the Suri Tribe is a remote tribe in ethiopia. I visit the koka hospital which had no medicine.
I’m interested and concerned with how the remote tribes in the Omo Valley access health care. I had the opportunity to visit a hospital in Koka which is not far from Tulgit on Suri tribe land on one of my Omo Valley photo tours a few years ago. The Suri live in a remote area in South West Ethiopia and on the border of South Sudan. Visiting the Koka hospital and listening to the nurses and their stories was a very emotional experience. It seems so devastating that so many people in the world today still don’t have access to basic medical and general needs.
Malaria is preventable with medication or it can cause death. This hospital had no supplies of malaria medication. The nurse told me that Malaria was the biggest cause of the death in the area.
When I asked to see their medical supplies I didn’t expect to see so little. Upon entering a locked room the nurse then opened up an empty cupboard with which a chicken randomly walked out of. It was quite surreal. These are the medical supplies for the hospital that services thousands of Suri tribe people. A few antibiotics, gloves, and not much else.
The hospital servicing thousands of Suri people only has these extremely limited medical supplies available.
A box of patient documents and records are kept in a box on the floor in the locked medical supply room.
Rooms have been allocated for various services. This is the maternity room. Lacking supplies, furniture and basic necessities.
The entrance door to the delivery room.
Information poster for looking after new mums was displayed on the wall.
A consulting room in the hospital
the nurses don’t have the supplies needed to help their patients.
Nasier Mohammed was one of the four nurses who was working at the hospital. He said somedays twenty people arrive for medical help. It is often a very long walk and takes a long time to get to Koka hospital due to the area and remoteness of the tribal villages. If the sick are unable to walk then they are carried on homemade stretches with help from their village (which you see when you travel in these areas). Sometimes you see sick people lying in the shade of a tree waiting for an ambulance to assist. Upon arrival the nurses were often unable to help due to lack of resources and supplies. They are trained to help, can help and want to help, but are unable to without the supplies they need.
One of four nurses at Koka hospital - Nasier Mohammed who wished he could do more for the patients that arrive at the hospital. With lack of supplies the medical professionals often feel helpless.
challenges of getting medical supplies to this remote community
The nurses had no indication of when they would be receiving more medical supplies or resources. While there are amazing NGO’s working throughout Ethiopia, the logistics in these remote areas proves a real problem. The supplies that are intended to arrive at remote hospitals like Koka hospital are sent to a central town for distribution. In this case it is Mizan Teferi. However, depending on the politics of the people in the areas seems to make a difference on how much actually gets distributed and where. The relationships between the tribal areas effects many things.
I spoke to a doctor who works for NGO’s in Ethiopia and he said that often the location and safety of getting supplies to places like Koka hospital prove to be very difficult. Safety can be a challenge in this area and that obviously contributes to them not gaining the basic needs they need. Usually they like to have 14 doctors in the remote village hospitals, but when I told him Koka only had 4 he was very surprised. Although having an extra 10 medical professionals in this location would be unlikely to be helpful as what they need is medical and hospital supplies.
The original hospital building at Koka, South West Ethiopia. Until only recently the larger hospital buildings opened after five years of building.
The new hospital buildings, Koka hospital
Visiting the tribes of Ethiopia on my Omo Valley photography tours I always take extra tubes of antiseptic cream and medical supplies. Word soon spreads and they all come and show me their cuts, grazes and infections. It is not much help, but being kind and helping when you can is always a positive thing. We have easy access to basic medical supplies. Sharing is caring. I’m always taking extra and providing cream and treatment when I can.
During the day patients are gathered in the shade of the hospital buildings. Solar lights charge in the sunshine and mattresses are aired outside.
making a difference
Ethiopia is an extraordinary country full of unique and incredible people and cultures. To make a difference in a responsible way I need to gain a better understanding of this amazing country. The strengths, weaknesses and how things generally work. The more I return the more I can learn and the better plan I can make to help make a difference in the future.
My time with the Suri Tribe really has made a difference to my life. I have now done training in the healthcare sector and am qualified in advanced first aid and non-emergency patient transport through St Johns Ambulance in Australia. With my new skills I hope to be more helpful to people I meet on my remote travel adventures and also back home in Australia.
Driving away my head is spinning about the hospitals situation. It makes me more determined to understand more about the logistics and challenges that this incredible country and its beautiful people face.
There is so much good happening in Ethiopia with NGO’s. You realise that there are thankfully many amazing and selfless people in the world that genuinely care for others and want to make a difference. This hospital building is an example. Often the programs take a long time, but at least things are moving forward and progressing. Slowly is better than not at all.
UPDATE ON KOKA HOSPITAL
It seems that Koka hospital apparently never received the supplies it needed to be fully operational and to provide the medical assistance and support needed. Whilst the buildings were built and fairly new when I visited, it seems that many patients died who arrived at the hospital as the nurses had no supplies and means of treating them. There were many preventable deaths. I have been advised it has not been operational since shortly after my visit. The health centres in Tulgit and Kibish are where the Suri can access health care. Apparently these health centres also lack supplies and medications needed…I look forward to visiting them on future trips and seeing what the situation is like.
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