Coming to you live from Addis Ababa Airport (Liad)

Hello everyone!

So here we are. This part of the project has come to an end. It's hard to believe I am on my way to the holy land :-)
Arriving at the airport we didn't realize that Will and I are flying out through different terminals. So after all was sorted out, Will went to check his bags at Terminal 1, we had a short goodbye and he is already on his way to Zanzibar. I was asked to wait in Terminal 2 with the people at customs until check in time. So after a 2 hour wait, I got the absolute Royal treatment. I was escorted to the business class check in counter, checked my huge bags, was shown through immigration and within minutes I was in the duty free. AMAZING! It's actually quite nice here, besides the fact that apparently you are allowed to smoke..Ug.

On the way to the airport, Will and I were talking and we both agreed that the time we spent here seemed much longer than 3 weeks. I think this feeling comes from different places. First of all, this experience was very unique and special! Being here under these circumstances - Ethiopia being the first connection to SACH, the country where the first patients came from, following up on these patients. Seeing for ourselves what an influence it made in these people's lives. I also believe that we each learned a lot about ourselves, as Doctors and otherwise. We got to see different aspects of medicine and how it is practiced here. What are some of the difficulties the medical staff encounter on a daily basis. In my eyes, it is both inspiring and unbelievable.

Coming here we had a goal in mind and we have really worked hard and did all we could in order to achieve it. Hopefully good will come out of it and this could be used as a template for further follow up studies in the future. After all SACH has brought children for surgery from about 35-40 countries worldwide. I for one would be happy to contribute my time and in the future (hopefully) my expertise for projects like this.

I am really tired, so I will say good night. I still have a couple of hours until my flight. I think I will find a nice spot to close my eyes for a bit (cuddled up with the echo machine - of course).
It's going to be a long way back home but worth every minute.

Signing out..
Love and Kisses to All!

Liad