FYI: What we are doing here

Jeff and I have realized that we’ve gotten a little ahead of ourselves with the blog posts. We jumped right into our stories without first explaining what this year in Ethiopia is all about. Why are we here? What are we doing? Pretty straightforward questions I think… so let’s lay the foundation…

For those of you who don’t already know, Jeff and I are working here in Ethiopia for a small Denver-based NGO called Lalmba, and have signed on to be here for a year. We provide medical care at a health center in a small town of 5,000 people, but we also serve a broader area of over 100,000 people. The health center has a small inpatient ward with 14 beds, a labor and delivery room, and several outpatient exam rooms. Jeff is medical director (scary, right?), and works closely with the 8 nurses who function as nurse practitioners—seeing patients in the outpatient clinic and rounding on the inpatients. Some of the nurses are also trained midwives. Right now he is quickly trying to get up-to-speed on tropical medicine by observing the nurses as they see patients in clinic and reading some of the books in our library here.

I am outreach coordinator, and… well…. my job is a little less straightforward I guess. I’m responsible for overseeing all of Lalmba’s public health programs. So far, keeping all of our current (and future) programs organized has been a daunting task—malnutrition programs, vaccinations, reportable diseases, nutrition counseling, women’s groups, sanitation projects, schools, air quality work, family planning, and staff development. I hope to work on providing some structure, cohesiveness, and accountability to all of this work while maintaining Lalmba’s core values and mission. As I indicated above, we service a large area, and it is also my job to coordinate our outreach to the surrounding area. Two days a week I travel to neighboring villages to bring vaccines and other preventive health services. “Neighboring” is a loose term though, and it sometimes involves a multi-hour drive on dirt “roads,” and/or a 2-3 hour hike to reach the village.

In our spare time, we hang out with the other volunteers and Ethiopians. We cook, read, and watch DVDs on our computer. We have an exercise bike, lots of hiking trails and yoga podcasts to stay healthy, and we’re contemplating some new hobbies (Jeff: astrology….errr make that astronomy, and Erin: bird watching and meditation).