Day 9 - Typical Troubles

Day 9 – Typical Troubles

Today was dedicated to finishing up the files, the photos of children, and having some appts. with colleagues. I met for lunch with the Dean of the Mekelle university Veterinary Program and his family. We shared a meal and coffee and he updated me on the status of their new building, their biggest needs, and the next vet who is travelling with CVM later this month to help with some teaching. Then I met with another friend who shared about their health outreach project teaching women how to use these new aquatabs that can be purchased at the pharmacy for 10 tablets for a quarter. They then are put into barrels of dirty water and can remove giardia and a few other nasties within 30 minutes. Can literally change a family’s life. Later that afternoon I learned of a boy in the ORE project about 13 years old with uncontrollable diarrhea and severe sickness. One of the staff had been at his home begging for his sisters to take him to the hospital for treatment. The problem is that if you go to Mekelle Hospital, you don’t have service from nurses, and you have to have a family member to feed you, help you to the bathroom, clean you, etc. The doctor or nurse only comes in when it is absolutely critical to monitor your treatment or give medicine. This is just the reality here. So this worker returned very discouraged because the sisters would not take him since their income was from daily labor, meaning they go each day to work in a factory or cleaning streets or chipping away at blocks making bricks and they get paid per day. So if they take their brother to the hospital, they will have no money while they are there. This potential for lost income is a huge barrier to medical treatment and education in Ethiopia. So when I left that day, the worker was trying to determine if the nicer hopsital outside of Mekelle would be able to offer full time treatment and care for the boy if they paid for the bill. If not, they will offer to pay the daily wage of the sister for her to care for the boy at the hospital. Hard realities. I also became aware that two of the ORE staff had scored high enough on entrance exams and applications to be offered spots at graduate programs in Mekelle. One was for an MBA and another for a Masters in Development Work. The barrier in their situation was not willingness to study or willingness to sacrifice their evenings for two years to complete the program, but the lack of funds for tuition. There are no student loans available in Ethiopia. Imagine if in order to go to college, you had to come up with essentially 1 year’s salary to pay the tuition. This is the reality here – these are top notch young men who extend themselves daily to serve others. One of the programs costs 27,000 birr ($2,200US for a 2-year masters) and the other 40,000 birr ($3,400 US). In America, this would be the best education bargain money could buy – but here, it is nearly impossible to attain based on a 2,000 birr per month salary. The kicker? “The university just called to say that I am accepted, but I have to show up with 30% of the money within 3 days or they will give my spot to someone else.” The system is such a tough one. Please continue to pray for the ORE staff to be able to do their work without exhaustion and with energy and a true love for children. I feel privileged to watch them in action.