thaob

There have been many visible changes throughout Hue and Da Nang. The most refreshing difference - nearly 99% of every motorcyclist (along with their passengers) were wearing helmets. The village however, still seemed to be stuck in time and hasn’t changed much since the last time we were here, 4 years ago. Some of the narrow roads are made with concrete, others with dirt surrounded by patches of dehydrated grass that stretches for miles. Some of the houses are modern and made with bricks with the only difference between here and home being the front/back yard scenery. There are acres of rice paddies with beautiful mountains on the horizon in the front and mounds upon mounds of sand with tombstones of relatives in the back. Cemeteries have always been oddly fascinating to me, but sleeping so ... read more

The most difficult realization that comes after awareness is accepting that you have limitations. Maybe that’s where the balance lies - wedged in between your heart and mind between the crevasses that you haven’t had the courage to thoughtfully explore. The dichotomous nature of the two helps me separate what I can and cannot process while I am in the work. There’s a crippled man across the clinic that I see a few times a week from the top floor of the lunchroom windows. It’s nice to sit and observe the city, busy with people hurrying to and from their destination. The first day that I noticed him, he was scurrying across the crowded intersection, dangerously close to cars and a herd of donkeys heading the same way. A piece of tarp was tied strategically across ... read more

(This one goes out to J - a fellow food lover who’s always up for trying new things.) Ethiopian food can be incredibly spicy with large portions for sharing at very low prices. In the local joints, you can find their staple dishes for about a dollar or less. The main source of carbohydrates is injera, which is a huge spongy bread that serves as the platter for the entrees. It’s made from tef, which has been fermented for a few days and gives the bread its sour-like taste. It's very rich in fiber, calcium, and iron. The supply of injera is endless and always found pilled around your dish. FIRFIR is injera soaked in a stew (with or without meat) and wrapped with more injera. The dish is steaming hot and packaged in a clay ... read more

Last Friday, as we were preparing to leave, we came across a mother with a severely delayed child. Through the mother’s story, as well as a few of the other children we’ve assessed, I’ve become more aware of the lack of resources available for those who need it most. These circumstances and lack of social support system leads to an encumbered life that is far more difficult than I can ever understand. It has become more difficult to process how I feel about life here as I take in more of the city. The crowded bus stops are filled with the blind and disabled. The mothers are seen holding their seemingly lifeless baby, arm outstretched and begging for a little compassion. In the early morning, the homeless are sprawled between the narrow median that separates opposing ... read more

Gursha is an Ethiopian custom equivalent to an embrace between two friends. You take a piece of injera and shiro/tibs/kitfo and feed the other person, symbolizing your friendship. The larger the gursha, the greater the friendship. I'm usually very uncomfortable with people's hands in my food (let alone feeding me), but I've grown to appreciate the sweet gestures here. Ethiopians seem very comfortable embracing/holding/touching one another at any given time and I'm not sure what to do but smile. They are so affectionate and genuine in their interactions with us, I'm touched. On Friday, we went to a friend's house on the opposite side of town (she's another MPH student from Emory) for dinner by candlelight. The power turned off at 3 pm and didn't turn back on until the end of the night. It was ... read more

We have screened 25 children up to date and I am more comfortable doing the Denvers now. Over the course of the summer, I believe I can process everything more fluidly. The majority of the children are all presented with delays regardless of the treatment. There are some frustrations with the screening test, particularly in the language and personal-needs section. For example, learning colors seem to be of little importance here and the children cannot identify certain words such as "lake" and "curtain". Furthermore, two of the activities we've come across (brushing the teeth and eating cereal) in the personal-needs section are not common, which we will have to take into account during our analysis. We've also come across a handful of children whose age have been estimated. The test requires the age up to the ... read more

After the lion’s zoo (which was rather depressing) and a tour of the Ethiopian National Museum, we hopped on a mini-bus just as the rain began to fall. The weather hasn’t been too bad here; torrential rains are sporadic throughout the afternoon and do not last too long. Despite the rainy season, the days and nights are pleasant with gentle breezes and refreshing drizzles that make the stroll home quite relaxing. After a lengthy ride, the mini-bus stopped and the driver motioned for us to exit. We looked around completely confused and did not recognize where we were, but he said “the end”, so we got out. We circled the round-about of traffic and I recognized the building to the left, particularly because of the intricate scaffolding along the façade of the structure. (It’s amazing to ... read more

B-E- AGGRESSIVE. ! It's the only way you'll get on to the local transportation. I wouldn't say there's a stop post, you sort of just wait somewhere (only known to locals) until a mini-bus pulls up. When it comes towards you, someone will stick out their head and call out a stop, but by then you should already be crowding the door and pushing your way onto the bus. It's insane. There was no way all 6 of us could get on one bus together, so we split up to make things easier. After some pushing, shoving, and having a guy try to pull me back, we stuffed onto this bus heading towards Mercado. The air was dense with the smell of body odor and smog. I didn't know I could hold my breath for so ... read more

Today was nothing short of amazing and I'm reminded why I want to make this my life. Liz performed 7 Denver II Assessments on the children today. I observed, as I am new to the field and not quite comfortable running this on my own. (Tomorrow, I'll start.) Luckily, I have an amazing partner who is both knowlegeable and patient. This little gentlemen, age 4 was the most adorable I've seen in a long time. When I said hello, he put one hand on my shoulder, looked me straight in the eyes, and extended his tiny hand. . How cute is that? The other children were just as wonderful with the ability to melt you to puddles with their warm smile. You'd never know their status. I know HIV/AIDS is stigmatized around the world and arcoss ... read more

Salem. Welcome to present day Ethiopia, the date is October 19, 2002. Ethiopians do not operate on daylight savings time nor do they adjust to leap years, so it's behind the Gregorian calendar by 7.5 years. We've spent an entire day here in Addis now and I find the place rather comfortable. We are currently staying at Panorama Hotel in Bole City, away from the center of Addis, which has been a blessing for the many conveniences. The people do not stare much and go about their lives as if we ourselves were Ethiopian. They are so friendly. The first day of clinic (which happens to be a 10 minute walk from our hotel) consisted of a tour of the place and a breakdown of patients that we will be seeing in the next few months. ... read more