January 2011
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December 2010
7 posts
The work of Dr. Rick Hodes →
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Ayenachew
This blog entry is incredibly late in coming, however I wanted to take the time to share a little about Ayenachew.
The name Ayenachew means ‘one who has seen’ and in the case of this young man, 18 years of living amongst Addis’s poorest, has allowed him to see far more than one of his age should be allowed. When I say that he has seen, I am not referring to distant lands or exotic cultures, but to...
September 2010
6 posts
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Ode to Gondar
Gondar, Gonder, Gondor, whatever you are called given the ridiculously inconsistent spelling habits of your country,
Children say they love me and then ask me for money
Since when is love so conditional?
They call me Mr. and say I’m fat so I call the boys girls and the girls boys and they storm off in an offense which says I will never speak to you again
Until tomorrow when I will again ask you...
August 2010
26 posts
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Konso: Gateway to the Omo Valley
Rose early today, to drive up to the mountain village of Konso; extremely tricky to arrange a guide on Sun. but were somehow successful. Konso is the gateway into the lower Omo Valley; perhaps a small taste of what could be expected if we were able to take the time to go deeper into the valley. The village of Konso was Peter Panesque, built into the mountain terraces, I could picture the lost boys...
Dorze.
Dorze was much more equipped for tourists than the nearby village of Konso (good and bad). We paid a fee to enter a traditional village where you are able to watch and learn about traditional Dorze life. I would liken this to an Ethiopian Williamsburg. The traditional Dorze huts were amazing and we were told that they generally last over 100 years,however slowly shrink in size due to the...
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Go and do likewise.
Today I spent some time interviewing ART patients at a rural hospital in the foothills of the Simien Mountains. As I struggled to go deep and tease out the real reasons why so many rural Ethiopians default from their HIV medications, I was confronted with some disturbing stories. I was again reminded of the difficulties and complexities of bringing together faith and medicine. Over the course of...
July 2010
22 posts
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“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I...”
– Psalm 139
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The Ancient Walled-in city of Harar: Roasted corn,...
It took 24 hours on a bus, traveling halfway across the continent of Ethiopia to arrive at this ancient city but it was something I knew I wanted to do.
While there are many benefits to road versus air travel, bussing halfway across Ethiopia was a little less than ideal. First of all, being in the same position for 12 hours is never a good thing, especially if you leave your compression stockings...
