Entoto, Mission, and Electricity

Tired but content.  It has been a busy, busy few days here in Addis getting things set for the next few weeks.  Saturday, Stuart and I went to work the wound dressing clinic at the mission, slightly frustrated by the 1 hr of travel time required to get from Rick's to the mission via public minibus taxis.  It was a relatively quiet Saturday morning b/c there was a holiday in honor of some Christian saint, which Ethiopian Orthodox take very seriously (major crowds at every church).  It was business as usual - examining, cleaning, and wrapping - with a few surprising incidences.  2 patients of note: 1) a 50+ year old man from Harar who I treated last year, notable for the reason that he has an infected open wound covering more than half of his face, he is one of the most dignified patients we have and truly courageous in the face of what he deals with every day with his unspeakable injury, it is amazing that he is still alive; 2) a 2-3 year old girl that was missing an eye, it had been surgically removed but the wound was now infected and it is heartbreaking to try and treat these children as best we can while they scream and cry all the while knowing that these injuries are probably fatal without serious medical attention we know they will not receive. 

 

After we had wrapped all comers, Rick arrived and we spent the afternoon watching his clinic, listening to his heart patients (1 atrial septal defect, 1 mitral regurgitation) and examining new spine patients.  Nothing too crazy/outrageous for Rick's but unfortunately for his patient with Olliere's disease, who I met last year, his hands are doing worse by the week.  After the mission, the usual crew chemakied/macchiatoed  and returned to Rick's house.  Going back to Friday, Shabbat was lovely as usual but had an interesting twist at the beginning thanks to the government's new electricity policy.  Time for "State of Ethiopia today"..... (disclosure: some of this info comes courtesy of one of Stuart's family friends who works for the UN here and told him this stuff last night)

 

~The government has blocked access to all blogspot domains (found out when I was unable to access my blog and confirmed by UN friend).  I can still write posts via email and respond to comments via email, but I can't visit my own domain.  Apparently they have also blocked myspace.  This reminds me of China-same policy

 

~Different parts of Addis lose power every day.  Each area of the city has power for 2 of overy 3 days but on the 3rd day, goes w/o power for 12+ hrs.  It is funny how little this changes life in the city-no internet, no TV, and drinks aren't as cold, but other than that, life goes on as normal.  Accd. to UN friend, parts of the countryside are going w/o power for 2 of every 3 days.  Most of the country's power comes from hydroelectric dams near Lake Tana (source of the Blue Nile) but b/c of the ongoing drought/pooor rainfall, the government is forced to cut back on power.  Same UN friend claims there are some major riots going on in some areas of the countryside. 

 

~Unhappiness with the government of Meles Zenawi is more palpable than it was last year, even though little has changed in the situation.  He has been the leader for 16+ yrs and will continue to lead for as long as anyone can see (elections in 2010 will be his next big test, I will NOT be here at that time).  Also, certain areas of the country are more dangerous than in the past - from Dire Dawa (and Harar) up to Djibouti, is currently not safe for travellers - lots of somali refugees and generally more unsafe than before.  But don't worry, everything in Addis is fine.

 

Stuart and I moved into the Taitu on Saturday and enjoyed an awesome night's sleep.  Today, Rick and the fam went up to Entoto; Rick had to pick up some JDC folks from the Sheraton and his boys rented a minibus so we could all go up to the mountains.  They picked me and Stuart up and we drove up to Entoto.  We beat Rick there by 30 minutes, so we pulled over by the soccer field and started playing.  We got a game going w/~10 kids (most local teenagers that live in Entoto) and ended up playing for the next two hours.  Tons of fun and got some good pics of the younger kids after we were done playing waiting for Rick and his guests to return from their walk.  One guy that we were playing with, Yonas, came up to me and started asking me who won between Obama and Clinton - imagine playing soccer in a village in Africa and having a guy without shoes ask you about the democratic primary race in America.  It reminded me of this Thomas Friedman column, written in Cairo, where he says the most important thing about this election is that Obama has even made it as far as he has; whether he wins or not, he has already done so much for America's reputation abroad.  I liked the column when I read it a few weeks ago but its validity was hammered home today. 

 

Tonight is the Germany-Spain Euro 2008 final, my second night @ the Taitu, and tomorrow is the first day of work at Mother Theresa Mission.