A few good things to celebrate

A peace treaty has been signed! That’s the big news here in Ethiopia. Members of the Federal government met with representatives from the TPLF in South Africa and on 2 November, they signed an agreement to work towards peace, both by laying down arms and laying down weapons of propaganda. There are many details to work out, but we are praying and hoping, together with our Ethiopian colleagues, that finally, this nation can begin to recover from two years of war. Beyond the direct impacts of the conflict (property destruction, displacement, and hunger), the entire national economy has been hit hard. With 32% inflation in the past months, basic staple foods have become unaffordable for many people.  We need stability and relief and are praying hard that it happens.

The timing of this agreement was quite serendipitous. Exactly a year ago, the conflict took a very dangerous turn. We met with friends that weekend, remembering how it was the anniversary of the day that many missionaries learned they were required to evacuate. It is a huge relief to all of us that there will not be a déjà vu conflict again this year.

David working on a costume sword

Aside from these momentous national events, we have had a couple of weeks of “Normal,” for which we are very thankful! Yes, there have been several visitors who have passed through, including a short-term volunteer working on developing a program for better English-language instruction at the Mennonite Seminary nearby. Do we know any experienced ESL instructors who are looking for a 1-year assignment in Ethiopia? Especially mature adults? Let me know! We have a fascinating position opening soon.

I must admit, the week after my major illness, I was still only operating at about 50%. I think that somehow, I had a few meaningful conversations with my colleagues, and we managed to submit the information for our monthly financial report. I needed a lot of naps that week and it’s interesting and scary to experience that post-viral brain fog people talk about. Very, very unsettling.

Sad little party :-(

The big event of our week was pulling off a decent celebration of David’s 14^th birthday. The poor kid turned 14 on October 29^th, a day when none of us had much energy to celebrate. That was the day that my migraine finally lifted after a week, but just barely. Oren was laid up on the couch with a very swollen and purple ankle. Paul wasn’t feeling great either after his trip. David went to youth group and had a nice time playing table tennis with friends. Right afterwards, he joined other kids at the neighbouring mission compound for a Halloween trick-or-treat party. He’d spent some time that day making a nice cardboard sword and developed a simple Frodo costume. He came home and we had planned to have a little cake in the evening as a mini family celebration. Unfortunately, the stomach virus hit Paul and Oren as evening fell. In the end, Oren’s friend Bereket helped me have a sad little celebration for David with a singular gift (Pass the Pigs), and a few funny rounds of the game, in between caring for the sick.

David admitted that he had very low expectations for his birthday, but we were glad to learn that several of his good friends could join us for a party the next weekend. So, over the course of the week, Paul spent time fashioning his special annual birthday piñata. This time, he celebrated the current Minecraft craze by creating Steve. 

Steve piñata

On Friday night, I made an awesome chocolate cake, made with half hazelnut flour. Saturday afternoon, Paul set up the cross-net game again, and David’s friend Seth brought over another outdoor throwing game called Kubb. Two other kids came over, one with older siblings for Oren to hang out with. Between the yard games, I also assigned the 8 of them to do a very silly photo scavenger hunt, pretending they were entomologists investigating rampaging giant worms and finding other wildlife. I was amazed that a group of teens from age 12 to 18 were able to get along so well together and have fun. Before dinner, we gathered around piñata Steve and the kids took turns trying to bash him – honestly, it didn’t take long before he spilt the candy. By that time, the parents of David’s friends showed up and we enjoyed a good dinner of grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, and salad. (May I add that grilled chicken -- though normal and easy in North America -- is a total splurge here in Ethiopia, where inflation affects us too. We are considering switching to soy chunks as an affordable protein alternative. Prices are crazy!)

As it happened, that Saturday was also Guy Fawkes Day. Our British friends brought along a bunch of sparklers to mark the occasion, a very festive touch. It’s a little hard to explain to non-Brits why anyone would celebrate someone who tried to blow up parliament… Anyway, the sparklers were nice! And then there was cake, and some very thoughtful gifts from friends, and the kids then piled back outside to play Midnight Mafia, while a few of the parents continued hanging out and chatting. We were glad to enjoy such a nice evening ourselves with people we like, and David had a great time too.

From photo scavenger hunt -- finding worms!

I wish I could say that we left illness behind in October…sadly, we did not. The day after his fun birthday party, David came down with a bad cough and fever that kept him out of school for most of the next week. Paul was not doing great either. But we were in very good company with many, many people in our community. In fact, by Thursday afternoon we got a message from the kids’ school: so many teachers had come down with various viruses that it was impossible for them to find enough substitutes to cover classes. The entire Secondary school was closed on Friday.

Nevertheless, an inter-school volleyball tournament had been scheduled for Friday afternoon, and somehow, that was not cancelled. Oren headed to school after lunch to support his team, even though his sprained ankle prevented him from actually playing volleyball with them. Paul, David, and I also went to the school a bit later to practice with our community Christmas choir, directed by our friend Lori. 

Bingham volleyball team

After singing, I stayed on to watch Oren’s team play. It was some incredibly exciting volleyball, with lots of close plays. Oren’s team went to the final game and played some very disciplined volleyball (bump, set, strike) over and over. They probably should have won twice as fast, but in the end, they did win. They were so funny doing their school victory dance, all in a huddle, rocking back and forth and getting to the chant of Anbessa! Lions!

Our final big event of the past two weeks: welcoming our Accountant Eyerusalem back to the office after maternity leave. Wonde and Hana took the lead in making sure Eyerus’ desk was well-decorated with balloons, flags, a card, and lots of potted plants. I provided flowers and a tray of eggs. 

Welcome back, Eyerus!

For this first day back, we especially requested the Eyerus bring her son Jeremiah along with her. He patiently sat through his first MCC staff meeting as we shared the news, caught up, and enjoyed a chocolate cake made by Yeshi. Eyerus’ husband is now working in Canada, so we especially want to make sure she knows how much we appreciate her. 

Along the way in the past weeks, there were interesting meetings with partners, lots of reviewing reports, and even more tedious preparation and signing and stamping of official letters, memos and MOUs. Not much to write about. 

Perhaps the most alarming work event was the temporary loss of our organizational stamp. We took it along to stamp a new MOU with a partner across town. The next day, it was not in my work bag or Paul's suitcoat pocket. We searched the house and office and couldn't find it. The car had been taken to the mechanic, but when we could finally search it, it was not found. Perhaps it had fallen out of the car as we picked up and dropped off a number of David's schoolmates after the meeting? We began to contemplate life without a stamp -- we couldn't authorize any bank transfers, write any official letters to partners, pay salaries... we probably couldn't even write a valid letter to the charities to request a replacement stamp, if we couldn't stamp the letter...might as well just close the organization, pack up and go home. In this type of bureaucracy, you absolutely cannot function without a stamp. About an hour before we were ready to report the loss to the police, Paul remembered something. When we had gotten home from our meetings, we heard our little cat mewling from under the container. It had injured its leg that day and seemed to be stuck. Paul had knelt down to coax the cat out. When he checked that spot again, there was the stamp, lying on the ground. It must have fallen out of his pocket at that point. Phew!! It's good to celebrate the small things, too.

And another celebration -- Oren received his first college acceptance letter this week!

More news next week! And now for some bonus photos...

Singing happy birthday

Birthday waffles

David dressed as Frodo, Friday as Sam

The actual worms in our vermicompost project,
that inspired the scavenger hunt

Hazelnut chocolate Birthday cake 

Playing Kubb

More Kubb

Crossnet

piñata instructions

bashing away

Grilled dinner for the birthday

Gifts and games

Hana preparing Eyerus' desk

Spelling decorations with coffee beans

Eyerusalem and Jeremiah

Team welcome

Cake and team meeting

...and another with me in the photo

Birthday pyramid

The largest leaf

A wild fruit