Toni is back in Ethiopia as of today. He has a month more of work ahead of him to finish up the data collection phase of his PhD, and has also taken advantage of being in Addis to check up on some of the things we left behind when we moved back to the UK in August...
The main thing: a pilot fund we created with the help of Dr. Aynalem, an oncologist at the Black Lion Hospital. (Featured in that film above that we made about cancer care in Ethiopia.) I've said this to many of you before, but cancer care in Ethiopia, and most of the developing world, essentially does not exist. While there are thousands of campaigns and organisations to help treat communicable diseases - HIV, malaria, TB etc - cancer seems too big and scary and expensive an issue, for either governments or aid agencies, so the services just aren't there. Black Lion Hospital has the only cancer centre in Ethiopia - for a population of over 80 million. There are 3 oncologists. You can imagine the demand!
It's grossly unfair to assume that if you live in a developing country and get cancer, you are just going to have to die a slow and painful death. (This is exactly what happens in most every case.) Recognising the immensity of the problem, and mine + Toni's teeny tiny smallness, we chatted with Aynalem to see what initial steps could be made to improve the situation. He said it outright - a discretionary fund that could be used for poor patients who could not afford treatment or medications, or who had traveled to the city for treatment and had to sleep on the street because they couldn't afford basic accommodation. We set it up, left in August, and Toni went back today - today! - to see what happened.
Let me tell you: Dr. Aynalem is one of the best men I have ever met. His honesty and commitment to his patients is seriously unparalleled. You don't understand - there are more Ethiopian doctors in the city of Chicago than the entire country of Ethiopia. You are paid $300/month to be a doctor in Ethiopia. That's it. It is an immense personal sacrifice to stay in the country, and I do not blame anyone for seeking better offers elsewhere. And I know Aynalem has had them - but instead, he sticks it out with the extremely limited resources he is given. RAD.
And on meeting Toni today, he handed him a letter carefully listing every patient who benefited from the fund so far - with individual receipts signed by him + the patient detailing what the funds went to. One woman was able to get an MRI. Another medical student was able to get an early cancerous growth in his anus removed successfully, and can now continue his studies. It goes on and on. Two dozen people were able to get life-saving treatment that they would have had no access to otherwise. Think of it!
This is such a basic form of assistance - no middle man, no umbrella organisation, just immediate and very critical needs that can now be filled when otherwise they would have been left to simply fester and get worse, completely ruining these peoples' lives. I could write a whole other post about the processes of development, or charity and giving, and what I feel I've learned these last 10 years since that first trip to Beira, Mozambique... but suffice it to say: just giving cash to impoverished communities to do with it what THEY need, not what you THINK they need, will 100%, always be more effective. (It's kind of what my whole PhD thesis is about too.)
But this couldn't have happened without Aynalem - without having him there to manage the fund, to provide the treatment AND the care for his patients to know who needs what. He's a champion. I cannot say enough how much I admire this man, and how happy I am to have worked with him.
As I said, this was sort of a pilot - to see how things would go if we started this kind of fund. And we really want to keep it going, but also make it as strategic and effective as possible. Toni's having lunch with Aynalem in a couple days to discuss more. And we will really need more help moving forward, in case you're keen... (honestly, please do get in touch if able.)
But I have to say: sitting in my comfortable flat in beautiful Oxford, it's been easy to feel very removed from Ethiopia and the people we met there. It's ironic that day in, day out I write my thesis about these people - about their lives and struggles, in a setting that is so resource-full it's shocking. I wrote about that below - being pregnant here, and having every kind of care at my fingertips - ah! I will never ever forget what a privilege that is. I'm so happy Toni is back in Addis this month, and able to reconnect in person with that grand world we love so dearly. This day is one of the happiest I've ever known (in a very, VERY happy time at that). And I can't wait to see how all the weeks and months coming forward unfold.
Até mais!!
jooj.
