Mercy

"I once asked her what it was like to run a Christian organization in a Muslim territory.  She replied in a thoughtful, measured cadence, 'You cannot walk around with a Bible.  But you can walk.'"

-Dr. Larry Thomas, regarding Marta Gabre-Tsadick, founder of Project Mercy



Our entry into Project Mercy must have been entirely underwhelming to the denizens of the community, who just a few hours earlier had  played host to the American ambassador to Ethiopia, the president of USAID, a US Senator, and hundreds of other guests.  The occasion had been a celebration of the approval of a major USAID grant to Project Mercy to support the development of a hybrid cow to produce milk for the malnourished people of the region.  Marta Gabre-Tsadick, founder of the project, had no less a distinguished past than many of the prominent guests that day- she had been a member of Haile Selassie's inner circle and the first woman senator of Ethiopia.  After being forced to flee the country with the rise of the Derg, she and her husband returned to found Project Mercy to aid the area with community development programs.

The four of us- Dr. Thomas, Sean, Joey, and I- arrived in a slightly disheveled state just as the dust had begun to settle from the day's event at the project, and shared a light dinner with Marta and her husband Deme.  We were also joined by their daughter and grandson from Philly- their grandson was the spitting image of a young Barack Obama- as well as Thomas, a Princeton in Africa fellow finishing his year teaching at the project, and Angelique, an Air Force officer who had arrived to assist with the day's festivities.

It wasn't until the following morning, however, that we were able to fully appreciate all that Project Mercy had to offer.

main courtyard

 

guesthouses  

Our tour began with the gardens where crops such as corn, olives, and avocados were being grown.

Bacon grapes were all the rage

We then continued on to the basket weaving area, beehives, stables, and girls' orphanage where a few of the orphans (or "housekids" as they're called at Project Mercy) recited Bible verses for us.

basket weaver

 the stables- Instagram style




 where the "housekids" lived
  

Joey, Dr. Thomas, Angelique, and our tour guide

chillin like a villain

 

a surreal scene of Middle America in the midst of southern Ethiopia

After visiting the housekids, we journeyed up the mountain, stopping first at the worship center, then at the kindergarten.

heading up the mountain

travelers heading down the mountain

Most striking of all our stops was the Glenn Charles Olsen Memorial Hospital, owned and operated by Project Mercy, which ran completely counter to my ideas on what a rural Ethiopian hospital would be like.

hospital reception area

Not only was the hospital well-staffed, relatively clean, and (strangely) low occupancy, it also boasted modern radiology equipment, a fully-stocked pharmacy, and a laboratory conducting most all of the standard tests one would find at a typical US hospital.  According to the nurse who gave us our tour, the top three reasons for surgery at their hospital were fistulas, benign prostatic hypertrophy, and goiter.

condom man says use your head

the hospital conducted an extensive variety of laboratory tests

Larry and the nurse who gave us the tour of the hospital

One of the more shocking aspects of our tour was less an indictment of the hospital than of the local culture.  In the "Family Planning" room of the hospital hung a poster depicting ways in which blood-borne infections could be spread via common cultural practices.  The first practice was that of removing a child's canine incisors, which is believed to relieve headaches or other ailments.  The second practice was that of female genital mutilation, which is unfortunately still commonly practiced in Ethiopia.  Those I spoke with about this practice said that although it is horrific, mutilation rates are decreasing, though it will take a good deal of initiative and effort by local Ethiopians to continue to advance that trend.

as if to counterbalance the atrocities of the poster, someone had posted a hopeful message near the bottom

As we descended back down the hill to the main settlement, we stopped by the maternity village a short distance from the hospital.  The village, a project cofunded by USAID, allowed expecting mothers with the potential for high-risk pregnancies to stay nearby the hospital should they need immediate medical attention.

We closed off our time at Project Mercy enjoying some time playing sports with the housekids.  A seven-year old boy named "Cesai" eagerly exclaimed "Frisbee!" when he spied one in my hand, and proved to be remarkably adept at throwing the disc.

playing basketball with the kids

Cesai

As I tossed the Frisbee back and forth with Cesai in the middle of that idyllic field in Ethiopia, I suddenly became aware of how different my life was at that moment than it had been a month and a half prior- when I had been locked in a library for two weeks straight cramming as many facts and figures into my head as possible.  With this realization, I felt a sense of thankfulness that I had been able to make this trip and for the ability to enjoy a moment of complete tranquility.