Stacia Neale, Fundraising Operations for HealthyKids International (HKI), is blogging on her experiences as she accompanies the SickKids No Boundaries team to Ethiopia to oversee the filming of a documentary. Read all her posts here.

Friday was our last day at Black Lion Hospital. The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) and Orthopaedic teams only had a few surgeries scheduled. As things were coming to an end, we said our goodbyes to all of our new and longstanding friends, and headed up to the paediatric wards to hand out the leftover gifts and donations we brought with us from Canada.

It was hard to see all those kids, some incredibly sick and dying, in conditions that we are nowhere near used to in Canada. It was difficult to be pulled at from 10 different directions by those who wanted the socks and dolls we were handing out. But at the same time, a simple act of visiting and bringing a small token of friendship brought such joy to both our team and the patients and their families. It was humbling for me to take part.

We left the wards and went to watch Dr. Blake Papsin teach a class of ENT residents. It was an interactive session and he got asked a lot of questions. Apart from his time in class, Dr. Papsin also gave the gift of knowledge through his donation of a laptop and videos of surgeries performed at The Hospital for Sick Children. The students were anxious to access such an invaluable teaching tool and reference.