New website, same great blog

By Christine O’Malley
Executive Director of Health Sciences
Fulbright Specialist 2014

Hello! Welcome to our new One Health website. We continue to post information about the Ohio State / Ethiopia One Health Partnership as well as other one health activities of Ohio State’s seven health sciences colleges. So much has happened since last year, we thought an expanded website would capture this progress.

It’s now 2014. Ohio State’s College of Nursing sent a team to Gondar in January, and they will return in March. The cervical cancer screen-and-treat project continues to be a priority, but one of the March trainings will be on life-saving techniques for drowning victims. We’ll post updates of the March visit here. The nursing team will also be joined by Ohio State’s College of Social Work, as they explore possible education and research partnerships.

Right now, I’m at the University of Gondar to lead a Fulbright Specialist project on institutional communications, help finalize the agenda for the 2014 summer institute, and facilitate a meeting about a potential new pilot project.

IMG_5597The first thing I noticed is that I have left the snow and winter behind. Not a bad thing, in my mind! Beautiful mountains, light breezes, and a warm sun. That’s Gondar.

Our institutional communications training started this morning, with an intro to iTunes U. I created a course, http://go.osu.edu/brandedsocial, and I’m presenting it in person here for the first time. We had a minor technology hitch with getting everyone set up with an Apple ID, and the download speeds were on the slow side.

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We are making the best of it by downloading the whole course for all the participants to share. Another nice development is that Addis Ababa University will send a group to participate during one of the training weeks. I really look forward to meeting that team as well.

One thing you quickly notice about the university and the city of Gondar, is the contrast between progress and the past:

 

Construction scaffolding is everywhere. With new buildings at the university, the campus will look like a different place in a short time.

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New construction in the downtown area seems like mostly banks and hotels. Gondar’s tourist industry is growing. At breakfast at my hotel this morning, guests were speaking several different languages.

And in our intro session this morning, everyone shared how the digital communications revolution has affected them – faster speed of information, more time spent on social networks, more channels available, sometimes less civility. It’s obvious that many people use cell phones here, though it seems tablets are more rare.

But as you drive around the city, many people still use donkeys or walk long distances.

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It’s only my second day here, but I have a feeling I’ll discover many other contrasts. Of course, I could not get around to see all this without the generous time spent by my gracious hosts at the University of Gondar.

 

Thanks for visiting our blog.

Christine

 

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