We ran, we finished . . . we will keep running

Sunday was the Great Ethiopian Run, the largest open road race in Africa (whatever that means)–as in, 33,000 people this time around. It was a gorgeous day–sunny, blue, breezy, and mild.   The yellow t-shirt-clad crowd was friendly, and the excitement was fun to be a part of. My coworkers Derek and Danny ran as well. The joyous part of the event, though, was that Jerusalem, one of the project beneficiaries, ran as well! Her story is a testament to grace–when the project staff first met her, she was incredibly sick and bedridden. But now, she works full time for the project, cares for HIV+ kids, takes night classes, and has finished a 10k run! Crossing the finish line with her was an unforgettable moment. I got to laugh with Jerusalem at disease, fear, and death and proclaim that there is a different way–a way of hope, redemption, and LIFE.

Doro wat, or chicken “stew” is the special holiday dish here (much like our turkey). Derek wanted some before he leaves, so our friend/cook/clothes-washer Mimi made a big pot of it. On Tuesday we had a doro wat party at the office and all feasted☺ Geta came by the office in the afternoon and hung out for a couple of hours. Here she is cracking up at Derek’s scary face. Yesterday we finished the community health worker training that’s been going for almost 3 weeks! Here they are having training out in the sunshine. Really, we just had so many things going on at one time that we had to maximize space on the project compound! The case manager training is going well, and after this week we might get a short reprieve from trading teaching assignments around!

And FINALLY—we are starting the TB project today! It’s been a loooong time in coming, but everything is finally set. I have a stack of consent forms on my desk, and the patients are coming.

I can’t believe I’ll be in the US two weeks from now. I can’t believe I’ll be back here three weeks from now. The past few weeks have been very busy, but I have a feeling the next few are going to be even crazier. Ahhh. Breathe. Life is good—I tend to forget that in the craziness

Brrrrr

It’s supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight.  Good thing I ran this morning, when it was only mid-30s.  It’s a little crazy that I may have a cooler Thanksgiving than my family will in Texas!

I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I’m not dreading it as much this year as last, and as long as I don’t endure a successful mugging, there’s no way this Thanksgiving can sink as low as the last one.  I’m looking forward to it–I’m going to take a 1/2 day off work and act like it’s a holiday . . . and then we are going to eat.  A lot.  I was joking that we needed some American football on tape to make the day real.  Seriously, I love this holiday and am blessed to have a family that gets what it is really about.  I’m sad that I’m missing the what is probably the final Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle’s house (they are moving).  There are so many memories wrapped up in their big old house–from Saturday morning donuts to sawdust pies on the wide front porch to the circle of family singing and laughing in the living room on Thanksgiving.  Since I can’t be there, I’ll send my best wishes–may all you poker players have a straight face.

Life has been busy.  Work is busy, and in some senses it never ends, because the need never ends.  That’s exhausting.  But not nearly as exhausting as it must be to fight every day to stay alive and feed your kids and stay warm in your tin house when it’s 28 degrees and you only have one blanket.  We are taking in new beneficiaries and transferring our stabilized ones; the first brings a fresh pain at seeing  poverty and sickness and desperation, and the latter joy that there can be restoration and hope.   I’m deep into grad school applications, which is quickly becoming my current least-favorite activity.   I want to wake up and have them over.  Or at least good internet so I can get more done more quickly!

And that’s my life.  Stay warm.

Dave and Busters . . . from Dallas to Addis!

I think everyone in this country owns a couple of t-shirts that were born in the USA.  Mostly they are from places like D.C., LA, and major NFL teams.  Today, though, I saw a guy wearing a “Dave and Busters, Dallas” t-shirt!  I did a bit of a double take, and then just started to laugh.  Dave and Busters—an extravagant place to have fun—juxtaposed with the slums of Addis was kind of a mind-boggling contrast.
In other news . . . this week we have started community health worker training.  Our EPTs (Expert Patient Trainers—all beneficiaries who have been trained by the World Health Organization) are the future community health workers; using a combination of WHO materials and staff experience, we are teaching them how to be the ones to counsel and care for other HIV+ patients.  There are 15 EPTs in the training group; as I looked out over their attentive faces today, I was struck by how amazing all of their stories are!  It’s exciting to be at the point with another great group of beneficiaries, and to think what an immense help they will be to a health care system that is increasingly burdened by HIV/AIDS.  And it’s exciting to think about these people having the skills and experience to qualify them for good jobs in health facilities!  This really demonstrates the heart of what the project wants to do—find people who are destitute, very sick, and unable to provide for their families; and then to support them and their families back to a stable life.  It doesn’t always happen this way, and too often we are overwhelmed by the disease, poverty, and death that just won’t be beaten.  Thus, it’s with even greater joy that we get to share in these stories of the ones who have, in essence, driven back the death-invader.
Tomorrow night, Jim leaves to head back to life in the US.  It’s going to be a transition for everyone—both for him and those of us who are here.  I don’t like transitions (though I doubt any honest person really does), but am glad that Jim’s heading down the path that has been set before him.
My desk is piled high with papers—lab results, training materials, schedules, receipts, drug interaction reports, TB research papers . . . I should work on that!

Hope you all have a peaceful week!