Ethiopian cookery evening

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Very many thanks to all those who joined in with our Ethiopian cooking evening yesterday, which was a great success. Participants joined from around the world (as far away as Canada) to enjoy learning about traditional Ethiopian fare and how to cook some simple but authentic dishes. It was a very enjoyable evening with some impressive results. We are delighted that it raised over £415 to help fund the care the Hospice Ethiopia nurses provide. It was also great to team up with other small charities working in Ethiopia and to be able to benefit from Tigist’s expertise.

Screenshot from Zoom showing Sue and Tigist (in different kitchens), and a variety of dishes being prepared

Hospice Ethiopia AGM

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Notice of AGM

Hospice Ethiopia UK’s AGM will take place on

Thursday 11th March 2021 at 6.30 pm via Zoom

Please email info@hospiceethiopia.org.uk to get a Zoom link

All supporters welcome.

We are delighted that the formal (brief) meeting will be followed by a video from Ephrem, Director of Hospice Ethiopia, about his work. He will also be available via Zoom to answer any questions. The minutes from last year’s AGM, the Annual Report and the Treasurer’s report can all be viewed here.

Ethiopian cooking evening 27th February

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Do join us for an entertaining evening where you can cook along with Tigist and her friends, learning about Ethiopian food and at the end eating what you have made. Once you have contacted Hospice Ethiopia UK via info@hospicethiopia.org.uk you will be sent a list of ingredients to obtain (with substitutes for the more unusual ingredients) and the necessary preparations to be made in advance along with the zoom link.

The Small but Significant group of charities working in Ethiopia are privileged to have Tigist and her Ethiopian friends cook their staple food and drink and hear what these items mean to them.

We look forward to seeing you via Zoom on Saturday 27th February @ 7.30pm. Suggested donation £10 per screen.

January update

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Compassionate Art talk

We were delighted with the response to Nick’s fascinating talk on Compassionate Art last Monday. From Rembrandt to press photographs we were treated to an interesting evening about the different ways various artists have depicted compassion.

Thank you to all the donors whose compassion has raised over £725 to help fund the nurses of Hospice Ethiopia to deliver palliative care to those dying in Ethiopia.  

Initiators Couse

We are delighted that Nurse Kakidan has gained a place on the prestigious Palliative Care Initiators course run by Hospice Africa Uganda. Hospice Ethiopia’s Education Fund has funded her place and will provide support for her learning.

The course provides health professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to implement sustainable and high standard palliative care services and to advocate their governments and other key stakeholders. It also bonds palliative care specialists from various countries together, in such a way that they learn from their countries’ different challenges and achievements.

Nurse Kalkidan outside a patient’s home in Addis Ababa

Patient story: MS

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Hospice Ethiopia cares for patients like M S who is a 55-year-old lady who lives in a very low cost ‘Kebele’ (government subsidised) house with her sister. She sought medical help at a private health centre when she developed symptoms of a constant headache and visual disturbances. The doctors diagnosed a brain tumour with an abnormal build-up of fluid in her abdomen. Subsequently she suffered from a stroke leaving her paralysed.

MS was referred to Hospice Ethiopia to manage her symptoms. Initially she was unconscious due to a stroke, had a tube via her nose to allow the intake of food and medication and had a sacral bed sore. The team treated her pain and wound with basic medications. They also provided her with other medical supplies such as a urinary catheter, pads, gauze and wet wipes. Until the trained Hospice Ethiopia nurses started their support, MS was cared for at home by her sister so the team provided her sister with basic information on how to take care of her. She appreciates their support and says “I was lonely in supporting my sister before you came to see her. I was buying medications and was paying for wound care from the little money I had. Now you are doing it freely with dedication and happiness. I am grateful for your service and always thank you.”

MS and her sister have encountered serious financial hardship due to MS’ illness, as they have no daily income, so they receive the Comfort Fund from Hospice Ethiopia.

Talk on compassionate art

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Dear Supporters,

We are thrilled to be able to extend an invitation to you to sit back, relax and be inspired by artists demonstrating compassion in a variety of media. Rev Dr Nick Garrard is Bishop’s Officer for Christian Spirituality through the Creative Arts in Norwich Diocese. He has kindly offered to give this talk on behalf of Hospice Ethiopia UK to raise funds in what has been a very difficult time for fundraising.
Nick will introduce the concept of compassionate art through some famous and lesser-known examples, in which artists have provided inspiration, protest, reflection or transformation, expressed grief or offered hope.
To register, please phone 01508 538014 or send an e-mail via this page. A Zoom link to the online talk will be sent to your email inbox. Admission is free but donations warmly welcomed via our website http://www.hospiceethiopia.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you on Monday 18th January at 7pm.

Patient Profile: subira

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Our fundraising is used to care for people like Subira (not her real name) in Addis Ababa. Subira  is a 49 year old Muslim lady with a carcinoma affecting her left eye, which was diagnosed 2 years ago. She has been HIV positive for 19 years. Prior to the diagnosis she noted a discolouration around her upper nose. The Health Centre referred her to the Black Lion Hospital (BLH), where she underwent surgery and subsequently received 6 cycles of chemotherapy and 6 radiotherapy treatments. She now has no sight in her left eye.

She is a widow and lives with her 2 daughters and son. Her eldest daughter used to work in Saudi Arabia, until she developed renal problems and was sent back to Ethiopia. Her younger daughter is still at school but is HIV positive. Her son earns very little doing menial jobs. She receives support from the Comfort Fund.

Her first visit from an HE nurse was on 15/4/19. She complained of swallowing problems and had an oozing wound on the left side of her neck. The nurses also wondered if she had developed a fistula (an abnormal opening) as the oozing was worse when she drank fluid. Her eye had a crusty discharge which had become more painful 3 weeks earlier, when her father had died as she had been very weepy.

Director’s Update on Violence in Northern Ethiopia

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The latest reports from Northern Ethiopia are extremely concerning – over the past few weeks, tensions in the region of Tigray have escalated and there have been reports of violent clashes between the Ethiopian army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

Throughout the crisis, we’ve been able to maintain our regular communications with the Director at Hospice Ethiopia, Ephrem Abathun.

Tigrary, Ethiopia. (c) OpenStreetMap

Hospice Ethiopia does not operate any care programmes in the northern Tigray region, and Ephrem reports that local work by the hospice in Addis Ababa is not directly impacted by the fighting in the north.

The situation is serious, but the government is striving to handle the operation with as much care as possible to avoid damage and effects to the Tigray people.

Ephrem Abathun, Executive Director of Hospice Ethiopia

With phone and internet restrictions in Tigray it is difficult to get updates directly from the affected areas, however, our partner, Ethiopiaid, describes how casualties are being treated in the Afar region, to the east of Tigray. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports that medical supplies are running out in hospitals in Mekelle.

Hospice Ethiopia continues to run its programmes in Addis Ababa, as far as ongoing virus restrictions allow, and we hope that hostilities will end quickly.

All of the people of Ethiopia are in our thoughts,


Sue Mumford
Chair, Hospice Ethiopia UK