ይህንን ፖስት (ልጥፍ) በአማርኛ ማንበብ ትችላላችሁ፡፡

After Alastair’s initial challenges due to floods closing down any possibility of trains going south from Scotland, the rest of the journey was fairly straightforward. We arrived in Addis on the overnight plane and reached our Airbnb within a couple of hours of touchdown, welcomed by smiling faces and the first of many reunions for Erin.

This is a follow up trip to review training carried out last year at a number of projects in Addis Ababa which started in 2018.

After a two hour trip, which included; a change of driver due to unforeseen circumstances, negotiating a security checkpoint swiftly negotiated by a native Oromo speaking staff member who had hitched a lift with us, and not a few traffic jams, we arrived at Gefersa – our first project on day one!

The shift from busy hectic roads and street vendors, to a tranquil garden and surrounding wards at Gefersa Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre, with a coffee ceremony, was typical of the many contrasts in Addis Ababa.

Around 25 patients gathered for the weekly music group there, which started with their welcome song in a large circle, followed by a rhythmic “Call and Response” exercise with many patients taking turns leading the group.

The next exercise was the “choir”, where the group was split into three sections, each singing a contrasting motif. Again, a number of people took turns to conduct, shifting the dynamics of the choir, before bringing it to a powerful ending.

Then a number of patients sang individual songs, before everyone began singing and dancing a more traditional song with dance which morphed into a celebration of the session, before finishing together with Hoi Hoi, their final goodbye song.

We are yet to observe sessions at Lebeza Psychiatry Clinic and FENAID, two of the other projects, however staff reported similar weekly groups to that in Gefersa Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre. Staff at FENAID were very proud to share with us a video of a dance performance of clients at the National theatre which one of the self-advocates had shared on TikTok, with around 4k followers. There were two “self-advocates” with learning disabilities at our first meeting there, along with parents, siblings and staff. Everyone had a voice and place at the table in this truly inclusive venture.

“Fantastic” was the first word used by a staff member when we opened our meeting at Lebeza Psychiatry Clinic with the question of how the music groups were going. We return next Monday to see their weekly music session.

Our fourth project, Hospice Ethiopia hosted an event at Saphire Hotel celebrating 20 years of their work, to which various stakeholders, donors and local government officials were invited. There were also very moving contributions from one of their patients and a video of another speaking from her home. This bore witness to the struggles they have had, but also the inspiring work they are doing, and developments into paediatric palliative care moving forward. We visit them next week, and although we will not be able to witness their music group, music was mentioned in their slide presentations.

This meeting gave us time to reflect on the broader work of Hospice Ethiopia, Gefersa Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre and FENAID, to promote their work more widely, build networks and engage other professionals and government support.

Time consuming negotiation of the city in taxis is kept alive with personal stories from the drivers – often moving; opinions on politics, the war, football and religion – Manchester and Gareth Bale get top mentions.