First Full Day at Project Mercy--by the Greer Family

June 20, 2014           Monday at Project Mercy, from the Greer Family 

Photos by dg and sj

Welcome to Project Mercy!

Hospital to the left, main compound to the right

Darrin

We had a good day at Project Mercy.  Our day started with apprehensive glances as we met the “House Kids” for the first time.  We met in the classroom by the library.  Our ice breaker was decorating name tags, doing puzzles, and reading new books.  After touring the facility with Zondra, we had a little down time before we met with the kids again at 3:00 p.m. for sports on the soccer field.  The kids really love the chance to show us their skills in soccer. Some of the kids are very good.  We also played American football, basketball, volleyball, and even played a little Ping-Pong.  Although it isn’t super hot here, due to our high elevation, the sun is still very intense and you get dehydrated and exhausted very quickly.  I know I’ll be sore tomorrow.  About 25-30 kids participated, judging from the smiles and laughter I think they had a good time. 

Coach Darrin and daughter Devin

Tour of the compound ended with a visit to see the thriving cattle.

Universal language spoken with balls of many shapes...

Dineen

Although our first week here touring various parts of Ethiopia was amazing, I was anxious to finally get to Project Mercy.  This morning, we delivered the medical supplies we brought to the hospital.  We were greeted with so many hugs and kisses.  Although this was my first time to Project Mercy, I felt like I was part of the family as everyone is so warm and welcoming. 

After changing into scrubs, we toured the operating room area.  Although things are pretty basic by U.S. standards, they have done an amazing job providing what is needed to perform a range of surgical and obstetrical services.  The most commonly performed surgeries are for enlarged thyroid, uterine prolapse, benign prostate hyperplasia and c-sections.

Although we were not planning to do medical work this morning, it was not long after our arrival that we were asked to give our opinion on a number of cases.  We saw an infant with a large mass on his thigh, performed an ultrasound on a woman suffering with infertility and found several large fibroids, accessed a women 36 weeks pregnant with ultrasound to check baby’s growth and evaluated a women in early labor.   All of that before 10am!  Tomorrow we will visit the midwifery school and I am very much looking forward to the next adventure.

The Glen C Olson Hospital

Sarah and Hailu geting reacquainted.  Hailu is in charge of hospital maintenance and also serves as a local pastor.  His passion to serve in inspiring! 

Isabella and Honey reuniting.  Friendships build over time...

Dr. Randy with Tigist and another hospital nurse.  Smiles abound.

Isabella gives a tour of the main OR.

And it's Christmas in June…we have duffles and duffles of supplies for the hospital.

We are so thankful to all who donated to this effort to help the Yetebon community.

Dr. Fekadu is an incredibly devoted surgeon and wonderful friend.

Desmond

Today I did puzzles and reading with the “House Kids”, in the morning.  We worked on a large puzzle of a car and flowers.  We did all of these things in the morning time before lunch (9- 11).  After lunch I did sports with them such as soccer, football, basketball, and volleyball.  It was fun and lots of the kids were good at them specifically soccer. We did this from 3 to 6pm.  When we were done we went back to have dinner.  I think this was a good start to our stay at Project Mercy.

Sisay is a pro at puzzles.

Desmond in action.

Wengel (which means "Gospel") about to take a shot!

Dana

I had fun playing volleyball.  I fell on the ground a lot!  The game was boys vs girls and the boys won.  I also played soccer and the red team won.  That was my team but I didn’t play the entire game as it got too rough when the big kids came.  We also played flag football.  The volleyball was my favorite part of the sports.  Before the sports we did reading and puzzles, took a tour and ate lunch.  I had fun and I was very sleepy at dinner.

Flag football was a huge hit!

And so was basketball...

Devin

It was a fun day.  We got to meet the “House Kids”.  We introduced our names.  Then we did puzzles, coloring and reading.  Then we ate lunch.  At 3 o’clock, we played some sports.  Outside we played American football, volleyball, soccer, basketball and a little bit of ping pong.  I had fun playing football.  I enjoyed everything!  Then we went back and we ate dinner.

Devin and her Daddy

Happy athletes with jerseys and T-shirts donated by the Sacramento soccer league in which the Greer children play.
THANK YOU for your kind and generous colorful donation!!

Gondar to Bahir Dar…by Bill Zuber

Day 5: Post by Dr. Bill Zuber (photos by sj)

After breakfast at the Taye Hotel we hopped into our bus and land cruiser for our 180 km drive from Gondar to Bahir Dar. The countryside was a contrast to the landscape in the north at Lalibela. In the north the land was dry and harsh. Today we drove through a land green and lush. It is the beginning of the rainy season in Ethiopia - the time for planting. We saw farmers tilling the soil behind oxen - the freshly turned soil dark and rich. The surrounding hills were covered in green grass and trees. Pastoral beauty for our entire three hour drive!

Mama and baby.

Dark rich soil.

Tough labor for this farmer and his oxen.

Lush and green, with this fingerlike rock hurting forth from the ground.

We arrived in Bahar Dar, which is on Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia. We checked into our hotel, the Tana Hotel (pretty sure you can guess where they got the name) and had lunch with a panoramic view of the lake.

After lunch came the highlight of the day. We got into a boat on Lake Tana and took a one hour ride to one of the islands on the lake. Our excellent tour guide, Abebe, gave us the interesting history of the area. The lake has seven islands. Spread over these islands are 37 monasteries. The monasteries are run by monks of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian faith and have been in these islands since the 13th century. The legend has it that when the northern part of the country was invaded by Muslims, the Ark of the Covenant was moved for a time from Axum to one of these monasteries.

The boat ride was very pleasant. The children had a blast, playing and running around the deck As we neared the island, a light rain began. This got Dr Randy and Isabella thinking that perhaps, with the rain, slippery decks and active children, life jackets would not be such a bad idea. When they enquired, they were told not to be concerned, the life jackets were safely locked in the bottom of the boat. It was gently suggested that the life jackets might be more practical if they were actually in use, the captain agreed to make them available on the return trip.

Kids loved it!

On the island we took a short hike to the monastery through a lush green forest. The monastery is circular in structure and dates back to the 16^th – 17^th century. The layout consists of three concentric circles. The outer circle is for the congregants to worship. The middle circle is for the priests and monks, and the inner circle is the “Holy of Holies” which contains a replica of the Ark of the Covenant – something found in almost every Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church. The walls of the church are covered by paintings in the Ethiopian style, telling stories from scripture and Ethiopian history.

Circular structure to this monastery.

Dineen and Desmond by the turquoise doorway.

Vibrant colors adorn the monastery walls.

Hand-crafted papyrus boats.  Yes, they stay afloat quite well!  

Old world in the foreground; new world in the back. Coexisting.

On the return boat ride, with life jackets now in place, we were treated to the beauty of a light rain and gentle wind.

To complete the day: a delicious dinner, warm fellowship, then to rest......

Gondar, by Will Jones

6/19/2014--Blog by Will Jones, Photos by Mom

Today, we arrived in Gondar. After stopping at the hotel and eating lunch, we all went to a compound of six castles used by various rulers of Ethiopia. Several of us pointed out that the castles looked similar to those found in Europe, and we learned that that was because the Portugese helped build the castles in the 15th and 16th centuries. Also in the compound were Turkish baths, lion cages, a large dining hall, and a stable. A few of the castles had been damaged during WW2 when the British bombed the occupying Italian forces.

Towers and turrets!

Our group

Destroyed by bombs in WW2, reminiscent of the Cathedral at Coventry

The "ostrich eggs" atop the church roof

After the castle compound, we all went to the Castle of Fasiledes, which had a large basin at the foundation. When it rained, the water would fill the basin, and a priest would bless the water, making it holy. Then, people would wash in the water to cleanse themselves of their sins. Today, it is still used as a place for social gatherings. At the basin, men will throw lemons at the women they're interested in as a way to show their affection.

Fortunately, I don't think Bill had to throw lemons at Isabella to win her heart.

Note the sprawling tree roots completely covering the stone wall.

The Bath of Emperor Fasiledes

This is filled with water in January, providing a beautiful reflection pool.

The final destination of Gondar was a church that was painted on all the walls and ceiling. It reminded me a little bit of the Sistine Chapel in Florence. The paintings depicted various historical and biblical moments. A priest then came and demonstrated a traditional ritual using a prayer stick and a small hand instrument. Atop the church roof were seven ostritch eggs, which are a symbol of hope in Ethiopia.

Ceiling of the Debre Berham Selassie (Light of Trinity Church)

Angels adorn the ceiling

We were told that this wall is typically covered by a curtain and only revealed twice a year.

We "happened" to be visiting on one of those two occasions…

the celebration of St. Michael.

The priest demonstrates the symbols of St. Yarad, a famous saint

who composed the religious songs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Another wonderful day!

From Zoe: First Full Day in Ethiopia

This is written by Zoe Tilton, an ob-gyn that I had the pleasure of working with when my practice was in Davis.  Enjoy her perspective!

Ethiopia Trip 2014

June 17
Our first full day in Ethiopia was full of contrasts. We enjoyed an abundant breakfast buffet at the Jupiter Hotel before heading to the airport.  Arriving in Lalibela, we stopped at a simple rural home and saw firsthand how women make the Ethiopian staple injera. It was humbling to see life without amenities.  The kids were smiling although they have no material possessions. Very small girls were crossing the road, carrying plastic water jugs to the family home.  This stop was a great lesson for us all, including the kids.

Lalibela is an interesting town with many hills and many houses, some the traditional round mud and stone houses with thatched roofs and some a little more modern.  The bus negotiated the windy roads, full of people, goats and donkeys.

Our hotel  “Mountain View” is beautiful, each room with a balcony, perfect for viewing the early morning light on the hills and the sun setting among the clouds.

We toured many stone churches, built 800 years ago each from a single rock.  The priests, with their beards and robes, exhibited their faith and made me feel like time had stood still since the churches were built. The priests generously shared their reverence for the ancient hand crosses, crowns, drums and sacred paintings.  The labor it took to build these churches is amazing.  It was a very spiritual experience to visit the churches.

The day was great also as we are getting to know the others on the trip – Dr Fekadu and family, the Greers, the Jones, the Zubers, Dr Thomas and Zondra.  

We ended the day at the beautiful and magical Restaurant Ben Abeba.  It is a surprising construction, a kind of spiral structure with gardens and fountains.  We had a wonderful dinner of Ethiopian wats and a few semi-Scottish items on behalf of the co-owner who is a Scot. They also showed us the Ethiopian coffee ceremony and had a fire where one could warm oneself while stargazing. 


This was a day I could not have imagined before coming to Ethiopia.

Pictures that Pair with 6/17 post

I was unable to upload these with the last post, but here are some pictures from our first day in Lalibela. The weather is warmer and drier than we anticipated during this "rainy season!" Rain is predicted for today, and we are headed westward toward Gondar, a former Ethiopian capital.

Local woman making injera outside her home over open flame. 

Gracious and hard working.

You can see the red-colored injera in the lower right corner.

Just a few of the children who gathered around to check us out.

At the vista point…Will is surrounded by schoolchildren, and he is happy for this connection.

Driving into Lalibela town, turquoise-clad schoolchildren walk arm in arm.

This is a common sight and sign of friendship.

Cross window cut into the massive stone church you see below.

Hand-carved with hand-held tools, not machine made!

Our guide teaching us about the stone carved churches.  This is the first one we visited.

Truly a marvel that King Lalibela conceived of these churches and was able to execute on his vision.

The church was carved downward from the ground, then the windows, doorways, arches, and rooms, carved into the solid structure.  The church is still active, and we were able to see inside.

Perhaps the most recognizable or famous of the stone churches, the 

Church of St. George is in the form of an orthodox cross, with arms of equal length.  Note the three-dimensional surface of the church's top, with sharp 90 degree angles. 

Midway down are keyhole curved windows allowing light to filter in.

We walked down a rocky slope to get to the entrance of the church down below (you may be able to see some people at the church's base) and be greeted by a priest inside.

Parallel tracks

There is a certain nostalgia about trains.  I recently had the pleasure of traveling by train from Philadelphia to our nation’s capital and enjoyed the ease of travel along with the view.  I purchased an economy class ticket (rather than a ticket on the high speed train), accepting the delay associated with the not-infrequent stops to offset the cost.

And so it goes with life.  We make choices. Sometimes the consequences are predictable, like travel across four continents...and expect to be tired to the bone at unexpected times as the inner clock adjusts.  Sometimes the consequences are unexpected, as in Harrison’s boundless energy despite the demanding travel. And many times, what we encounter and experience are not the result of our own personal or volitional choices, but life playing out, manifesting God’s sovereign hand, in ways we cannot fully comprehend.

The parallel tracks of life—joy and sorrow, clarity and uncertainty, plenty and want—carry us closer and closer to our Maker when we keep our eyes on Him as the final goal. The Author and the Finisher. As pointed out by the museum guide on our visit to the first of many stone churches in Lalibela, He is the Alpha and Omega. Beginning and end.  Through this lens of truth can we start to interpret and process the spectrum that is reality that we encountered in this one day alone.

Breakfast was a feast. Pastries and cold cuts. Cereal and French toast (yes, even “choco-flakes”—Will is happy). Fresh fruit and yogurt. Peanut butter and tropical fruit jams and honey. The “best cup” of buna (coffee) some have ever tasted...”so sweet, I’m drinking it black!”  The ride to the airport and getting through the lines were no problem.  Safe travel to Lalibela after touching down to let passengers off and gain more in Gondar.  Vistas of canyons and green patchwork farmland to be soaked in through the tiny windows of the prop plane. Such a smooth start after the long—and also smooth—travel to Ethiopia.

And yet, alongside the wealth, the reality of the want.  A quick roadside stop to watch a woman making injera outside her home.  Fresh kindling gathered by a family member and added to the open fire.  Children and grandmothers wearing worn and tattered clothes, the hand-stitched seams easily visible.  Warm injera with burberry paste “azawot” offered to our group. Some eagerly accepting. It is utterly delicious. Some bewildered, “why would we take their food?”  A small offering to the cook for her time and generosity. Children gather round. “Hello, hello!” Easy smiles adorn their thin frames. More smiles and giggles, posing for photographs. Not to be left out, two little girls run up, carrying yellow water jugs half their size.  They’ve fetched their family’s water supply for the day.  Can this be?

Back in the bus, a wide landscape before us. What looks like hand-terraced hillsides with rocks strewn in parallel lines, back and forth, back and forth. Acacia trees dot the land.  Oxen-driven plows till the hard soil. The ground is dry and brittle, that is easy to see.  The work is hard and physically demanding.  It seems an impossible task lies ahead of each farmer clearing his field.

Another stop to soak in the view and take photos.

How do we prepare ourselves, and especially our children, to encounter what we cannot know to expect?  How shall they greet the colorfully-clad schoolchildren who unabashedly ask for pens and more?  Our children are quick to engage the kids—children love children! But where do the conversations lead?  How are their hearts touched?  How do their minds process the poverty before them, when the closest they’ve come to serving and interacting with the needy is a soup kitchen hosted in a local church?

So much to process.

And then, the hotel. It is appropriately named “Mountainview Hotel,” for it is perched atop a hill and offers panoramic views of a stunning landscape.  There are more windows than walls to maximize the natural beauty before us.  Birds soar above, workers tarry under the sun.  The children laugh and play together as they await lunch.  Another feast.  Soup and fresh bread, followed by a buffet of fresh salads and hot dishes.  Our bellies full, it is time to visit the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” Lalibela’s stone churches.

And a wonder they are.  Conceived by King Lalibela, these churches were built from the top down...anchored in heaven so to speak, rather than being built on a firm earthly foundation.  Surely it was a divine revelation to conceive of such houses of worship.  But then to execute the vision, to bring countless numbers of men alongside and ask them to hand-carve this impossible rock down, down, and still downward into the ground, and to carve arches and windows and doorways.  Breathtaking and mindboggling all at once. Pilgrims wrapped in their white gauzy shawls look angelic as they make their way to the church entrance and around the surrounding stone grounds. Yes, these houses of worship are still vitally alive.

The Divine reaches down to touch His creation.  Courage and obedience, toil and labor from those before us—8 or 9 centuries ago—yield fruit that the originators could not have foreseen or foretold.  He gives us our daily bread.  He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, for today has enough cares of its own. He tells us to give generously and cheerfully. He promises never to leave or forsake us.  And so, as we navigate these parallel tracks that is life, we hold fast to His promises and His truth. 

Lord, let me love as you love. Let me live each day fully to Your glory.  Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You. And let me not worry, but trust that You will guide us where you call us, and to see with Your eyes as we soak in the myriad wonders of your world.

Made it to Addis!

Made it to Ethiopia!  Thank you for your prayers!!

From start to finish, we touched down on four continents to reach this first destination of Addis Ababa--North America (layover in Chicago); Europe (Frankfurt); Asia (touched down in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to let passengers off and refuel); and of course Africa.  We departed SFO at 0610 on Sunday June 15th and arrived Addis around 2100 on Monday June 16th. Whew!!  We are now settled in at Jupiter Hotel Bole for a quick night's rest before we head back to the airport (believe it or not) to start our travel to northern Ethiopia.  We have a 0430 wake-up call and a 0530 departure time to catch a flight to Lalibela.

Quintessential group photo by "Welcome to Ethiopia" sign.

At the airport, we were greeted by a brightly smiling Zondra, dear friend and long-term Project Mercy volunteer, teaching middle school English for the past 4 years and serving as informal liaison for myriad teams that have rotated through Project Mercy.  Our travel agent Abebe and his son Dawit also greeted us warmly--I think he, Isabella, and I had over 40 email exchanges over the past few months to coordinate this week of travel together.  And now, we are here!

Customs couldn't have been smoother … in fact it was as if the Red Sea parted to allow us smooth passage between (but not through) the X-ray scanners.  Not a single bag had to be scanned … some attribute it to our airline (Luftansa) while others attribute this gift to divine intervention.  Needless to say, this was one huge prayer answered in an unexpected way … we breezed through, and all 20 of our bags filled with medical supplies and books for the children are now on the Project Mercy bus ready for delivery to Yetebon!!  God is good and gracious. Always.

Zondra and Dawit in the Hotel Lobby

Taking advantage of wi-fi to update the blog. Not sure what sort of access we will have in the coming days, but will keep the updates coming when we are able.  We continue to appreciate your prayers, and we send you lots of love.

There is a certain buzz about the night and scent in the air that makes me feel like I am right at home. I can't wait to see how those experiencing Ethiopia for the first time are touched…