Friday, 16 December 2011

Three months in Ethiopia

I have now been in Ethiopia for three months. The time has gone so quickly! 

My classes at the college are going well (I think!) and trainers at the college are keen to work with me which is great. The classes for trainers still haven’t started yet, but I keep getting assured that they will soon.
I have been advertising the ELIC (-that's English Language Improvement Centre for those that haven't been paying attention-) at the college, as the aim is to make it a welcoming centre for everyone to use when classes aren’t taking place in it. At the moment it is not being used by anyone except for classes; however we want students and teachers to be able to come in and use the centre to improve their English. We want them to come in to read English newspapers and books, or watch English television, or listen to English language cassettes, or even just talk in English. In order to do this, we have arranged certain opening hours and are in the process of organising different clubs for the students. The first club to be up and running will be the Film Club. Every Friday evening we will show an English film or documentary after which we will have a short discussion.
Below are picture of the ELIC:



How is my Amharic? Well to be honest I am impressed with myself! I have learnt far more than I ever thought I would before I came here. I learnt French and German at secondary school and hated it. But I have been having Amharic language lessons for the past four weeks now and to my surprise I really enjoy them. The teacher is also teaching us how to read and write Amharic which is a lot of fun.
From the beginning VSO emphasise the necessity of learning the local language - not only to function for shopping and going to the doctor etc., but to engage with the society we are living in, because without engaging with all parts of society one cannot make meaningful change.
The nights are very cold now, but in the daytime it’s still hot. I have just had the grass in my garden cut, so every day I sit out in the sun and watch the birds or the cloudless sky. Bliss. At night I have started to wear my fluffy nightgown to sleep, plus three blankets which is not so blissful!
As it is difficult to get much exercise here apart from walking, Maeve (the other VSO volunteer) and I have decided to run two mornings a week. We run at 8am before classes start on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the college sports field. The only problem is that every time we go, students gather to watch the funny ‘ferengis’ running for no reason. But I'm determined to become a good runner and running at such high altitude is very good for training.

Sunday, 4 December 2011

Trying to be Positive

In my blog you may have noticed that I have decided to concentrate on the positives – for the most part anyway - except maybe today. I could easily spend all my time and energy dwelling on all that is negative here but I try not to. I don’t think I’d be able to survive very long here if I did. I keep focusing on the fact that I am here to do a job and I must use all my energy on doing the best I can.

In truth, as you might expect, there is a lot to be negative about here. There is the dire poverty that most people live in – some have just enough to eat, others do not. I feel like people live completely on the edge here, one of the reasons being that there are no emergency services. So if anything happens you are on your own. Maybe those around you will help if they can. And there are no safety nets here like social services, so if you have a job and you lose it, you won’t be able to pay your rent and will therefore end up homeless very quickly.

I have seen and heard things here that are truly disturbing. For example, the number of beggars on the street – homeless women and small children, even a completely naked woman I have seen a few times in the middle of the road howling. I have no idea how they survive the freezing nights here. There are also an unusually high number of deaths I hear of around me. And the treatment of women - the fact that about 80% of girls have been genitally mutilated in Ethiopia.  The horrendous things I hear that the men have done to women here – one friend of mines husband’s niece had her eyes gouged out of her face with a knife by her husband because she wanted to leave him.

The harsh realities of life are all too obvious. People here have to work so hard for so little. Even the teachers at my college work about 10-12 hours a day including weekends – and that includes the dean of the college. There is no such thing here as free time, or leisure activities or relaxing. Most of those that can afford to, eat the same food every day for every meal. Even fruit is a complete luxury for those that can afford it. And most people do not have running water in their houses.

A seventeen year old girl I know recently said to me that it is a good thing here if a pregnant woman falls and her baby dies as it would be very lucky. When I asked her why, she said because dying would be better than living in these conditions.

It seems so unjust that there are those that are so lucky in world and those that aren’t – no matter how hard they work or how good they are.

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

The Great Ethiopian Run

Last Sunday it was the Great Ethiopian Run. The 10km run which is organised by an NGO has been taking place in Addis every year for the past 10 years.
I went to Addis on Saturday evening to take part in the run. I woke up very early on Sunday morning to get to a place called Meskel Square where the run was to start at 9am.

There was a fantastic atmosphere in Meskel Square with so many people – about 36000 -  wearing the official red t-shirts. People were playing music, dancing, warming up, chatting to others. It was great! The serious runners started first to avoid the crowds, then the masses were allowed to start. I ran with fellow VSO volunteers. Okay, we ran and walked. Through the streets people were watching, playing music, encouraging the runners, selling drinks and sweets, dancing and some were spraying water on the runners to cool them down. It was like a big celebration, and the atmosphere was brilliant with people simply having fun.

After the run I met up with some of the other VSO volunteers who I was with in Addis for my In-Country Training when I first came to Ethiopia. (Most of them had also come to Addis for the run.) It was lovely to catch up with them and find out how they are getting on in their placements. It was also nice to know that I’m not the only one who has suffered with mice in my house.

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Happy Birthday

On Monday the 14th of November it was my 21st birthday. Unfortunately it wasn’t a national holiday so we decided to celebrate it on the Sunday.

Sunday, like most days here, was a beautiful, sunny day without a single cloud in the sky. About fifteen of us set for a walk towards the gorge. We thought we’d find a shaded spot and have our picnic that we'd packed, however we couldn’t find any shade and we all became very tired quite quickly. The first spot of shade we saw was actually a small building site in front of the gorge. By that time we were too hungry and tired to find a more scenic spot so we just sat down and ate. We had a beautiful view of the gorge but in most of the pictures you can just see the building site.

My fellow volunteer, Maeve, and I had made a cake the day before – a fruit cake. We were going to make a chocolate cake but because it is a fasting period at the moment for Orthodox Christians and it would have required both eggs and milk, we didn’t. We don’t have an oven so we had to bake it in a special bread oven that Ethiopians use. It doesn’t have any heat settings except on/off. Consequently the cake was a little burnt around the edges and a little raw in the middle, but it tasted good. I even had candles to blow out!

It was a lovely day even though, on the way home, I stepped ankle deep in a huge puddle of mud covered with dry hay. (A mixture of hay, water and mud is used to make the walls on buildings.) I had to walk back home with a muddy leg. It was hilarious!



My Work

I will be working at Debre Birhan College of Teacher Education where they train primary school teachers. My official title is English Language Improvement Programme Coordinator (which is the longest title I've ever had). In my “centre” - which is actually just a little room - I will provide English language training and teaching methodology training. This is part of a nationwide initiative to improve English in schools and move educators away from text books and teacher-centred approaches. I will have classes for the trainees who are training to become teachers, as well as the trainers at the college.

The Ethiopian education system has 12 grades. From grades 1-6 children are taught in the local language (which differs from region to region) except the subject of English. Then after grade 6 all subjects are taught in English. The problem is that a lot of Ethiopian teachers are not confident with their English so they find it very difficult to teach in English and teach English itself.

In addition to teaching English and methodology, I also have two other roles at the college. I am going to be working to produce teaching and learning materials, especially reading materials, which will then be distributed to all the surrounding schools.

I will also be involved with the Gender Club at the college. In Ethiopia females experience severe gender inequality and so the Gender Club aims to improve the confidence of female trainees and empower them to break gender stereotypes. So far I have managed to get my proposal for the several events planned for the coming year approved by VSO, and have thereby secured some funding for them which will be great.
In my English and methodology classes I will have 40 students - which is a lot more than I'm used to. I’m looking forward to teaching the trainees, but I’m really quite nervous about teaching the trainers. However, the good thing is that they are all extremely keen to improve their English and have told me how much they are looking forward to my classes. I’m not entirely sure where to start as I don’t have any information about them except that they are all majoring in the Natural Sciences (i.e. Biology, Chemistry and Physics) so it’s going to be interesting!

The pictures, taken from my kitchen window, show some of the buildings of the college. As you can see I don’t have to travel very far in the mornings.

 

Monday, 7 November 2011

Eid Mubarak

Yesterday was Eid-ul-Adha or Eid-ul-Arafa as they say here. I knew that this would be the day that I miss my family and I was dreading spending it alone. However I needn’t have worried as I was surrounded by friends all day.
First I went to the mosque for Eid prayers with one of the teachers in my compound. It was great to see so many Muslims at the mosque as they are definitely a minority in Debre Birhan (The vast majority of people here are Orthodox Christian).

Then straight after, I was invited to a friend’s house. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to her house as she doesn’t speak much English and my Amharic isn’t good enough to have a conversation yet. But all was well as her husband and children’s English was very good. They were all welcoming and I really enjoyed my time at her house. But it did feel like I was being fed constantly for the six or seven hours I was at her house! It was the first time I ate meat in Ethiopia as I there aren’t any Halal butchers in Debre Birhan and I don’t fancy buying a live sheep (which is what everyone else does). I was able to try dorro wat, which is a traditional dish that Muslims and Christians make on special days, to be eaten, as always, with injera. It was very nice.

After that I went to another friend’s house for a coffee ceremony and then I visited a fellow volunteer who was also celebrating Eid. In the evening I went to another friend’s house. Overall, it was a great day even though I missed my family.

(I'm sorry that there aren’t any pictures this time. I did take my camera to the mosque but ended up being too scared to take a picture.)

Monday, 31 October 2011

Mice, Cats and Fleas

I have now been in my placement for over a month and already there have been many highs as well as lows. Last week was my lowest point so far I think. I had mice in my house! They were everywhere – in my kitchen, in my bedroom, everywhere. And what annoyed me was that they didn’t care that I could see them running around. They didn’t try to move around in the dark so I could see then running around all day and night! They just ran diagonally across the room in front of me! A couple of times one of the mice even stopped to have a look at me.

We put down different types of poison and a trap but the mice were too clever and didn’t touch them. I was getting more and more stressed and couldn’t sleep after my kind neighbour tried to comfort me by telling me that last year he was killing three mice a day – some in his bed!! I killed one mouse with a broom, but the others were just too quick.

The last resort was to bring in a cat. I was a bit uncertain about this idea as it would be a disease ridden stray cat, not a pet (as no one has pets here) and I was scared of fleas (-I have enough of those already-) plus Typhus, Rabies etc.

While I was weighing up the pros and cons of having a cat, I heard a knock on my door. It was my friend holding a cat by the scruff of its neck. Next thing I knew she threw the cat in my house and went. I was terrified! The cat frantically tried to find a way out of my house. It was equally terrified of being locked in a house as it normally roams free. It was crying to be let out and I was going to open the door, but then I thought about how nice it would be actually fall asleep at night. So the cat stayed and mostly cried at the windows or hid behind the sofa. I felt very cruel. I told my friends that I felt sorry for the cat but they said that the more the cat cries, the more scared the mice will be. Anyway the cat stayed for two days and then it escaped when the door opened.



But so far so good. I haven’t seen any mice for a few days. I just hope they don’t come back. I had to do some extreme cleaning with Dettol after that.

Needless to say, I’m sleeping much better now, but I keep getting bitten by fleas now! I can’t blame this problem solely on the cat as there are always fleas – from the grass, from farm animals, from other people’s houses and so on. They get into the seams of your clothes and then bite you several times in the same area. EVERYWHERE! Everyone here gets bitten by them frequently, but Ethiopians don’t have the same reaction as ‘ferengis’. They say they feel a mild irritation but mine swell up and itch for weeks. At least there are no malarial mosquitos though. I think the only thing I can get from the fleas is Typhus which doesn’t sound so great, but better than Malaria I’m sure.

For those of you that think I’m on holiday, I’m not. I have been working! I’ve had several meetings and am arranging a programme for the different things I will do. I’m really excited and slightly scared. I will explain what my work will be next time.

Sunday, 9 October 2011

So what have I been up to?

Well I am getting to know the town more and more. I’ve been on two long, beautiful walks - to the gorge and to the river. I can see the gorge in the distance through my bedroom window, but I didn’t really know what to expect. The walk itself was wonderful as we went through lovely fields. But when we got to the gorge it was stunning, so peaceful and so perfect.


The river I went to today is also beautiful and it’s just around the corner from my house. We went along the river for some distance when we spotted a farmer waving a stick at us on the hills above. We stopped and it turned out that he was telling us to go no further. Luckily we had an Ethiopian friend with us so she was able to explain that we were just there to look at the river and nothing else. But still he was insistent that we turn back. So she asked him why and he replied that there were creatures there that would harm us. We didn’t believe him, but turned back nonetheless as we were afraid of the stick he was waving more than anything else!


A note on Ethiopian time:

Ethiopians use the ancient Coptic calendar (unlike in the UK where we use the Gregorian calendar). It includes twelve 30-day months and a 13th month of five days (six days in leap years). This means they are in the first month of the year 2004 currently. Actually the first day I arrived in Ethiopia was new years day here.

Ethiopians also use a 12-hour clock (rather than a 24 hour clock like we do) with one cycle of 1 to 12 from dawn to dusk, and the other cycle from dusk to dawn. The start of the day is 6 o’clock in the morning, rather than midnight. This means that you need to specify whether you are talking about daytime or night time as there is no am/pm.

(Are you still with me?)

Therefore, 7am would be 1 o’clock in daylight hours in local Ethiopian time. Basically you just add or subtract 6 hours to work out the time. This is called Habesha time.

When foreigners make appointments or any kind of arrangements including the time it is vital to know whether you are talking about ‘Ferengi’ (foreigner) time or ‘Habesha’ (Ethiopian) time. When I make an appointment to go for a walk with my Ethiopian friends at 9 o’clock in the daytime it means 3pm for me. I think I’m getting used to it.…

Friday, 30 September 2011

Debre Birhan

I am now in Debre Birhan where I will be based for the next year. I came here on Saturday morning.
Debre Birhan is a relatively small town north east of the capital, about 117km from Addis. It is over 2800 metres above sea level which means it is an area of high altitude. It is known as one of the coldest places in Ethiopia. Daytime temperatures are are warm if not hot throughout the year; however temperatures fall sharply at night. Since I’ve been here we have had beautiful, blazing sunshine. At night I wrap up warm in bed with two thick blankets - which happen to be locally made as there is a blanket factory in town!

Debre Birhan has a small university as well as the oldest teachers training college which is about fifty years old.

My house is in the compound of the college which is huge! I got lost in it on the way to another house (– however this probably isn’t surprising to those that know my sense of direction). College teachers who do not have their own housing live on the compound.

In my house I have a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom. I was very surprised to find a gas cooker and a fridge in my kitchen when I arrived. They were left behind by whoever lived in this house before me. There is also an 'injera' (Ethiopian flat bread) cooker. One day I might give it a try…..






I love the fact that I am surrounded by beautiful fields and a river. The views are amazing from where my house is.

There are a few local shops near to where I am, but to get to the centre of Debre Birhan is a bit of a walk, maybe 25 minutes. There is a small market every day, but a bigger market every Saturday.

Since I arrived I have spent most of my time cleaning my house. Teaching in the college will start in two weeks so I have some time to sort myself out, and get to know the place and meet people.

The people I have met have been extremely generous and kind to me. I have been invited to neighbours’ houses for lunch and dinner every day since I arrived.

Sunday, 25 September 2011

Addis Ababa

So, what is Addis like?

I loved every minute of my time in the capital. The seeming randomness always put a smile on my face. For example, the farmers taking their goats for a walk along the street, the way children came up to me to shake my hand, two donkeys grazing on the grass on a highway, a little boy carrying a chicken in a carrier bag.....Oh and I love bamboo scaffolding, watching the builders working is really scary - a health and safety nightmare.


Addis is as busy and bustling as any capital city. However, the fact that it is developing country or ‘third world’ country is inescapable. Although some of the roads are good, most of them are not. There are huge potholes and ditches which mean cars and buses often get punctures or break down.  Poverty is evident everywhere. Walking down most streets in the centre of Addis, you will see homeless people and beggars every few steps. A lot of the beggars have disabilities or mental health problems. It can be quite intimidating to walk down the street, especially as a ‘ferenji’ or foreigner, as they are perceived to be rich and some beggars are very persistent. Most houses are shacks made of whatever can be found. On the street, sellers try to sell whatever they can, even if it’s just six onions.

That is not to say that there aren’t any rich people in Addis. On the outskirts of the city there are the most amazing houses. One of them is world athlete, Haile Gebrselassie’s, house.

The city is constantly changing and a lot of improvements are being made. For example, the roads into and out of the city are rapidly getting better and a lot of new buildings are being built.

Monday, 19 September 2011

In-Country Training

I am currently in the middle if my In-Country Training which consists of learning about Ethiopia’s culture, geopolitics and language (which is Amharic) amongst other things.

Firstly, the Red Cross Centre where we are staying is nothing like what I imagined. We have running water in our showers, electricity most of the time and even Wi-Fi when it works. Every day we get up at 7.30am to start training at 8.30am – even on Sunday! We normally finish at about 6pm when we have dinner, after which we relax. Most of us including myself go to sleep quite early. This is probably due to the high altitude which takes time to adjust to and the fact that the training is quite heavy going at times. The best thing for me is learning more about the actual job that I will be doing and the Amharic lessons.
We have Amharic lessons nearly every day. The teacher has quite traditional methods of teaching which is very interesting to experience. But I love how she sometimes suddenly starts singing to us, in fact she is teaching us a nursery rhyme little by little each lesson. So far, I can count to 29 in Amharic, greet people in the morning (not in the afternoon or evening yet), say thank you, ask the price of things, and I know the names of a few fruits. Oh and I can also tell the time when it’s anything past the hour.

The food is very different to Indian or English food that I am used to. The main dish that Ethiopians eat is a flat bread made out of teff flour called injera, on which are served several different thick stews. Before I left the country (having Googled Ethiopian food) I imagined injera to be similar to a normal Indian chappati. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Its texture and taste is completely different. It’s strangely sour and spongy, and it’s served cold. The thick stews are made from vegetables, lamb, chicken, beef, lentils or chick pea flour. All the food is very flavourful and the Ethiopians are very keen on their spices including chilli. I do like the food, especially the stews that are made from chickpea flour and lentils.

Today we went shopping in the market for essentials for our house. We were supposed to use the Amharic we’d learnt and to bargain with sellers; however, those who have been abroad with me know that I can’t bargain in English to save my life let alone in another language! So I didn’t bargain much, but I did get my things – I got a cooking pot, cutlery, plates, a mug and bedding. VSO are providing us with most other essentials including a water filter, mosquito net and an electric cooking stove. The market is very big with stall holders selling everything from spices to sofas. Most of the stalls are tiny but the stallholders are eager to show you what they have got.  
I can’t wait to set up my house with my things. I think we’re all just itching to get started now.

Friday, 16 September 2011

I'm here!


I finally got myself on the flight. My suitcases scraped in at just under 46kg. (Yes I have brought my hair straightener - don't laugh). At the airport I managed to find a few other VSO volunteers who were also going to Addis. Once we were on the plane, we found nearly all of the others, about 30 in total. We were all a mixture of nerves and excitement, which meant that none of us got any sleep on the plane. We were all eager to find out if anyone was going to our final destination with us. I found that no one was going with me to Debre Birhan, but that a few others were going to be taking on the same job role as me in different town and cities. I even found a fellow ESOL tutor! This is useful to know as we can use each other for support.
The night flight was long but after the necessary security checks we were warmly greeted by other VSO volunteers and staff. Everything was well organised and we were soon directed to our minibuses which transported us to the Red Cross Centre where we will be staying until the 22nd of September.
But this was not before my little incident! During security where all bags are checked, I accidently forgot to pick up one of my bags. I only realised my missing bag once I was out of the airport, so I asked one of the volunteers to look after all my things while I went back in. Everyone from VSO was outside waiting to be shown to the minibuses. I rushed back into the airport and didn’t have difficulty getting my bag. But when I got back outside, there was only the one volunteer looking after my bags. Everyone else had gone, and he didn’t know where the others had gone. We were alone for quite some time trying to find our group. I tried ringing the others but there wasn’t a signal on my mobile. We then thought that if we go back into the airport, someone would be able to assist us. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in, because by now there were very scary looking security guards at the door who refused us entry. There weren’t many people to ask for help and those we did ask didn’t understand English. It was quite a scary situation to be in after being awake for nearly 24 hours. I was just grateful I wasn’t on my own!
Fortunately our party didn’t go without us and someone came looking for us and everything was fine after that.

The volunteers are health professionals, IT technicians and teaching professionals. At the moment we are all in Addis Ababa for In-Country Training (ICT) for ten days. After that we will travel to our own towns or cities where our placements are.

Friday, 9 September 2011

Final Preparations

On Sunday the 11th of September I will go to Ethiopia where I will stay in the capital, Addis Ababa, for about two weeks. After that I will travel to a town called Debre Birhan, which is to be my home for the next year. There I will work as a VSO volunteer in a teacher training college to improve the quality of the teacher training programme.

VSO are very experienced with sending volunteers abroad to developing countries to improve core structures within communities to help them progress. Their training for volunteers is thorough and intense. It consists of self-briefing, two residential training courses, two online training courses, a health and safety workshop, an accredited reflective log and in-country training! Both the residential training courses were well-structured and very thought provoking. The training helps to put things into perspective and makes you question whether volunteering with VSO is really right for you. The face to face training was also a good opportunity to meet with like-minded people to share our worries and concerns (as there’s no shortage of those!).  

I am in the final stages of preparing to leave my life in the UK. I am packing my things and saying goodbye to family, friends and colleagues. There were so many things that I wanted to do before I left but the time to leave has suddenly crept up on me and I’ve run out of time! I had a relaxing summer, but the last couple of weeks have been extremely busy.

The problem with my preparations to go is that I have very little idea of what I will need when I am there. However, I have managed to fill two suitcases. I guess I will soon find out what I should have brought.