First Day in Clinic

Group photo prior to departing for our first day of Clinic

The Clinic

                                                 Some of the beautiful children we saw

Hello all of you following at home we had a wonderful day today in the AIDs Care and Treatment clinic! 

After a very smooth trip from the U.S., including an unbelievably rapid passage through Ethiopian customs (they only searched two bags, did not confiscate any equipment or medications, they did not even see the two fetal monitors!) we are here in Addis Ababa with some wonderful people. We are here with the dedicated staff of ACT and a team from Boston, with whom we will be working over the next two weeks. 

This morning our bigger, bolder team (Boston + BAMM = BBAM) met together for devotions. In one of those things that may you say Wow!, Daniel, the pastor on the Boston team, is the cousin of Eugene Lee, the campus pastor at Menlo Church San Mateo. Eugene is the pastor who did our commissioning at Menlo San Mateo one week ago. After a hearty breakfast we headed to the ACT clinic in Suki. 

ACT has two types of clinics: A Beneficiary Clinic and a Community Clinic. 

The Beneficiary Clinic is composed of patients with ongoing conditions including AIDs, Tuberculosis, Cancer and other chronic illnesses. The Community Clinic is for the local community and are new patients. 

Today we worked in the Beneficiary Clinic. We saw 100 patients over the course of the day with a range of problems - from ages 1 to 80. The patients were incredibly sweet and very appreciative of their care. Despite this being the first day of clinic it went very smoothly. We had some awesome translators. 

The patients started with Kathy, Janine, and Jan in triage. They were sent to the MDs and NP for evaluation, then off for tests, or directly to the pharmacy where the veteran Sally and Workayehu gave out the medications. Isabella and Rochelle kept things running smoothly. Part of our triage was to ask the patients if they would like someone to pray with them. Almost all said yes. It was a blessing for the patients and staff alike. We were even treated to a sudden thunderstorm in the middle of the afternoon, very rare in the dry season. Our patients, who were waiting out in the courtyard, took shelter in our pharmacy during the storm. After the rain let up, clinic resumed. We returned after a long, but satisfying day to the ACT lodging for our dinner and some fellowship. It has been exciting to see how God is working here. This in not the trip we had planned, but it is the plan God had for us. Our eyes and hearts are open to see what God does over the next two weeks. After dinner most of the team headed soon to bed for a deserved rest - we are still adjusting to the 10 hour time difference, and sleep is a wonderful thing. So, good night for now. 

Posted by Bill