We had to overcome some difficulty clearing our shipped boxes of supplies through customs which only made us understand better the system and culture we were working in.

We also had the opportunity to travel for a few days. This educated us further on the culture and people of Ethiopia. Most importantly, we gained a better understanding of the healthcare system, particularly outside of Addis Ababa. This was the first step to formulating ideas for our prevention project that we have begun working on (see projects).

One of the highlights of this mission was that we ran a follow-up clinic for our patients from the last 2 years. This allowed us to understand how the valve repairs performed were holding up and also demonstrated that children who do not continue prophylactic penicillin after valve surgery will suffer ongoing damage to these heart valves.