5 years ago I took one of the biggest chances and decided to spend my summer in the Philippines on a medical mission trip. It was almost by accident that I happened on an opportunity that would largely shape the path I have taken today. I thought long and hard about doing research that summer, all while getting discouraged by the lackluster projects that were thrown my way. It wasn’t until I received an email that went to my school account highlighting a summer medical mission trip to the Bicol Region of the Philippines for 5 weeks. After uprooting my life from DC to move to FL for medical school where I had made some of my closest friends (or should I say family at this point) you could say I was struggling to adjust.
Now I’m not the person who can’t adapt to change. Quite the contrary. I have moved every few years throughout my life, so leaving DC where I finally get a sense of home and had made lifelong friendships was difficult. I had gotten to a point in my life where some sense of stability and lack of change would be nice. So there I was that summer in between first and second year of medical school trying to decide what to do and on a whim I applied to go on that medical mission trip. That trip ended up being one of the best trips of my life. It’s where I found my love for surgery, and later come to realize otolaryngology. It’s where I decided global health was something that I wanted to incorporate into my career and continue to engage in initiatives to help others worldwide for the rest of my life.
Fast forward to today, the start of a New Year, 2019, where I’m currently sitting on a plane to Mekelle, Ethiopia with the opportunity to do what I love. Again the email about this trip came with short notice, and with shear excitement (and luck for my schedule to be perfect for when it was timed) I jumped on the opportunity. As a third year resident these international trips are a rare, but enlightening.
I started this trip and planning about 2 months ago. The planning that goes into its coordination and preparation is extensive, and our group with Healing the children makes it seamless. From the day to day schedule, flight booking and travel coordination, this group of incredible people I get to go with make it look so easy. And it’s far from that. I met them back in December for the first time in upstate New York at the headquarters for our “packing party” and I can say they are one FUN group of people. We packed all of our medical supplies, OR supplies, anesthesia medications and equipment and organized it all into suitcases for us to take on our travels.
My flight left from Newark early
Morning of 1/1 with a short layover in Dubai for arriving in the capital of Ethiopia: Addis Ababa. I have never flown on Emirates, but one thing they do well is food. And plane food is usually pretty unappetizing to me, so that is saying a lot. I sat in a middle seat between a middle aged Indian woman and an elderly middle eastern man. They were the nicest flight mates I could have asked for. The elderly man was so on top of making sure I got food, waking me up and getting a tray every time they came by. He even did so much to take my tray after (despite me telling him that was way to kind and unnecessary). What a pleasant gentleman to travel next to.
The Indian lady and I had a lot of fun laughing at the fancy stir spoons they provided for our coffee and lack of personal space which we tended to invade on each for the occasional shoulder to rest against unintentionally as we drifted off. I watched the movie “Wonder” on the plane, and my emotional stability from residency (gotta blame something) has turned me into quite the cryer when it comes to tear jerker movies. My neighbor would turn to me and give me a little hug or squeeze when she saw me embarrassingly welling up during parts of the movie. So needless to say my seat mates were the best. Very supportive travelers.
Our flight out of Newark was delayed so when we got to Dubai one of the gentlemen at the gate was nice enough to hold our connection flight. We were escorted probably a mile through the airport to a bus which then proceeded to take us to the plane which was already out on the jetway. Let the adventure begin. Now to hope our luggage made it as well. Due to the holiday in Ethiopia the next connection flight is in an hour, and if that is filled the following flight is in 3 days. So we needed to hustle which we succeeded at, and running through the airport actually felt pretty good after sitting for 12 hours.
Wait you thought the traveling was over? Nope after a 4 hour flight to Addis Ababa, we then had to get on our domestic flight to Mekelle. Customs was a free for all with luggage and people everywhere so collecting 15 of our medical supply bags that are 50lbs each on top of our person items was quite the scavenger hunt. One bag was lost in the casualty, RIP. Now the domestic terminals are another mile walk around the entire airport. Along the way some locals come and try and help you as you walk through a bustling chaotic mess of cars and people. A small child insisted on taking my bag, it hurt my ego a little but I am so jet lagged he probably does have more strength. We tipped them generously.
Basic rules such as lines and staying with your belongings doesn’t exist here. You jus grab what you can and try to push through security, which mind you we went through 3 times before boarding the flight. Our bags of scalpels, medications and supplies is secure! Once at the gate our team treated ourselves to the local Ethiopian beer, which at this point tasted amazing. And boarding the flight again requires getting on another bus to tour around the airport to a plane already on the runway while carrying our small bags up the plane stairs. We are all on the brink of exhaustion but only 1.5 hours until arrival to our final destination of Mekelle.
If you don’t think I listened to Toto’s Africa at least a few times you must be kidding yourself.
The domestic flight was a blur as we all immediately went to sleep, waking up in a daze of confusion to where we were and what time or day it was. The airport in Mekelle is very small so getting our bags and going through “security” was easy. A van was there to pick us up to go to our hotel. 2 gentleman managed to cram all our supply bags and ourselves into the shuttle, utilizing the roof as well for our belongings. Nothing fell off or shifted to hit our heads, so that was a win. The hotel itself when we arrived was very nice. Considering my last trip I took bucket showers and slept in a small room with 6 girls, this place was great. We all got our own rooms with the basics. There isn’t hot water, so shower efficiency is key unless you want to freeze. I couldn’t tell if my body was just getting use to the cold water or it was actually warming up. Probably the first one.
We gathered as a group for dinner in the hotel and had traditional Ethiopian food. The stories from our group leader here Josh seemed out of this world, such as hyena biting our people’s throats!
For dinner lamb tibs is what they call the traditional meat, and they bring out large platters with their “sponge like pita” called injera to dip everything in. You are suppose to use the injera as your spoon picking up the lentils, or spreads provided without getting your fingers dirty (it also acts as your napkin) and only doing so with your dominant hand. The left hand is suppose to only be used for your beer/drink.The Ethiopians have some good morals. After dinner we all peeled away to our rooms and ended up falling asleep the second I hit the pillow. Tomorrow is our first hospital day and I am for sure excited!
TIA! THIS IS AFRICA.....our new group motto
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