (TB) result out of 40 is not so unusual or rare. Many people can have negative AFB smears even if they have TB for a number of reasons including their status. The chest x-rays should be a bit more telling. We had a good talk with the lab yesterday that is doing the AFB tests- the man we talked to seemed very sharp!!

Brian and I have been married one month today! Amazing. Was is just a month ago we were at that beautiful ranch all dressed up staring at each other? And we've been to Mexico, back to California, to Egypt, and then on to Ethiopia in the meantime??? With a trip to Langano in there are well???

We love our place in the Augusta neighborhood of Addis. It is so big and roomy! Its been fun thinking of having people over, or just having a fire and a cup of tea the two of us.

Settling in to life and a new job

Cool to read Mark this morning, along with a commentary David recommended- he spoke for a long time about the first line, "The beginning of the gospel..." Commentary said, "From here [the end of the book of Mark] he carries out his messianic task through the Spirit until his final appearance to establish once and for all the rule of God. That is the core of "the gospel.""

So I saw this cool continuum from the beginning of the gospel of Jesus ("how it all started") described in the book of Mark, to what Jesus is doing in the lives of the HIV patients that I am going to try to help with this project. He is still doing it- establishing God's rule in their life and mine.

My intro to the TB project yesterday was first overwhelming then quite interesting, and I feel it will be a lot more of the latter. The guys have done a great job getting it off the ground this summer: made up a survey looking for signs of TB, and surveyed 108 people- both HIV positive beneficiaries and other people referred by our beneficiairies. Thirty one seemed (from the survey) to have indications of maybe having TB. Those were sent for AFB smears at the lab. Great, moving along.

Well, all 31 came back negative. OK, so what's up- bad lab? really not as much TB as we thought? HIV+ people showing up smear negative? (that happens a lot...)

So it's something to apply our brains to, and I hope we can create some change, get some sick people onto treatment.

Brian is good- we are so happy in our house. He hung bedroom curtains this morning around 6:30 while I made strawberry pancakes.

We made it back to Ethiopia!!

It was so great getting home and unpacking everything in its final resting place! I think Brian was especially excited- he loved seeing his guards (I did, too!) We got home around 5:30 and just started unpacking! I had to crash around 8 but he stayed up all day! Got my bike put together and inflated the kayak!!!! It is sitting in one of our spare rooms, looking good.

The guards made us a celebration lunch- so cute of them! Doro Wot is the fancy meal in Ethiopia, so they made us that and a few other things. Guys usually don't cook much here but they did great! It was the perfect structure to the day- get up to have lunch, but no other obligations. We were in bed by about 7:45 and I was zonked so maybe this is a good transition to the "new schedule."

Brian starts tomorrow, and I will probably head in to work tomorrow afternoon or something. I think I am a little apprehensive just not having any idea what the job will be like. My American good friends in Addis are still in the states and will be
back in a few weeks, so I haven't had people to rush and call.

Anyways, we are both having such a good time settling in, and together. Took me an hour and a half to make our simple lunch of hummus, carrot sticks, and grilled cheese sandwiches because I wanted to get the hummus exactly right. (It didn't turn our exactly right,but oh well...) Brian has been drilling/hanging a pot holder hook, a robe hook, connecting the washer, and now working on a wine glass rack. He sat down to lunch and said, "It is SO great to have a wife to cook for me!" and I said, "It is so great to have a husband that has power tools!" He is using them right away.

COLD!!! It is chilly chilly here, quite a change. Driving home from the airport in the taxi, looking at dark Addis in the middle of the night, it was so great knowing I was going to a cozy home with a fireplace that my husband would make fires for me in, and warmth and love in it! We keep thinking, Wow!! I don't have to get up from sitting on the couch and drive home to dark, dank HQ!! I LIVE here with my husband!! It's great.

The Beginning of the End

Things feel different today- packing instead of the party mood. We have until Thursday morning here in California, so it will be here soon.

What an amazing summer!! We really, in no way, could have asked for any better- we got everything we wished for and MORE than I imagined in terms of God's blessings.

A few main ones that stand out....

A great time of speaking in various church and Sunday school clasees- especially being able to instroduce each other. The warmth of these amazing classes like the Women's Alliance, Koinonia, and Joyful Rebounders will stay with us and encourage us.

WAY too much generosity from so, so, so many people as we were overwhelmed with wedding gifts. We are speachless and thankful!!

An amazing camping trip when our families met in Feather River Canyon in California. Watching our brothers and sisters all interact with each other and get along so well was SUCH a pleasure for me. Bringing these two sides together was such a joy to do in the beauty of the mountains, rivers, and sunshine.

a PERFECT wedding day!! I kept waiting for the crisis, or wondering when I would start loosing my mind. It just never happened! We prayed for warm weather so people wouldn't be cold at our outdoor reception (San Jose evenings can be quite cool even in the summer) and our wedding weekend was one of the warmest of the year- it was a perfect evening! The beauty of the ranch, the fluidity of the schedule, and the warmth of being surrounded by so many people pitching in and helping us out of kindness was amazing. The beauty of gospel truth ringing out in our ceremony, and the Presence of One who makes every equation more than the sum of its parts, fileed us with awe.

An amazing honeymoon, at a place SO fancy for us simple folk! We loved it! It instilled in us a realization of how much we have been given, and how we want to learn to give back.

A highly thematic, super-fun reception in Paradise with SO much love and help from Don and Pam. They worked so hard, and it came off, as my mother said, magical. We had a beautiful helicopter ride in over the fields just north of Chico, then a landing- what an entrance!!- then a great evening in so much country beauty of hay, cowboy boots, chili dogs, and sunset colors.

The best of all: a marriage. My man shows me his true colors of kindness and a servants heart every day- and I see the deep happiness I feel in his eyes. I'm sure this phase won't last forever, but I know our love will. God showed us His love by giving us each other, and the amazing summer was like the frosting....

Quick Addis trip...

Ahh, Sunday afternoon, nice to have a break- I'm on call today but haven't had any emergencies which is a great gift of rest.

 

So the summer keeps getting closer.  I am really pretty busy with things in Langano- we've had so many teams!  Anyways, I'm working away on getting my latrines finished, taking these team members out of home visits (which is really fun), I was in a wedding last weekend as a bridesmaid ("protocol"- see blog), and then I went out to another wedding on Tuesday night- the night I slept with the bride!!  Ha!  I can't remember if I blogged about that or not.

 

With all these details this summer- flights, we still don't have ours yet, schedules of when to be where, parents with interesting comments about travel :) etc., I had a day last week where I just admitted- didn't ask, but admitted to God- GOSH I wish I could just have a face to face conversation with Brian!

 

Well Thursday afternoon I got a call from SIM's government relations department saying that I absolutely had to come to Addis the next day to appear in person in a government office so my work permit could get renewed!  I would not have chosen that as a time to go to Addis because Allyson's team was there and I was helping out, but when you have to go you have to go, and of course I knew I would get to see Brian, so it was a great little break.

 

I caught a ride with Kim, then a ride with a stranger to Mojo, then a minibus in to Addis the next day and made great time.  We went to the office that very afternoon, and the man was very cooperative  Generally those offices can be very hard to deal with and hard to get anything done, but this man said, "I see you have left your countries to come here and serve.  I wonder if I would have the same courage you have.  Here is my phone number, if you ever have any problems, call me because I know many people."  It was a really pleasant exchange.

 

Then, I got my wish!  Face to face with Brian, over Korean food at the new Korean restaurant, none the less!  We went on a date that night, it was so fun packing "date" clothes the night before in Langano knowing I'd get to go out with him.  It was fun just relaxing and telling him about all the wedding adventures down here, then I pulled out my calendar and we kicked around dates and ideas for the summer.  It felt great!

 

This week, until Wednesday, I am alone- no other nurses here.  I'm just praying that nothing beyond my own clinical capability comes in!  Also we have no car here so if someone needed urgently to go to the hospital we would just have to send them on using their own donkey cart!

 

I'm planning on moving out of Langano on the weekend of May 15.  So these next few weeks will have a lot of wrapping up in them.

 

Weddings, weddings.

"Don't you know what a Protocol is?"  Adanech asked me this a few months ago.  She used the English word "protocol" -which I know- but she was talking about her wedding, and I don't associate the word with weddings.

 

Well, I learned.  A protocol is like the bride's "maid"- sort of like a maid of honor, but a little separate from the bridesmaids.  I was Adanech's protocol, and her wedding was yesterday!  That means I am checking on her, bringing her water, pretending to fix her makeup or fix her dress, helping her move from here to there. 

 

The setting was amazing.  We stayed overnight at her brothers house in a town called Karsa up in the mountains.  His compound is muddy, muddy, muddy with all the rain, with an outdoor outhouse that had filled since it was raining (not pleasant), and it was something trying to imagine us in (rented) bridesmaid dresses and heels walking through the mud, fixing our hair and makeup and such with only cold water in buckets!  Allyson and her girls (who were flower girls) did great!  So we spent the night, four of us in one bed lying crossways, and when I woke up in the morning to the rain, I thought, wow, do we have it easy in the US!  Don't have to walk through the rain to wash our face, or take a shower, or anything!  Wow!

 

We had so much fun getting her fancy.  She is so beautiful she didn't need much makeup, and when the dress and the veil were added in it was an amazing sight.  Then we waited- the bride and her family and bridesmaids wait for the groom to come receive her.  They were delayed with one broken down vehicle, two getting stuck in the mud, all of the cars getting stopped and having to pay to cross a deep trench, and one car hitting a donkey (more challenges than expected....) so it was glorious and fun to hear the honking, singing, and drumming outside her house as they pulled up.  The grooms party entered dancing and singing as she sat- on the couch with the dress spread out behind her- waiting for his entrance.  When he arrived he walked her out to the seat of honor (the protocol behind holding her dress up of of the mud but accidentally stepping on it three times) at the little ceremony place that had been set up in the "front yard."  We ate a meal, and the crowd (of 100 people) was also served.  After being in the house for a traditional time of blessing with Adanech's parents (they were given gifts from Abera and then the bride and groom kissed the knees of the parents.  The bridal party followed suit and we kissed their knees as well), we got in the cars and headed back to Langano.  I was happy to be heading for home- we were all tired.

 

We had a short program then an amazing feast that Yeshi had fixed in our camp dining hall right here on our compound, then cake time, then a big campfire with singing and games at night.  It was a long weekend, but I was so fulfilled at the end of it- wow, I don't feel like an outsider!  My white skin doesn't go away, but I was able to be close to my good good friend (one of my best Ethiopian friends for sure) during her wedding day and she told me I did a good job being her protocol!  Ethiopians do weddings in an amazing and beautiful way. 

Langano Scenes

 

Labor and delivery...

"WE ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU.  YOU HAVE TO COOPERATE!"  I am close to her face and my voice is raised.  She waves me away and closes her eyes.  I know labor is hard, and a woman's first delivery must be scary, but she is pushing us away, clamping her legs together, and won't let us touch her!!  Allyson and I exchange frustrated looks- we are all tired.  As we seek to make our labor and delivery care more culturally sensitive, its always hard to know how to give the best care.  These women are extremely modest and don't ever want to be uncovered, which means an old blanket is always draped on her- what about keeping clean, though?

 

And at what point do we say we cannot treat her when she tells us over and over, "Don't touch me!"?  My own frustration levels are high, and as we sit and wait, we discuss and try to understand.  I think it is a group decision to bring a woman in labor into our clinic, I don't think the woman herself is usually the one requesting the clinic.  The family may be in favor of it, but to the woman herself it may be an unknown environment during a frightening time.  Who knows the layers of social history she carries?  Does her husband hit her?  Most husbands do here.  He is attempting to tell her to cooperate but she pays no attention.  She is from a town some miles away- does she get along with her in-laws?  They have thrown their hands up in frustration as well.

 

"THIS IS OUR DAY OFF and we are helping you!"  I am loud again as she swats my hand away.  FINE lets leave the room, she can have that baby her own way.  We are exasperated at her attitude and here we are trying to give her good care!

 

It wasn't until a few hours (and a healthy baby boy!) later, as I took my Sunday afternoon swim at the lake and sat on the beach listening to a sermon, that I had any perspective on her.  Romans 5:  before we took any steps towards God, He extended grace to us.  Before we deserved anything, He reached out when we would slap His hand away.

 

So what right do I have to think I am the "good guy" treated our uncooperative patient?  Am I any better than her, and do I understand grace extended to everyone?  It is easy to see myself as the good person- here from my rich country to help these poor people.  God must cringe to see those attitudes in our hearts.  None of us made any move towards Him until He came to us, and spoke to us with His Word.

Deliveries and latrines and such...

Langano is really fun.  It is hard thinking about leaving it!  I told Brian (who I saw this last weekend) that all the things I do during a work day are things he would love to do- work that is really fun for him.  He is better equipped for community health than I am!

 

I am working a lot on keeping our latrine project moving.  We have 12 to build, and we're almost finished with #5, the hole is dug for #6, we chose a spot for #7, and we're discussing possible placement for #8.  I'm learning about how we can demand more community participation (getting them to dig the hole) than I demanded last fall when we started this project.  Things are moving faster now that we're demanding more.  We chose the spot for #8, told them to dig, and we said we'd be out in one week, if they hadn't finished digging, we'd dump the dirt back in and fill it up!  I like the young man, Ganamo, that is working for us so that makes it easy to interact with him and check up on him. 

 

We've had lots of teams come out!  We had a team from Baylor University/nursing school a few weeks ago and we have another one from a church in New York here now.  NOT to mention the constant stream of visitors- it is a great place to have visitors because it has the camp facility and (usually) a cook for meals, so it is really fun!  With the medical teams my job has mostly been to take the nurses out for community visits.  I love watching their reactions- I took two nice ladies out today, and they were just amazed and loved the experience so much!  We just sat in a smoky hut, and the women made us coffee over the fire and we drank it, what is it about those visits that are so amazing?  They leave me feeling good to, I think because its one of my favorite things to do in the whole world!  Brian will be down this weekend so I'm going to try to take him out to visit.

 

We had a labor patient in on Monday.  It was complicated because she was the village leaders' sister in law, so that puts a different kind of pressure on us to make sure things work out ok.  There was a lady from our area that died in the clinic over Christmas so it makes us a little leary- we're more tempted to transfer her out sooner.  Her clinical picture was a little weird- the baby seemed (from her stomach size) to be premature, but we couldn't tell for sure because she had more fat on her than most Ethiopian women, and the woman tried telling us she was full term.  Anyways, about 3 we felt uneasy and told the family to pay for a tranport to a hospital- I was going to drive her.  We didn't want a bad situation on our hands in the evenings because we do not as an SIM rule drive after dark.

 

So I went to get the car, feeling tired from just having arrived from Addis and just so many people and languages around, drove down to the clinic to pick her up and they said, "check on her she may deliver."  So I watched her moaning and groaning, stepped out the door to have the guard call Allyson (I wanted her to be there for the delivery) and when I got back in the room, barely got gloves on and THERE was this little baby all goopy and green from meconium not breathing but big eyes open looking at me!!  I called for Kim and we had to work a while with the bag and mask and the suction to get the baby breathing, but he perked right up after a few minutes.  He was 1.7 kilos!  (About 3.7 pounds!?)  She stayed overnight so we could watch the baby, but he looked good as gold today.  He's so cute!  We were so glad she didn't deliver on the road, I don't think the baby would have lived.

Beginnings and Endings

Ahhh.... the spice and beauty of living in another culture-  If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then we see the beauty of culture when we look for it to find it, right?  The Arsi Oromo way of life:  intense and decisively meaningful.  Today we celebrated beginnings and an end.

 

Ganamo's wife had a baby about a month ago, and I wanted to visit- pay my celebratory respects.  Ganamo is a great guy- an amazing Christian man working in our clinic that I think will have a hand in changing his community.  We drove across beautiful green fields (it has been raining so much at night!) and had a great visit at his house- they were obviously well prepared for us, and served us lunch (!!) and coffee right away.  Ganamo is determined and stubborn in his hospitality- no matter how new the visitor or how regular, each person is getting a plate of food.  He instructs his kids sternly to refill our plates in timely manners.  And the newborn baby is bright eyed, fat, and full of life.

 

Then we heard, Fayissa's mother died this morning in Awassa, so we visited the funeral on the way home.  Its about four o'clock now, the sun stretches the shadows... they brought her body back to Langano and we passed a group of men finishing the burial at the cemetary on the way to his father's compound.  There was a large crowd gathered- it is the first day, so most people show up then.  We are seated in the women's area.  It is understandable that an older woman would become sick and die.  What is hard to accept is what lengths- financially crushing lengths for people with limited assets- her family has gone to get her good medical care, only to loose her.  "They have finished everything they have for her" the staff tell me.

 

Because she was a believer, we are encouraged to share a message of gospel hope with the women-crowd.  Kim stood up and did an amazing job of it- giving everyone the hope beyond death that the gospel offers.  Ganamo translated.

 

I see my friends in the crowd.  Can I say hi to these ladies?  Can I get out of my chair and move around a little?  How much do I need to look sad?  I'm trying to catch Adanech's eye and take her cultural cues.

 

We are then ushured into a tent and served food- gunfo porridge that seems to be so common in our visits these days.  I feel bad- the son of the woman who died is serving us, shouldn't he be sitting?  Being consoled?  He seems worried that there aren't enough plates to go around for all these visitors from SIM.  Does he realized the Americans don't mind not eating?  Doesn't he know this food is so unfamiliar and strange to them?  Their sense of hospitality overrules any such sensitivity, and he demands that our plates are refilled and refilled.  The interplay between servers, guests, Ethiopians, Americans, village types and city folk always fascinates me.

 

I see lots of faces coming in and out of the tent that I know- this is the heart of Dawe community, with all the village leaders present, many of our own staff, women I know, etc.  It makes me happy to be right in the middle of them.  They support each other well, and I want to be part of that system.

 

 

 

Post Partum Visiting

Have I ever been proud of a latrine sandplat before??

Me and Kuwati

The Village Health Meeting

So, as part of our government contract, we are supposed to be setting up village health committee meetings.  I had had conversations with Melkato, the village chairman, who said, yes, anytime you want to have a meeting we can, just send a letter and I will call all the people- easy enough!  So I did- for this Wednesday.

 

The guys in the clinic told me on Monday- Melkato is wondering who you want to come, because the health committee involves 90 people!"  Whoa, I didn't expect 90.  I told Ganamo to tell him I was thinking eight to ten people.  And it was scheduled for 1 pm.  I thought we could serve tea and popcorn.

 

The more I thought about it, though, the more I wondered if the 1 pm time would cause them to expect lunch... I didn't want them disappointed!  So I rushed up (Wednesday morning!) and asked Yeshi our cook if she could handle another 10 people for lunch, and she seemed fine with the change in plans. I was thankful that she said that was ok....  She said she was going to serve a meat sauce and that made me nervous- will the Muslims eat our meat??  The other guys said, "OH, no problem they will eat it don't worry."

 

One o'clock came and went, we had the dining hall all ready, and I had looked over my agenda.  I had asked Ganamo Sewarro from the clinic staff to be at the meeting- he is a member of the Dawe community (whose health committee I had called), and he has a heart for the area, is a Christian, and can explain things I don't understand.  I also wanted Ganamo ("the other Ganamo") the latrine worker that we have been paying to be there, since the latrines were on the agenda.  I wanted to talk about where they wanted the next two latrines (we're building twelve ventilation-improved pit latrines and just finished our initial four) and discuss how to keep the latrines clean once they are built.  I also wanted to talk about our sandplat construction plans, and teach a little bit about family planning.  So I was ready.

 

One thirty....two....two thirty... Yeshi, with her Ethiopian sense of time told me she didn't think they were coming.  I thought, well, here I have thought and prayed about this meeting, I want it to be the right kind of community connection, and now they just aren't going to show up?  The kebele (village) office is a 20 minute walk- I knew that was about how far they needed to come.  So are they coming?  Ganamo and Ganamo told me "they just didn't know if they were going to come or not."

 

I think it was 3:15- here they are, coming up the road into our compound, Melkato leading the group in his little jean jacket looking modern, with an assortment of not-so-modern others behind him- ten people, just right.  So they came in and had the meeting.  I would guess the highlight of the meeting was... lunch!  I was nervous about these people using spoons to eat their rice, but they seemed to do fine.  They are so used to eating with their hands.  I think serving coffee and tea after lunch, and having Workenesh and Yeshi serve while I felt totally comfortable and could chat with them, was great.

 

We talked about the latrine locations, and they decided to discuss the locations, but sent us out of the room for it.  (!!)  It took them a while but they called us back in and told us:  the "second" mosque, and the new school. 

 

It wasn't long after this that they seemed antsy for the meeting to end- we talked a little bit about family planning, and Melkato said, "You can call a meeting of the women and teach about those things.  We are happy for you to teach."  I don't think he wanted me to go in depth right there and then, which was ok with me.  We do want to call a women's meeting.

 

So we ended with prayer, some of the Muslims went outside to pray, and we all drifted out as I walked them to the gate... Yes, I suppose it accomplished what I hoped for!  I liked it.  I like these people.  I like this area.

 

 

Return to Langano

Coming back this time to Langano was not discouraging like last time was:  I felt refreshed by Addis and quite ready to be in my own house.  It is fun having our team together- we all ate spagetti in the dining room.

 

Today was the way I like it- off the compound, in the community.  Of our two kebele (townships), Dawe and Kalibo, I spent today mostly in Kalibo.  I met with the kebele leader this morning just to check in, and he continued to mention the food shortage situation and ask if SIM was going to help.  Gosh, food aid is so complicated, and the last thing I want to do is hurt the area with just a "handout" mentality, but then... I'm in the meeting... the people are hungry... will they die??  It is also hard to know the gravity of the situation:  seems like everyone says things like "this is worse than the famine in the 80's" but I know those can't be true.

 

Actually the whole point in going out was to give immunizations, but as it turns out some community health workers are giving vaccinations right across the road from our usual site- great!!  That's taken care of, the women are being provided with the opportunity but we don't have to be the ones doing it.  We ate lunch in Alem Bada then we went to visit a new pharmacy that opened.  I heard two new pharmacy/clinics have opened in Alem Bada, one was closed, but we went to see the other one.  Mohammed, the nurse running it, was very friendly, open about the fact that it is an illegal clinic, said he had applied at our clinic in the past, showed us around, showed us all the meds he distributes and told us the prices, and treated us to a soda!  I liked it, and I would love to take any staff education we do here, and duplicate it there!

 

I have quite a few home visit ideas/places I need to go, so that's my plan tomorrow since it is my regular home visit day.  Its hard to know how to focus and sometimes feels like I'm not "working" when I get up in the morning and head out to visit.

 

So, at the school where our second latrine was just finished (we also went to visit that today) we asked about when we could do an education session.  It is nice, however, instead of scheduling our own session, to choose a time when there is already an existing meeting.  He said a week from... Sunday!  Sunday is NOT an ideal day for me to be out, but it would be perfect to catch everyone together.  When do I stick to my day of rest because I want the rest, and when should I be willing to do things their way, not my way??  It would be a great chance to teach without the logistics of gathering people or wondering if they'll show up......

 

 

The week's news...

Monday and Tuesday were bad- I told Brian I have never been so tempted to impulsively say, "I quit this job as of right now!" as I was on those days!  Wednesday was better- I did remember that for so long I have wanted to be a missionary, and here I am- doing it.  I love this life and wouldn't choose anything else!

 

Thursday was Ethiopian Christmas and Brian came down on the motorcycle to pick me up.  After working in the clinic on three days that I had wished I was in Addis, it was a little bit sad to leave when the Langano church was getting a program ready, asking me if I was going to be there, etc.  I do love holidays with Ethiopians.  Brian came on his bike and I had made "Potatoes Anna" from the cooking light cookbook- it was a yummy breakfast on the veranda with him:  the potatoes and strawberry smoothies and the goat cheese, too!!  We've been really enjoying that.

 

We planned to leave Langano at 1 pm, but we got a flat on the way out which was a MAJOR delay!  We had to drive the tire in a car out to town (45 minutes each way) to get it patched and reinflated, then back to Langano to put the tire back on, then headed out to Addis around 4:30 pm!!  We had good talks on the way there about where to work:  Brian is so open to the farm idea, he's had more communication with Mike and it seems clear that they could very feasibly work together well.

It has been so fun to be with him.  I love riding on the back of his bike, and as we stop and have a drink and discuss things, we have so little tension between us right now- it is amazing and fun.  With all my frustrations and bad moods about Langano he has been just so nice and understand, asking questions, not wanting extra stress in marriage, great.  And when we talk about Bingham, he is just as concerned about how to not work 13 hour days as I am, like we share the same concerns instead of one and not the other.  I do love being with him, and I'm tired of leaving Addis without him!  At least that won't be for too much longer.