While in Ethiopia I was hired for a second job with CHAMPS, (Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance) based in Harar and Kersa. Their programs seek to gather data to decrease high mortality rates of children 5 and under in Sub-Saharan Africa. More specifically, around 50 deaths per 1000 live births.
When I arrived they were at the beginning of their minimally invasive tissue sampling program in Harar. Their post-mortem needle biopsies are performed on deceased children to attempt to confirm the exact causes of death.
While there I photographed simulations, sensitization training of local police, and paid local community informants that alerted the medical team when a child had passed. There was also educational theater and maternity counseling at at the Hiwot Fana Hospital in Harar.