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.

Happy Birthday

On Monday the 14^th of November it was my 21^st 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.

 

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.)