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During an assignment in Ethiopia, Emergency Medicine physicians Jennifer Chan, MD, MPH, and Susan Bartels, MD, could work on their laptops only every other night, and even then it was by candlelight.
That’s because the pastoral town of Moyale, where they were setting up a drought warning system, alternates which side of town receives electricity each night.
While darkness every second night presented a challenge, seasoned international aid workers Bartels and Chan were able to complete the mission at hand: designing a surveillance system that will warn the town when a drought is imminent. In the past, severe and repeated droughts have devastated Moyale, where villagers are almost completely dependent on livestock for food. A recent drought caused 85 percent of livestock to perish, bringing an onslaught of health problems, including malnutrition.
“One sign we can monitor is the market price of grain, which goes through the roof when a drought begins,” Bartels said. “Monitoring signs like this will allow residents to prepare and give relief organizations notice that aid will be needed.”
Chan and Bartels are consulting for Oxfam America, a nonprofit organization that works to end global poverty. On behalf of the Division of International Health and Humanitarian Programs, they held focus group discussions for residents of Moyale and met with other organizations and stakeholders that share the same goal.
When it does rain in Ethiopia, it pours. Heavy flooding in March after the drought caused a host of other diseases. Cultural practice in the area dictates that when animals die, they are left to decay; carcasses are rarely buried or burned. Heavy rains washed carcasses to the bottom of ponds, contaminating the drinking water. Without available health care, malaria and diarrhea set in.
Chan and Bartels took such details into account and submitted a report outlining their recommendations for a warning system to Oxfam America after their visit.
Chan, who stayed in Moyale after Bartels left, faced another challenge when clan conflicts broke out in Southern Ethiopia. She worked with Hani Mowafi, a physician with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and Oxfam America to assess the needs of those displaced from their communities. “We determined whether they had adequate supplies of food and water and other items, like containers for water,” Chan said.