VSO Conference

I have just returned from a two day conference in Addis, which was organised by VSO for all their volunteers from around the country who are involved in the English Language Improvement Programme. Although I have met a few other volunteers doing the same or similar work to me – some volunteers I came out with in September and through chance meetings in Addis and so on – I haven’t met them all. It is always great to meet up with people involved in the same work as I am doing as a lot of the volunteers have been here a lot longer than I have and have much more experience than me. At the conference, it was interesting to hear about the different things volunteers have done in their colleges or universities (where some are based).

One of the major issues addressed in the conference was sustainability - if and how things we do as volunteers will be sustained once we have completed our placements. The long term objective of all VSO placements is that the sharing of skills will enable positive change in communities or institutions. That is what I am trying to do in my placement and so are all other VSO volunteers, therefore at the conference we shared ideas on what we mean by sustainability and discussed strategies to maximise the possibilities of it happening.

For three nights I stayed at a hotel in Addis called the Yonas. Every night I battled with the cockroaches in my room. I took insecticide spray with me (-I normally take it everywhere I stay the night-) so I sprayed the room every day but it made no difference. It was disgusting. I don’t mind a few cockroaches here and there but they were crawling all over the floor and the walls, and I there were two on the bed! It was like what my idea of hell would be like.  I would have complained, but I have stayed there before and I know the staff’s response is that they are harmless. I was there in September when I had just come into the country. It was so bad that I actually went to another volunteer’s room and slept with her. This time I managed to stay in the room on my own. I guess that’s progress right…

I took a bus to Addis and back which is always an adventure on its own as everyone in Ethiopia knows. I normally enjoy the journey with the fights, the random stopping, bribing traffic police and generally all Ethiopian life crammed into a bus. But the worst thing for me is when a man sits next to me – why can they never just sit quietly? Why do they have to talk to me for the entire journey even if we both quickly realise that my Amharic isn’t that good and his English isn’t too great? The guy today was even worse than usual so I tried pretending to sleep, but he just kept talking even when I had my eyes closed! Oh what sweet relief it was when I came to my stop!

Six months in Ethiopia!!

To celebrate here are some of the things I love about being in Ethiopia: 

Firstly I love the sun - every day the sun shines and it’s always hot during the day time. Just looking up at the sky without a single cloud in the sky makes me happy. It means I can sit in my garden every day in the sun and watch the birds.

I love the people. The people are mostly very nice. I have made so many great friends here. Plus most people have a very relaxed attitude to everything and don’t seem to worry much. I think it’s rubbing off on me, which is probably a good thing.

I love the food. Although I get a very limited variety of fruit and vegetables compared to back in the UK, I know that it’s all fresh and organic. Plus I love the fact that I get fresh milk delivered to me every day just after the farmer has milked his cow in the evening. There are also street vendors and small shops that sell amazing lentil samosas, which are enough to rival any Indian samosa.

I love the fact that when I go out I see cows, goats, horses, donkeys, bulls, sheep, chickens etc. The lambs and kids are so cute that I really want to bring a little one home with me….

I love that the closest corner shop to me, opposite my college, is called The Doctor’s Shop. Why? Well, when the owner was a baby his parents thought he looked like he was going to be a doctor. However, he never became a doctor but the name stuck.

I love the fact that I can still use my hair straighteners in Ethiopia on most days as the electricity is very good.

I love my neighbour’s two children. My neighbour is the Dean of the college - he has a daughter who is three years old and a son who is one and a half. They are the cutest children, and the son calls me ‘Atta’ as he can’t say my whole name. I go to play ball with them in the fields at the weekends.

I love the fact that I never have to think too much about what to wear and I never iron my clothes. No one here cares much about clothes.

I love that I confuse people. When I walk along the road I hear people discussing whether I’m a ‘ferengi’ or a ‘habesha’. Most people can’t tell whether I’m Ethiopian or not when my hair is covered.

I love the views from my house and on my way to the local shops. I see the beautiful gorge and river every day, and miles of fields and crops. So very different to my life back at home.

All that doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything I dislike, but that’s for another day….