Back to Addis

It’s hard to believe I’m actually back. I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel stepping back into the world of Addis, especially given that this time I am here alone for the most part, but the second I was zipping through the city, surrounded by the distinct Ethiopian air, I had a visceral punch in the gut of nostalgia. With my first sip of chai tea, when the moment the words “salam” left my lips, everything came racing back, all of the memories, good and bad. Not much has changed here to be honest.  Addis is perpetually in construction and many of the projects that were being undertaken are still haphazardly in various states of completion. Bole road, the main road that was being repaved last time I was here, is still not finished, leaving a huge strip of dirt that is continually washed with water from the sewers (another construction project). The biggest initial change was that the security rules are no longer in place so instead of entering the fairly calm international airport, there were swarms of people pushing and shoving, hoping to get a glimpse of their loved ones. Luckily, I was able to connect with my hotel shuttle fairly quickly and was soon on my way, although I was half expecting to turn into Bole homes and be greeted by the sweet voices of my habesha sisters. It definitely feels a little emptier here without the whole real world Addis clan.

Throughout the city, signs have been erected memorializing the recently deceased Prime Minister and Ethiopian flags cover almost every window. Nothing like some good old Ethiopian national pride. I am also happy to report that the Edna Mall movie theater is now officially 7D! Not sure how they accomplished that one but will definitely have to check it out. I also ran into some of the children we knew during our stay here this summer. One of the boys can’t be older than 4 years old and has this wild curly hair and a smile that could melt any heart. He runs around in front of Kaldi’s, one of the coffee shops here that mimics Starbucks quite impressively, and sells gum. Sure enough, he came running up to me and with teeth gleaming, asked, “Gum?” Even though it’s stale and tastes horrible, I always pay him double.

Now I am sitting here at the German Bakery, sipping my macchiato, which is even more delicious than I remembered, and trying to organize my plan of attack for this trip. The goals are to assess how our clinics are doing at Black and St. Paul’s by analyzing their clinical records and patient surveys. We left them with a lot of forms to fill out and to be honest, I’m a little wary that it got done. That is our only source of data though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I am also hoping to survey the residents we trained to see if they have utilized VIA/Cryo and if they thought the training was adequate now that we are 4 months out. Finally, and most importantly, I am hoping to address some of the sustainability issues that I foresee and that Dr. Dawit and Dr. Hezkiel anticipate. PEPFAR provides 5 years of funding for and VIA/Cryo clinics for HIV infected patients, but we unfortunately don’t have the resources to do that and really want to reach the general population, so funding will definitely be a major issue. Many things to think about!

The more I think about and talk about this project, the more driven I am to see it through and to expand our clinics to make a bigger national impact. I know it would take a lot of follow up and work, but I think it could make such a difference here. Now that I am pursuing a residency in the southeast, maybe even at Emory, I am hoping that this will be a possibility! Who knows, the future is such a tricky thing.