A very belated happy new year!

I apologise for the lack of a recent blog update - January was a busy month!

We had a very enjoyable Christmas Day complete with roast dinner, Christmas pudding and festive films.  Much to Helen’s delight, we were able to enjoy a second Christmas as Orthodox Christians celebrate the festival (‘Gena’ in Ethiopia) a couple of weeks after us.  We were invited to spend the day with one of Helen’s colleagues and his family, and were made to feel very welcome.  There was a very impressive spread of food and drink, and the family held a coffee ceremony after the meal.

Our Christmas dinner table - avocado, beef and tomato salad to start



Traditional coffee ceremony at Gena (Ethiopian Christmas)

My parents were in Ethiopia for much of January and we had a fantastic couple of weeks together. We spent a very enjoyable week exploring the south of the country and were very impressed by the diversity of people, scenery and wildlife. One of the highlights was a boat trip on Lake Chamo during which we saw hippos, crocodiles (at very close range!) and some beautiful birds. My lasting memory is being privileged enough to see a Hamer tribe bull-jumping ceremony. Bull-jumping ceremonies are important events in Hamer society and involve a naked male initiate being required to leap across about six bulls several times in order to prove his worth. If successful, he may then take a wife. I was initially unsure that I wanted to see such a ceremony as I was concerned that it may be a staged ‘show’ rather than an authentic celebration, and I had heard that the Hamer women were beaten as part of the proceedings. We were in fact the only farenji (white people) at the ceremony and, although some women were beaten, observing and understanding the context was very enlightening. The journey to the bull jump took us about 20km in our 4x4 vehicle across very arid countryside. We then walked for a further kilometre or so to a sandy riverbed where around thirty Hamer women were blowing horns, chanting and dancing with bells jangling around their calves. Many more men, women and children were gathered to watch the dancing. Some of the men’s faces were being painted and the women taunted these men to whip them across their backs. It was reassuring to see that the men were reluctant to do so but we learnt that the women perceived the whipping as demonstrating their strength and ability to be good wives. After an hour or so we walked with the tribe to a clearing where at least thirty bulls were gathered. The women continued dancing around the bulls before six animals were chosen and lined up for the initiate to leap over. I was struck by how healthy the tribespeople looked and it felt absolutely right that we were largely ignored during the ceremony. We left feeling very privileged to have gained a tiny glimpse into the lives of these people and our visit provoked much discussion about the future of such tribes.

Hippos...

beautiful birds...

and a very hungry-looking crocodile..!

Hamer tribe face-painting

Hamer women chant and dance

The bull jump

Mum and Dad returned with me to Harar where they spent a week exploring the city and visiting the hospital.  Dad’s Rotary Club had kindly donated some money to the paediatric ward which was used to buy some basic equipment (neonatal pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitor, ophthalmoscope/otoscope and thermometers).  It was great that my parents were able to deliver the equipment to the hospital and see it being used later in the week.  Visiting the hospital proved to be an emotive experience and it led us to discuss at length how best to support such institutions.  Money is certainly only part of the answer... 

Later in the week we had a very entertaining visit to the camel market in Babile, a town about an hour outside Harar.  The local people were very friendly and seemed intrigued by us – my ‘pop socks’ caused particular amusement!  At one point Dad was offered 99 camels in exchange for me but the negotiator made it clear that Mum was not wanted as part of the deal!

Camel market at Babile

I was sad to see Mum and Dad leave but there has been plenty to keep my busy at the hospital this week.  The fourth year medical students had their end of attachment exams so I was asked to prepare some questions for the written components, and spent three days examining long cases and the respiratory station of the OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination).  The first group of medical interns will rotate to the Obstetric/Gynaecology Wards next week so I spent some time gathering their feedback on the paediatric attachment.  I was really pleased to hear that they have found the medication chart that I introduced to be very useful (previously there was no system for recording administration of drugs).  I was even more delighted to hear that the nurses are now asking for the charts to be filled in (the nurses initially seemed sceptical about their value) and that the interns would like to introduce the chart to the wards where they will rotate next.  Moments such as these certainly counterbalance the frustrations that I experience at other times.  I will be sad to see this group of interns leave – they have worked very hard and certainly bear hugely more responsibility than equivalently experienced junior doctors in the UK.

I have another couple of weeks at work before a friend visits from the UK.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing her and exploring the north of the country together – will need to dig out some warm layers for our trek in the Simien mountains, not had any need for such clothing so far!