This day seemed extra long once I went through all the photos I wanted to show you, so I’ll do it in a 2-part blog post. Sorry for the excess of photos, if that kind of thing bothers you, on a photo blog, which it shouldn’t…you should be thanking me….
Anyway…here is March 12th
We started out our morning as we usually did – at the clinic in Asossa. I ventured outside a little more today to see what it was like for people waiting in line. These people were directly outside the church doors, which is actually the last place they had to wait.
Before you got to the church, you had to make it past these blue gates at the front of the church property.
Back inside the clinic there was a very important area – our pharmacy. Now Kari sat at the pharmacy table and kind of just fell into it. It was actually the perfect fit for her. She was so well organized that the pharmacy ran like a well oiled machine. I think we need to giver her an honorary faux pharmacist license because she rocked it!
The next few photos are of goiters – a condition we saw a LOT of in Asossa. “A goiter is a swelling in the thyroid gland which can lead to a swelling of the neck or larynx. Worldwide, the most common cause for goiter is iodine deficiency.” (wikipedia) So you know when you buy salt, and it says “iodized,” that is typically what keeps you & me from getting goiters. Iodized salt is apparently not a common thing in Ethiopia.
This woman’s goiter had gotten quite a bit more extreme than most cases we saw. Untreated, these seem to be a bit dangerous to me, especially because of their close proximity to the airway.
And of course a day at the clinic wouldn’t be complete without some bears!
After lunch I was taken to the Asossa Hospital to view & document the work that our construction team was doing. The hospital does bring in funds, but the construction team also came with supplies, and more importantly, a knowledgeable team of construction men to fix their basic problem of no water.
Here is John, my guide for the afternoon, and also a construction buff.
This is Dibush showing off some of his handiwork. He was hired by our construction team for the week, and, along with Mohammed, was a very hard worker. This pipe is one of many leading into the different wards of the hospital. The piping was so old and corroded that the valves didn’t work to let water flow through it.
This is Mohammed showing the section of piping he helped replace. I was told that each time they cut a section of pipe, and put on a newer piece to replace it, more corroded pieces would break, threads would be stripped, and so on. Things are just so old and decayed here.
This is the cistern in the rear of the hospital that is fed by the city water. Since the water supply from the city is often unreliable, they have to store up a reserve in the cistern for delicate times such as surgery & deliveries.
Inside the hospital the team repaired sinks, putting “p traps” (???) in them so the hospital workers wouldn’t have to empty buckets so often. This is a repaired sink….
And this is a sink not yet repaired. See how it’s missing a vital piece of pipe at the bottom?? Looks kind of important.
On my tour, I caught another team member, Dan, sharing the photos on his camera with new friends he’d made. Everyone wants their photo taken!
They really loved him!
Next we went inside the maternity ward where I found this new little guy & his momma!
The guys were replacing lights and/or fixtures so the doctors & nurses would be able to see their patients at night.
Part 2 coming later….
