The Mother Teresa Mission (supported by the Mother Teresa Foundation based in Calcutta) serves those in need here in Addis and we wanted to pay a visit. Taxis abound in this city; they are easily identified as the decrepit beat up/banged up de-upholstered blue and white pile of “mobile crap”. Of course, they are without meters and every fare must be negotiated. The usual starting point, regardless of destination (but dependent on ethnicity of passenger) is 150-200 birr ($8-$11). One counters with half which is immediately refused, then there’s the “walk-away” until an agreement is made (which may/may not be valid since the driver may/may not ”choose” to have the necessary change at the end of the trip). Mama mia!
Mother Teresa’s Mission has been operating for 35 years and this is where the very poor, the homeless, the profoundly destitute can go when no one else will take care of them. The facility holds around 1,000 hapless souls and there is a separate area for orphans as well as mothers with babies. Mother Teresa visited Addis in 1974 with 2 nuns and asked permission of Emperor Haile Selassie to open her center. At this time there are 120 nuns who work in the 18 homes spread out around the city. This mission is the largest.
Not including the mother/baby and pediatric areas, the mission is divided into very large wards with approximately 50 beds per ward. The men’s wards we visited are: medical, HIV/TB/malaria, trauma, mental, and Alzheimer’s; and there is a separate equal size facility for women. I noticed very minimal “care” being given, probably because few of these patients can expect to improve. The only nurse I saw and spoke to said that when anti-viral drugs for AIDS are available they are given IV, and these patients are sometimes discharged after treatment. The facilities are very basic, by almost any standard. All meals are eaten outside on benches. This mission welcomes everyone and provides shelter, food and safety to those who would otherwise languish and die on the streets.
Not including the mother/baby and pediatric areas, the mission is divided into very large wards with approximately 50 beds per ward. The men’s wards we visited are: medical, HIV/TB/malaria, trauma, mental, and Alzheimer’s; and there is a separate equal size facility for women. I noticed very minimal “care” being given, probably because few of these patients can expect to improve. The only nurse I saw and spoke to said that when anti-viral drugs for AIDS are available they are given IV, and these patients are sometimes discharged after treatment. The facilities are very basic, by almost any standard. All meals are eaten outside on benches. This mission welcomes everyone and provides shelter, food and safety to those who would otherwise languish and die on the streets.
On the day we visited it started to pour in absolute sheets of rain, unlike anything we had experienced in many years of travel. We made our way from one ward to another under connecting parapets and found the patients quite unfazed. Those sitting out on a veranda merely tucked their feet in slightly to avoid the deluge. Otherwise, the slow hum of ennui and languish remained unabated. The residents seemed neither happy nor sad but rather resigned and neutral.There was nothing disturbing to us, it was merely a place we were visiting and would be leaving soon and the residents slow gaze as we passed by seemed to show an acceptance that they would be staying.
As Mother Teresa said: “The worst poverty of all is to reject a human soul in need”. No one is ever rejected here; we were as equally welcome as those so ill.
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| One of many large wards. Most patients seemed to be asleep or resting. There were not any visitors or radios or telephones. Only the pouring rain broke the peaceful silence. |
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| Waiiting for the rain to stop, or perhaps just waiting. The patients all seemed content. Not too much to wait for... |
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| Personal care area for the residents (in the rain). |
