Chewing Khat Increasingly Popular Among Ethiopians

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Ethiopian men chew khat at a private residence in Addis Ababa, April 30, 2013.

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(Catha edulis) is a flowering plant native to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Among communities from these areas, khat chewing has a long history as a social custom dating back thousands of years.^[2]

Khat contains a monoamine alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant, which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite and euphoria. In 1980, the World Health Organization(WHO) classified it as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychological dependence (less than tobacco or alcohol),^[3] although the WHO does not consider khat to be seriously addictive.^[2] The plant has been targeted by anti-drug organizations such as the DEA.^[4] It is a controlled substance in some countries, such as the United States, Canada and Germany, while its production, sale and consumption are legal in other nations, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.^[5]The cultural tradition of chewing khat, a leaf that is a mild narcotic, is on the rise in Ethiopia.  The East African nation is one of the world's chief exporters of the crop, earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Khat's popularity is growing as more members of the middle and upper classes are chewing the leaf.  The natural stimulant is considered to be mildly addictive and the leaf has become the country's number-two export behind coffee.

But in Ethiopia itself, the government has banned khat houses.  That means men now gather in private homes to chew and discuss daily life, politics and sports.

“I started chewing about seven or eight years go," one man explained.  "It gives me energy to do more work.  When I’m chewing I feel happy and I’m more effective.”

“I started chewing about a month ago," another man said. "I wish I started chewing before because it gives me pleasure and more energy to do work.  You just have to be careful not to become addicted.”

Khat not only boosts energy but boosts Ethiopia’s economy. Although official numbers are not available, thousands farmers are believed to be growing khat. The plant can be harvested up to four times a year, and with millions of people using it in East Africa, Yemen and in the diaspora, it is more profitable than other crops.

The sector not only provides employment in rural areas, it also creates jobs in the cities.  Now, there is a new phenomenon in capital city Addis Ababa: khat home delivery boys on scooters.

“There are some people who don’t want to be seen at a khat shop by other people so we deliver for those people," a delivery boy explained. "There are also other people, they want to sit in their house, they just want to relax.”

As the demand for the leaf in Ethiopia has increased, so has the price.

“Khat was very cheap 10 years ago compared to today.  The highest price then was 20 or 25 birr.  But today, half a bundle of khat is 60 birr and a full bundle of khat is 120 birr,” a khat chewer complained.

Studies show that health consequences of chewing khat are limited. Dawit Wondimagegn is dean is the Addis Ababa University Medical School. He questioned whether a growing number of users is desirable.

“The question we need to ask is whether khat chewing results in a lack of productivity or lack of opportunity [and] predisposes young people to chew more khat," he remarked. "In places like ours, where there is no meaningful employment, people get bored and they could go and start chewing khat to spend their time.  We have to analyze this question very carefully.” 

While students and professionals use khat in hopes of improving their school results or work performance, some towns in the country empty out in the afternoon after people start chewing. So while khat production is flourishing, it is not yet clear if more users will create less productive Ethiopians..

What is it? 
Khat is a leafy green shrub that can grow to tree size. The leaves of the khat plant are chewed for their amphetamine-like stimulant effects. The active ingredients of khat are cathinone and cathine, which produce psychotropic, euphoric, metabolic and cardiovascular effects similar to amphetamine.

Where does it grow? 
Khat trees are often grown interspersed with coffee trees. Khat grows at high altitudes in the region extending from eastern to southern Africa, as well as on the Arabian peninsula. Originating in Ethiopia, khat now also grows in Somalia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Yemen and Madagascar.

Street names
Khat (cat), qat ( Yemen ), chat, qaadka, miraa ( Kenya ), tohai, tschat ( Ethiopia ), Abyssinian tea, African tea, African salad

Who uses it? 
The chewing of khat leaves is common in some countries of east Africa and the Arabian peninsula. It has a deep-rooted social and cultural tradition in some Muslim, Somali and Yemeni cultures. In some Muslim countries in which alcohol is prohibited, khat is commonly used in social situations, although it is often condemned on religious grounds.

Khat chewing is predominantly a male activity, though women are occasionally involved and, according to some reports, this is increasingly the case in Australia. For example, some women who did not chew khat in their former homeland began to use khat after their arrival in Australia.

Khat is not considered to be a "street drug", but in the United States illegal laboratories have been discovered using a synthetic form of khat's most active ingredient, cathinone, which is called "methcathinone" and known on the street as "Cat".

How and why is it used? 
Although khat is most commonly chewed, it is sometimes taken as a tea or smoked. Khat must be chewed while it is fresh (within 48 hours), so it is usually wrapped in banana leaves or plastic after picking, to preserve its potency.

Khat is generally used by individuals as a recreational drug. Historically, khat has been used for medicinal purposes and as an aphrodisiac, though it has also been used for recreational purposes. References to khat use can be found in eighteenth century Arab journals describing how physicians prescribed khat to treat depression and lack of energy.

Khat is usually chewed in company, but may be used by individuals to enhance their working capacity. In some countries, such as in Yemen, "khat parties", also known as majlis, have a long history as part of formal social customs, for example, to encourage discussion of community issues. The majlis had their own traditional rules about the appropriate age, time, style and quantity of use.

Is khat used in Australia? 
Not much is known about khat use in Australia. In 1993 it was estimated that 700 to 1000 people in Melbourne enjoyed khat chewing. Most were thought to be from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya and Yemen. Given the increase in immigration of people from East African and Middle Eastern countries in recent years, it is possible khat use might become more common.

Is it legal? 
Khat is not illegal in Australia, but its import is very strictly controlled. It is legal to import khat for personal use only. A person must obtain a Licence to Import khat. They must also obtain a Permit to Import for each shipment. A licence and permit holder may import up to five kilograms of khat per month for personal use, provided their State/ Territory Health Authority does not object to them being granted such a licence.

What are the effects of khat? 
Khat is a stimulant. A typical chewing session is thought to be the equivalent of ingesting five milligrams of amphetamine sulphate. Usually 50 to 200 grams of the leaves are chewed. The onset of effect is within 20 minutes.

Following feelings of mild euphoria, talkativeness and suppression of their appetite, users have reported calming effects after a few hours. Other pleasurable effects reported include increased alertness and excitement. Unpleasant effects include impaired concentration and judgement, mood swings, confusion, disorientation and increase in nervousness and tension.

Unwanted physical and health effects associated with regular khat chewing include:

• Sleeplessness
• Nervousness
• Impotence
• Nightmares
• Irritability, feelings of anger and violent outbursts
• Gastro-intestinal tract problems such as constipation
• Reduced appetite
• Reduced birth weight in babies and inhibited lactation in khat-chewing mothers
• Inflammation of the mouth and other parts of the oral cavity
• Oral cancer.

Is it addictive? 
It is unclear whether khat chewing can lead to dependence (addiction), but heavy khat chewers have been shown to experience withdrawal symptoms such as extreme tiredness and lack of energy, difficulty performing normal daily activities and slight trembling several days after having stopped chewing khat. Prolonged and excessive use can lead to psychological problems such as depression, anxiety and irritation, sometimes leading to psychosis.

Minimising the harms 
The following guidelines may be of assistance:

• The safest way to avoid problems with khat chewing is to avoid use.
• If you are a regular user, try to reduce the quantity of your chewing, with reasonable intervals between sessions.
• Avoid drinking caffeinated drinks such as cola and coffee. Drink water instead.
• Avoid using alcohol or other drugs during or after your khat session. Mixing drugs can be dangerous.
• If you smoke, limit the number of cigarettes you smoke while chewing khat. Avoid crowded sessions and keep windows open to allow in fresh air.
• Have a balanced diet, and ensure you eat before and after your session.
• Try to avoid chewing khat late at night, and never take sleeping pills unless prescribed by your doctor.
• Avoid holding the khat in your cheek for a long time, as this can increase your risk of getting an oral infection.
• If you are pregnant, avoid chewing khat, as this can lead to serious health risks to the baby.

Photo:eesti/Flick
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Wembley optician to fly to Ethiopia on charity mission - News - Kilburn Times

Wembley optician to fly to Ethiopia on charity mission

Ananda Sena is undertaking a two-weeek charity trip to Ethiopia

Lorraine King, News editor

A Wembley optician will be flying out to Ethiopia next week on a charity mission to help poor villagers with their sight problems.

Ananda Sena, an optometrist at Specsavers in Wembley High Road, will screen the eyes of people living in Hawassa and fit them with donated glasses if needed.

The project is part of Vision Aid Overseas, an international charity dedicated to transforming access to eyecare in developing countries.

Mr Sena will be among a team of three volunteer eyecare professionals that will work alongside doctors to bring the vital service to the village.

He said: “Having worked in optics for a few years I decided that I wanted to use my skills to help developing countries.

“We take eyecare for granted in the UK as we have opticians on every high street but it’s amazing how much of a difference a pair of glasses can make to someone’s quality of life.”

Anyone wishing to make a donation to Mr Sena’s cause can do so by visiting his Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/ananda-sena.

For more information about Specsavers in Wembley se

Novel coronavirus: what you need to know - YouTube

Novel coronavirus: what you need to know - YouTube: ""

'via Blog this'

Ethiopia to Push Health Scorecard for African Continent

A mother quenches her malnourished child's thirst while waiting for food handouts at a health center in drought-stricken remote Somali region of Ethiopia, July 9, 2011.

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ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The Ethiopian government wants a uniform health evaluation process to be introduced in all of Africa to help reduce child deaths. The idea will be recommended during an upcoming African Child Survival Conference.

One goal of the United Nation's millennium development project is to reduce the child mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa by two-thirds by 2015. So far the reduction has been 39%. Ethiopia stands out because it already has reached a 60% reduction in the mortality rate of children under five years old. The country is hosting a conference on child survival and will suggest ways to achieve a two-thirds goal.

The U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, is a partner with the Ethiopian government on the project. USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah said he hopes all African countries will adopt a scorecard that publicly collects and reports health data.

“So we know where children are dying, what they are dying of and how we are making progress as efficiently and effectively as possible. Second we are asking every country to sharpen their country plans to focus on, in particular, low income children and communities and to reach them with the five, six most cost-effective and efficient interventions for savings children’s lives," said Shah. "In most countries that means tackling malaria, pneumonia and diarrhea. But also other causes like neo-natal mortality.”

Effective in Ethiopia

The scorecard consists of three components: input indicators that relate to policy issues and availability of resources; process indicators;  impact and outcome indicators that outline the data results.

Ethiopia Minister of Health Kesetebirhan Admasu said the scorecard has been introduced on all governing levels in Ethiopia.

“You can really track. If you see particular indicator rate indicator at the national level, you see which parts of the country are contributing for that indicator to be right at national level," Kesete said. "So it will also give you the opportunity to make sure that you have an equitable health service delivery system. We have to also try to redress the disparities we have in different parts of the country.”

The minister believes the scorecard can be adopted in all African countries.

Helping children

Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind other regions of the continent in reducing under-five deaths. One in eight children in Sub-Saharan Africa still die before reaching their fifth birthday.

Ethiopia’s good results on improving health care coincide with a decade of rapid economic growth. Ethiopia also has received considerable financial aid from the West. USAID alone spent $985 million in the last three years in East African countries. But USAID is cutting the budget to Ethiopia by more than 50 percent for 2013.

Kesete said Ethiopia's health sector is focusing on mobilizing more domestic resources.

“One of the most important interventions that would help us to mobilize more resources is health insurance scheme that we are trying to put in place. We have done it in thirteen districts in the last two years and this year we have decided to scale it up to more than 100 districts across the country,” said Kesete.

Shifting dynamics

The African continent is changing fast in several ways through economic growth and urbanization. Shah said efforts to control diseases stay the same despite these changes.

“The predominant causes of death remain infectious disease. So until you have dramatically reduced children dying from malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and in the first 48 to 72 hours of life from a range of causes in that period, it would not be an efficient thing to do, to shift resources to higher order urban care if your goal is to save as many children’s life as possible,” said Shah.

All African health ministers are expected to attend the conference on African Child Survival in Ethiopia on January 16 thourgh 18.

It's arrogant to say anorexia is a personal choice rather than a mental illness

The advertising campaign featuring French actress and anorexia sufferer Isabelle Caro. Photograph: Getty Images

In November 2010, almost exactly two years ago today, a 28-year-old French model called Isabelle Caro died from complications arising from anorexia. A few years before, in 2007, she had risen to increased prominence after appearing in an advertising campaign to raise awareness of eating disorders within her field. Stick-thin, with vertebrae clearly on show, she stared straight out of the billboards that lined Italian cities and were later (controversially) banned. The image was undoubtedly shocking; some even found it outright traumatic. Its accompanying message - "No Anorexia" - made a clear statement about the fashion industry when it was pushed out to the Italian public during fashion week.

If you’re looking for an "anorexic statement", then Caro’s is as close as you can get. She suffered from the disease from early adolescence, and she spoke about being in its grips as a personal struggle. She talked publicly of how she wished to be rid of the crushing mental illness, right up until the two months before her death. The "No Anorexia" campaign was about drawing attention to the downright ugliness of a body destroyed by an anorexic life, the ironic lack of glamour in an illness that pervaded industries priding themselves on allure and desirability. And these reasons are why, for many, Rachel Cusk’srecent article on anorexia in this magazine hurt so much.

Does every woman’s body make a statement? Cusk thinks it does. She claims that the anorexic state "returns the woman to the universality of a child", a pre-pubescent state wherein she doesn’t have to think about menstruation or lactation or childbirth or sex. She paints the sufferer of anorexia as a narcissistic martyr of the modern age, obsessed with her image, privileged enough to impose an illness upon herself, sitting "screaming about a spoonful of peas" while other people just get on with the practicalities. Needless to say, sufferers and former sufferers of the disease, as well as their loved ones, didn’t take kindly to this reductive and convenient analysis.

Why is such an analysis convenient? Precisely because mental illness is infuriatingly inconvenient in its individuality and nuance. Treatments and causes are varied and often inexplicable. Personalities are, by their nature, all very different. By positing an "anorexic type", Cusk makes the problem of anorexia wonderfully simple: it’s just a "sickness of the modern age" manifested in a certain type of defective personality. If they’d stop indulging themselves for one pea-eating second, or experienced some real type of hardship, then they’d snap out of it once and for all, right? If Isabelle Caro had really sat down and thought about it, then she could have saved herself the massive setback of dying during her anti-anorexia campaign.

Even aside from all of this offensive hypothesising, it’s strange enough that Cusk maintains throughout her article the idea that women speak with their bodies, but men don’t. She talks about periods and childbirth as physical states to escape from as if men are beings wholly removed from such concerns (because blood is a problem, but semen is supposedly totally cool.) And feminists have fought for a long time to remove the basic assumption that women are "naturally decorative", "speaking" through their bodies alone, expressing their complaints about society by getting thinner and a little bit childlike, while men are naturally intellectual, objective, and altogether more adult. We suppose that the last fifty years of feminist thought have passed Cusk by, as well as the fact that male sufferers of anorexia exist, unfortunately, in substantial numbers. 

Indeed, Cusk appears to have done little research about the illness, instead relying on verbose rhetoric. At one point in her dense treatise, she implies that anorexics of craving visibility. The "anorexic statement", as she so coldly calls it, seeks attention. And yet, so many sufferers speak of wanting to disappear. This does not compute. Cusk speaks with the authoritative and detached voice of a scientist, but she is no scientist. Her overwrought prose serves to raise her essay up to the status of literature, concealing her crass generalisations beneath "sophisticated prose". And yet, it is lacking in any of the perception or insight associated with that term. Her continual use of "the anorexic" throughout the essay makes her seem emotionless and removed, and she seems to forget that this is a disease that affects real people, not simply medical cases whose motives must be dissected and speculated upon in florid prose.

Anorexia is a complex, awful, terrifying disease, the causes for which are a constant topic for research by medical professionals. Its causes do not fit neatly into a single tick-box, and thus lumping all its sufferers together into one group is supremely unhelpful. As a commenter who had reached recovery noted beneath the original article, "no book or article that I read has ever explained how I got there". To presume a statement on the part of another belies supreme arrogance. Cusk has projected that "statement" onto women and girls who are suffering from a life-threatening illness, women and girls whose friends and family may be reading Cusk’s words in between hospital visits. That she should imply that mental illness is a choice is verging on the unforgiveable as far as anyone who’s ever suffered one is concerned.

At one point in the piece, Rachel Cusk refers to the male gaze. She blames what she calls "the preponderance of male values", and yet there she is, judging these women’s bodies, projecting her agenda, her pseudo-psychoanalysis onto them. In other words, it is not their bodies speaking. It is not their story. Isobel Caro’s "anorexic statement" was just that because she, the sufferer made it, and no one else. In light of this, we should be aware that the only statement that Cusk is making in her article is applies to herself.

MSF Blogs: Overcoming Ethiopia's Natural Hurdles | Doctors Without Borders

MSF Blogs: Overcoming Ethiopia's Natural Hurdles

OCTOBER 29, 2012

Ethiopia 2012 © Kate Chapman

The muddy road near the clinic in Adura.

MSF Nurse Kate Chapman

Kate Chapman is an Australian nurse with an emergency/trauma background. Here, she blogs fromEthiopia, her second mission with Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Read Kate's MSF Blog here.

Well, it’s Sunday again. It’s been another long, frustrating, and concerning week.

On Wednesday, the river had risen so much that the area where we land the boat in town had broken its banks and flooded half the town. This left our only landing point around 800 meters from the road on the main dock, wedged between the many huge open-top steel cargo boats being loaded with contraband destined for South Sudan.

The clinic in Adura had been busy with over 150 patients. On the way back we had one patient for transfer in the car, an old lady with TB. We came across some men carrying a very unwell-looking man. We stopped, found him to be critical, packed him in the car, and made our way back to Mattar.

I called ahead to our base and asked them to send the boat with a stretcher and to meet us on the road. Of course no one was there when we arrived, so leaving the patients by the car we carried the heavy boxes of drugs and equipment to town, meandering through the heavily bogged path leading to the river. This is very difficult as just walking without carrying anything is a challenge in itself in the treacherously slippery Mattar mud. I am twice as good at not falling over compared to how I was at the beginning of the mission, but compared to the sure-footed team I’m still a joke!

Our boat was wedged between two huge cargo boats and the river was chock-a-block full of lilies slowly creeping from upstream Adura, headed for the big Baro River where the current will take them to Sudan. We literally had to pull our boat along by hand using the cargos to get out. I sent the team back with the gear asking them to drop it off then come back with a stretcher for the patients. I went back to the patients and waited. Half an hour went by before the logistician turned up with the stretcher, but he said the motor was playing up on the boat and he couldn’t get in near town so he was going back alone and the other boat would pick us up. I, together with some locals and caretakers, brought the patients down from the road to town under the shade of a tree. Another hour went by with no one turning up so I called base again and was told they had left ages ago.

The town riverfront was boxed in by cargo boats being loaded. The river was so full of lily plants that it looked like an iridescent green field you could walk across. After pacing up and down the bank for some time I spotted our boat. It was slowly making its way through the jungle of plants. There was nowhere to dock and after trying in vain with an army guy to push the cargos to make enough room, our driver finally pulled up at the end of the dock behind the cargos.

We carried the patient on the stretcher, the old lady and her belongings, and some other bits through the bustling hive of dockside activity, climbed into one laden cargo boat, walked across the supplies packed beneath the tarpaulin, climbed into a second cargo boat, and walked the length of it atop their cargo to the end where the owners and packers helped us lift and pass both the stretcher and the old woman and supplies to our boat. I then found out why it took so long to come back and get us. The river was literally choked with lilies and clumps of grass as far as the eye could see. We had to break our way through, separating the lilies with a stick. It took around half an hour to travel the one kilometer back to the compound. This river is a truly amazing endless source of change.

After getting back and taking the patients to the health center I did my computer work, unpacked the metal boxes, and repacked the plastic ones in preparation of Jikow on Thursday. I then went to bed as a sore throat, runny nose, and earache had been plaguing me since Monday. About half an hour later, our program coordinator called me with some bad news! Our second boat with the 40 horsepower motor was stuffed! Kaput! Finito! Totally knackered! So that meant no Jikow, no Nasir, no boat travel other than from base to town.

I wasn’t too upset about not spending six to eight hours in the boat while I was feeling like s**t, but more importantly the nutrition kids would be without their therapeutic food and the leprosy, tuberculosis, and HIV patients would be without their medication, which means they will need reassessment and blood levels taken in Gambella before restarting treatment. This is a nightmare, as anything to do with movements takes weeks of frustration to organize, especially for non-urgent patients, so many—like our previous leprosy man—will relapse before recommencing treatment.

The atmosphere at home has changed with the reduction of people and now it’s a bit more relaxed. The bugs are horrific and have plagued our everything for the last few weeks. If you pour a coffee you will get earwigs from both the kettle and the sugar. Small lice-like bugs the size of a thumb nail have invaded with force and are constantly crawling, biting, and getting into places better left undescribed! Whenever you walk through a doorway the small tick-like bugs fly straight into your face, up your nose, and any other orifice they can enter. The trick is to close your eyes and exhale as you enter or leave. The stink bugs, small, black, crispy, biting bugs that stink like rotten meat are constantly in our hair (lucky Matthieu) or crawling on us. When you brush them off or touch them they dispel their odor tenfold. Not to mention they taste just like they smell! Last night when I was cooking dinner, they were so thick in the kitchen that Petra stood behind me flapping a towel, trying to create enough air to keep them out of the pan!

With the bugs also come the swallows. A fantastic frenzy of flying acrobats that swoop and soar in spasmodic, unpredictable waves of excitement. I think they are chasing bugs, but I honestly can’t see. Anyway it’s a spectacle to see.

With the rising river, the huge Schelle (Nile perch) 20–100 kilos in weight have arrived, not to mention the 20–30 kilo tiger fish with teeth so sharp and long they could take a finger off in a single snap, probably an arm with one bite and a quick shake!

Yesterday afternoon I sat in the boat by our dock having a little R&R, smoking, soothing my burning throat with a cold coke and dangling a line just by the side of our cargo boat. I got a bite straight away, lost my line with the weight of it, caught a small one (twp foot) then lost my line again. I can wind them in to the edge of the boat but one shake of the head snaps my light 15 pound line so I actually get to see what I’m losing! Anyway, I caught a few small ones but without a heavy line and steel trace I won’t be landing any of these monsters! Imagine catching a fish as big as me!!! I think I’ll try and make a gaff of some description today! Anyway, our freezer is full of some of the nicest fish I’ve ever eaten. Gone are the days of pasta and tomato sauce! Its fried fish, baked fish, fish soup, fish stew, and with my new soup supply, fish mornay!

A Jewish Medical Giant in Ethiopia | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com

AUGUST 17, 2012 1:52 PM 4 COMMENTS

Author:

Peter Rothholz / JNS.org

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American Jewish Joint Distribution CommitteeEthiopiaEthiopian IsraelisEthiopian JewsisraelIsrael NewsJewishJewish NewsJewsRichard Hodes

JDC's Dr. Rick Hodes treats a child in Ethiopia. Photo: Richard Lord/JDC.

When a planeload of secular Israelis landed in Addis Abba shortly before Pesach last spring, they were greeted by a small Ethiopian boy holding aloft a hand-made sign reading: “Ask me about a Passover seder.”

The man behind the sign was Dr. Rick Hodes, medical director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Ethiopia. His accomplishments in saving lives are legendary and have been chronicled in numerous articles and books. Moreover, Dr. Rick, as he is widely known, was the subject of an HBO documentary, “Making the Crooked Straight,” and other films.

To understand why an American doctor would want to motivate perfect strangers to participate in his seder, one needs to understand what makes Dr. Rick tick.

Richard Hodes was born into a middle-class Jewish family in Syosset, Long Island.

He graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in geography. When his father pointed out the career limitations for geographers, Hodes enrolled in medical school at the University of Rochester and subsequently trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He first went to Ethiopia during the famine of 1984 and returned in 1985 as a Fulbright Professor, teaching medicine at Addis Ababa University. He was hired by JDC in 1990.

Dr. Rick Hodes treats a baby in Ethiopia. Photo: Richard Lord/JDC.

As JDC’s medical director, Hodes is responsible for taking care of Ethiopian immigrants to Israel between the time the Israeli authorities have selected them and their departure. His clinic staff consists of himself plus one Ethiopian physician and several nurses and aides. At any given time, he looks after more than 4,000 people.

“We need to keep them healthy and take care of whatever comes up,” Hodes says in an interview with JNS.org.

In addition to his work for JDC, Hodes’s clinic takes care of seriously ill, often destitute, Ethiopians, and it is for them that he has performed countless medical miracles, especially in the area of cancer and diseases of the spine and heart. A number of these are described in great detail on his website: www.rickhodes.org.

Hodes, who is single, lives in a modest house in Addis Ababa with several of his adopted Ethiopian children, all former patients. When we met him, he was accompanied by 18- year-old Dejene Hodes, one of his adopted sons. He had tuberculosis of the spine when he was adopted from Mother Teresa’s Mission. Hodes sent him to Dallas, Texas, for back surgery and Dejene remained there for two years. He is now perfectly fit, recently graduated from the Yavneh Jewish Day School, and plans to study engineering in college.

JDC's Dr. Rick Hodes treats a child in Ethiopia. Photo: Richard Lord/JDC.

Hodes is an observant Jew who says he is “anchored” by the Jewish calendar. He prays and puts on tefillin virtually every morning, keeps Shabbat and celebrates all holy days and festivals. When asked why he has devoted his life to the people of Ethiopia, he replied, “We, of course, have to look out for other Jews, but we absolutely must help the rest of the world. After all, we are commanded to perform ‘tikkun olam.’”

JDC began its operations in Ethiopia as part of Prime Minister Golda Meir’s “African Strategy” and is recognized as an NGO by the Government of Ethiopia. In addition to operating its clinic, JDC builds schools-20 of which have so far been completed outside the capital- digs wells to supply fresh water, and funds scholarships to enable (mostly Christian and Muslim) girls to obtain higher education. When asked “Why only girls?” Hodes replied that “the only way for the world to get better is to make sure girls are educated.”

According to Hodes, the average Ethiopian does not quite understand Judaism and thinks it is some branch of Christianity. Ethiopian Jews recognized as such by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel in the early 1970s know they are Jews and are different from other people religiously. Relations between the government of Ethiopia and Israel are amicable, and Hodes believes the average Ethiopian “is really pro-Israel.”

In western eyes, Hodes, even at 5-foot-3 and 123 pounds, is a giant. But when it comes to treating ordinary Ethiopians, he says he competes “with witch doctors.”

“I’m not their first choice—local healers are!” he says.