Now it is once again the turn of the Lucerne traumatologists to take the lead for the next two years. Back in 2012, the trauma surgeons from Lucerne (LUKS) were the first team to visit Jimma. Under the supervision of their boss, Prof. Dr. Reto Babst, an important collaboration was established with the university in Jimma in southwestern Ethiopia. Building trust and working together to develop effective bone surgery techniques are important goals. Every day, dozens of injured people must be selected or triaged, and then operated on according to priority. Children and mothers certainly have priority in the selection process, but so do the most seriously injured with open fractures or gunshot wounds. These decisions are a difficult daily challenge for the team of Swiss and Ethiopian surgeons. Added to this are difficult conditions in the operating room, missing or inadequate equipment, no mobile X-ray monitoring during surgery, plastic coverage of the bones with muscle and tissue flaps, and time as an important factor in operating on as many patients as possible every day.
I am looking forward to my upcoming mission in Jimma. I will introduce the first of the Lucerne surgeons, Dr. Nessenius Falk, and physiotherapist Celine Kaiser to the team on site, discuss complex bone operations with our team, and operate together. Every day, it is possible to perform small miracles and prevent amputations. Together, we will travel with much-needed surgical supplies such as bone implants and battery-powered drills to ensure that bone surgeries can be performed for the next six months.

Moving into the annex building of the new hospital is particularly important for the future of trauma surgery in Jimma. Together with Prof. Babst, I will hold important discussions with Jimma University. The goal is to sign a joint agreement that integrates the Orthopedic Trauma and Training Clinic with more beds and operating rooms, so that surgical capacity can be doubled and quality significantly improved.
At the end of this mission, meetings with the Swiss ambassador in Addis Ababa are scheduled. Planning the 2019 bike tour is an important topic. We were delighted to learn that the ambassador and a member of his staff will also be accompanying us on part of the bike tour.
So now it's time to pack and then off to Ethiopia. We will continue to keep you informed about our activities and post reports from our experts on site under News on the new website.
I would like to thank all friends and sponsors of GOSTAR.
Jörg Peltzer