Saturday, April 23, 2011

Young women aid Ethiopia's health system

BBC,By Claudia Hammond, April 23, 2011
The majority of Ethiopia's population live in rural areas and when they are ill many do not seek medical advice, but a new government programme hopes to change this at a local level.

Eynalem Taye is 23-years-old, but her tiny frame makes her look like a slight teenager.

She sits confidently in the single-storey building she shares with another young woman health worker. She does not wear a uniform, save for a bright blue watch marked with a tiny Ethiopian flag and the words "Health Extension Worker" which denote that she is now qualified.

To get to this remote health post I drive out into the countryside, past rows of billy cans filled with water, suspended in wickerwork bags ready to sell to passing truck drivers.

Then hundreds of tropical plants lined up in plastic bags in what appear to be miles and miles of garden centres next to each other along the roadside.

High school students stream past in school uniforms in a shade of mauve exactly matching the blossom on the jacaranda trees.  More reading on BBC.

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