Ethiopia Mission Trip

An International Fund for Africa Rural Medicine Project

As part of the International Fund for Africa (IFA) Rural Medicine Project, IFA is organizing a medical mission to Zemero, Ethiopia from March 24 to April 6, 2011. The health care problems faced by the people in rural areas of Ethiopia are immense. The Rural Medicine Project of IFA is taking on the upgrading and improvement of rural clinics by providing medical equipment and supplies, ambulance and patient transport services, training to increase the number of qualified medical personnel, additional training for existing medical staff and the expansion of available health care.

This Medical Mission is the first of three planned for 2011 and is open to all healthcare and non–healthcare volunteers interested in providing improved healthcare to the Ethiopian people. The goal of these Medical Missions is to provide improved medical care to the Zemero community. IFA is committed to organizing comprehensive teams every four months for the next several years. These teams will consist of practitioners of family medicine and internal medicine, pediatricians, OB/GYN, dentists, ophthalmologists, nurses, other specialists and general volunteers. This approach is designed to make a difference in these communities by providing services on a continual basis with monitored outcomes. This approach will also enable IFA to develop a strong relationship with the local health care professionals to assess their medical knowledge and provide on–the–job training to fill in any gaps in their knowledge and develop a continuity of care. IFA is aggressively networking and partnering with the local and federal government and non–governmental and international organizations that will enhance rural health development with projects such as clean running water, solar energy systems, education and improved transportation.

Zemero is in the Gera Keya district in the North Shoa zone located 320 km. north of Addis Ababa. The livelihood of the population depends mainly on agriculture. The district is drought prone and frequently affected by famine. Moreover, the severely degraded soil and rugged terrain makes the area difficult for agricultural production. The major food crops include barley, wheat and sorghum and oil crops. The small town of Zemero is home to 250,000 people. The local town of Zemero has one clinic which functions as a fully fledged health center that serves approximately 67,000 Ethiopians, many of whom come from distant villages across the province.

The medical staff at Zemero consists of one Health Officer, six clinical nurses (diploma), one BSC nurse, two lab technicians and one pharmacy technician. The facility itself has three OPD rooms, one delivery room, two admission rooms, one family planning room, one antenatal room, one TB room, one laboratory, two dispensary rooms and one storage room for meds. The facility has very little medical equipment: One microscope and no x–ray. The facility does have running water and electricity.

Enroll in this mission today.