Ethiopia - Tigray Region

Enjoying an evening of Ethiopian music and dance

Purple flowers of the Jacaranda tree

Artist using natural paints to create a distinctive Ethiopian artwork

Natural colours derived from these plants

Example of the artwork

We visited this monastery on a small island

Frescoes in the monastery depicted Biblical stories and stories from other ancient Ethiopian writings

Zoomed my iPhone as far as it could go and with boat restrictions this was the closest we could get to these hippos. There were actually 3 together, one a baby, but I couldn't get them to sync their surfacing at the same time

Typical yard in the rural Tigray region. As opposed to the Amhara region where houses were built of wood, these were mostly built of stones. No shortage in the countryside of stones!

One of many photos while driving through the countryside on our way to visit 5 rural hospitals

Boys eager to have their photos taken

Girls not so much. Notice their distinctive hairstyle all tightly braided at the front then loosely connected at the back. Camel caravan in the background on their way to a salt mine to return with sacks of salt 

We had to get a signature from a hospital director only to find him under this tree where he has a monthly meeting with the community

These women burst out laughing when I showed them this photo. This was taken in one of the hospitals we visited. I asked our driver what the woman to the left would have in her containers and he suggested hair oil. The center woman was likely bringing food for a family member in the hospital

Blossoming cactus

Ploughing the plots. The oxen obviously understood Amharic as the farmer was constantly yelling at them (and using his whip liberally)

Many switchbacks on the roads up to 2 of the hospitals. At one point we saw a large group of monkeys but I did not have the camera ready so lost the moment

That moment when you do happen to have your camera ready and for a split second you see a fox. Showed this to the folks in our hotel who were amazed as they had never seen one

The beauty of the terraced hillsides

Ethiopia - Photos of Amhara Region and SPECT's Hospital Assessments

Colourful flags - Ethiopia (upper) and Amhara region (lower)

Preparing and drinking coffee here involves a "coffee ceremony".

This woman is preparing coffee in the airport in Addis Ababa

Having lunch at a roadside restaurant. With the right hand you break off pieces of the sourdough flatbread (called injera), then wrap it around the assortment of items on the platter and scoop it into your mouth. The platter was shared by our driver, Ministry of Health rep who accompanied us and Olive and I

Mixing up a plaster of straw and mud to cake on the walls. The smaller photo shows before and after plastering

Roadside vendor with assorted items

Ethiopian "backpacks"

The next series of photos are from our hospital visits in the Amhara region

After surgery, instruments are put through a 3-basin system, first a 10-minute soak in a chlorine bleach solution (no longer recommended by the WHO), washing in soap and water then rinsing in the 3rd bucket. The blue bucket has a lower concentration of bleach and is used as a High Level Disinfectant for items that cannot be put in an autoclave

Washing the instruments in soap and water with a large brush

The room where the instruments are decontaminated, dried, inspected then wrapped prior to sterilization in the autoclave

Floor model autoclave

Tabletop autoclave

A water distiller - autoclaves frequently break down because users do not have access to distilled water (required by all manufacturers) so we were delighted to find a hospital that was able to find a distiller. They have had no problems with their autoclave.

Storage cabinet where instruments are stored prior to surgery

We spent 2 days with staff from our partner agencies, Assist International and Lifebox

Medical staff at two of the hospitals we visited.

Staff were receptive and are eager to work with us