Sept. 16, Addis Ababa
My final day in Ethiopia brought more tales of struggle and hardship, juxtaposed with stories of heroism by workers on the front lines.
There's a severe shortage of doctors in this country. The ratio is 1 doctor to more than 30,000 people. Part of that is due to a brain drain to the West, where they can earn a lot more than the $150 a month they'd make here.
So when you meet one who has chosen to stay, to try to make a difference, in spite of the low pay and the lack of supplies, it reinforces your faith in what is possible. At the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital today, I met a doctor whose work among the most outcast of women is a true labor of love.
His is just one of the many stories I heard and saw throughout the country, of people trying to be change agents in a country that needs to learn to embrace change while maintaining its rich heritage. There was the deacon who had a vasectomy and now uses himself as a model to urge parishioners to do the same. There are the women who were married as children but will not subject their daughters to the same form of abuse, or allow their bodies to be mutilated in the name of "culture." There are, simply, the husbands and wives learning that more children does not mean more wealth but greater tragedy.
The slow pace of change has its good and bad sides. Ultimately, you have to learn that unless you adapt to life's new realities, you won't make it.
Ethiopia has captured my heart at a turning point in my life. In all the paradoxes of this beautiful, invigorating and heartbreaking country, I learned this: Life is full of sorrow, yes, but also unexpected joys and opportunities -- if you're open to seeing them.
