Trustee visit to Hospice Ethiopia

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Sue and Jamie Mumford have just returned from a very productive trip to Ethiopia. This is what they had to say about their trip:

“We have just returned from nearly 3 weeks in Ethiopia. We have visited every year since we started supporting Hospice Ethiopia 11 years ago (except from in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic). We spent time with the staff of Hospice Ethiopia visiting their patients and reviewing how the money we transferred to them last year (£55,682) was spent as well as consulting on their budget plan for 2023. These discussions are really important for Hospice Ethiopia UK to understand the successes and challenges that the hospice faces.

We enjoyed a 2 day visit to Jimma University Medical Center (south western Ethiopia) where a new palliative care (care for people with life-limiting illnesses) department has been established following training given by Hospice Ethiopia 10 months ago. We were impressed by the team who are already providing comprehensive inpatient, outpatient, and home care. For those patients living outside Jimma they provide a telephone follow up service. We were privileged to have a meeting with Dr Fetiya (who is clinical director of this 800 bed hospital serving a catchment of 15 million population) where we discussed the ongoing problems with obtaining oral morphine for controlling pain. At present Tramadol is the strongest pain killer available, this means many of their patients do not have their pain adequately controlled (see photo below of Sue and Jamie with the team at Jimma).

The second week of our visit we travelled to Debark in north western Ethiopia to help deliver a 5 day palliative care course. This is the first time such training has been delivered in a very rural area. Many of the villages can only be accessed on foot or on a mule which presents additional challenges. Some of the 19 delegates had not heard of palliative care but by the end of the week they could see the huge need for this type of care when less than 1% of patients receive curative treatment for cancer. Hospice Ethiopia will provide mentorship to help with the implantation of palliative care in the hospital and health centres.

It was inspiring to see the impact that Hospice Ethiopia is now having on the expanding provision of palliative care in Ethiopia. With an estimated population of 120 million, there is still a long way to go but it is highly rewarding to know that Hospice Ethiopia UK is making a difference for those who suffer so much as they approach the end of their life. We are grateful to all our donors that enable us to continue to support Hospice Ethiopia. The trustees do not claim any expenses for their visits to Ethiopia, so every penny donated goes to where it’s desperately needed.”

Abena’s Story

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Abena (not her real name) is a 38-year-old married lady with breast cancer. On her first visit Nurse Filagot from Hospice Ethiopia carried out a full assessment of her needs. She had been seen by her local health centre several months ago when the diagnosis had been made but had declined further investigations and treatment. She returned to the health centre when the cancer spread to become an open wound, and was referred to the regional hospital and then on to St Paul’s hospital in Addis Adaba for treatment. This meant she had to travel by bus for over 24 hours to the capital, leaving behind her husband and 3 children, aged 15 (with autism), 10 and 6. She was able to stay with her sister but this involved sleeping on the floor of the sitting room.

The assessment was difficult as she only spoke a regional language (there are over 80 in Ethiopia) and was illiterate, but with her sister’s help Nurse Filagot was able to establish her symptoms. She had suffered for at least 50 days with extensive ‘burning’ pain across her body; the cause of which was unknown. She had local spread of her cancer creating an open wound across her breast. She had received one cycle of chemotherapy at St Paul’s Hospital, leaving her feeling exhausted and nauseous. She was also suffering from a low mood which was evident by her lack of eye contact and general demeanour.

Nurse Filagot established a plan for her care. She gave her a course of amitriptyline 12.5mg daily for her pain and metoclopramide for her nausea. She provided dressings and topical metronidazole for the breast wound. She then explained the risks of neutropenic sepsis (which can be caused by chemotherapy) and spent time listening to her concerns and anxieties. She plans to visit again in a week to monitor her symptoms.

Welcome to Dr Fredrika Collins

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Hospice Ethiopia is delighted to be welcoming Dr Fredrika Collins to work as a volunteer for the next few months. Before she leaves the England’s shores, she is raising money for the Hospice by swimming between the 2 piers at Brighton – a distance of about 1km. Please support this valiant effort by donating via JustGiving.

Fredrika is an internal medicine trainee in Brighton, exploring a career in palliative care. In September 2022 she is moving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to work for a year as a teaching fellow within the internal medicine department of Addis Ababa University. During this time she will also be volunteering for Hospice Ethiopia, by working clinically in their Day Care, Outpatients, and Home care programmes and assisting with education and training.

She completed her undergraduate medical degree at King’s College London, and foundation training at Croydon University Hospital. Between 2019-2020 she worked as a research assistant in Peru on a trial investigating the health benefits of clean cooking gas, before moving to Brighton to commence her internal medicine training.

She is particularly interested in the role of healthcare professionals in tackling local health inequalities, and set up the Health Education England approved ‘The Global Health Series’ in 2018, which continues to run at several trusts across London and the Southeast.

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

Quartely reports from hospice Ethiopia

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The trustees of Hospice Ethiopia UK receive quarterly reports from the staff of Hospice Ethiopia. They report on a range of activities undertaken by the Hospice which helps us monitor the way the funds we send them are spent as well as helping us to understand the challenges they face.

The recent report records that they are supporting 85 patients through their home-base care programme. This is slightly fewer than in the previous quarter as fewer referrals have been received. The Director thinks this is probably due to fewer patients presenting at hospital as they are worried about leaving their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Day Care service run at the Hospice has had to be temporarily suspended due to the restrictions imposed by the government due to the pandemic. However, 25 patients are supported by the Comfort Fund; this is a monthly grant given to the poorest patients to enable them to buy food and other essential supplies. Our Coin jars support this fund; if you would like to have one, please contact Sue (01263 768699) or set up your own jar for collecting lose change for this vital fund.

The staff of Hospice Ethiopia in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health have provided training for a range of health care workers, on palliative care for people dying from corona virus. This included support for front line workers in supporting both patients and their families with their distress, medical needs and end of life care.

Earlier this year Hospice Ethiopia expanded its services by establishing a partnership with the Tibebe Ghion Hospital in Bahir Dar. This has proved to be a cost-effective model and plans are underway to replicate this at Hawassa and other major cities in Ethiopia.

Recent fundraising successes

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During the build-up to Christmas we’ve had several very successful fundraising events including a talk by Sue & Jamie at Ranworth Church, bag packing at Tesco’s in Aylsham, St Michael’s Christmas Tree festival and Carols in Aldborough Community Centre. These events have raised just under £900 in total. Very many thanks to all those who supported Hospice Ethiopia at these events.


For the second year running Hospice Ethiopia UK was accepted to take part in The Big Give Christmas challenge. We are delighted that we received 42 donations, which with the matching funds and gift aid totalled the fantastic sum of £10,425. This will pay the nurses’ salaries at Hospice Ethiopia for 6 months. We could not have raised such a phenomenal amount without our supporters’ generosity; we are truly grateful.


Following a talk to Holt Rotary club in October, we are very grateful to Maureen Ford for talking to a Rep from Welland who has supplied over 500 colostomy bags for the patients of Hospice Ethiopia who have a stoma. Colostomy bags are not available at all in Ethiopia, so this donation will really transform the lives of patients. Sue will deliver some of these to hospice Ethiopia when she visits in February.

Below is the lovely and festive HE Christmas tree at St Michael’s Church in December:

xmas tree