Yates Family In Soddo

We woke up like any other day. We have traveled so much in Ethiopia, that road trips almost feel normal and typical. The 100's of donkeys, carts and people on the two lane highway from Soddo to Addis Ababa almost felt ordinary. But perhaps it is when we take down our guard, and forget to stay vigilant in prayer that the enemy attacks. We were taking our friends to the airport this quiet Thursday morning. We ate breakfast before we got on the road. We stopped to get a hand of those cute apple bananas for our friends in Addis from a young boy on the side of the road. We made it about 45 minutes out of town, when it happened. We were out of any official town between Shone and Halaba. We were headed downhill on a beautiful stretch of road with some small ravines on either side of the road. There was no person or animal on the road, except Watango. Watango is a 75 year old muslim man with significant vision impairment. He was walking along the side of the road for his 10 kilometer trek ...

This was the perfect scene from the hospital last week. We all attended "chapel" this morning, which was really the graduation ceremony of our general surgery residents and one of our well loved general practitioners. We had two graduating residents, speeches and lots of tears of joy as these two young surgeons get ready to leave the hospital to serve the people of Ethiopia well. It was so sweet and a sweet reminder of why we do what we do. The chapel is right next to the morge. There was an adult patient that died at the hospital last night, and his coffin was being carried to the morgue until the family could take the patient's body home. For 45 minutes of the 60 minute ceremony there was deafening, loud wailing as the family mourned over this man's body. This is life here. It is sad and strange that there is so much joy and so much sorrow that can almost seem to happen at the exact same time. It is a weird emotion. The most interesting thing about it all is that it...