Our hosts: Rare and Precious Gems Serving a Country in Dire Need

Surgeons in Ethiopia are all too rare and undeniably priceless. Ethiopia is a country twice the size of Texas and 80,000,000 strong. Out of those 80,000,000 souls, only 500,000 are physicians. An even more alarming and downright staggering figure is this: out of those 500, 000 physicians, only 200 are surgeons! That's one surgeon for every 400,000 people - a rarity the Ethiopian people can scarcely afford. One can only ask, who out of those 400,000 will be lucky enough to receive the priceless healing touch from one of these surgeon's skillful hands?

Another concept that is overwhelming to consider: during the two weeks that we will be in Ethiopia, our twenty-four WSF surgeons will make up roughly 10% of the country's surgeons. You do the math!

On the first day of the mission, all of the volunteers from the WSF and the Black Lion Surgical staff met to conduct introductions and discuss the days ahead. Our hosts graciously welcomed us to the Black Lion Hospital and to their beautiful country. The Dean of the Addis Ababa University Medical School, Dr. Miliard Derbew, introduced his staff. Dr. Alvear gave an overview of the mission and prompted the team to introduce themselves individually. A spirit of cooperation and fellowship emerged from today's meeting.

The challenges posed by a third world country are already presenting themselves A giant crate of much needed medical supplies and equipment that the WSF sent to Ethiopia a month ago is still sitting on a dusty warehouse floor in a remote town about a day's travel from Addis, taken hostage by a band of shady opportunists who hope to put a few more "burr" in their wallets ("burr" is the Ethiopian currency). Not to fear! According to our hosts, these part-time pirates will soon find their plans foiled by the Secretary of Health, Secretary of Education, and the Head of Customs. The cavalry has been sent!