Ethiopia Day 2 & 3

Ethiopia Day 2 & 3
The two-day trip to the field was extraordinary. It’s all a bit of a blur to me, so I’m going to combine both days into one post. I woke up at 6 and got some wonderful pictures of Addis Ababa at sunrise. Very peaceful. We left around 9 for a three hour drive to Asbe Teferi where the IRC has a number of programs. The drive was quite something. The landscape was sometimes desert, sometimes moonscape, sometimes a little green. There were short stretches where we wouldn’t see anything alive, and then 50 camels would appear on the side, or sometimes in the middle of the road. More often we saw individual Ethiopian farmers moving their sheep/cows/goats/camels along the road, or carrying large bundles on their heads. It was something out of Lawrence of Arabia. We would also pass through small towns with shops lining the road, diesel trucks everywhere, lots of goats, of course, and people walking everywhere. A world apart, that’s for sure.

The drive gave us a chance to chat with our hostess, the deputy director of Ethiopia. We stopped for a quick bite of roast chicken – quite tasty, I must admit. A bit later, we met up with the local IRC team for a tour of some of the work we’re doing. We turned off the nice paved road, and made our way through an endless series of turns in local neighborhoods and fields. To say that we were in a remote area is a major understatement. After about 35 minutes of seemingly endless turns, we ended up at a pond site. One of the major issues in this area is water. There isn’t enough, or even close to enough. So, the IRC is helping the local people to come up with ways of preserving what water they do have. We helped them to build a small pond (approx 25’ square and 3 meters deep). This pond is lined with plastic sheeting and outfitted with a manual pump which is attached to an irrigation system for a small plot of land which grows vegetables. This pond collects rainwater and allows them to grow crops which they can eat or sell. The money they make goes into maintaining the pond and irrigation system, among other things. The interesting point is that the IRC is working with these people and involving them in the solutions. We help them to create a water council that manages the pond, they excavated the site, and they maintain the pump. The IRC’s role is to advise, consult, and arrange (and pay) for contractors when necessary. But once things are setup, they’re really in a position to run things on their own. It was quite impressive. The other amazing example of this was a bore hole which brings water about 5km from a reservoir to a local village. The pump for the well is operated by a diesel generator which is housed in a small shed nearby. This generator is maintained by a member of the community who was trained by the manufacturer. To say the generator was clean is an understatement. It was spotless. The dirt floor was spotless. Very impressive and inspiring.

We visited a few more sights (Marc’s blog might have more details) including a school with 91 students in the class. Marc and I both reacted that if it were the states, we’d be raising hell if there were over 25 students in a class. We visited another school where they were teaching young kids who’d otherwise be working for their families getting water, getting firewood, cleaning the house, and taking care of their younger siblings. We helped the community to get these kids in school by bringing the water closer, and getting some of the older folks to care for the youngsters. Now these kids can learn to read and write, and may be even more help to their families someday.

After a quick stop at the IRC office, we checked into our “hotel”. It was about as basic as it gets, but it was comfortable. After a brief nap, we went for dinner. Our hostess asked me if I preferred Ethiopian food or pasta. Not a hard choice for me – pasta. She said there’s a good place that serves both. Turns out she was wrong – only Ethiopian food. OK – I’m game. She ordered something called Shekla Tips, which is basically small bit of goat meat cooked on a grill with onions. What can be bad, right? It turned out to be pretty good, but goat meat is very tough. My favorite part was dipping the bread (thank god for bread!) into the juice and onions. Then back to the room where I watched Alice Adams, a very early Katherine Hepburn movie, and fell asleep.

I was awoken by loud screams, and when I peeked out of my window I saw about 10 vultures scrounging for food just outside my room. Odd way to start the day. Breakfast was interesting: something called Special Fool (Foul?), which was a mixture of eggs, lentils, garlic, and spices. It was pretty tasty (I think there’s a picture on Marc’s blog) and filling. Combined with an excellent macchiato. Again, rather incongruous to be sipping a macchiato in a place like that, but that’s one of the many contradictions of Ethiopia.

Stopped at a couple more sites before heading back to Addis. The drive was equally interesting on the way back. The road wound through the hills, dropped into the valley, and rose back up to Addis. I think we went through at least 3000 feet of elevation change. Arrived in Addis in the late afternoon, had an early dinner and crashed hard.