July 30, 2004
Washington, DC

I came into the conference room at Howard University Health Sciences Library expecting few surprises. The comfortable black chairs were there. The strange-looking gadgets on the table seemed not to have stirred from their positions.The videoscreen on the wall had four compartments. The top right one was occupied by the physician from Mayo clinic whose name could be translated into " Thank you for Eternity" or the samething in reverse. The Howard crew which was made up of Dr. Getachew, Dr.Bisrat, Dr.Danil, Dr.Tedla and one other guest, if you do not count the technician and the unofficial reporter, conquered the lower two.I rubbed my eyes and squinted at the screen to find where the spot showing Atlanta, Georgia was hiding. Where was Dr. Solomon Negash? They havn't trained another wizard of computers in just a few weeks, have they?  » Read the complete essay

By Dr. Bisrat Hailemeskel

I am an intellectual product of the Addis Ababa University (AAU). I received my Bachelor's Degree in Pharmacy and a Masters Degree in Chemistry from AAU in the 1980's. Although I came to the U.S. to pursue a higher education, like many other Ethiopian colleagues in Diaspora, I remained in the U.S. after completing my studies in the 1990's. Since then, I have been looking for opportunities to give back or "To reverse the brain drain." My first opportunity, thank God, came during the first meeting of the Ethiopian Northern American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA) held in Washington, DC. Anna Hovde, one of the speakers at the meeting, was pleading conference participants to deliver a few lectures while traveling to Ethiopia to visit friends and relatives. I am working as a professor at Howard University, teaching at the School of Pharmacy, and the idea of giving lectures was a perfect match for me. I stayed behind and approached her to talk to her in more detail. She gave me a contact name of a person which turned out to be the beginning of a productive and a long lasting journey.  » Read the complete essay by Dr. Bisrat Hailemeskel

Although there was an overwhelming anticipation and a crucial need for the birth of Gonder Public Health College and Training Center, her conception was uneventful (just a mild morning sickness when the Ethiopian government, WHO, UNICEF and USAID Point Four then, were sorting out how to put resources together and where to have her born). In the early 1950's, a host of infectious diseases led by malaria in the lowlands had a chocking grip over many of Ethiopia's provinces. The effect was even more devastating to Begemidir and Simien (Gonder province at the time). The founders did not have to sweat it then as there were more justifiable reasons than one for choosing Gonder as the birth site. Thus, the first public health personnel training institution of her kind in the country was delivered in 1954 in Gonder with a modest fanfare by some, but a hearty and resounding approval by the people of Gonder. It was named Gonder Public Health College and Training Center. » Read the complete essay by Dr. Kinfe Gebeyehu