*Note – this really serves as my journal so the forst parts
are all about the travel & probably quite boring to others but the writing
further down about the shelter is WONDERFUL!!!
I arrived safely in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. I have to say my
travels weren’t as bad as I imagined them to be. Sweet Kristen took me to LAX
& I got my bags checked but no seat assignment – which I have had for 3
months since my flights were ticketed. When someone from United was finally at
the counter I told him this & showed him my confirmation & he told me “that
is just a seat request not a confirmed seat”? & we only have middle seats
left unless you want to pay for more leg space??? I may not be a weekly traveler but I am pretty
sure that whenever I have “reserved a seat” it has been mine??? I took a deep
breath, asked if you could possibly help me as I was starting 24 hours of
travel, gave him my boarding pass with no seat & sat back down. Unfortunately there was
confusion re. the flight in general & it ended up being an hour late in departing & changed gates
3 times so at some point I was just hoping the same man would be at whatever
gate we left from with my boarding pass. I was pleasantly surprised when I went
up at the final gate & he said here you have a window…when I boarded I
found it was row 8 the 1st row after first class & a bulkhead seat
with lots of leg space so I was VERY happy & grateful to the many praying
for my easy & safe travels! Once we left I was super tired & think I
got about 4 hours of sleep. I was to have a 4 hour layover & that was
decreased to 2 ½ with the LA delay but I was good with that, & had time to
grab a Starbucks oatmeal & get to my gate. My flight to Addis had 3 other
Op Smile team members on it Glenn one of the Anesthesiologists & a team
leader who was in first class reclining in his bed & being served food on
china (yes I was a little jealous) plus
Connie who was coming to do Medical Records & Karen a Pre/Post nurse I knew
from Honduras. The plane was 100% full….REALLY who all was going to Ethiopia I
thought? Then I realized that there were MANY families who are living in the
USA & there were at least 50 kids under 6 with parents going to see
relatives there. I was worried about the 16 hour flight for me but more worried
how the little ones would manage!!! I
wanted to try to “get on Ethiopia time” since we would be arriving at 8 am
Thurs so I planned to stay up for the 1st 8 hours of the flight
& then see how much I could sleep when it was “night”. Basically it was a 4
Movie flight…the 1st Marigold Hotel, Edited American Sniper which I
was excited to see, Selma & Big Hero 6 kept me busy. I did sleep for about
4 hours somewhere in then. When we arrived in Addis since this wasn’t my first
adventure there I moved us all thru the Visa process, immigration, money
exchange, luggage retrieval & customs – it was NOT a fast process &
probably took us 2 or more hours.
We were met by Molly the Program Coordinator (who I adore
& was with in Honduras) & then got to the hotel – I was actually
impressed & it seemed pretty nice – as mission hotels go J There were about 8 of
us from the team in the lobby checking in so we decided to all got spend an
hour getting settled & then meet to go out in the city. We went to a
shopping area but since I have been here twice before I wasn’t really doing
much shopping. We also went to find what was to be a great bakery & coffee
shop (that is Ethiopias biggest export) which eluded us for awhile – we went up
& down the same street 4 times – felt a little like groundhog day & by
then I was getting tired. I had forgotten about all fo the children on the
street begging & adults as well, also the uneven streets with HUGE potholes
& 6-12 inch variances in height & curbs. I have gotten pretty “immune” to the people
on the street & found it better to help in other ways & if they get too
close to me I firmly say no. Connie wasn’t soo lucky & a few hours after we
were out realized her phone had been pickpocketed out of her zipped fanny pack
that she was wearing in front of her. There were 2 adults & 2 boys that
bothered us the many times we were on that street & were trying to distract
& get close & that must have been when it happened. I felt SOOOO bad
for her & remembered how sad I was when my camera was stolen on my first
trip here. It was a HUGE wake up call to everyone.
We came back to “really unpack” & then were going to
meet again at 5…I unpacked & somewhere in there fell asleep & woke up at
5:30. The beds are awful…it feels like you are sleeping on plywood but at that
time it didn’t matter – hopefully I will still sleep okay all week. I went down
to the lobby at 5:30ish & Molly was there & was going with the
Pediatrician to the shelter as a few kids had fevers – I asked to go along so
Maria an OR nurse from Sweden & I went with them. It is literally 6 blocks
from the hotel in a large building in a car junkyard? The volunteers from
Mekele came down to run the shelter here. As soon as I approached the shelter
& then walked in & saw those precious children with their parents I got
teary & knew this was EXACTLY where I was supposed to be. There were already 96 children at the shelter
each with typically one parent – a few with 2 so over 200 people there on thin
1” mats on a concrete floor. This was the first time I realized that in the
shelters here the men & boys are on
one side & the woman with their child or baby & girls on the other. I
went to the boys side first – they LOVED having their photo taken & then
seeing it -honestly the bigger smile
comes as they see a picture of themselves. Then everyone wants a photo…there
were quite a few older schoolage boys. The girls always steal my heart they are
so cute & the Muslim girls with their head coverings are often stunningly
beautiful. One little girl I REALLY THINK I knew from Mekele - am going to have to look at old pisc she took my had & walked with me – we took
a pic together & I was instantly in love. While we were there is was close
to sunset & many of the men & 1-2 women put out their Prayer mats:
& all prayed – it was very inspiring to see them enact their faith so
publicly. Going to the shelter REALLY
got me excited for the week & even all the hard work that is before us –
many of these people in the shelter today were from Somalia & had traveled 1-3
days by car, bus or foot to be her just HOPEFUL that there was help for their
children. It always chokes me u p when I want to complain about my 24 hour plan
travel with movies & food etc.
We had a team meeting tonight just to go over the schedule –
I can already tell this team is going to be wonderful -lots of nice friendly people from 9 different
countries united in the goal to change lives one smile at a time J
The hospital is about 45 min away by bus, we will be
screening tomorrow & Sat & then know who is getting surgery on Sat. Of
the nurses most have been on 3-5 missions so at 9 I come after the clinical
coordinator in experience & she has probably 50 or more – so I am WAY
behind her! I will once again be the gatekeeper…I both love & hate that job
– love keeping all the patients & plans organized but hate it cause it can
get a little crazy! But I will have another one of the PACU RN’s there training
with me so together we will be great. The 2 other PACU RN’s I will work with
are both “local” one from Kenya & the other is Ethiopian but has moved to
Sweden recently. I think it will be a good team & the Pediatric Intensivist
is great – she is from the UK.
A few other fun reminders just for me – Addis is a Malaria
free zone so that is nice!, Op Smile has now added a Safety & Security
person on some missions – really it is more disaster management & how we
would respond if something went wrong – glad they are proactive but it is a
reality reminder of the environment we are in. They also told us not to step
into or use the elevator at the hospital as there have been injuries and a
death??? I guess they just don’t close them down for that? So that gave me perspective
on what to expect at the hospital. We are also at 8000 feet elevation – had no
clue about that I thought I was a little winded as we walked cause I was tired!
Well I better get to bed – wake up call in 5 ½ hours are 6
am, breakfast at 6:30, meetng at 6:45 & bus leaves at 7. The good news is I
have a decent shower with hot water – the challenge is it leaks all over the
bathroom floor but that can be mopped up. In the time I have written this post
the electricity has gone off & on 4 times so I think that will be the norm –
but we do have wifi albeit slow & only when the electricity is on of course.
So good night from Ethiopia!
PS Sorry I cant upload photos - I am technologically challenged. I tried to email them to myelf then upload but no luck. I am posting them on Instagram & Facebook though
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