Ethiopia- Day 7

tattoo art

Pizza Night
Women at leprosy/tb hospital
trying to spin wool
Men at work

My shoe shine friend
after Robei I needed a good scrub.

Street children are often found selling items like Masticka (gum) and Soft (tissues). Older kids sell books and black market DVDs. Some kids attend school in the morning or afternoon and in their off hours take to the streets to make money. One service the boys offer is shoe shining. After my rainy days in the bush my shoes we're in need of some freshening up. I could of hosed them off in the shower but decided I would finally be able to say "yes" when one of those sweet boys asked to shine my shoes. Thank goodness I was wearing my leather Chucks!

It was strange to stand over this little guy who was hard at work cleaning my shoes. It felt wrong on so many levels but the norm in this country. Very acceptable to give this child an opportunity to work instead of just handing out money. My shoes never saw such love before and I can say with confidence my heart never had either as I watched that little guy make his way down the city street with all I could offer him, a few Birr in his pocket, a bracelet on his wrist and a prayer for his future.

One of my favorite things I did while in Ethiopia, and really my entire purpose for my trip, was to visit hospitals, orphanages and organizations in Addis. This day was my opportunity to visit the ALERT hospital for Leprosy and Tuberculosis. The grounds of the hospital are a top a hill within the city. With green grass, established trees and flowers planted threw out, it's a lovely, peaceful place. We spent our time in the Handy Craft Shop area where patients who are under going treatment make items which are then sold in the store providing an income for themselves. Some of the items that are available are various fabrics made on looms such as table cloths, clothes and scarves, hand embroidery and many others.

It was such a soul changing experience to sit with these sweet people as they spent their time working their crafts. Most with shortened fingers and toes, a symptom of leprosy, still learning to make do with their circumstances. I entered a room that was dimly lit despite the bright afternoon sun. The room reminded me of those I'd seen on trips to California missions. There amongst the grey wood and the smell of dust and time were two men working at looms. I watched as they made the primitive machines come to life with their touch. Their hands gently guiding thread and their feet, placed within rope loops and suspended 6 inches off the ground, brought the tall frames into motion. They took pride in their work and it was fun to ask them questions and watch them make something out of nothing before our eyes.

Outside the building around the grounds are metal sheds that were full of women working on embroidery and crochet. I hand out suckers as we sit in the shed amongst the women and children. The ladies try and teach us to crochet and spin wool. We mostly did more damage than good but Nati was quite effective at spinning wool actually.

I received a lot of concern from back home about visiting a Leprosy hospital. It's been really wonderful to learn about Leprosy, how it's contracted, treated and the symptoms and side effects that people suffer from. No worries that I've contracted leprosy. Most things we believe about leprosy are untrue and it is curable. Patients are blessed to receive the treatment that the hospital offers and people from all over come here for treatment as well as medical training. Once an affected person has under gone treatment for 2 weeks they are no longer contagious. Since we're visiting a premier hospital on the subject I can safely assume that they would keep contagious patients isolated as to not spread disease.

This was my first experience with a medical facility in Ethiopia and I was very inspired by both the staff as well as the patients. Hospital grounds also house a nursing school and doctors from across the world come here to study about leprosy and tuberculosis. I've really enjoyed learning about the hospitals in Addis and the faithful doctors involved with their success. It definitely fans the flame I've had to be involved in nursing.

We ended the day with American pizza! It tasted like homemade pizza here. Yum! Kate and I couldn't stay put for the night so we wandered the streets in search for Henna. Our Muslim friend from the bus in Robei said we "must get henna tattoos" before we left Ethiopia. We did find a tattoo shop but the owner had no idea where to we'd find henna tattoos. As not to leave defeated, we opted for airbrushed temporary tattoos. Just a little silly late night fun. After our tattoo shop experience we walked to the New York cafe near our guest house to hang out with Jason. We had a great conversation and closed the place down.