Part of the team participated in serving the people of Ethiopia through providing medical care at outpatient clinic settings. Specifically, we were able to partner with the SIM or Serving in Mission organization to provide free clinic serves to the beneficiaries and their families in the Addis Ababa AIDS Homecare Project. We also set up clinic at the International Evangelical Church in Addis Ababa and provided care to those that came. Upon arrival to the clinic site, we were greeted by a line of patients who were waiting patiently for the clinic to begin. A team member and translator would go out to take vitals and determine which patients would need to be seen most urgently.

The morning started with setting up medical stations for each provider and at each desk, various necessary supplies and chairs were placed for the patient, caregiver and translators. We were blessed with an educated support team from SIM whom translated for us. A wide variety of medical complaints were addressed – from tingling in the extremities to epigastria abdominal pain to cough to unexplained swelling or masses. Many of the patients were adult women, although a few men were also seen. They tended to be anywhere from late teens to late forties in age.

The children were often seen with the parents. Infants to young adolescents were seen and they were adorable. It was nice to be able to see the family together. Many of the women had at least one or two children. Often the women were already widowed, likely secondary to the consequences of HIV.

We also set up a pharmacy with the clinic which were run very nicely by our team members and with the help of the SIM team. At the SIM site, we helped distribute medications for the beneficiaries. At the International Evangelical Church, we completely set up an independent pharmacy within the room with the providers with the supplies we had brought from the States. Our translators helped us give specific directions for the patients.

One of the special blessings of our clinics was the holistic care we were able to provide. Not only did we address their medical issues, but also had the opportunity to address their spiritual needs and discuss any difficult social issues they faced. Often, because of the stigma of HIV, they would experience discrimination from their neighbors. Patients were very open to prayer and often asked for healing and better health. We even had the awesome opportunity to see patients come to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. God is good and doing an awesome work.