Ten days to go!

So I have 10 days to go in my placement. It seems to have come around surprisingly quickly.

All ELIC activities for this academic year have come to an end - all the classes, clubs, activities and so on. For the students, we held a coffee ceremony in the ELIC and had a programme of students telling stories and reciting poetry. A couple of the students had written particularly good poetry. They also talked about how the ELIC had helped them. It was a great event which the students enjoyed, which is good because we want them to remain excited about the ELIC and use it next year when most of them come back.

The teacher trainers that we had been teaching weekly for the second semester held a coffee ceremony for the other volunteer and I. We awarded them certificates for completing the course and they were so sweet, they bought me a present, a lovely handbag.

The teacher trainers with their certificates

I was also invited to a local primary school in Debre Birhan for their end of year celebrations. On this day, the school had invited the parents to attend the celebrations which included a prize giving –for students who came first, second and third in their class (an exercise book and pen).Then the parents got the chance to visit different parts of the school, for example, the science lab, where students did a practical demonstration, the kindergarten classroom where a little girl demonstrated how she uses the abacus (made of bottle tops) to count, and other highly creative handmade resources. The parents loved it.

Science lab demonstration

The parents watching the science demonstration

Kindergarten student demonstration

An excited student leaves the stage with his prize

There is a tradition in most primary schools, especially in rural areas of Ethiopia, which is that the students of each class get together and organise a coffee ceremony in their classroom and invite all the teachers. So I went with the other teachers from classroom to classroom drinking coffee, tea and squash, and eating popcorn and lots of bread.

I have also just been to Addis to sort out my Exit Visa. This was supposed to be my last trip to Addis before I fly out. So, the plan was to do some shopping, get my police clearance letter, sort out my exit visa and do my exit interview at the VSO office. I intended to stay one night and get everything done over two days. But this was a little too ambitious of me! On my arrival in Addis, I discovered that the letter I brought from my college to process my exit visa is the wrong one, so I would have to get another. Then my exit interview was cancelled due to an emergency meeting. The only thing that went to plan was the shopping and getting my police clearance. In the end I stayed another night and got the rest of the things done the next day which wasn’t too bad.

I have many things to do in my last couple of weeks. I have finally written my Final Report for VSO, got my reference, written my handover notes….but there is still so much more I need to do, including seeing all my friends before I go and attend all the invitations.

I’m getting more and more excited about coming home though. I am definitely ready to leave.

Going to the Middle East

I have just come home from my ELIC Gender Club meeting. The meetings are held every Wednesday. The aim of the club is to raise awareness of issues that disadvantage females, so for example previous topics have included the division of labour between the sexes, the importance of educating females, Ethiopian female role models and so on. Today I chose the topic of Ethiopian females going as domestic workers to the Middle East.

It has been an issue for me ever since I came to Ethiopia, as a few of my Ethiopian friends are planning to go. Even before I came to Ethiopia, I was used to hearing and watching stories about the terrible experiences of African domestic workers in the Middle East. My instinct is to always say to my friends ‘don’t go’, but one has to understand their desperation, because even they know a little about what is happening, but they are willing to take the risks.

Anyway today I found an article on the internet about the issue which wasn’t very difficult to understand so I used it for the Gender Club meeting. It was about a female on her way to the Middle East, and another that had returned to Ethiopia, having had a terrible experience as she had been severely abused by her employer. 

The Gender Club, about seven males and seven females today, read the article individually, then answered some comprehension questions about it. We then had a discussion. One of the females immediately said that she already had a plan to go to Dubai after she finishes college. The students themselves discussed the advantages and disadvantages of going, the risks, and the reasons why females feel the need to go in the first place. Excellent points were raised and many of the students talked about their personal experiences of immediate family members. The student who was planning to go defended her decision very well.

About half way through the discussion, one male student asked the female that previously said she wanted to go to the Middle East, if she still wanted to go, even after hearing everything that had just been said. She said yes, she wanted to go because of necessity. (At this point I could have cried.) She said that she had heard of many females’ positive experiences.

The discussions continued for the rest of the session, and in the end many of the students said how important it was to raise awareness of this issue and to discuss the negative side because usually they are only exposed to the positives.

I closed the session by saying that  whatever people decide to do, they should research and find out as much as possible from a variety of sources. I then asked if there were any concluding remarks. One student reiterated the point that awareness of the truth is key. Lastly, the female student who said she was planning to go said that she had now changed her mind about going.

Lake Wenchi

Yesterday, Monday, was a national holiday. It was the 21^st anniversary of the fall of the Dergue regime and the victory of the EPDRF (Ethiopian People’s Democratic Republic Front). It was a special day of celebration and remembrance for many Ethiopians.

Because we had a long weekend, about 12 other volunteers and I went to Lake Wenchi on Saturday. Wenchi is a highland area, about 155km west of Addis Ababa. First I travelled to Addis, then to a place called Ambo, where I spent the night at another volunteer’s house.

In Ambo, we went around the gardens of a hotel where we saw a lot of monkeys.

The following morning we all woke up early and travelled to Wenchi, which was about an hour’s drive.

When we arrived we had the most amazing view of the lake with all the surrounding mountains. It is a crater lake, which is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater. It is absolutely beautiful with its deep blue water and lush surroundings. There are also a few small islands on the lake.

View from the top

First we walked down to the lake, which took a couple of hours, and then we got a boat out to the largest island in the middle. The island has a monastery which we walked round, then we had our small picnic of kolo, bananas, oranges, biscuits and water. After that we got a boat back to the mainland and most of us got horses back up.  

Our picnic island

View from the island

I then went back to Ambo and travelled to Addis on the same day, which was very tiring so I didn’t travel back to Debre Birhan – instead, I stayed the night in another volunteer’s house and returned home on Monday morning.

VSO Leavers’ Conference

Last week Thursday, there was a VSO Leavers’ Conference in Addis for all volunteers who are finishing their placements in the next few months. I am one of those as I plan to finish my placement and leave Ethiopia in July. The conference was mainly about the practicalities of leaving the country, exit visas, closing accounts, getting references and so on. But as always it was great to see the other volunteers – especially those who I came to the country with in September, and haven’t seen since.

It was also a chance for us to reflect on our experiences in the country – the highs, lows, achievements and challenges. For me, the most interesting part was listening to other volunteers’ reflections.

Mine are as follows (the ones that immediately come to mind anyway):

Highs:

ELIC Clubs celebration day. The coffee ceremony we had in the ELIC (which I previously wrote about on my blog).
Seeing different parts of Ethiopia.

Lows:

The first few months where there seemed to be nothing happening in the ELIC.

Missing my family and friends at home.
Having mice take over my whole house.

Achievements:

Working together to set up the ELIC from virtually nothing. Now it is a working centre with clubs and events that students are enthusiastic about.
Working with the Gender Club in the college and organising events and programmes.

Challenges:

Getting teachers to work together with us at the ELIC.

The fact that it takes so long to get things done here because of the bureaucratic process of everything.
Having no water sometimes (like now).
The fleas!
Keeping things in perspective and constantly reminding myself why I am here and that no matter what my challenges are, most of the people here have it so much worse.

Ankober

A couple of week ago I travelled to Ankober, a small town just 42km east of Debre Birhan. Ankober was the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Shoa during Emperor Menelik the second’s rule between 1834 and 1913, before the capital was changed to Addis Ababa.

The bus journey takes longer than one might expect as the road isn’t very good and because it’s mostly uphill on rough roads. To my surprise it was colder than Debre Birhan even though it is not as high.

Emperor Menelik’s palace is no longer there, but there is now a hotel on the grounds of the old palace – The Palace Lodge. It is situated on top of a mountain so to get to it is quite a trek. From the bus station in the centre of the town where we got dropped off, it was about an hour’s walk down, then up again to the palace. However, it’s a very beautiful place, very green and lush – so different to images of Ethiopia most of the world is used to seeing. From the top you have 360 degree panoramic views which are stunning.

Because of the altitude it is a very good place for bird watching (– I did see some beautiful birds, but have no idea what they were). For the first time I saw a pack of gelada baboons in Ankober. They are indigenous to the Ethiopian Highlands and are also found in Debre Birhan (in the gorge especially) although I’ve never seen them here. I also saw a snake in Ankober. It was while we were walking and exploring the area around the palace - a black and yellow snake – I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Thank God I was too tired at night to think about snakes and other such things in my hotel room.

At night the stars were amazing. I thought the stars were clear in Debre Birhan but they were even better in Ankober. I sat out very late into the night just watching the stars until I was too cold and had to go inside. I even saw a shooting star which was pretty amazing!

Inside the restaurant that now stands on the grounds of the palace

I loved the ceiling in the restaurant

My view while having breakfast

ELIC Party

Yesterday was one of the best days for me here in Ethiopia. We held a coffee ceremony in our college at the ELIC (English Language Improvement Centre). We invited all the students who belong to the three clubs we have there – Gender Club, Reading Club and Debate Club - and anyone else who wanted to join. The aim of the event was to have something fun at the ELIC and to publicise the clubs to get more members.

ELIC student members helped us to organise the event with publicity, getting equipment for the coffee ceremony, deciding the programme and presenting. We had coffee, bread, popcorn and ‘kolo’ (which is roasted grains). The event included a Reading Club member reading an Ethiopian Amharic story he had translated into English, music and dancing - one of the staff members bought his harmonica - and students telling riddles and jokes in English.

Dancing

Student reading his translated story

We tried to let students take ownership as much as possible because it is vital to the sustainability of the work that we have done here. We want students to feel that the ELIC is theirs because I will leave at the end of the academic year, but the first and second year students will be here next year. Therefore, we want them to carry on what has been set up because academic staff are normally very busy. The more the students can do the better chance the centre has of continuing to be a useful space.

At our ELIC coffee ceremony, it was great to see the students enjoying themselves and feeling like they were a part of something they were proud of. It was also great for me and other staff to see how far the ELIC has come. At the start of the year, no one was using the room or the resources in it, most people didn’t even know where the room was. But we are aware that this is just the beginning and there is still a lot more that can be done.

(The only regret I have is that we didn’t do something like this earlier, but with the way things work here sometimes doing things slowly is better.)

Some of the ELIC gang

Habesha Easter

Yesterday was Ethiopian Easter. Easter is the biggest celebration in the Orthodox Christian calendar. It follows two months of fasting, which means no animal products – meat or dairy. Easter is celebrated with family and friends and with a lot of meat – chicken, sheep and oxen.

Although all my friends know I’m not a Christian and that I don’t eat meat here (because it’s not halal) they invited me to their celebrations anyway.

Easter celebrations start here with a meal at about 3am on Easter Sunday. All households wake at this time and eat their first meal of meat together. They then go back to sleep and wake up at a more reasonable hour.

For most people though, preparations start a few days earlier with buying sheep, chickens and so on. Families normally get together and buy an ox. The night before is when they start their cooking. First it’s the chicken for ‘doro watt’ which is prepared. All animals here can only be slaughtered by a male – normally the head of the house. When I went to my neighbour’s house on Saturday night I saw the dean kill the chicken. The women then take over and pluck the feathers and so on. I asked the dean if he would also slaughter the sheep that was in his garden, but he said that although he should traditionally as the head of the house, he couldn’t – someone else was going to come and do it for him. He said it’s a difficult task that requires a lot of skill.

On Easter when I went over for lunch we watched (or rather I watched and the others helped) the sheep get slaughtered and prepared for cooking – i.e. the skinning and the dividing of the different parts and so on. The man has to do all of this to the sheep, the women do the cooking. All the women I know prefer cooking sheep rather than chicken as it is easier for them. It was strangely interesting for me to see as I’ve never seen it before. I didn’t know how I would react to seeing it but I was okay. (I don’t know if that makes me a bit heartless or what…)

Anyway at the dean’s house I ate an especially prepared vegetarian meal for me, while everyone else ate their meat with great relish. We talked, played with the children and watched special Easter celebration entertainment on the Ethiopian TV channel. After that I went to a friend’s house who was so sweet she made me have another lunch even though I told her I’d eaten. In the evening I went to my other neighbour’s house.

It was a lovely day spent with my friends who are all so incredibly generous and welcoming.