Frontline healthcare workers are the indisputable backbones of global health and development. They often are the unsung heroes who, despite their dedication to helping those in need, are not nearly recognized enough. Save the Children has set out to change that through their Every Beat Matters campaign by honoring health workers who work in some of the poorest, most vulnerable communities in the developing world like Chisomo Boxer, a frontline health worker who works in Jonasi Village in Malawi or Ade Yuranish who provides maternal health services in Indonesia.

Next week I will join Save the Children and three distinguished US nurses on an observation trip to Ethiopia where we will see the work of frontline health workers at clinics, health posts, and in households in Addis Ababa and Hawassa. Traveling with US nurses will provide an interesting perspective on  health care in Ethiopia. I look forward to sharing the stories we hear.

I will document the trip and our observations on the Gates Foundation’s blog Impatient Optimists and Babble as well as on Mom Bloggers for Social Good. Admittedly I will not make many social media updates until at night Ethiopia time because as I found out while in Kenya in countries that aren’t on your cell provider’s international data plan, things can go haywire really quickly. The good news is that while it will be evening time in Ethiopia it will be early in the States so that works well.

I will also share general observations about Ethiopia here on my blog.

You can follow along at @jenniferjames and @socialgoodmoms.

Photo: Kenya, Summer 2011 | Copyright: Jennifer James