Blindness in Bedele

"They would rather eat chat than their own breakfast!"
- Sister Evelyn, referring to the predilection of the inhabitants of Jimma for chat, a plant with a stimulant effect popular in Ethiopia and its neighboring countries

The city of Bedele from my hotel window

A few hours after landing in Jimma Airport, my traveling companion Luke and I found ourselves packed inside a tightly-filled minibus as techno blasted from the car's speakers.  The minibus driver pushed on the gas pedal as he drove us over bumpy, tortuous roads passing by red hills and pastoral farmland, all while chewing on chat.

Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital) on the top right, Jimma (where we flew into) on the bottom left, and Bedele on the far left

I had taken a red eye flight from Zambia to Ethiopia two days prior, in order to join a one week eye camp in Bedele led by Dr. Samuel, whom I had worked with in the summer of 2013.  Luke was a recent college grad currently based out of Ethiopia's capital, and had traveled to the previous four eye camps to take pictures and record videos for people back in the US.

The greater Jimma area, part of Oromia province in western Ethiopia, was the birthplace of two very important Ethiopian drinks (as the wall next to the baggage claim at Jimma Airport reminded us)- coffee, said to have originated in Kaffa, and Bedele beer, said to have originated from the brewery in Bedele.

Bedele also happened to be home to a brewery which Jimma seemed to be very proud of

Our journey from Jimma to Bedele took us roughly 3 hours.  Outside the minibus windows, the high-rises, museums, and Starbucks-type coffee shops I had explored with my girlfriend Amanda the previous day in the capital Addis Ababa were replaced by lush green vegetation, corrugated metal mosques, and local citizens chewing chat.  We were unmistakeably back in western Ethiopia, in a similar region to the one I had spent a few months in during the summer of 2013.

We were re-entering Oromia amidst rumors of violence and protests against the government, and it was only once we had spent some time again with our Oromo friends that we truly learned the extent of the situation on the ground.

When we arrived at the hotel where we would be staying with Dr. Samuel, Sister Evelyn, and the rest of the eye team, we learned that there was no water in the hotel.  Apparently, while improving one of the main roads in Bedele, construction workers had hit a water line, leaving half the town without water (apparently the brewery was safe, as it had its own water supply!).  Electricity was never a given either, as rolling blackouts were common.  Suffice it to say, I loved it.

After a brief reunion with Sister Evelyn and Dr. Samuel, I rested in my room until dinner, when I got to reunite with virtually all of the members of the eye camp in Gambella from three years ago.  It was one of the high points of my trip to be able to see everyone again, although one of the ophthalmic nurses, Mitiku, was so happy he hugged me for a full minute, to the point where my non-touchy feely self was desperately trying to wriggle away.

UN trucks outside the hotel

As we turned in for the night in preparation for the first day of the eye camp the following day, I couldn't help but feel a mixture of anticipation, hope, and thankfulness thinking about the people we would be serving.  I thought as well about the opportunity to return to the eye camp, where I had had the chance to witness the power of medicine to meet a tremendous need in the world three years prior.