Welcome back! I have now been nine weeks in Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, back at work...
This week's post is going to be very brief. Little has changed at work since last week. Monday and Tuesday were the same routine of showing up, doing my journalling, catching up on emails and chatting with colleagues in the office. For a change of pace I visited with the Public Relations team down the hall for a change of pace. Distributed some Canadian flag lapel pins to the PR team, was asked to verify a bundle of 100 birr notes and chatted with the team. Did make a new Face Book friend - Mis Har who works in the PR department. Mis is another terrific person who has been consistently kind and helpful so far in my time at the Regional Health Bureau. I showed up at work on Wednesday to an empty office. Guess someone forgot to told me everyone was going to be out of the office. Wednesday actually brought a significant medical fright for my colleague Nancy (more below). Meant I spent about two hours with Nancy as we sorted through the medical options for her. Got back to the office around 11 ; then I stuck around til 12:30; leaving for the compound for lunch and hanging out at the compound for the rest of the day. Might as well be comfortable, have consistent power supply and WiFi. Thursday improved marginally with one of my colleagues showing up in the office until about 11 am. Same routine as Wednesday; headed home for lunch and stayed there. Decided to stay home on Friday. What is my work ethic coming to???
Decisions, decisions, decisions
Suffice it to say I am seriously rethinking what I want and need to do next given eight consecutive weeks of idleness. Incredibly difficult to reconcile the magnitude of help that is required against my inactivity for two months. My desire to make a contribution, pay back the gifts I have received, has faded away at this point. Discovered I am poorly equipped for extended inactivity, especially when I am immersed in an environment where the needs are so enormous. While I have several observations about why things are the way they currently are for how my assignment has unfolded this way, the fact remains I have a very negative prognosis about any meaningful change happening in the short term. I may have to 'pull a Dave' as my good friend Daniel Ho has suggested to me. I've decided the week ahead is a time for serious thinking and decisions.
Medical encounters
Now have first hand experience, through Nancy, of what a potentially serious personal medical condition means in a third world country. Nancy woke up early on Wednesday experiencing sharp pains that left her thinking she may need significant medical attention. My first reaction was to encourage her to book a flight to Addis to get the best medical care for herself. You see, as I have mentioned in an earlier post, I had a chance to visit the local hospital. I realized, through Nancy's experience and what I had seen at the hospital, my first world expectations kicked in defaulting to getting to the capital where there was a much better chance of getting the appropriate medical care. We ended going to the hospital, with our Program Manager to translate, on Wednesday am to see if we could get care. Our conclusion after visiting the hospital was that we needed to get Nancy to Addis. Nancy fly out on Friday am and was at the hospital by Friday pm. She was very blessed the pain abated between Wednesday pm and Friday am. I sure hope I avoid any serious medical issues given the level of support I believe Nancy has received over the past several days. But that's just me.
My Ethiopia
My daily highlight throughout the week (and every previous week) was meeting my little friend Acquilla as I was walking in the lane past the compound her family shares with a couple other families. When I think about Ethiopia I think Acquilla. Her enthusiasm and her hugs (I got two in one day) is what I thought my work had the potential to achieve for so many children (and their mothers) in this part of the world. The innocence, energy and happiness of this little girl is so real and so genuine. Yes, she has captured my heart!
Well, my friends and colleagues, I said this week's post was going to be brief. And a little philosophical moment from Paulo Coelho See you next week.
Be well. Encourage you to take a minute to be grateful for what you have. Be generous and liberal with your hugs this week!
