Since arriving back in Ethiopia two weeks ago, a few small things have passed. I arrived on a Tuesday morning and Laura left for her home visit on Thursday night. Sarah did not return until the next Tuesday, which left me alone in the GSK Addis Ababa house for four days. Needless to say, I was really happy to see Sarah on Tuesday morning when she came back. I've become accustomed to having roommates once again, so being alone in our house in Addis came to me as feeling a bit odd and lonely. These feelings may have been amplified by the fact that it was much, much more difficult to return to Ethiopia. For whatever reason, it took my mind quite a while to return its focus on life and work here after my visit home.
The weekend after I returned, Ahisya Mencin, the GSK PULSE Program Director, and Tom Whipps, GSK's official photographer and videographer, paid a visit to their PULSE volunteers in Ethiopia. They spent Friday and Saturday in Hawzien with Delphine and Richard and documented their projects before returning to Addis for my turn on Monday.
The two showed up at the office on Monday morning and had a meeting with the assignment supervisors for Sarah, Laura and I. I was also in that meeting, and Sarah and Laura likely would have been too had they not been in the U.S. Ahsiya spoke about the PULSE objectives and goals while our supervisors spoke about what PULSE brings to MVP. After that, Tom video'ed myself and two supervisors in an interview setting. It was rather quick and painless, which is saying a lot considering how much I absolutely do not enjoy being in front of cameras. It's just not my thing.
After lunch with the duo, I accompanied them to where we could find GSK Ethiopia. There are only 14 total employees of GSK in this country, so it's much smaller than any corporate environment that I've become used to. Getachew, the head of GSK Ethiopia, set up a meeting room where Ahsiya would present the PULSE Program and opportunity to the employees here. I also briefly spoke to the team about my assignment. I took a couple pictures of the scene of the presentation.
Sarah returned the next day as I explained before and attempted to readjust her sleep schedule for the next few days. Friday evening, Richard and Delphine joined us in Addis from the Cluster office. Richard was spending the weekend in the big city before he would leave to return to Australia until January, so this was my last planned encounter with him in Ethiopia as I will be leaving in December. Delphine came down to do a bit of work from the Addis office and to reengage a more urban social setting.
Sarah and I returned to some horseback riding on Saturday afternoon for a trail ride a part of the way up the Entoto Mountains from the Sululta plains. The government owns land there and raises quite a crop of eucalyptus on those grounds. The plants are mainly used in house building but the leaves are dried and used to build fires as well. I'm not sure of the topical therapeutic means that are tapped into from the oils from the plant, but I do know that when there are sinus problems, the leaves are soaked in some water and then stuck up nostrils in a bunch of between 5 and 10 as a means of medicine. The first time I learned of this practice was when I saw one of the guards at our house in Addis walking around outside the house with leaves sticking out of his nose. Now I understand.
Hiwot, one of our MVP colleagues, finally welcomed her second baby. The little guy was born on Friday 4th November. We made a visit to see her a few days later and found the whole family, including Nathan, doing well and adapting to their family of four. Nathan loves his new little brother. The baby has not yet been given a name, so we're waiting to hear what he'll be known as. I was even able to capture a couple pictures of Momma Hiwot and her little one.
I always forget how tiny newborns are until I hold one again. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to break them. This little one was well behaved while we were there, despite reports of his restless nature from his mother. I guess he's already found comfort with the ferenji. Laura was not with us when we saw the baby, but I'm sure we'll be making another trip back to visit soon.
Laura returned Tuesday morning, complete with luggage and jet-lag. The last one of us to readjust out sleep schedules before we all return to our original roles in GSK for the new year. 6 weeks and counting...
The weekend after I returned, Ahisya Mencin, the GSK PULSE Program Director, and Tom Whipps, GSK's official photographer and videographer, paid a visit to their PULSE volunteers in Ethiopia. They spent Friday and Saturday in Hawzien with Delphine and Richard and documented their projects before returning to Addis for my turn on Monday.
The two showed up at the office on Monday morning and had a meeting with the assignment supervisors for Sarah, Laura and I. I was also in that meeting, and Sarah and Laura likely would have been too had they not been in the U.S. Ahsiya spoke about the PULSE objectives and goals while our supervisors spoke about what PULSE brings to MVP. After that, Tom video'ed myself and two supervisors in an interview setting. It was rather quick and painless, which is saying a lot considering how much I absolutely do not enjoy being in front of cameras. It's just not my thing.
After lunch with the duo, I accompanied them to where we could find GSK Ethiopia. There are only 14 total employees of GSK in this country, so it's much smaller than any corporate environment that I've become used to. Getachew, the head of GSK Ethiopia, set up a meeting room where Ahsiya would present the PULSE Program and opportunity to the employees here. I also briefly spoke to the team about my assignment. I took a couple pictures of the scene of the presentation.
Sarah returned the next day as I explained before and attempted to readjust her sleep schedule for the next few days. Friday evening, Richard and Delphine joined us in Addis from the Cluster office. Richard was spending the weekend in the big city before he would leave to return to Australia until January, so this was my last planned encounter with him in Ethiopia as I will be leaving in December. Delphine came down to do a bit of work from the Addis office and to reengage a more urban social setting.
Sarah and I returned to some horseback riding on Saturday afternoon for a trail ride a part of the way up the Entoto Mountains from the Sululta plains. The government owns land there and raises quite a crop of eucalyptus on those grounds. The plants are mainly used in house building but the leaves are dried and used to build fires as well. I'm not sure of the topical therapeutic means that are tapped into from the oils from the plant, but I do know that when there are sinus problems, the leaves are soaked in some water and then stuck up nostrils in a bunch of between 5 and 10 as a means of medicine. The first time I learned of this practice was when I saw one of the guards at our house in Addis walking around outside the house with leaves sticking out of his nose. Now I understand.
Hiwot, one of our MVP colleagues, finally welcomed her second baby. The little guy was born on Friday 4th November. We made a visit to see her a few days later and found the whole family, including Nathan, doing well and adapting to their family of four. Nathan loves his new little brother. The baby has not yet been given a name, so we're waiting to hear what he'll be known as. I was even able to capture a couple pictures of Momma Hiwot and her little one.
Laura returned Tuesday morning, complete with luggage and jet-lag. The last one of us to readjust out sleep schedules before we all return to our original roles in GSK for the new year. 6 weeks and counting...
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