My experiences: One month in Africa...

Trip Description:
Annually, students and faculty from Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions travel to Ethiopia on an intercultural service learning immersion program. Students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy program do a clinical rotation in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Following their clinical experience, they meet up with Nursing and Health Services Administration students. Once united, students have some focused time in Addis Ababa, where they tour healthcare facilities and meet with practitioners, scholars, and NGOs. These opportunities provide insight into the health care system, local health issues of great concern, and what is being done to address them. Students then travel to the rural area of Yetebon, Ethiopia. In Yetebon, the entire group engages in health related and general community service projects with a nonprofit partner, Project Mercy.

Map of Ethiopia

Map of Ethiopia
We will be in Addis Ababa and Yetebon (not shown on map)

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easter Traditions

Easter is this weekend! Holidays in general seem to be a much bigger deal here and Easter is no exception. The entire week the city streets have been an even busier flourish of activity than normal. Tents are set up on the sidewalks selling items for holiday preparation. No plastic eggs and chocolate here- just food products for the big meal! Live goats and chickens are everywhere- strapped to the top of cars, carried by hand, clustered for sale next to the road.
The entire city is shut down from Thurs. night-Sun. night. The Orthodox Christian celebrations involve an 8 hour church worship on Good Friday, and 3 hours of church on Sunday. Saturday night at midnight marks the end of the fasting period and the celebrations begin. We’ve been told that every family that can afford it buys a live chicken. The traditional Easter meal is chicken “wot”- chicken in a sauce with injera. It’s very spicy! Each family will also make teuj- a strong honey wine. Others may also slaughter a goat for Easter meals. We have been invited by the PT’s at Black Lion to join them in a dancing celebration on Saturday night! More updates on this holiday to come…
Happy Easter!
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