Etalem's Last Chapter

I have written about a 3 year-old girl named Etalem in two previous blog entries. In the first, I shared with you the sorrow of letting go of a child I was almost certain would die. In the second, I celebrated an all-too-rare happy outcome. Etalem miraculously lived through the severe tuberculosis that nearly killed her. The last time I saw her, I took pictures of Etalem’s surprising recovery and sent her home. But unfortunately, Etalem’s story has a third and final chapter. Recently, one of Etalem’s family members visited our health center. With her came terrible news. While at home, Etalem contracted a severe diarrheal illness and passed away. She died like millions of other Ethiopian children--at home, from a preventable disease. And there you have it--the real health battle in rural Ethiopia. It’s not the few rare cases that we treat at our health center. It is the thousands of children who never make it here. Etalem gives us a face, a name, and a narrative for this untold story.