Thursday and Friday

Well I realize I fell behind once again... but this time it was for a very strange reason. The Ethiopian government blocked all blogspot.com's so that no one in the country could access them. I am not sure why, or when exactly it happened, but now I am in Germany and can write about my last few days. Also, one more note about Wednesday - they had large crates staked in the kitchen that were full of teaching supplies. WAY more than I thought they had! We went through most of them and they are wonderful. There was a large sensory box, and smaller math, geography, history, etc. They have enough to really get started! I can't wait to hear how they start off next week.

Thursday was supposed to be "goodbye" and my touristy day. When they picked me up in the morning from the hospital, I was told we had a meeting they wanted me to attend. We pulled up to FH Ethiopia (food for the hungry) and had an appointment with the country director. Amazing! I was so happy to be a part of this meeting and make this international connection. The director talked a bit about what it is that they do, and then the women from the school made a brief proposal asking him to help the needy families that would be attending the school. Unfortunately, there were no funds that could be used in this way at this time. However, he wanted them to stay in contact and he was going to send their proposal to a few other people. 

We then went out for coffee and cake and I had a wonderful rest of the day. A woman who had come to training a few days asked if I would spend the day with her, and we went shopping, out to lunch, visited her home (and her week old German shephard puppies!), and then went out to dinner with her husband and sister. Everyone was so wonderful, and I couldn't have had a better final day with the women from the school.

Friday was spent packing up and saying some more goodbyes to people at the hospital. The women from the school dropped by again to drop off some gifts and then I went out to dinner with Dr. Koning, Linda, and some others from the medical group. It was a great goodbye, and I honestly wasn't ready to leave. Ethiopia is such a wonderful country, and I can't wait to return one day with Eric. The people are what makes the country, and I couldn't have had a better experience. I was welcomed into homes, met beautiful families, and feel very blessed to have been able to go on this journey. Thank you again for everyone's prayers and words of encouragement. They made a world of a difference.

Tuesday and Wednesday

Sorry to have gotten so far behind on my journals! The past couple days were very long, and I didn’t get home in time to type out my thoughts. Hopefully I can give you a good recap of everything that happened.

The plan for Tuesday was to set up the classrooms and go over the teaching materials that I brought. However, more children kept coming in for assessment, so we continued the assessments. The women at the school said that they hear about what is happening, and they show up without any notice hoping to have their children assessed. The morning was spent with 3 children and their families, and then the afternoon was spent going out to 2 homes to do assessments. These two families were very poor, and could not afford to travel into the city while we were doing assessments at the school. I think it is wonderful of the women at the school to take the time to come to the families and hopefully give them some answers.

The first home we went to was not accessible by car, so I got a very unique look at how some people live. We parked as far up an alley as we could, but it became very narrow and broken up. We started to walk around the alleys and eventually found our way into a narrow pathway that led to about 5 homes which were back to back. The home we entered was at the end of the pathway. It was very small (just one tight room) and beautifully decorated. They had painted the walls green and had put a lot of effort into making their little house a home. I was part of a team of 4 (the two women, a camera man, and myself), so we all crowded into the room and started the assessment. It continues to amaze me how much these children are loved. I am not saying that children in the U.S. are not loved as much, because I believe that they most definitely are. But here it just seems to be so much more visible and public.

The second home we visited was very similar, just one small room where a mother and her two children lived. This boy was 14, and spent all day locked in this room while his mother and sister worked. They have no other options to keep him safe, and they can’t afford to take any time off. When I asked about his interest in toys, or how he plays with objects in the house, she said she is not sure. He does not have anything to play with – he has never had a toy, because they can not afford anything other than the food they eat. Again, this child was so loved. You could see in his eyes how much he loved his mother, and how much she reciprocated that love. I can’t imagine having to leave your child with autism locked in the house all day while you work, but that is the only way she can guarantee his safety.

I think that having a social setting like the school for these children would be wonderful. They would be able to blossom so much… but there is one huge issue that worries me. When I asked the first family about their son’s interactions with people, they could not comment because he has never met someone his own age, and he has only been in contact with his immediate family members. How then will he react when you take him out of his home and into a school he has never seen with people he has never met? And the other child, who has never had a toy… what will he think when he arrives at a school full of busy children and colorful toys? I worry that they will be overwhelmed and scared – that the environment might be too much for them because of their limited exposure thus far. The school and I talked about this, and they share my same concerns. Ideally the school would be a wonderful place for them to learn new skills, socialize, and give their families time to work knowing their children are safe. Realistically I think it will take a long time and a lot of slow encouragement for them to get used to the new environment.

On Wednesday we finally talked about classroom set up and the supplies that I brought. We went through each of the teaching materials and I described how I would use them in my own classroom and how I would use them at Nehemiah. They are having special tables made for the children, so we also talked about how to design them – it was a great discussion! They have had many people give them input on what the tables should look like, so we compiled all of the information (plus some of my own ideas) and came up with a design to be made. We also wrapped up the training by going over a summary of everything we had talked about. I had been taking notes all week about the discussions we were having, and I gave them my notes along with answering any remaining questions they had. Today was my last day of official training – but I have given them my contact information in case they have any remaining questions and also so that they can keep me updated on the school. The children are supposed to arrive next week, so I am looking forward to their first email!

The afternoon was spent going to an orphanage with the medical group I came with. We were able to tour the compound and it is amazing what all they do here. They provide all services for free at the clinic – including prescriptions! If your child is sick, you can bring them for no charge, and keep coming back for medications as needed. They supply many medications for AIDs, and there is no age limit for these drugs. If you need them, they will be provided. What a wonderful and uplifting place this was!

I am running out of time to tell you more, so I will post this for now and hopefully continue tonight. Thank you again for all your prayers and support!

Everyone has said what is wrong, and no one is willing to help.

I had a very interesting day today. I was supposed to start helping the staff at Nehemiah set up their classrooms (right now all they have is chairs) but children kept coming in the gate for assessments. So, we assessed. I decided it would be a good time for the main administrator of the school to start practicing giving the assessments so that when I leave, she can continue them. She has been my translator for all the assessments so she had a good idea of what I asked, but she had not experienced the scoring section so we worked on that as well. She would ask the questions, find the answers, and we would discuss what the various scores should be. By the end of the session we were coming up with the same scores and I believe she will do a great job with these assessments in the future.

However, there was one child who came in and created quite a stir. When she arrived, her mother escorted her in and you could immediately see that the girl had a vision problem. She was told to have a seat, and had to feel for the location of the chair. When given an object, she explored it with her hands while looking up blankly at the ceiling. When asked to take an object from the table, her depth perception was very off and she had to feel around for where the object was. She was extremely talkative, but I learned later that her conversation was not applicable to the situation - she was talking about things that were not present in the room. As they always do when I first meet a student they asked, "is she autistic?" This question comes every time, and I always answer the same. I do not know yet! There are some children who you can meet for 5 minutes and see that they most likely have autism... however, there are some who you must spend more time with to understand their behaviors. There are many different developmental disabilities that exist, and autism is just one of them... I would rather not label someone before I really get to know what behaviors they exhibit and what makes them who they are.

Back to my story... I answered as I usually do, saying I wasn't sure but that we could find out more if we started the assessment because it talked about many different aspects that we weren't necessarily going to see in the school at that moment. As the administrator began to speak in Ahmeric, the woman grew very upset. Within minutes they were arguing back and forth, and before I knew what was going on the woman grabbed her child and walked out of the school. Everyone was looking at me, and yet I hadn't said a word! The women followed her outside, arguing back and forth the whole way. Finally the woman and her daughter left, and everyone else came back inside. "Okay, that is all for today," is what I was told... wait, thats it? What happened? I had so many questions about what had just occurred. I was finally able to ask someone what had just happened, and the answer is what has been bothering me the whole time.

When the administrator began talking, she started by saying something along the lines of "it is obvious that she has a vision problem, have you looked into this?" Apparently this woman was hanging from her last thread, and here is where it snapped. Of course she had looked into it, of course she knows theres a problem... everyone feels the need to tell her that her daughter has a problem, but no one will tell her what to do about it. The woman went on to say she had even had her daughter assessed for autism in a hospital, and after much money and 3 weeks of observations they said she did not have autism. The administrator told her this was a school for autism, and that they could not help her at this school. This is when the woman got up and left abruptly... and you know, I can't blame her. I can not imagine the stress of being a mother of a child who has a disability, and having everyone tell you that something is wrong with your child, something isn't right, asking if you have done anything about it.... and not one of these questioning people asking if they can help or showing you what you can do. This mother had already been questioned, had taken her daughter to the hospital, had taken her to the eye doctor (which had no result because she could not concentrate on the eye tests), and had still received no answers on what she could do for her daughter.

Everyone has told her what was wrong, and no one was willing to help. I know that the women at this school are more than willing to help when they can, and they meant NO harm when they were talking to his mother. However, we must also remain very aware of how the families feel. They are criticized for having children with disabilities because they must have done something wrong when they were raising their children (not true). They keep their children inside all day because they are not welcome in the community. People constantly criticize their children and their family... and right now in Ethiopia, there is no place for them to turn for answers.

The Nehemiah Center is named after Nehemiah in the Bible. A very short version of his story is that with prayer and hard work you can accomplish great things, and he rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. The administrators told me they hope, with God's help, to build up walls of knowledge and education around autism. I hope that Nehemiah will be a light in this city for children with autism, and that they can use this school to educate the community and bring more awareness to developmental disabilities. This is just the start and it is going to be a long road, but at least they have started the journey.

Photos

I thought I would use my luck with the internet right now to post some long overdue photos. Here they are!

A Poster for the School 

Nehemiah Autism Center

The three classrooms at the school

 Injeera... the local food. They eat this for all three meals!

A beautiful local church we stumbled upon. 

Some children that were part of a wedding.

 Another beautiful orthodox church

The MCM hospital that I am staying at:

One of the cutest little girls I've gotten to know.

The biggest heartbreak of my trip. A few posts ago I told of mothers who came in with their children and they had no where else to go. This is one of those mothers with the ADORABLE Joseph.

The hillside of Lalibella

A young woman in Lalibella carrying sticks up the mountainside.

A house in Lalibella

Friday (again), Saturday and Sunday

On Friday night we went to a special Jewish ceremony at someone’s house. This man is an American, and he adopts children with specific medical issues so that they can be on his health insurance and receive medical services in the US. Although he was out of town, there were still many people at his house this night for the ceremony and to gather as friends. One of the people there was a professor from George Washington University who had spent the past 20 years or so living in Addis and teaching at the local university. He was a very interesting man – opinionated, conceited, but honest – and he said something very interesting that caught my attention. As I was telling him why I was there and about the state of despair the mental health field was in he said something along these lines: Yes, this is true, there is much work that needs to be done in this field. However, it is so far behind because up until this point we have simply been trying to keep people alive. Now that we have that a little more under control, the mental health field can follow.

I had never thought of it that way before. We are so spoiled with resources in the US that I take for granted all the labor and progressive steps that people before me had to take. Now that disease, AIDs, malaria, and other health issues are being controlled, the mental health field can finally take center stage. Any takers? Ethiopia could sure use some help, and I know they would welcome anyone.

I decided that I would take advantage of my time here in Ethiopia and spend the weekend exploring. My roommate, two med students from Florida, and I hoped on a plane to Lalibella, Ethiopia for the night. It was spectacular! I wish that I could post photos, and I will try after this JUST IN CASE the internet decides to be friendly. We were picked up at the airport by our tour guide and quickly driven up a steep winding mountain side… and I mean QUICKLY! I tried to take photos out the window, but many of them look like a blur. This area was so beautiful, and it was truly old Ethiopia. The people lived in small huts made of sticks, rocks, and branches. There were children herding cows and goats, and adults walking donkeys down the road with sacks tied to their backs. There were also many men and women with large bunches on their backs – carrying them up and down the mountainside.

The main attraction, however, was not the fascinating lifestyle that we were so lucky to observe. Instead, it is a series of 11 churches built out of the rock. (If all goes right, there should be a photo in this post!) The story is that the angels came down to help the king create these churches, and they were carved out of a single piece of stone. Believe what you will… but there must have been some sort of divine intervention to create these magnificent churches! They truly are cut out of the rock, and the insides are beautiful. I can’t imagine all of the work that went into carving these churches from the ground down… hopefully you will be able to see what I mean when the pictures post (they are of the same church).

The scientists have of course come to examine these churches, and have verified that they are indeed one piece of rock that has been carved down. How they did it? Well, besides the angels, there are chisel marks on the walls signifying that a hammer and chisel was used for this great task. – unbelievable.

Tomorrow I will be back at the school teaching them how to use the supplies that I brought and helping them set up their classrooms. They have no tables at this point, only chairs… so we have quite a bit to round up. Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers!

Thursday and Friday

The past two days were spent wrapping up training and starting assessments on the children. As I mentioned earlier, there is no one here who can help these parents assess whether or not their child has autism. If they believe their child has it, then they must! They also struggle to comprehend the scope of autism, and everyone seems to think their child is severely affected by it – even when they are not. I explained to the parents and teachers that when I receive a new student in my class, I am also given their assessments and ability levels… I am not the one who assesses the children at home. However, they are so thirsty for understanding and have no assessments at all. I went online and attempted to download a copy of CARS (childhood autism rating scale) but was unsuccessful. I did find a similar scale (as was mentioned on Wednesdays post), and decided it was better than knowing nothing at all.

My heart breaks for these families… numerous parents have been bringing their children in to see if they have autism and if they will qualify for Nehemiah. Some of these families have had to leave the school knowing they will not come back – and it kills me. What more could we be doing? Can we open another center? How about a center for all children with special needs? Does this school HAVE to focus on autism? Back in AZ, if a child is not the right fit for a program you can probably give them a list of 10 other options that they should explore. Here in Ethiopia, you have nothing to give them. One boy who came in for an assessment clearly had down syndrome. His mother insisted that he had autism – because she wanted him to be able to attend the school. If he can’t come to Nehemiah, there is nowhere else for him to go.

Another mother came in with a seven year old child who was about the size of a three or four year old. He could not walk, could not feed himself, could not chew, and could not talk. His mother said he is never apart from her, and because of this she can not work. She has no money, her husband left her when their son was born, and she is able to live with family for the time being. This little boy was so happy… he just sat in his mother’s lap shrieking with joy and smiling. He did not respond to his name, but smiled when his mother sang to him. After going through the assessment with his mother it was obvious that he had a severe intellectual disability – but it was not autism. Now what? Where can this mother go? She has not a dollar to her name and is unable to work because of the supervision that her child demands… It broke my heart watching her walk away, carrying her son on her back, with a smile on her face the entire time. You could see how much she loved that little boy, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was taken care of.

There is a serious cry for help coming from this country. They have no resources for children/adults with disabilities and have no education on what they can do to help them. They need respite care, centers for adults, work programs, SCHOOLS, and the country as a whole needs more awareness about disabilities. These children are looked down on, hidden away in homes, families are embarrassed to take their children out in public… I wish there was more that I could do in my short time here.

On a more uplifting note, I am headed to Lalibela, Ethiopia this weekend for some tourist enjoyment. You should google image it – entire churches have been carved out of the rocks. I will take photos, and hopefully be able to share them when I get home.

Wednesday

Today was a wonderful day – very productive and I had put enough information together to last the entire day without worrying about coming up too short like yesterday. Also, there were twice as many people in the class today, and some had brought their children. Finally – I get to do what I love and see the kids. All of the talking, translating, and questions has left me very tired over the past few days, and the kids reminded me what it was all for.

We started the day off by talking about replacement behavior, and they asked a lot of questions about this topic. The first part of the week they kept asking me “how do I get him to stop doing…” They wanted a quick fix answer that will get their child to stop biting, hitting, screaming, etc. I explained to them you have to replace the behavior with a positive behavior, you can’t just get rid of something and not fill the void. Many typically developing students can be told no and then find something else to do. The child with autism finds this very difficult, so you must present them with a positive and appropriate behavior. They soaked this up like sponges. They had never heard anything like this before.

There were many things today that they had never heard and I was surprised… They asked me for a list of symptoms of autism, because they were not sure what it really was. Are any of us sure what it REALLY is? – questionable… but the people here have no resources to go to, no one to educate them on what autism looks like. So, today we walked through an assessment similar to CARS (childhood autism rating scale) and I explained each category that it was looking at, and why. They thoroughly enjoyed going through this assessment. Everyone was taking notes, and writing down what the translator was repeating. They are so thirsty for knowledge, I wish I could give them more. I come home every night looking for more to give them… what resources can I find that they will be able to use?

On that note, I want to say THANK YOU very much to Cathy from ARC. Cathy has listened to my stories, encouraged me along the way, and given me priceless resources to share with Nehemiah. Thank you very much Cathy, Nehemiah is benefiting so much from your support and encouragement.

Today we also went over some things that my school places a lot of emphasis on… consistency, clarity, competency, and also physical management. The physical management section was interesting to go over, but they wanted to learn how to safely restrain a student if he or she became very aggressive.  As for the C’s – I thought these three (yes DHA, I know I left some out – maybe tomorrow haha) would be very important for them to incorporate into their own program.

Tomorrow they want me to discuss staff behavior and what is/isn’t appropriate. This will be interesting because of our cultural differences, so I will simply share what we do at home. I recommended they draw up some sort of staff conduct contract so that they make sure everyone agrees to the rules. They are very concerned here with how people talk to the students, what they wear around the students, and how they react to their behaviors, so I think it will be good to get their ideas down on paper and help them create a contract for all their staff.

Thank you to everyone for following my story and for all your prayers. They are definitely being answered here in Addis Ababa. 

Tuesday

I was so exhausted yesterday I couldn’t bring myself to write anything until this morning (Weds) and will try to recap everything that happened.

I had a wonderful day at the school with new people to talk to. One woman who had come on Monday made her husband come today, which was a real treat. The men are usually very hands-off when it comes to taking care of the children, but this man was very interested in everything I had to say – and he took on the task of being my translator for the afternoon. I started off by looking at my agenda of what they wanted to discuss, and kept watching the clock… oh my gosh, I am going to be finished in 30 minutes, and they expect me to go all day. What am I going to do?!

Well, I was finished in 30 minutes, but thankfully they had questions to keep the discussion going. The parents wanted to know about how to teach their children specific things (like toileting), how to keep up their language abilities in the home, how to deal with their behaviors in the home. These were difficult questions for me to answer for two reasons. First, I do not have children of my own – so giving parenting tips is not something I would usually do. Secondly, there are vast cultural differences here, so many things I suggested they seemed to frown upon.

Many things I said were taken with an open mind, however, a few were frowned upon and there was only one that I felt strongly enough to push. The parents asked what percentage of students will maintain their level of communication and skills after they leave school. I answered by stressing the importance of working with your child at home… making sure you promote and encourage the use of language and whatever they are learning at school. Nehemiah plans on sending home daily communication logs of what the child did that day – I said the parents need to be encouraging the use of new things they learn. “Aren’t you asking too much?” they asked. “We do not have time for that, that is what the schools are for. They teach our children.” This was shocking to me, but I had to keep reminding myself that they have had no education in these areas. I was instantly reminded of a few of my own students back home who do not have the support systems to keep up their language. I may be able to teach your child to ask for a snack when he is hungry at school, but if you don’t insist he use his words at home, he risks losing this skill and all he learned at school is thrown out the window. Having an autistic child is far from easy, but if you want them to grow, you must be willing to push them.

Tuesday evening I was invited to a woman’s house who has a 13 year old daughter with autism. Her house was UNBELIEVABLE. It was 2 stories, beautiful, and every inch of the house was decorated with ornate designs. They served the traditional food, injeera, and I had to go back on my vow to not eat meat while I was here. I did not want to be rude, and everything on the table (even the vegetables) was mixed with some kind of meat. Meat is a luxury here, so by putting meat in with the carrots, the rice, and the beans they were being very generous and making sure their guest felt special. I did feel very special, so I ate the meat and it was wonderful.

After dinner they had one of their maids (they have 3, and this is very typical if you have enough money) perform a coffee ceremony. They roast the beans while you are eating dinner, and then they present you with the roasted coffee. They ask you to smell the beans to see if they are done, and then they prepare the coffee. It was wonderful to observe this tradition, and even more so to be able to participate. 

Training Day

What a wonderful day I had today in Addis Ababa. Thanks be to God for everything running fairly smooth, and getting through the day without any major issues. This morning I was told I am becoming a true Ethiopian because I was late to our meeting. Those of you who know me best will know I cringed at this statement – not because I don’t want to be Ethiopian (that was a compliment) – but because I HATE being late. The truth is, I was ready at 8:15, waiting for my ride that was going to come at 8:30, and who did not show up until 9:10 (our meeting was at 9). Oh well… they meant nothing negative by the comment, for it is true, Ethiopian time is being late. You say you will meet at 9, and maybe around 9:30 the first people will show up.  It was just the first cultural difference we ran into.

People started showing up throughout the morning, and about 10am we decided to start doing introductions. There were about 12 women there, 1 man, and 3 children (one who had Autism). Only four of the women there were going to be involved in the school and the rest were general ed teachers and mothers who wanted to be involved in my “training.” They did not speak English, so everything I said had to be translated. This seemed to work out just fine, except when they would have lengthy conversations about what I had just said. I would make a comment about something we do in my classroom, and the next five minutes would be spent discussing this back and forth in Ahmeric. When they were finished, the translator would look at me and ask me to continue without any explanation of what had just occurred. I was honestly very nervous about this… were they disagreeing? Did they not agree with what I was telling them? Are there questions they need to ask? What I have learned over the past couple of days is that Ethiopian people are very sensitive, so they do not speak up in fear of hurting your feelings. When I asked if people had questions, they would all just stare at me without saying a word.

I kept talking throughout the morning, and prayed that something I said would be beneficial for them to hear. The school did not yet have a schedule set up for when the kids would arrive so I made this my first priority. My initial plan was to take what they usually did, create a schedule of activities for the day, and then help them beef it up with activities that we usually do in my classroom, things that have worked well for me, and strategies that have been researched. However, they were not interested in sharing what they knew, they simply wanted me to tell them what I do at home. So, I spent the next hour or so sharing a typical day in my classroom, and creating a schedule for them that followed a similar timeline. I knew it worked well for my students, but without any feedback from these women I had no idea what they thought about it.

I frequently asked if they had any questions, but did not get much of a response. By the end of the training day, I was not sure how I thought everything went… but then they started to come up one by one and talk with me. Their questions poured out, and they repeatedly told me how thankful they were that I had come.  I now see what the issue was… as I mentioned earlier, they are very sensitive people. They did not want to offend me by making comments or asking questions in front of a larger group. However, one by one they came up after and I immediately felt relieved. The program director said she really liked the organization of the schedule, and that they would keep it. The school teacher (who had been teaching at the other Autism school for 8 years) came up and talked with me about the similarities and differences, and asked me how to teach certain skills. This woman has been teaching much longer than I have, but you could see how much she valued learning new strategies. All of the women involved have such a heart for these children, and this school will be a great place for the students.

Something interesting about Ethiopia is that there is no diagnosis for Autism. If you think your child is Autistic, then he/she is. There are no professional evaluations done to determine whether or not a child would fall into this category. One of the first things they have asked me to do is evaluate the children… However, this is not my training. I explained to them that when I receive a new student, I also am given their IEP, psychological evaluations, etc… it is not something that I do. – My answer was not good enough for them. “But you are the expert, and we have no one like you here… please, evaluate our children.” I have told them what I can do, and we will see where it goes from there. Starting tomorrow they would like to bring in a few children and their families for me to evaluate. Basically, they are looking for a number between 1 and 10 that will describe how autistic their child is – there is no way to do this even in the US. However, what I can offer them is a very basic IEP. I will talk with the families and write up a summary of their child’s strengths and weaknesses. They are less concerned with academics here, so the skills will most likely include: does the child make eye contact? Are they verbal? Can they use the bathroom? – Adaptive skills are key. I can then ask the families what they would hope for their child to learn in school. Again, most answers will be in the adaptive/independence areas. This will provide a very basic outline of the student that can be used to share with the new teachers that come into the school.

Finally… I want to say a word about the people here. They are wonderful – almost TOO wonderful. They are so giving and go out of their way to make sure you feel comfortable. Three women came to pick me up at the hospital today for the meeting, and the passenger seat in front was vacant when they pulled up. There was also a pillow on the seat for me to sit on. When we walked to the car it was slightly raining so someone made sure to hold an umbrella over my head the entire way so I did not get wet (which I wouldn’t have minded – I love the rain. I always ask Eric to go outside with me when it is raining!). They have all asked me to come to dinner at their house, and they made sure to plan the night so that we will make it happen. One woman even asked me to stay with her so that I would no longer have to pay for lodging. They are so wonderful here, and I look forward to getting to know them even more throughout the next few weeks. 

Ethiopian Wedding

Sunday

Today we got a wonderful look at Ethiopian culture. We walked into town (about 35 minutes) and passed by hundreds of people – all dressed in white and going to church. On a church day, the typical Ethiopian woman will wear a white dress made of many layers of thin cotton and a shawl over her hair and sometimes mouth. It was quite an experience to see all of these men and women (most men wore white as well) walking through the streets and grassy areas on their way to various churches. When we arrived at the church downtown the service had just ended – but our enjoyment had just started. There were people all around us, and we could hear singing still coming from the church doors. When we made it closer to the church, we saw many people – very elaborately dressed up – singing in formation in some sort of traditional way. There appeared to be two people of significance everyone was singing to and focused on, so we assumed it was a wedding of some sort. After watching for a while a woman approached us and spoke perfect English. She had lived in D.C. for many years and she was able to explain the tradition to us.

It was a wedding – but it was a very special wedding. She said that church weddings do not happen often. For one, they are very expensive and the couples are usually in debt to the church for the rest of their lives. They were intricately dressed and had an entire choir with drums lead them wherever they went. Secondly, church weddings can only be done two months out of the year. You must not have a church wedding during a month where there is to be certain fasting obligations, so this leaves very little time for people to schedule these weddings. Finally, church weddings were much more sacred than other weddings, because you were making a much more public commitment. If you are married in a church you could only divorce for two reasons: infidelity or not being able to produce children. There were two wedding processionals going on at this church while we were there and they were wonderful to watch. Pictures to come, if I ever get a good enough internet connection.

The rest of my day was spent preparing for tomorrow. I have had to pull many more resources together than I had initially planned, but I am SO thankful for the internet. I was able to download PDFs from DHAs website (desert-heights.com) about our life skills program and positive behavior management which will help me greatly in trying to describe some of the practices I use in my classrooms back home. I prepared a meeting agenda – although I am not sure how closely it will be followed. There are definite points I want to cover before Friday, but tomorrow will be a trial and error day of how the staff at Nehemiah would like everything to be structured. The teachers who will be coming do not speak English, so that will be another barrier to overcome. I will have someone able to translate, but the time it takes to do this is massive. Just trying to get through an IEP at home with a translator can be an agonizingly long process.

I can’t wait to see how Monday goes, and I will update you all when I get a chance!

Finally at Nehemiah

The last time I tried to post on my blog, the internet here would not allow me access to my page so my friend had to do it for me. When I awoke the next morning, I learned that I would not have internet again until Monday… MONDAY?! You mean I have to go 3 whole days without internet? I quickly realized how reliant I am on the internet – I use it for everything! Thankfully I was able to catch a break Saturday evening, but was still unable to access my blog. As soon as I can, I will post photos. Until then, thank you again, Brad, for posting my update!
Friday
This morning I joined Dr. Koning on his usual routine: breakfast at 7:10, doctors meeting at 8, rounds and OR to follow. After the meeting at 8, Dr. Koning took Linda and I up to the OR to see about getting us the necessary items to enter. We were promptly sent away to get permission from the Matron so we started to head her way. We stopped in the ICU for a bit and as we were standing in the room with the patients Dr. Koning started discussing ways to clear out catheter waste… I again became a little queasy and decided it would be best if I let the medical professionals handle that conversation. I left the hospital to put my scrubs on, praying that I could stomach the OR. By the time I returned I had missed Dr. Koning’s rounds for the morning and found him and Linda in a small office. He was conducting his office hours and anyone who needed to see him was brought in by a nurse, one at a time. The language barrier is very hard to overcome here in Ethiopia, as there is absolutely no relation to Latin or English. If the nurse needed to leave the room for a minute, the entire appointment would just stop, because even with gestures it was too difficult to understand each other.
After office hours came the OR. I put on my mask, shoe covers, and head cover and was ready to go. I REALLY wanted to be there and I REALLY wanted to be okay… how many other times would I have this opportunity? – Never. The first OR we went into was good… because they were already sewing her up. She had her gall bladder removed and it was sitting on a small tray in front of me with about a dozen little stones next to it that had been pulled out. Gall bladder, stones, no blood… no problem. The woman on the table started to moan, and I immediately had a concerned look on my face. Linda quickly told me this is normal when you start to come out of anesthesia, and that many patients do this.
The second OR we went into was fascinating… but it didn’t fare well on my stomach. The smell when we entered the OR was the worst smell I have ever experienced. One of the doctors was cauterizing the scar tissue off of a young boys deformed leg, and piece by piece it was coming apart like a puzzle. I lasted about 5 minutes and had to walk out of the room for some fresh air. Many nurses stopped to ask if I was alright and I was so embarrassed, but I just couldn’t handle it for long. I tried to go back a couple of times, in and out, in and out for maybe 2 minutes at a time but I eventually admitted I could not handle the smell and decided to leave the OR. Side note: it’s funny how we can become so familiar with a smell or sound that we no longer notice it is there. Customers would come into my family’s print shop and ask if they had just painted or comment on the rich smell of ink – something that we do not even notice when we walk through the door. One nurse said the same thing about the cauterizing of the skin – “oh, that’s funny, I didn’t even notice there was a smell.”
Lunch today was American spaghetti without meat – thank goodness. I did not tell of my first night’s meal, but I will just say after one bite of chicken I swore off meat for the rest of my trip.
Saturday
Today I finally made it on rounds with Dr. Koning. This morning he only needed to see one patient, but we ended up visiting three. The first was a man who had come down with Malaria 10 days earlier. He was treated for this but now was having other complications that were most likely caused earlier by the malaria. We looked through his CT scans, he pointed out all of the organs, and walked me through exactly what he was seeing. The second patient was one who also was treated for malaria and was trying to get back to Holland for more care. The last we ran into was the second patient’s roommate, who had just had surgery to remove the largest bedsore that they had ever seen. There was no dressing on him at the time we were in there as they were cleaning it… I will save you a description of what it looked like, as it was not long before I had to sit down again.
This afternoon we visited the Museum of Ethiopia and toured a large orthodox church. We immersed ourselves in Ethiopian culture for a few hours and had a wonderful time. However, I was anxiously awaiting our meeting with Ferdo (I know I am butchering the spelling terribly, sorry) where I would learn more about the school and how I could help. The medical aspect of my trip has been quite exciting, but I came here for a reason and was anxious to get going.
NEHEMIAH
I do not even know where to begin, because by the time I left Nehemiah my head was going a million miles a minute. From the very limited information I had about the school before I left the US (communication is not a strength of Ethiopians, and they will be the first to admit it) I was under the impression that they started up in the middle of May, were functioning as a school, and needed some structure, resources, training in certain areas, and support. What I found instead was a group of very passionate individuals who care deeply about children with Autism, and an empty house (some chairs, a few toys) for the students to arrive at on June 1st.
So, we are starting on the ground floor and hope to be up and running by Friday. The children were supposed to arrive on Wednesday, but the school is okay with postponing this in order to get everything together. The facility is very nice and will be great for the school. However, there are many details they are still working out. They do not have a van for transportation, they have no tables, they have no curriculum, no boardmaker, no classroom activities… They have big dreams for their school and I hope that we can make most of them become a reality in the next few days. The teachers should be coming on Monday and Ferdo has asked that I train everyone – the administrators, teachers, and assistants – on what to do.. This is a much larger task than I had ever anticipated, but I am so excited for the challenge. God works in mysterious ways, and I am honored to have been given this opportunity.

MCM Hospital

Well today confirmed I am in the right field – and I did not miss my calling as a doctor. We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny day (which came and went throughout the afternoon). Breakfast was at 7:10 sharp, and the food served in the guest house throughout the day was Korean… all the food. MCM Hospital is better known in the area as the Korean Hospital, as it is run by Koreans. And, because they run the show, the food is theirs as well. It will take some getting used to, but I have met a few nurses who gave me great advice: “The redder the sauce, the hotter it is.”
After breakfast, Linda and I (Linda is the nurse from Oregon who came with Dr. Koning) were given a tour of the hospital. This is when I realized I was not cut out to be a doctor. I can handle the occasional classroom with a cold, or the student with the flu who really should have stayed at home… but to be in a hospital with questionable sanitation policies, surrounded by individuals who are so sick they have come to the emergency room was a bit too much for my stomach to handle. I thank God that there are wonderful people out there who enjoy this type of service, but it was not my calling.
The tour of the hospital was fascinating. I found myself being highly impressed with all that they have while at the same time being shocked at the things that they are missing. They have a brand new CT, wards for patients (3 floors, depending on your class), a NICU, ICU, OR, recovery room, ER, reception, cafeteria… from my very limited knowledge of a hospital, it seemed to have just about every room that it needed and they were all staffed and stocked. However, there were also things missing. In the ER there is nowhere for the doctors to wash their hands. There are about 10 beds, side by side, and 2 examining rooms. Not one of these areas has a hand washing station. Linda asked about this and the ER nurse said that sometimes they do not even have hand sanitizer or gloves. There was also an open tub of some sort of cleaner, where they would soak the ventilator tube (yes, singular) to be reused. Finally, with all the AIDS and other diseases in Africa, I was saddened to see that their method of disposal for needles in the ER is an empty water bottle placed on the floor. What a different world we live in. The bottom line is that these people are receiving incredible medical care, and the doctors and nurses at the hospital are willing to do whatever it takes to provide it.
After our hospital tour we had a Korean lunch, followed by a tour of the town. We did not go far – only within walking distance – but it was nice to see some of the culture of Ethiopia. There were fresh fruit and vegetable stands that looked delicious, followed by open air butchers with flies on the meat. There were also herds of goats on the side of the road that you could purchase and take home for fresh meat. The people are very friendly, and the children all wave and say “hi!” The people in Ethiopia do not speak English unless they went into higher education, so the majority of people that we will meet and almost everyone that comes into the hospital speaks no English. However, the hospital itself uses English to communicate with each other, as it is the most commonly spoken language between all the foreigners.
Tonight we were supposed to visit with the school director and his staff and visit the school building. African time kills me. We were supposed to meet at 5:30 and be done by 7pm and I was going to start work at the school tomorrow. The director did not show up until 6:30 (which is typical I guess) and we had gone to our room to wait for him. By the time he came, Dr. Koning had another appointment and we missed each other. However, I do have some good news that he shared with Dr. Koning. The school has 12 students and many staff (how many I am not sure yet). They were given furniture, a computer, funding, and a van for transportation. Just a month ago they were unsure how they were going to pull it all together, and today they can’t believe how much has happened. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray that things move along, as I will be meeting with the school staff on Saturday afternoon and hopefully working with them there on Monday.
As for tomorrow (Friday), Dr. Koning has said I may spend the day with him in the OR since I will not be at the school. What a great opportunity! I don’t think I will be squeamish in there, but I guess I will have to try it first before I know. Good thing I brought my scrubs (thanks Sarah!).
Lindsay

P.S. Thanks to Brad for posting this since I can't from here!

I have arrived!

I made it! 28 hours of travel time +10 hours time change later, I have arrived in Addis Ababa. Our plane came in last night at 9pm so I was eagerly looking forward to looking out my window this morning. My view from the medical apartment window is the hospital itself! It is so beautiful and green here... although it is also pretty rainy (as you can tell from the photo). I am going to tour the medical compound with Dr. Koning this morning, and then visit the school for the first time this afternoon.

mehlkahm goozoh yehhoonehlesh (Bon Voyage!)

I leave tomorrow morning, and I can't wait to get going.  22.5 hours of flight time + 3.5 hrs layover in Germany + 10 hour time change will make for a long day... but arriving in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will be more than worth it. I have all the supplies packed up and ready to go and I hope I haven't forgotten anything! The weather report for the next ten days in Addis is rain, rain, and more rain. The rainy season isn't supposed to start until June, but I guess it started a bit early this year. I have heard "when it rains in Addis, it pours" but I will be hoping for a few sunny days while I am there.
I look forward to keeping everyone updated as much as I can.Please continue to pray for safe travels and a positive experience!

Lindsay

Thank You

Thank you so much to those who have donated some of the supplies from my wish lists! I am so grateful for friends and family who are willing to help these children. Also, a HUGE thank you to Desert Heights Academy for purchasing everything that was left on my lists at the end of last week. I have such a supportive boss and staff at DHA and I am so grateful for their generosity and support.

Only a few more weeks and I leave for Africa! I have been talking with Rahel, the program director in Ethiopia, and have found out a few more details. The students will be between the ages of 4-12, and right now they only have enough funding for 10 students. At first I was surprised... 10 students!? Thats IT!?? But as I have talked with Rahel and more educators and professionals in the field, I realize this will benefit the school greatly, as they are just getting started and are needing more education and training themselves. Although the educators at Nehemiah have experience in this field, they haven't had access to all of the resources and new ideas that we are exposed to and the students are going to have very difficult and unique hurdles to overcome. I can't imagine the pain and frustration some of them must be holding on to without the ability to communicate or understand the world around them.

Please keep Nehemiah in your prayers, as they are starting up their program this month.

Lindsay

Supplies

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and support :-) Less than a month and I will be on my way! I have made contact with the director of the school and have asked her what physical needs the school has that I can bring. She gave me a list and I have been asked to bring as many supplies as possible, which means I can bring 2, 50 pound bags full of resources. :) If you would like to donate supplies to Nehemiah, I have created two wish lists of things that they could really use. One of the wish list's requires my email so please use my work email, lperez@desert-heights.com, to access it.

Super Duper Inc:
http://www.superduperinc.com/myAccount/wishview.aspx?id=DC7469DD-514B-4C4D-A73F-5921CDA9D387#BK366

Teaching Stuff:
http://shop.teachingstuffshop.com/index.php?route=account/findlist

If you would like to donate any of these items, please send them to:
Lindsay Perez
Desert Heights Academy
4229 N 16th St.
Phoenix, AZ 85016.

Thank you!

Support

A few people have asked how they can help support my trip and I would really appreciate any help! As I mentioned earlier, prayers, supplies, and  funds would be greatly appreciated :-)

As for the latter... I am going to Ethiopia with the founder of Reach Another Foundation, Dr. Marinus Koning. This is a WONDERFUL foundation that works to increase access to healthcare, education, and safe living conditions. You should really take a look at the work they are doing if you have a spare minute (https://reachanother.org/)! This foundation is going to help keep donations anonymous by allowing me to have checks sent directly to them. If you would like to anonymously help fund my trip to Africa, you can send checks to:
Reach Another Foundation
1900 NE Third St
Suite 106-307
Bend, OR 97701
**Please make sure to include my name, Lindsay Perez, on the check**

Thank you to everyone for your warm wishes and words of encouragement! I can not wait to share this experience! Below are a few photos from Reach Another Foundation's flickr page. The rest of the photos are mostly medical, and can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/61568760@N07/. The first is of a child with Autism. There are many families and communities within Ethiopia who do not know how to help their children, or who are unable to invest the time that it takes to help them. Many of these children can become aggressive towards others or themselves, and the first photo depicts one way in which some of these children are dealt with. The second photo is the new school's logo!

I'm Going to Africa!

Well, it's official - I'm going to Ethiopia in a short month and a half to help start up a school for children with autism! I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity, and even more blessed for my family and employer who have decided to help me get there and take valuable resources to share with the school. I have heard heartbreaking stories about families who can not afford to send their children to the ONLY school for autism in all of Ethiopia, and have to leave them at home - alone and sometimes confined to small spaces - while they go to work. In fact, the only autism center currently available has 800 children on the waiting list. Although it can not help them all, Nehemiah Autism Center will be a wonderful resource for many of these families and will change the lives of the children who attend.

I will be leaving on the 24th of May, and returning on the 11th of June. I plan on keeping this blog updated as much as possible while I am there so that I can share the experience and keep everyone who is invested in this trip involved as much as possible. If you are interested in helping, I could use prayers, funds, and resources for the classroom. Check back in the next couple of weeks and I will hopefully have more information on the school and an update on the preparations we are making!

http://www.neh-autism.org/