Hospice Ethiopia was started in 2004 by Sister Tsigereda Yisfawossen with the support of Hospice Africa Uganda. Initially she offered care to people in her own home before the dedicated Hospice Care Centre was opened.
I was invited to spend a day with Sister Tsigereda and her fellow nurse Ephrem making 4 home based care visits in and around Addis Ababa.
The home based care program focuses on comprehensive palliative care services to ambulatory and bed ridden patients in their home including medication, psycho-social, bereavement and financial support.
The team fortunately have a vehicle, and negotiate the unmarked roads and lanes of the sprawling capital to visit their patients, made almost impossible during the monsoon season.
One patient we visited was a male patient, 40 years of age, who was bed ridden and suffering from late stage brain tumours. The tumours had spread through his upper body in a very rapid speed, leaving him very weak, and in severe discomfort and pain. Surrounded by his distressed family, the team undergo their weekly assessments, administer oral morphine and explain to the family the treatment plan for the following days.
With 4 children, a wife to support, rent to pay, the family were in severe difficulty, exposed to eviction and hunger. Hospice Ethiopia offer a unique ‘Comfort Fund’, offering a small financial level of support for families in the situation where the main bread winner is ill.
We visited 3 other patients during the day, all patients suffering from aggressive cancer in its later form. The hospice team are the one and only service of support available to families and patients.
Alongside home based care, the hospice team are offering a ‘day-care program’ for outpatients at a local hospital in Addis Adaba.
With between 5 – 10 patients being referred weekly, the team have the opportunity to provide education, treatment and medication to those who are post operative or those without the funds to afford radiation.
Over the last few days, Russell has made the famous crossing through South Ethiopia and Northern Kenya for a safe arrival in Nairobi, Kenya after making a stop at Nyeri Hospice.
Read more on Russell’s visit to Nyeri Hospice on the Kenya edition of ehospice.
Follow Russell’s journey on the Hospice African Adventure website.
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