Tag Archives: Africa

Pan-African Medical Conference, African Union, Addis

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Last week, People to People was a host organization for the first-ever Pan-African Medical Doctors & Healthcare Conference, held in the African Union Hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference Keynote Speaker was Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Other remarkable dignitaries who attended included Mulatu Teshome Wirtu (President, Ethiopia) who addressed the conference after Dr. Zuma, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia). Former President of Ethiopia Girma Wolde-Giorgis joined the closing dinner for the conference. PAMDHC brought together leading professionals in their areas of expertise – including a People to People panel on Triangular Partnership, moderated by former US Ambassador to Ethiopia, David Shinn. Panelists included:

  • Dr. Costantinos BT Costantinos, Professor of Public Policy, School of Graduate Studies, Addis Ababa University.
  • Dr. Anteneh Habte, Chairman of People to People’s Board of Directors, and Medical Director, Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Martinsburg, WV).
  • Dr. Egbe Osifo-Dawodu, Founding Partner at the Anadach Group,  global healthcare strategy firm.
  • Dr. Dawd S. Siraj, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University.

The conference was put on by US Doctors for Africa, People to People, and Zambian International and Investment Centre (ZITIC).  I had to leave the conference during the first morning to interview US Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia M. Haslach for People to People Radio – more about that in a later blog.

Internet access and wifi in the otherwise-excellent Capital Hotel and in the African Union building were not reliable – so this is my first opportunity to post to my blog since 19 May.

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Here is what the African Union campus looks like from the air – on 22 May as we flew from Addis to Lalibela:
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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

19 October 2019: Links Updated.

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Blue Nile Gorge Road Trip (Addis Ababa – Debre Marcos)

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Here are detailed photos of our drive from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, past the Debre Libanos monastery, through the dramatic 1 Km. (.62 miles) deep Blue Nile Gorge, to the city of Debre Marcos. I had never heard of this remarkable area, other than as one of the sources of the Nile, but I highly recommend a visit, so long as you have a sturdy truck for the rough road.

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Blue Nile Gorge, Debre Markos, Bahir Dar Ethiopia

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The People to People team (US and Ethiopia-based doctors, plus me) have been visiting partners and supporters, friends and family this weekend before the start of the Pan-African Medical Doctors & Healthcare Conference this week in Addis. We drove from the capital Addis Ababa through the dramatic Blue Nile Gorge to Debre Marcos (staying at the Gozamen Hotel in Abiyot Square), then to Bahir Dar on Lake Tana (staying at the Summerland Hotel). In addition to seeing the lovely and fertile countryside, institutions we have visited include:

Dr. Enawgaw Mehari (President and Founder, People to People) presented six boxes of chemistry, math, biology and other college texts to Debre Marcos University. During the Debre Marcos University tour, we visited some cows (part of the farm school), and their computer lab.  Dr. Enawgaw also presented a donation check of $1833 raised by 8-year-old Emma Jewel Lewis and her family in West Virginia to the girls of the Amanuel Care Center, where we visited some beehives and talked with 14 of the 56 girls. With their education and P2P support, the girls ambitions are to be a:

  • pilot
  • medical doctor (5 girls)
  • economist (2 girls)
  • journalist
  • law
  • business administration
  • engineer

We also visited six of the Amanuel Care Center girls who have already started their university studies on our way out of Addis. We were impressed by our tour of the clinic and diagnostic lab of the Addis Vision Higher Clinic. I am still uploading photos.

We have enjoyed eating many meals on injera flatbread and have been honored to join traditional dancing.  I particularly like the delicious results of the coffee ceremony. All along the way, our car has been regularly stopped by donkeys, cows, dogs, goats, and people dashing across the road, very exciting at night. I suggested adding reflectors to the animals’ tails…

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Getting to Ethiopia

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I finally arrived in Ethiopia a few hours ago, after traveling from Wednesday through Friday nights. A trip planned for 24 hours took double that due to a bad connection – and included an overnight stay in Frankfurt, Germany. I haven’t seen much except airports, airplanes, clouds, and movies since I left San Francisco. I was glad that the Goethe statue still graces the Frankfurt airport, and I learned that pretzel dough makes an interesting breakfast croissant.

I am in Addis Ababa to participate in the first-ever Pan-African Medical Doctors Healthcare Conference next week.  This is my third trip to Africa since January, although my first to Ethiopia. I am working with People to People, one of the conference sponsors. One of my interesting assignments is to interview key leaders and dignitaries of the conference. I plan to visit the ancient monolithic rock-cut churches at Lalibela after the conference. Of course, I will post details here as they develop!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Women of Vision, King Abdullah of Jordan, TechWomen

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Last week, I sat with the Anita Borg Institute Advisory Board at a gala celebrating Women of Vision, and in particular, the well-deserved award for Leadership honoring Dr. Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College here in California. I am dating myself to write that I remember when Mudd was an all-male institution. Maria and her team have grown Mudd from 10% women in Computer Science to 40% – and have kept that 40% stable for years. This unique accomplishment deserves some celebration! Maria is amazing – she is also #17 on Fortune’s list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders.

The other inspiring winners were Tal Rabin (Research Staff Member and Manager cryptographic research, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center) for Innovation; and Kathrin Winkler (Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC Corporation) for Social Impact. Bank of America won as the 2014 Top Company for Women in Computing.  Also attending the event were many of my sister mentors who have served in the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen program for scientific and technical women in the Middle East and Africa, including: Jameeka Aaron (of Lockheed Martin), Larissa Shapiro (of Mozilla), Andrea Leszek (of Salesforce), and Rahima Mohammed (of Intel).

Yesterday, my husband John and I drove to Berkeley to see His Majesty, King Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein of Jordan speak at International House on the University of California campus. I was pleased to see the slide saying that 30% of Jordan’s tech industry workers are women – better than the 26% in America as of 2013.

I have never seen the King in person before, although last year I was honored to meet his cousin, Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan. Also, when my daughter Jessica and I were on the bus to Petra in Jordan, we watched “The Royal Tour“, a video featuring King Abdullah riding his motorcycle to show off his country. Yesterday’s talk is yet-another event that entered my life because of TechWomen. Mentor Lucie Newcomb (of NewComm Global Group) posted information about the event – including how to get tickets.

TechWomen 2014 mentor sign ups open soon! Please consider expanding your mind, experience, and heart to join us!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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Katy on People to People Radio: 1 May 2014

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Tonight (1 May 2014), I will be on People To People Global Radio Show talking with US Doctors for Africa Founder and Chairman, Ted Alemayhu, about Triangular Partnership, and the Pan-Africa Medical Doctors and Healthcare Conference, to be held 21-23 May 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our segment of this weekly radio program will be hosted by Dr. Anteneh Habte, Chairman of People to People.  Join us Thursdays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time (6 pm Pacific Time).  Access the weekly show online http://www.blogtalkradio.com/p2pglobalradioshow/ or phone 646-595-4742 each Thursday evening.

I will be traveling to Africa later this month (3rd time this year – a personal best!), with my husband John Plocher (his first trip to Africa).  I have been working on the Triangular Partnership panel (moderated by former US Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn), as well as with the very helpful staff of US Ambassador Patricia M. Haslach of the US Embassy in Addis to prepare for the conference.

I edited and contributed a chapter to the People to People book Triangular Partnership: the Power of the Diaspora (published in September 2013) so this is a topic of great interest for me. There has been much written and discussed about Twinning. I believe that adding the diaspora – people who have a past and a future in both developing countries and western institutions – is a stronger model for successful development.

1 May 2014 Archived Recording

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19 October 2019: Links Updated.

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Recruiting TechWomen Mentors

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Last night, many of the TechWomen 2011-2013 mentor alumnae from the Silicon Valley and San Francisco participated in an event introducing the U.S. State Department mentoring program for women in the Middle East and Africa to potential new mentors. Thanks to BrightRoll for hosting the event!

What is TechWomen?

TechWomen empowers, connects, and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from Africa and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities.

Through mentorship and exchange, TechWomen strengthens participants’ professional capacity, increases mutual understanding between key networks of professionals, and expands girls’ interest in STEM careers by exposing them to female role models.

1,400 women in STEM from 16 countries have already applied to be one of the 78 emerging leaders who will come to the San Francisco Bay Area in October 2014. Selections will be announced in June. Also in June, applications will open for professional mentors. Cultural mentor applications open in July. This is a life-changing and excellent program – both for mentors and mentees. I have been part of TechWomen since 2010 and I recommend it highly!

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Images Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson

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