Traditional Celebrations and a Field Visit in October

RPC Preschool students

Today is my last chance to put up a second post in September. I am committed to doing two updates a month so I am settling in to write. It is a Friday afternoon, about an hour before kids will come home. Normally we would still be working on other days, but Rebecca and I try to take a half-day off on Friday for a number of reasons, one of which is that we often work into the evening on other days in order to have zoom meetings with headquarters in the US and Canada. Friday is also a day we ask all office staff to work at home since the office is on our compound. We like to have a day when there is no one here. (Although there is always at least one guard here at all times.)

The past three weeks have had a number of highlights that I will mention first. We passed through two Ethiopian holidays. Ethiopian New Year is celebrated by everyone widely. Many who are reading know that the Ethiopian calendar differs in several ways from the Gregorian calendar. For one thing, they are 7 years behind us, so we just began the year 2015. Second, they have 13 months in the year (although the final month is only 5 days), and these months do not exactly correspond with Gregorian months. Finally, they celebrate New Year's in September. (Don't get me started on the clock which is also 6 hours different than ours -- but honestly is biblical time.)

Crafts at Mesfin's house

New Year's is a special occasion for children; gifts (or money) are given as well as paper flowers. Our colleague Mesfin invited us to come over to his house for a traditional Ethiopian meal. This usually features 'doro wot,' a kind of chicken curried in berbere and lots of butter. Mesfin has three young daughters, so we brought along some activities to do from Sunday School. We had made origami lilies for our lesson and brought paper to teach them how to make them. Since Mesfin lives close by, we were able to walk over to his house after church, and had an enjoyable and educational meal. His family comes from the South (Sodo / Wolaita) and they shared some wolayitinya music with us on YouTube. His younger daughter loves to do traditional wolaitinya dancing and entertained us with her enthusiastic bouncing to the songs. 

Well-drilling

When we are not celebrating holidays, we have been busy with office work. We have a number of projects in transition or at critical stages. We have been waiting for news of a well that our partner AEID is digging near a referral hospital that has had no water, located in West Omo Zone. It is in a very remote area. We were very happy to get news that they hit an abundant aquifer and have capped the well. Two other well sites have been very difficult to access and at the moment the district govt. has loaned them a bulldozer to try to make the road passable for the drill rig. I had planned to go with some co-sponsors to visit these wells in October, but we have been advised that travel in the area is not secure at the moment. We do hear somewhat regularly of attacks on vehicles and have tightened our security protocols around car travel far from Addis.

Despite the increased security at this time, we have been able to host some visitors in the past two weeks. We were happy to welcome the MCC Representatives from Chad, Samuel and Winfred, along with their Program Officer Jonathan. They arrived midweek last week and I picked them up at the airport and set them up in a guesthouse near our house. The next day they had a chance to have habesha food with our staff, prepared by our very capable cook Yeshi. They enjoyed it and Jonathan noted that in Chad they eat a nearly identical kind of bread as injera, which is made with millet rather than teff and is usually mildly sweet. (Injera has a sourdough taste because it is fermented.) I was surprised because I have not seen a similar kind of pancake starch anywhere in East Africa.

After sharing some details of our program during the afternoon, we took them back to the guesthouse but picked them up early the next morning for a trip about an hour and a half south of Addis to a town called Adama where we have an education project. I have wanted to visit this pre-school in the past year, run by our partner RPC, in a very under-served urban market area where there is a large population of orphans and single-parent children, some of them affected by HIV. 

Our rep counterparts from Chad were on an ongoing experience-building tour of education programs that was going to take them to South Sudan next, but they were very impressed with the way the RPC pre-school was so effectively organized toward child-centered learning. They use a Montessori school approach, with very interactive classrooms. All rooms have open areas for interaction with materials. 

The school materials themselves were probably the most interesting aspect of the visit. Teachers, who have been trained in this approach had developed a huge assortment of their own learning materials out of available items. In an American school, these kinds of teaching aids would be readily available in a classroom, but everything here had to be made from scratch. There were many examples of cleverly constructed game pieces and toys to teach counting, simple math, letters of the alphabet, the days of the week, months, etc. 

I was also surprised to see instruction in 3 languages in preschool! They learn Afaan Oromo (the regional language), Amharic, (the national language), as well as some simple English. The Chad reps, as well as Solomon (my MCCE colleague), and I really appreciated the thoroughness of the visit. We had the chance to talk to the director as well as visit many classrooms with kids. Teachers told us about their work and preparations. It was quite inspiring.

Back in Addis that evening, our guests were interested in buying some traditional Ethiopian clothing. We got help from an expat colleague, who guided us to a nearby clothing market area. Rebecca drove and translated for everyone, since it seemed that none of the vendors spoke English. Everyone gathered back at our house for a final dinner before their departure early the next morning. Johnathan found the chill of Addis nearly unbearable and was glad to warm up next to our fireplace. I was the driver, and did notice that security around the airport and on the roads at night is quite tight at the moment. 

Our office has seemed less populated these days as Mesfin, our Food Security Manager, has been out on a number of field visits related to our large conservation agriculture program. It seemed he was flying all over the country with project sites in both the north and south. 

new grill

Despite the heavy workload, not to mention increasing difficult Amharic lessons with substantial homework, we have had a number of nice social events. We have been able to connect with a number of returning neighbors at the SIM compound about a half-kilometer away. We have made friends with Jason and Liz P., who have been here for the past 10 years in total. They have kids David's age. We also continue to see our neighbors Pete and Katy as well as others. The various gatherings with new friends have given us several opportunities to use the new charcoal grill that we acquired since our return.

youth group

We are seeing growth in our church congregation since our return, with a number of new families joining. In addition, we have started to see a growing youth group emerge. We hosted the first gathering with about 16 kids, which was followed two weeks later by another gathering at another family's house that had about 30. It is great to see our kids building a core group of good friends. This was an answer to prayer because they had really felt isolated in year 1 of our time here. I think they are now not the new kids. 

We bookended the last 3 weeks with another traditional celebration, Meskel. This is an Orthodox celebration that is a national holiday. It celebrates the finding of part of the true cross (from the crucifixion) which is claimed ended up in Ethiopia. The celebration features a tradition of making a large bonfire in various locations. When the bonfire burns down, a cross is revealed in the flames (it is made of metal so does not burn.) People also burn small bonfires in their backyards and usually eat a lot of kitfo (raw beef).

Coffee ceremony

Our bookkeeper Hana invited us to her house. Her parents are Orthodox, and we had a lovely meal featuring quite a lot of kitfo (raw beef) as well as k'ocho (or false banana) which is a kind of fermented flat bread made from a plant. This is a tradition of the Guragay tribe in South (of which her family is a part.) The meal ended with the traditional coffee ceremony, beginning with the roasting of green coffee beans. (This was done by her mother). The traditional variation for them is the addition of butter instead of milk. It is an acquired taste in my opinion, a bit like broth. I tried a cup, but declined a second. (I was told it would make my face shine.)

I will end this blog with a necessary account of a tragedy that has deeply affected us. If you have read past blogs, you are aware that Solomon's daughters were given an opportunity to study in the US, through the generosity of a Goshen-based host family, Peter and Jan. This couple had served with MCC in Tanzania and Ethiopia and then Peter had returned to work at a high school in Goshen, Indiana. Peter and his wife have hosted many students from Africa. Tragically, he was hit by a car in the parking lot of the school where he taught (and the girls were studying). He died of injuries sustained from the accident. It is a terrible loss of such a generous man. It is also a very traumatizing event for the girls who are living at his house and were witnesses to the immediate aftermath of the accident. Please remember Peter Shetler's family in your prayers. https://obituaries.goshennews.com/obituary/peter-shetler-1086324272 

Update on our Work at the Start of a New School Year

I realize it has been a while since our last update about the end of our home leave a few weeks ago. It is time for another report, although finding time, when you have been away from your office for 8 weeks can be tricky. I am currently lying in bed with a mild fever, so thought I would try to begin to fill in the gap. 

One thing worth mentioning is that it is really cold and wet here. I am getting used to the idea that our Annual home leave takes us from hot Maryland August into a very cold wet Addis. The rainy season here is long and very damp everywhere. Nothing dries. We keep our fireplace lit nightly and usually bring in our wet laundry to hang over dining room chairs at night. Last week we had a gigantic hail storm that left a layer of ice on the ground that looked like a snowstorm. 

This year we came back to a new much less pleasant surprise as well. Because of the heavy rain which led to flooding, the reservoir where our water supply comes from was inundated with sewage, as well as some drowned rats. Our staff had had it cleaned out the day before we arrived 

But this week it happened again. Our 10,000-liter tanks fill once per week with city water; when we looked into the tank yesterday the water was blackish green, and I could actually see tapeworm segments and other parasites with my naked eye floating on the surface. Since I am not feeling well today I am worried that it was too late, even with filtering. Today we broke down and paid to have it emptied and cleaned, again, and filled by a water truck. It was a reminder again, that life here has challenges we are not always prepared for in the US.

back from the 1st day

School started the day after we arrived back, which was a challenge (not great planning on our part). But David and Oren were good sports about starting a new year. I think not feeling like the new kids this year was helpful. 

Rebecca and I have jumped right back into office work and since our accountant Eyerusalem, who was pregnant when we left, had her baby Our newly hired bookkeeper Hana had stepped into the accountant's role for now. Rebecca jumped right into providing her with further training, and we set up some new office protocols around cash box, etc. 

Hana's birthday

We have also been in touch with all partners to let them know we are back and arrange some visits. In the past two weeks, we have hosted several at our office and are making a plan to travel where we can. Because of increased instability at the moment, (for reasons I will not detail here), we are having to weigh the advisability of travel, particularly by road, each week. This is the season of developing new project concepts and proposals, so that also involves quite a bit of administrative work as we advocate for budgets for our program with MCC HQ.

Among the new projects we have going this year, I am particularly impressed by our partner who run a free school for very vulnerable pre-schoolers. They are planning to train and incorporate mothers and guardians into self-help savings groups (SHGs), so they can help send their kids to school with a lunch. In this particular population, many of the mothers are single commercial sex workers who have little opportunity to make an income in other ways. The SHGs are an opportunity to provide food security for their kids as well as earn income in another way. (The partner is called RPC for those who know them.) 

Other projects getting underway for renewal since our return including a project to bring several dozen containers of turkey meat to refugee camps for Sudanese refugees in the South. We also are supporting the drilling of wells at a health center and referral hospital where they do emergency obstetric care without any running water!

Honestly, a lot of our work in these projects is administrative, but there is a sense of purpose and motivation that comes with supporting projects that have such a significant impact on the lives of people here. 

We have been getting updates on our other food security partners. It is kind of exciting that MCC has been at the forefront of promoting low-tillage conservation agriculture in the country and even supports a large training program of govt. extension officers to support it throughout the country. We currently have two partners that are implementing scale-ups of these interventions supported by the Norwegian Govt. (NORAD) as well (hopefully soon) the Canadian Govt. (GAC). It is very satisfying to be able to visit projects where we see how an individual preschooler is given an opportunity for an education, but also see projects where partners are reclaiming 1000-2000 hectares of eroded land and transforming it into fertile farmland again. We have not visited these projects since our return, but get regular updates from our food security programs manager Mesfin, who is frequently with our partners. 

Maresha visit

This past week Mesfin and I went on a field visit to see the production of a technological innovation on a 'maresha' a traditional Ethiopian plow pulled by oxen. This maresha will have a wheel which operates an automatic seeder, allowing a farmer to plant while he rips a furrow at properly spaced intervals for conservation agriculture. The maresha was an innovation developed by our friend Neil Miller in Tanzania who was inventing it while we were living in Arusha together. It has been good to see him drop in from time to time to check on progress of its development. 

Meeting with Dr. Getnet
and APDA staff

We have met recently with a consultant who is helping us advise our Afar partner APDA on developing a fodder production plant as a social enterprise for their organization. Fodder for livestock, particularly goats is vital for the Afari people, especially in the dry season when grasses are scarce. Goat milk is the primary food source among nearly all of these nomadic people; food security for the animals is the only way to ensure the food security of their human caretakers. Trying to produce fodder in a sustainable, semi-commercial way requires consideration of a huge number of inputs, and we have been grateful to be working with an expert on livestock production in the Afar region to advise us. 

math tutoring

Our most recent field visit was this weekend on a Saturday morning to see one of our supplementary education programs for vulnerable youth living on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Several hundred kids from K-12 participate in after-school programs as well as Saturdays. They come from particularly vulnerable families and would have little chance of academic success without extra help. The Beza Church Development Association BCDA is our partner that provides this service to them. Rebecca and I were able to go together to see students in their classes. Then we were treated to a program of skits and poems, along with some games (like bobbing for candy in a vat of flour.) Some of the younger children told riddles.

a riddle...

While I could catch most of this in Amharic, it was good that Solomon our Programs Manager was there to translate as well. (One 3rd grader told our group a riddle that went like this: "An old woman is on one side of a river and sees a magician on the other side. What must she do or say to the magician to get across?... Answer: She farts, the magician smells it and starts waving his hands to fan away the smell, thus parting the waters, and the old woman walks across."--- It is interesting to see those 3rd graders here have the same sense of humor as 3rd graders in the US!)

There seems to be at least as much going on at our church. We have become very involved in various capacities. A less-than-ideal nexus of people on leave and others stepping down has led to several months where the pastoral team of normally 4, is currently 1 in-country, that being Rebecca. This means a lot of coordinating work as she is responsible to be sure there is a preacher every week, among other responsibilities. She has already preached once since our return, and I preached this week. I am also one of the two main Sunday school teachers and am teaching 5-8th graders. We started last week and we have about 30 kids on the roster for 2 classes. 

Sr high youth

Related to that, Rebecca and I hosted a youth group meeting this weekend to see who was interested. We had about 20 youth and several parents who are willing to help us organize semi-monthly meetings for the group. As we are an all-volunteer church, this takes commitment from a number of people for it to work. 

Shalom, Solomon, Seble, Senper

We have had some exciting news from among our staff. Our program manager Solomon had the opportunity to send his teenage girls to finish high school in the US.  Two weeks ago they went to Kenya for a visa interview, at a considerable cost. We were very sad to hear the girls were denied visas. His wife, a person of great faith, told him that she had a vision of the woman who helped the prophet Elisha who in turn resurrected her son. His wife had a vision that God would 'resurrect' the dream of going to the US even after the denial! She begged Solomon to do one more interview in Ethiopia. Miraculously they got an expedited appointment, and were immediately approved!! So now Shalom and Senper, his daughters are going to the US this week. We had a farewell luncheon for them last week. 

In the same week, while we paid a visit to the home of Eyerusalem (our accountant who just gave birth) and Moses her husband, we were told that Moses just got a job at a refugee resettlement organization in Canada. They felt like this was a huge answer to prayer as Moses is not allowed to work in Ethiopia until they have been married for 2 full years. They have been struggling with him being unemployed. While they will be separated for a time, it is a great opportunity and allows Moses to help support his family. Eyerus has a big family network here so she will continue to have support for her son and herself while he is gone. 

If you have been reading the news, you are aware that there has been ongoing instability because of a breach of the ceasefire agreement between the govt. and TPLF forces. Fighting has renewed along the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar borders. We are praying that the govt. and TPLF will return to the reconciliation process and we will not have a repeat of the extensive invasion of TPLF we experiences last year. We would ask that you keep Ethiopia in your prayers in the coming weeks and months. 

Bonus Photos

Our Team with new MCC shirts we brought back from the US

A new grill we ordered before we left that arrived when we returned!