Phil and Chris in Ethiopia

The weekend of 13th to 15th March saw the beginning of the Formula 1 Grand Prix season – the sport most likely to both drag me to the TV several times in a weekend and also to relieve me of some cash (we have grandstand seats at Silverstone this summer). But of course watching motor racing demands electricity – in Addis, that’s a potential problem.

At the end of the Yetesfa Birhan session last Wednesday Yodit, a young Ethiopian girl of around 12, came up to us and invited us to her sister’s birthday party. One member of our team said they would go one declined because they needed time with their family. I was unsure what we were doing last Sunday so did not give a definite answer.

On 31st January 2000 a jury found Dr Harold Frederick Shipman (A 54 year old GP practising in the north of England) guilty of the murder of 15 of his patients. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and is the only British doctor ever convicted of murdering his own patients. The subsequent Shipman Inquiry by Dame Janet Smith suggested Shipman was probably responsible for around 250 deaths between 1971 and 1998, making him one of the most notorious serial killers in recorded history. Shipman committed suicide in his prison cell by hanging himself with his bed sheets on 13th January 2004. He never said a word to explain his killings - we will never know why he did what he did.

Claire and Hennock were married on 28th February. I first met Claire when we travelled out to Ethiopia together back in 2007. She met Hennock maybe a year ago when she asked him to help her buy a car. Purchasing a car, as we have discovered, is a long process here and thus the romance blossomed.

It’s always pleasing when you can facilitate something helpful here but you can almost guarantee that it won’t be straight forward. The Head teacher from the UK school I worked at before moving here suggested that the pupils may like to raise money for a project of my choosing. Just prior to the winter break a ‘Christmas Jumper’ Day was held.

I’ve Found It!

(NB - the words highlighted in blue in this post are links you need to click to see the two best photos.)

All my life I’ve had a skillful ability to lose things – just ask my mum. it’s actually a small miracle that the nice Shaeffer ballpoint pen she bought me to bring to Addis is still in my possession despite several attempts to lose it, usually redeemed by my clinic nurses. Well I lost a key recently. It was for a store room in the clinic that contains some medicines that we can dispense to my patients. One busy Friday morning I ran downstairs to the store room to grab something and absent-mindedly popped the key into my pocket rather than leaving it in it’s usual secret location for others to use. I realised I had it when I returned to my consulting room and made a mental note (obviously in temporary memory) to take it back later.

Eighty days have passed since little Assema was born to Haile Michael Yacob (Phil’s taxi driver) and his wife Bezuaye. Recently Assema was christened in an orthodox church in his neighbourhood. We were invited to the christening celebration held at her Grandmother’s house. As ever the journey on a Saturday morning was eventful and took longer than anticipated. We passed long queues at meat souks as many people were taking their last opportunity to buy meat ahead of three days of fasting. I’m told it is to remember the three days and nights that Jonah remained in the belly of the big fish. Rich and poor queue together. As orthodox they consider it essential (even if the poor cannot afford meat usually at other times).

My little SIM clinic protects me a bit from the real lives of so many poverty-stricken people living in Addis. All my ex-pat patients have insurance and if medical care becomes necessary beyond what is available locally they can leave the country and be treated in better developed settings – South Africa, Kenya, Dubai, India, Europe. Ethiopians employed by SIM (who form the majority of my workload) although often living in difficult circumstances at least have a job and an income, however inadequate. And SIM will pay for a certain amount of medical, dental and optical care for them and their immediate family members. Dealing with how much care will cost and having to restrict what I can do based on available funds is anathema to me when face to face with my patients - 30 years in the NHS saw to that, where necessary care is available when needed without recourse to discussions about money.

On Thursday we celebrated the 100^th Day of school;  an event I had not heard of before but a very significant one for a number of my American colleagues. It entailed dressing up as a 100 year old - less difficult for some of us than others - although many of my four year-olds made very creditable attempts.

“Which roundabout?” asks John into his phone (again), “The first, second or third?”. We can’t hear Tigist’s reply but John’s startling patience continues – we’ve been at this for nearly half an hour. “Is that the one at the end of the railway construction?” he asks again, as I slowly keep driving round a huge roundabout at the end of the railway construction. The roundabout is piled high with concrete sleepers, coils of cable and piles of unidentifiable junk.