I just suck at this whole blog thing, don’t I?
With a few minutes available to me, I thought I would heed my mother’s advice and just post something quick to let everyone know that I haven’t (yet) been kidnapped by rebels and I still remain with my entire body intact.
I’ve actually gotten countless numbers of emails, messages posted on this blog, and forwarded emails from ex-colleagues emailing everyone they know who might know me or someone who knows me regarding my whereabouts.
Well, it’s all been Ethiopia (save a perhaps-illegal, short hop into Kenya for a hot Tusker beer). The problem recently was that I was in a remote area, where the internet was slow and expensive. When I got back to Addis, where the internet was readily available, relatively fast, and affordable, my inboxes were loaded with hundreds of emails. Now, most of them were, of course, junk, but there were still a significant amount from people wondering, as people often do: “Where in the World is Tania?” So, except for the obligatory email to my mother to let her know that she did indeed still have a daughter, I ignored everyone. Sorry, it’s just the truth. There’s no playing favorites.
So yes, Ethiopia has indeed sucked me in a bit longer than ever intended. The Ethiopian Millennium is in just over a month, and I’ll stay for it. These are truly my last days to party like it’s 1999, as Ethiopia rings in the year 2000 on September 11th!
In other news…Today I finished my third day on a new job. I started working with a Biomedical Engineering company that imports and supplies hospitals and clinics with (mostly old and used) medical equipment and is the first company to provide technical service to the machines as well. The company faces an interesting challenge, as most of the equipment comes without service manuals and are old, outdated machines.
I’m not entirely sure of my role yet at this point (or for how long I’ll be at it), but my first task is to do a training of dialysis machines, using some of my expertise gained at Aksys. The interesting thing is, though, is that there are only 3 public hospitals in the country who have dialysis machines, and it looks like they all only handle acute cases of renal failure. There might be one or two private clinics who handle chronic treatment, but I’m not entirely sure of that yet.
I did take a tour of the largest, and one of the best hospitals in Ethiopia today (Black Lion Hospital), which was interesting. I met with the Medical Director who was interested to explore possibilities for some consulting work (at his very enthusiastic request). My tour was led by the one and only Biomedical Technician in the whole hospital (he’s the guy in charge of servicing just about everything), and he is surely kept busy. Lots of equipment is donated, which, while it is a noble cause, it does little good when it’s not supplied with the proper manuals, documentation, and user training. I read a statement by a rep from WHO this afternoon that says something like 75% of medical equipment is out of use in hospitals in the developing world.
I was most disappointed not to be able to see the dialysis unit on my tour of the hospital, but was told it was closed due to hospital renovation. As we passed the locked door, I met a nephrologist who explained (in answer to my question: “Well, then, what happens to all the dialysis patients?”) about their acute treatment only policy. We both remained without answers as to what happens to the acute renal patients…
Anyway, so that’s what I’ve been doing. I have gotten amazing insight into Ethiopia and how it all works at this point…I just finished working on a project with some schools in the remote tribal area in the south (in a town called Jinka — check it: http://www.jinkaproject.com ), where I gained a peek into the Education System (even meeting with officials at the Education Ministry and the UNDP). Now, I’m starting to get a grasp of the health care system here.
Now, if I could just get back to work on that gorilla story…
Tags: Ethiopia, Travel, Tag Index
Tania
August 15th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
I had a thousand fantasies about what had happened to you, from the glorious to the unspeakable, to the merely mundane (you went back home and dumped the whole blog thing). Not one of my fantasies included creating training for hospital machinery. You rock, Tania! Thanks for letting us know you’re still alive, still on the road, still finding your way. And now you’re doing something useful. Wonderful. The gorilla story? Well, when you’re in your seventies, you can write that book, right?
August 21st, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Hey Tania,
I was wondering if you were still on your adventures and read that you were mugged by Ali Baba. I’m glad that your ok and doing well, “Please be careful out there”!!
I’ve been thinking about you and haven’t heard much from the Aksys crew, but glad that you are doing well.
“God bless you and keep you in his loving arms as you continue your journeys”.
Your Friend Always,
Anthony Jackson, New Jersey