A Time for War

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”  --J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

(This quote is one we enscribed on brown paper and posted in our various homes over the past four years, as a reminder of purpose)

I want to be able to put something down here. If nothing more, to document the feelings and actions that we are taking at this time. I will say by way of preface that there is a lot I cannot say on this because, in the current circumstances, it is likely that social media is being closely monitored. This is also not meant to be a political statement anyway. It is a private reflection. 

As has been reported extensively in the news, Ethiopia has been embroiled in a conflict in the north of the country that began a year ago and has now escalated to the level of civil war along ethnic lines. At this point, anti-govt. forces have captured 2 strategic cities and are in a position to move toward the capital, Addis Ababa, where we live. (I am being deliberately vague here regarding naming particular groups although most have seen the groups named in the news.) Last week the Govt. declared a national emergency, an action which suspends a number of civil liberties (including mandatory conscription) and other rights, in order to protect the city. In talking to a number of Ethiopian friends and colleagues, there is not complete consensus on who to 'blame', but I would note that the current govt. was democratically elected and the prime minister is quite popular in Addis Ababa and many other regions in Ethiopia. 

At this point, most embassies have urged all citizens of their countries to leave, including the US Dept. of State. 

So that is where we find ourselves this weekend. The decision of whether or not to leave is honestly difficult, as we do not have any good way of assessing whether the anti-govt. group will be successful in reaching Addis. At this point, however, neither side seems interested in responding favorably to international calls for cessation of hostilities and mediation. 

This is not my first war. Sitting here with my family reminds me of two occasions in my childhood living in East Pakistan (aka Bangladesh), when we were forced to evacuate quickly. Once during a war with India, when we started by painting the tops of our car headlights black and drawing shades at night to hide all light to avoid an air raid. My mother, brother and I were then airlifted with other Americans on a USAF C-130 to the Philippines where I went to the first grade.

The second time was during the independence war for Bangladesh. This was a more brutal struggle and I remember watching plumes of smoke rise where tanks were blowing up buildings. We were evacuated to Tehran, again just women and children, where we spent 5th grade (in a hotel room), before moving to the US. 

More recently, during our assignment in Burundi, during a lot of unrest around one of the elections, Americans were advised to either leave or prepare to hunker down. We did the latter and it was not that bad. So we have had the experience of not overreacting where the threat seemed less serious than it was portrayed by security warnings. 

I can say that deciding what is the best decision about whether to stay alone or go together at a time of civil unrest is difficult. Whether it would be long or short, how extensively it would affect a city of this size, etc. Addis is a gigantic city with over 5 million residents.

We do not want to leave our staff in a difficult situation without access to resources. Ethiopia has a complex bureaucracy, and even disbursing salaries requires signatures from me and another senior staff person on hard copied letters. Leaving could create significant challenges for our team. Staying as a family would not be a consideration if the situation deteriorates, the kids' school is already being moved online after next week, and some of the faculty are evacuating, but whether it is better for our safety and liability for our team if we all leave, or if I stay is almost impossible to evaluate. The big problem with staying is that in the event of an attack on the city, or in fact, at any moment now, the govt. could cut all power, phone, and internet connections. That would make leaving very difficult if not impossible without access to websites to buy plane tickets, use a credit card, or even drive across town to the airport. (COVID tests would also be required for almost any destination which takes an additional 24 hours.)

There is also growing anti-American sentiment at this time as well because the US recently took Ethiopia off the favored nation status, to coerce, I believe a willingness to negotiate with the other side. Neither side is open to a mediated peace at this time. 

At David's birthday

'In the eye of a hurricane, there is quiet, for just a moment, yellow sky...'

 The line from Hamilton (which David listens to incessantly) feels very relevant. What belies the underlying fear, is a shocking normalcy of life in Addis. Kids are going to school, people are coming into the office, we shop, drive around, visit partner offices. We cannot leave Addis going north, but we can go south and Rebecca had a meeting last week to work out details for placing a young adult volunteer from Kenya at the Mennonite seminary. (Those plans are postponed.) She also interviewed several young people for next year's IVEP and YAMEN exchange programs (exchange programs for young adults to promote international understanding and spirit of service among a new generation of Anabaptists). . 

Birthday chicken pinata

I visited and contacted several partners. Four of our partners work in the north and have had to suspend all project activities (even our emergency relief projects) because of lack of access and TPLF occupation of their project areas. Several partners have staff trapped on the other side of the occupation line. No one is able to communicate with regions above the blockade line. They are proposing contingency activities while they wait to be able to access project areas again. Many seem to feel that this problem is only temporary and will be resolved in the next month or two. (It is hard to tell whether they are well informed or wishfully optimistic.) Partner organizations remain dedicated to their work and ready to provide relief even at personal risk. 

Mini family birthday

We have also continued with language lessons this past week. It is a bit sad that we have had to expand our vocabulary to include words for 'war', 'fighting', 'dangerous times,' 'ethnic groups (tribes)', but also, 'hope', and 'peace'. 

Again, in the semblance of normal life, we had a birthday last week for David. We invited two families over to celebrate with us. (We are still being cautious about COVID protocol even though most people we know are vaccinated since it is available in Addis). I made a piñata again this year. (I have done it for both kids every year for most of their lives.)  This year it was a 'Minecraft chicken'. Which is, fortunately, a very boxy shape since all I had to work with was cardboard boxes. 

David as Maasai

Our next-door neighbors with their kids and another ex-pat family from across town, who run an ophthalmology mission, came. Oren's friend Bereket from up the street came as well. We had a very nice time except for one very unfortunate incident where Bereket fell in the kitchen and broke several teeth. We made him a dental appointment for later in the week. Despite that, we did have a good time playing games and talking. 

Halloween was even surprisingly more similar to Halloweens we have experienced in the US (last time 4 years ago). There is a compound of American missionaries with many houses and kids. David was invited to go down in costume and trick or treat there. There were about 45 other kids in the compound and Rebecca used our car as our 'house'. It was quite enjoyable for him to come back with a bagful of candy. Although the costume was fairly last-minute. He did have a Maasai shuka as well as some Maasai traditional articles such as jewelry and a club. He could probably be accused of 'cultural appropriation' but he chose the costume more out of nostalgia for our former "home."

Other ordinary activities included restocking our chickens with 50 new chicks who will become our next generation of layers. Of course, taking care of numerous animals on our compound makes leaving difficult, although the guards do most of the work of caring for animals on a daily basis. 

at Sheraton playground

This weekend, even as we were reading the announcement from the embassy that all non-emergency personnel were being evacuated, we did some exploring of the city and checked out the Sheraton which is supposed to have a great pool. It was nice but prohibitively expensive so we just had lunch. (Honestly the freezing cold 50mether pool at Laphto mall near us, is Rebecca and my preference --we do have wetsuits though.) After lunch, we strolled the grounds which looked like the palace at Versailles (and probably were part of Haile Selassie's palace). The kids even blew off some steam by playing on the playground. We ended the day with family movie night and enjoyed an escapist 80s adventure featuring a very young Matthew Broderick (War Games). 

Bella curious about chicks

Today is Sunday and we went to church. David and Rebecca were on the music team, and it was good to see David up there. It was also a good chance to catch up with a number of people in the expat. mission community. Almost every mission is ordering evacuations this week so there will be very few people left in the church in the weeks ahead, which may include us as well. 

That is an update that I feel I can post. Again, there is much we hear and know that cannot be shared in a public forum, but want to let you know how we are doing personally this week. We end by asking you to keep us in your prayers, and to continue to lift up the nation of Ethiopia, that there may be a way forward for this beautiful country that does not involve long protracted years of civil war that we fear. The churches here are full to the brim with people praying, and surely these prayers do not go unheard.