Day 2 at Jhpiego, Plus a Shopping Experience!

Today was our second day at Jhpiego's office, and it was just as informative as day 1. We started the day off by discussing the Standards Based Management program Jhpiego has implemented in many hospitals around the country. The program works by training healthcare providers on various quality standards, including Prevention of Maternal to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and maternal and child healthcare. The hospitals are then responsible for becoming compliant with the quality standards that have been implemented. Some of the more difficult quality standards for hospitals to comply with were presented to us, which should give us some more areas to focus on when we're out in the field. Following this meeting we met with the maternal and child healthcare team, who we had MANY questions for. We were able to have a very detailed discussion around some of the pre-defined needs we have, as well as some of the new needs we've already identified from our discussions with Jhpiego's staff. I think all of our meetings have really prepared us for what we're going to see over the next several weeks.

We had the afternoon free, so we had the pleasure of going to Marcado, which is the largest market in Africa. I have no idea what the actual size is, but it was enormous. Taktek, our guide from Jhpiego, was great at showing us around the market and making sure we were safe and well informed about the extensive cultural aspects of Marcado. We were able to see a tent where Jhpiego offers free HIV testing for people as they shop, which we thought was a great idea. The atmosphere itself was madness, which I think is the best way to put it. There were goats running around the streets, donkeys carrying supplies, people selling everything imaginable, and cars nearly running over pedestrians around every corner. It was quite entertaining for all of us. We captured some of the images from our experience.

We also got the opportunity to haggle for some souvenirs, which is always an interesting experience. After Marcado we ate a quick dinner and turned in for the night. Creighton and I have a nice little 9 hour drive north to Bahir Dar tomorrow, and Luccie and Lauren are driving south to Hawassa. We're not sure how the internet situation will be in those locations, but we'll attempt to keep our blog updated.