But it's funny how one experience with the same organization can be so different than the next. I think I expected my mission to Ethiopia to be very similar to the mission in Chiapas, even though they are such different places...simply because I was working with the same organization doing the same surgeries. Obviously that was a bit naïve considering that the locations and cultures were very different.
So I quickly found out that Ethiopia was a whole different ball game. There were many challenges that we had to face that didn't come up in Mexico....like the fact that sometimes there was no running water, which meant there was no laundry services and our supply of clean sheets was low. So we had to improvise and use what we had and find other things that we could use to cover the beds (we settled for the disposable "chux" pads).
Another challenge was the language barrier. I didn't realize how much I had taken for granted the ability to speak Spanish in Mexico. In Addis Ababa, our patients spoke primarily Amaric, which I do not even remotely understand. We also had quite a few patients that had traveled from Somalia to have surgery. So we had to use a Somali interpreter to communicate with them. Unfortunately, we only started with one Somali interpreter, so we had to share him among all the patients until they could get us a couple other interpreters the following day. Thankfully, we had a sweet med student who spoke Somali who I was able to recruit to help us at the beginning of the mission.
But in spite of all the challenges and lack of resources, we had an amazing team who pulled together to do an amazing job. I was absolutely blown away by the nurses and physicians on our team. One of my favorites was Annemieke, a Dutch pediatrician with an English accent who had a perfect balance of professionalism and fun. There was always a lot of laughter when she was around. And she also took care of me when I got food poisoning, so I owed her big time for that!
In the pre/post team, we had Swedish, Canadian, and American nurses, along with a local Ethiopian nurse who we trained. He was a quick learner and was also a huge help with the Amaric-speaking patients. It was a lot of fun watching him grow in his knowledge and skills through the duration of the mission.
Photo-op with our local nurse Mekuria (left)
This was my first time working day shift on an Operation Smile mission, so I got to see a lot more of the action this time around. One of my favorite stations was the pre-op play area where our child life specialist, Alex would prep the patients for surgery. She would explain the anesthesia on a kid's level and let them play with the masks and other medical "toys." There was always a lot of fun and laughter going on in this part of the hospital. I can genuinely say that Alex is one of the most energetic, gifted specialists I have ever worked with in my nursing career. She did such an amazing job with the kids and helped us keep a smooth flow with all the pre-op patients going into surgery.
There were definitely a lot of moments where I almost felt like I was back on the ship again. It was mostly the controlled chaos and the many "TIA" moments when you just have to go with the flow and accept that things are different in Africa. I think that the 2+ years I spent in West Africa definitely helped me to be more laid back in that type of working environment.
Along with the controlled chaos, it was also just nice to be back in the African culture. While we didn't have drums and dancing in the ward like we did on the ship, we did have the warm African culture. And of course, you can always break through the cultural barriers with bubbles and toys!
One day during the mission, I had to go down to another unit in the hospital to borrow some blankets (because once again, there was no running water or laundry). When I got to the nurses' breakroom to ask them for blankets, they were having their afternoon coffee break. Now you have to understand that in Ethiopia, they are serious about their coffee. They actually roast the beans right there, make the fresh coffee and serve it with fresh popcorn (a little strange, I know, but it makes for a pretty good combo). So I walked in and saw that they were pouring the coffee and being the warm-cultured people that they are, they asked if I wanted to join them for coffee. Never mind that I was in a bit of a hurry to get the blankets so I could go back to the ward and get some things done. None of those things were urgent and this was an opportunity to soak up the Ethiopian culture. I knew I had at least ten minutes to spare and these were the kind of moments you do not pass up.
Preparing for the traditional coffee ceremony
While I sat and drank coffee with these friendly people, I had the chance to get to know them a little bit better. A few were shy with their English, but one of the head nurses had actually trained in Cuba so she spoke perfect Spanish. So there I was, sitting in an Ethiopian hospital, speaking Spanish and drinking coffee with perfect strangers. It was one of those moments where I had to stop and think to myself "My life is so crazy and I absolutely love it!"
After a nice coffee and chat with the nurses, I thanked them and headed back to finish up my work upstairs. I was a little nervous that I would be regretting the coffee later on (they don't always use purified water), so I said a little prayer that I wouldn't get sick and headed back to the ward. Thankfully the post-op area was not very busy and the other nurses hadn't even noticed I was gone while I was making new friends in the L & D unit. After a few hours of no stomachache, I also thanked the Lord that I didn't get sick from the coffee.
But unfortunately, a few days later, I was not so lucky. My roommate had shared some fruit with me and even though I had washed it with bottled water, the next morning, it decided to come right back up. It is never fun to start a day on the mission with your head hanging over the toilet, but sometimes that's just how life goes. I knew I couldn't stay back at the hotel because another post-op nurse had a fever and was staying back. So I sucked it up and went to work.
But after only a few hours of being at the hospital, I found myself with my head over the toilet once again. I finally decided I couldn't hide it anymore and told my friend Annemieke (who happened to be our team doctor) that I had been vomiting. After a little bit of scolding, she loaded me up with some zofran and told me that if I vomited again, she was sending me straight to the hotel. But our post-op team was already short-staffed, so I decided that I wouldn't take my chances and would just lunch and hydrate myself as much as possible so I could get through the day. I felt miserable and it was physically one of the hardest shifts I've ever worked, but I made it through and collapsed on my bed when we got back to the hotel. Needless to say, I slept really well that night.
The rest of the mission went pretty smoothly and before we knew it, the trip had come to an end. As usual, we had our final party the night before everyone flew out. Our team leaders surprised us with a live band and performers who did some of the local African dances in the traditional outfits. By the end of the night, we had all joined in the fun and dancing. It was a great end to a long week.
Kayaking with Jamie on team day
While I have to admit that this was not the easiest mission I've ever been on, I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of the team. I felt challenged and stretched on many occasions, but it was a great growing experience for me. And we all know that difficult situations provide great opportunities to build stronger character! I was so blessed to work with this team of volunteers and I hope to see many of them again on future Operation Smile missions!
