COVID Delays and Other News

I have been vacillating between calling this update "A Middling 3 Weeks" and "A Covid Journey". I am writing on the eve of my much-anticipated departure from Addis to join my family back in Arusha for at least 3 weeks all together (before Rebecca comes to Addis for a few weeks in April). 

Rebecca gave an update on the family in the Tanzania blog a couple days ago, but I have been remiss in adding much on this end, because frankly, since their departure and return to Arusha, life here has been quite routine. I have needed to be in the office, which since it is located in our compound, does not even require me to open the front gate. (Hence, very few pictures in this update.)

Among the projects we are focused on, finding a way to respond to the Tigray crisis in Northern Ethiopia is one of our high priorities. The Ethiopia Mennonite Church (MKC) actually has about a dozen congregations in the region, and also has a fairly high capacity relief and development department that has submitted a proposal to distribute much-needed food aid to communities in which they are located.

I had a chance to discuss this with pastors and church leaders from the region who were in Addis for a trauma healing workshop. They described extensive property damage from burning and looting, a breakdown of civil order in areas that have been abandoned by the Tigray Party (TPLF) but not under Govt. control either. Many have fled, there is no electricity, medical supplies, and acute shortage of food as well as means to buy anything. 

We are hoping to do a procurement of teff (grain for injera bread) as well as blankets through MKC to support about 700 of the most vulnerable people in two of the cities that have not been effectively reached by other aid organizations.  

This is a good point to break off and talk a little bit about COVID and weighing risk and urgency in terms of deciding what I can and can't do of my job here. The positivity rate has been steadily climbing in Addis since my arrival. It was at about 8% when I got here and this week it was up to 25% on several days last week. That is alarmingly high. I avoid going out a lot, but I have gone shopping for groceries, and occasionally gone to the large (50 meter) outdoor pool in Laphto Mall to swim. I always wear a mask, and in fact, we only allow 4 people to work in our offices at a time and we wear masks, even though we are in separate rooms, the whole day when we are in there. 

But the visit to discuss the Tigray with pastors put me in a situation where many people coming from rural areas were not fully compliant with COVID protocol, and the meeting was not something that I was in charge of. In order to be there I had to weigh the importance of the discussion, and my own risk tolerance when I was one of the few wearing a mask. (I do now have a way of stapling a surgical mask to it fits like an n95, something I have had to learn as I find more and more COVID fatigue and non-compliance as the duration of this plague continues to extend.) Gone are the days for me when I will ever wear a cloth mask assuming that I will protect you while you protect me. 

All that to say, I felt the meeting was worth the risk. To hear firsthand, reports from Tigray to be able to communicate back to our constituents seems very important now. This is a major crisis that actually threatens to destabilize the country. There is a power struggle that falls on old ethnic fault lines, but also involves some opportunistic revenge killings by Eritrean forces who have had a longstanding hostile relationship with the TPLF. In the news, you may have heard of a number of reported atrocities and stories of ethnic cleansing. From what I am hearing, the situation is complex and involves historic animous and concern about legitimate provocation from the TPLF who would like to be back in political power nationally. 

Besides that meeting, however, I have not been among large groups of people very often, preferring to keep to myself. The exception is church which has strict COVID protocols. The past two Saturdays I have gone back up to the Entoto Mountain Park which is a great place to walk a 10k (or run if one was so inclined) It offers a very long steep descent which you then have to ascend again, the 10,000ft altitude provides a workout for the lungs as well. 

I have been swimming about twice per week. From Arusha, in the cold season, I have become acclimatized to very cold water, and I would say that the pool water here is at the lowest point in that season. I try to swim 2 kilometers, which takes just under an hour, but on a few occasions, I was not able to stay in the water that long, even swimming furiously. You can just feel your body temp. dropping each minute. Even getting out requires a kind of slow rewarming to get back to normal. Still, I do have a bit of an addiction to a very cold water swim. 

The other big work event has been a process of hiring a new staff member. Sisay, our food security program manager will be taking a position with MCC Malawi and we are in the process of replacing him. Because of a quick turnaround time, we have been doing this as expeditiously as possible. I was supposed to be here until last Wednesday but realized I needed to stay until at least Monday to be here to finish all the interviews we wanted to do (a huge sacrifice because our family has been really strained from 8 weeks of me being away). It was an interesting setup interviews with Rebecca and Sarah, our regional HR manager, in Arusha and Kigali respectively, then Solomon, our program officer, and me in Addis live, with the candidate. It worked quite well and we set up a good socially distant room arrangement to make it possible. We finished on Tuesday just on time for my rescheduled flight on Wednesday.

I know air travel is discouraged in the US for good reason. Internationally countries do allow travel but require a negative COVID test within 48-72 hours of flying in order to board. I don't know how often readers of this blog go in for COVID tests, but I am guessing if you are not a health professional, it is not too often. The PCR test, the one we get, as most know involves a fairly unpleasant swab jab deep into the nasal sinus cavity. One of the most annoying feeling procedures I have endured. But it is nearly masochistic to endure it as often as we have in order to travel for work. I feel like I get one about once per month. 

For travel, one does not expect to get a positive result if one is asymptomatic, and the biggest shock of this past Tuesday was a call from the clinic where I went to tell me I had received a positive result. I was frankly stunned, devastated, and very anxious simultaneously. Stunned--because I just did not believe it was possible for a person of my age to have it and be completely asymptomatic and feel, frankly, fantastic. Devastated-- because there was no way I had time to get another test that would allow me to travel the next morning. Anxious--because if it was accurate, then I was probably pre-symptomatic had the prospect of becoming seriously ill, alone and away from family in Addis. 

I spent the next 2 days assuming that every time I cleared my throat it was an indication that I did indeed have COVID. (Note: I did not give up my brutal 30minute HIIT routine every morning!) Finally, on Thursday I went back because I just did not believe it was possible that I had it. I got the result that night-- negative, and quickly booked a flight for Saturday, which at the writing of this blog is tomorrow. I am counting the extra week of being here as a trial, and an opportunity to feel grateful for the chance to go back to be with my family. I hope I can be a more patient parent after enduring all of that.

I will say by way of prologue that I did not waste time around the compound doing nothing. One of the more rewarding tasks was doing some rearranging of furniture in the house to make it more our place. After all we inherited fully furnished from the previous reps. I have put up a few photos showing my efforts. I have expanded the living room out and moved another table into the dining room. Interestingly, it looks a lot like Charter Hall now, the place we spent a lot of 2020 in lockdown. It was a very peaceful place, so perhaps the resemblance is not a coincidence. 

Tomorrow I fly out to spend about 6 weeks in Arusha before returning here. I will update on the Tanzania blog.