G'Oats so simple

I won't be graphic - and don't worry there are no graphic pictures either!

Goat market

Bit of bargaining...

Off we go!!

How else do you get your goat home, if not in a bajaj?

Tibs....

Goat stew, Goat pie and actual Tibs....yummy!!!

Lalibela

Lalibela is a World Heritage Site and it is amazing! It is famous for churches that are carved out from the rock - "rock-hewn" to use the correct term. It is said that all the work was completed in 23 years and this was possible because while the regular workers were sleeping, angels came down from heaven to work on the churches through the night.

Essentially there was flat rock and then they chipped rock away to leave these amazing churches which are below the ground - just imagine being the first person to do the first bit of chipping away.

King Lalibela decided to build them to avoid the pilgrims having to make the dangerous journey to Jerusalem. Or he may have been inspired to build them after he went to heaven (while he was in a coma after his brother had poisoned him) and met God who told him to re-create Jerusalem in Ethiopia. Whatever the reason the churches are so interesting and here are some piccys.

Then there is these really odd looking restaurant which has amazing views, good food and plenty of beer - but no power on the night that we went....

Market time for New Years Eve

Arada - the market where I buy my veggies.

It was pretty busy on New Years Eve.

There are some little shops (concrete/mud/tin) but most of the veggies are sold by women crouching on the floor.

I haven't quite plucked up the courage yet to buy a live chicken - apparently the black ones are cheaper because they are the evil ones!

You can also buy live goats - good for Tibs (Fried lamb/goat dish)

To and from work

Normally in the morning I take a line taxi which is a blue and white minibus that you have to bustle to get on - rather similar to the tube I guess...

 I generally walk home in the evening and here are a couple of snaps!

 They love the babyfoot here!

Labour ward

The hospital is predominantly single story buildings which I think were built by the Italians when they were in Ethiopia in the middle of last century. There is a massive new hospital being built next door and it continues to grow slowly - but I hear that there are issues with funding coming from a few different places and I also hear that it has been in progress for a long time and is likely to take some time still to complete.

The conditions on labour ward are cramped and there is nothing that can be done about this presently. Obviously when the new hospital is built it will move there and presumably have more space but for the moment the conditions are as follows:
There is the antenatal room which consists of 6 beds and normally has two or three mattresses on the floor to accommodate further women. There are also 4 beds and additional mattresses in the corridor. It can be difficult to walk around and often you have to step over women lying on the floor. There is the labouring room which again has 6 beds. Fetal monitoring is generally done using the pinard fetal stethoscope but there is a ctg machine which is used for high risk patients - although there is no paper so you cannot read the ctg so it is just used as a measure of fetal heart beat. All examinations are done in this room so you can imagine there is very little privacy. Generally the women are alone during labour but sometimes there may be a female accompanying them. When the women are ready to give birth they walk through to the delivery room which has 2 delivery couches and the neonatal station - which is a table with a portable radiator on it to keep the babies warm. Theatre is at the end of the corridor where caesarean sections can be performed.

There is very little analgesia used here. MROP/ventouse/forceps/EUA are done with no analgesia/anaesthetic.

The doctors work extremely hard but essentially there just needs to be more of them!!