Submitted by: Matt McKenna, Communications Director

Our internet connection is a bit hit or miss here – but I wanted to give an update from the road in Ethiopia where I am traveling with President Clinton. Earlier today we drove south out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, down the bustling highway that connects Addis to the port of Djibouti. About two hours out of the capital, we turned onto a dirt road that took us to the village of Debre Zeit, site of the Godino Health Center. Godino is one of 50 rural health clinics in Ethiopia that the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) is supporting through a partnership with the government we launched today called the Ethiopian Millennial Rural Initiative (EMRI). In the future, the Ethiopian government hopes to expand that number into the thousands.

Children carry Ethiopian flags as they walk down a road before President Bill Clinton tours the Godino Health Center August 1, 2008 in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images For The Clinton Foundation)

After a tour of Godino, we walked a few hundred yards up the road to the town center. We were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of thousands of townspeople, some frenetically waving Ethiopian flags, some tending their cattle.

When the president addressed the crowd, he stressed the importance of not just treating specific diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, but strengthening the health systems that prevent these diseases from taking hold. This is what EMRI is all about: improving access to health care in rural communities remains one of the key challenges facing the developing world.

President Bill Clinton waves to a crowd after he visited the Godino Health Center. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images For The Clinton Foundation)

A big part of this will be expanding care for pregnant mothers and their infants. For example, in Ethiopia today, 30 percent of mothers transmit HIV to their children through labor or breastfeeding. Most of these transmissions occur because the mother does not know her HIV status. Even if she does know it is simply too difficult to make it to a clinic where she may be able to receive proper care. So CHAI is launching efforts to strengthen these services with the goal of dramatically reducing transmission rates in at least six countries, including Ethiopia.

So far spirits are high, thanks to the warm welcome we received in Debre Ziet. Next stop: Rwanda, where our journey continues…