Author: alicemumford

A British doctor, Fredrika Collins, is currently living in Ethiopia and volunteering at the Hospice in her free time. She’s written an article for us about her time there:

I am Fredrika, a doctor from the UK, working in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, hoping to specialise in Palliative Care.

I have been living in Addis Ababa for 7 months. I arrived just before the Meskel celebration in September 2022, an important date in the Christian Orthodox calendar which commemorates the finding of the True Cross. This impressive spectacle sees thousands of worshippers congregate in Meskel Square, Addis Ababa’s main square, dressed in traditional white robes and holding lit candles, as they sing together in front of a gigantic bonfire. It was an early introduction into Ethiopian culture, where the main religion is Orthodox Christianity. Tradition and faith run strongly through communities.

I’m working as an internist at a busy international hospital among a majority Ethiopian team. I have found the work challenging but incredibly stimulating. During my days off I’ve had the great privilege of volunteering with Hospice Ethiopia, where the vast inequality between their patients and those at the private hospital where I work has become apparent.

During my time with Hospice Ethiopia I have joined Nurse Filagot on several of her home visits and I have been blown away by her skill, dedication and compassion. The main issues I saw confronting patients were poverty, social isolation and uncontrolled pain, the latter largely arising from a chronic shortage of oral morphine in Ethiopia. Unwell patients who can no longer work often can’t afford basic necessities, let alone hospital care or expensive medical supplies such as stoma bags. Sometimes they become cut off from their community or family which is particularly sad to see.

It has been inspiring to watch Nurse Filagot navigate these many problems with only limited resources. Depending on the patients’ needs she provided medicines, economic or food support packages, referrals to health facilities and always a listening ear. She often acted as an intermediary between the patient and their family to help resolve conflict or misunderstanding.

Patients who are socially isolated and able to travel to the main Hospice Ethiopia site have the opportunity to join the weekly day centre, where they can enjoy coffee, lunch, music, talking and of course – never an opportunity to be missed – traditional Ethiopian dancing, known as eskista. Joining this session, led by Wengi, the brilliant project director, was extremely heart warming and I could see how happy and animated the group became.

Last month I also had the chance to travel to Kampala, Uganda, to visit the main Hospice Africa site and meet the legendary Dr Anne Merriman. An article about the team’s work recently appeared here in The Guardian. I toured their morphine production unit, a series of stainless steel containers in a small room that supplies all of Uganda’s oral morphine. Before this production unit came into action, Uganda’s population faced the same restricted supply of oral morphine as Ethiopia does today. The hope is that a similar system can be set up in Addis Ababa, which would be truly transformational for the many terminally ill patients living in extreme uncontrolled pain throughout Ethiopia.

I am grateful to Hospice Ethiopia for welcoming me into their team and look forward to the next year working with them.