Advent Activities in Addis Ababa

I am currently in a hotel in the town of Woldiya, in Northern Ethiopia. This is a place in Amhara region that Rebecca and I have not had a chance to visit since we began working here. We have a partner, EMWACDC, who is doing a watershed and food security project here, but due to the conflict last year at this time, this entire region was under TPLF occupation, making travel here impossible. I will give more details about my visit in the next blog, but I need to catch up on the past two weeks in a brief update.

I will note that David is also out of town this week on a class trip to visit Bahir Dar and Gonder, two historical cities in Amhara region. So far, from some Whatsapp updates, he seems to be doing well. I am planning to be back in Addis tomorrow (Thursday), and he will return on Friday, so both of us will need to give trip updates in the next installment. 

The past two weeks have felt very full of activities equally divided between work and social/church events. We are definitely feeling in the Holiday spirit, having decorated the house with an abundance of ornaments that we brought from Tanzania combined with many lights and a tree left for us by former MCCers who lived here. 

Rebecca and I have also been having weekly choir rehearsals for a Christmas program at the Anglican Church here. The choir is sounding pretty good with a huge amount of musical talent in the community we are part of here. Even kids as young as 7th grade are accompanying us on the piano. We have a number of very nice pieces, ending with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. 

Our small group has met twice in the past two weeks and we have shared some Christmas goodies with each other, most recently thanks to our German couple who had a variety of homemade treats from Germany. 

We have started our annual family Advent ritual of reading a story together after lighting our advent wreath. We are aware with some melancholia that this is Oren's last time to do this with us before he will go to college. Speaking of which, Oren has sent in several applications and has several to go. He has been accepted at Goshen and Messiah so far, but probably won't make a decision before he has heard from all, particularly his 'reach' schools. 

We are also helping his friend Bereket with the application process as he is considering, possibly going to College in the US, as well as keeping his options open for University in Ethiopia as well. Bereket, who has grown up around MCC his whole life is as much a 'third culture kid' as Oren, it seems, despite never having left the country. They do seem to help each other in terms of studying and completing the application process. 

Work in the office has been busy with many reports on our emergency projects of the past year coming in, as well as requests for more support for new crises that have emerged. We continue to be optimistic about the peace treaty between the Govt. and the TPLF, but there are other conflicts that have recently been amplified, particularly in parts of Oromia and on the Oromia-Amhara borders where OLF militants have been carrying out terrorist attacks and kidnappings in various, seemingly random places to stir up fear. While this may not represent the majority view, there are some Oromo that would like to see a separate Oromo state independent of the rest of Ethiopia. 

Honestly, it is very difficult to hear weekly, reports, of new attacks, and makes us somewhat uncomfortable to travel very far outside of Addis by car. Generally, we prefer to fly to towns that are more than an hour or so away. 

Rebecca recently attended a meeting of a Council of Evangelical leaders as well as another meeting of the Bible Society that has convened Orthodox and Protestant leaders to challenge the Church in Ethiopia to play a prophetic role in calling for peace. Many of the ethnic conflicts in this country fall along partisan denominational lines, and the church has not always been bold to take its leaders and members to task to be peacebuilders and not inciters of violence. Rebeca brought reports of laments by some that the church has been 'a light under a bushel' at this time. 

Our Programs Manager Solomon spent a week with our Mennonite Church partner MKC visiting their prison reconciliation program, as well as a number of trainings for school peace clubs in the area. In the area where MKC works, the problem of revenge killing is huge, but also a quickness to resort to violence and even killing to address conflict, according to Solomon. Changing the cultural mindset about honor, pride, and vengeance is a huge challenge.

Other social highlights outside of work include some Bingham Academy Christmas programs that David was part of. Parents were invited this past Friday to watch a Christmas program put on by all of the elementary and lower secondary classes. Rebeca and I went to attend the outdoor event that was set up on the soccer field. We were feeling grateful and almost amazed to be able to see a school singing program since COVID. Ethiopia's COVID incidence remains quite low, despite many other respiratory illnesses going around. Most of us have recovered though. 

Every class had a song or two led by Allison, the music teacher. Some groups had instruments, including ukeleles and recorders. All were done well, and David looked good in a white shirt, black pants, and new haircut, with his classmates who sung a cool version of Joy to the World.

The highlight of the afternoon was about an hour later when the student drama club put on A Charlie Brown Christmas in the multipurpose chapel. David was Charlie Brown, and actually, Rebeca and I were lucky to get into the show as it was very sold out and full. I am happy to say that David and his classmates did a great job. Shroeder, played by David's friend Nathan was definitely a highlight as he could actually play a good part of the Vince Guaraldi score on his electric keyboard that was set up for him. It was also nice to see quite a diverse cast with a Tanzanian Lucy and Snoopy, and an Ethiopian Violet. 

We celebrated afterwards with Coldstone icecream--or at least what is being offered by the Coldstone store. It continues to be very apparent here that there remains a foreign currency crisis here, with very few imports coming in. We are becoming better at eating entirely local, although we all miss easy access to small indulgences like a good chocolate bar, or piece of cheese. 

Saturday was the final youth group event and I was impressed to see nearly 40 youth in attendance. It was at the Norwegian mission compound and there were a lot of activities including volleyball, a zipline, and a gingerbread decorating contest. It is good to see the growing enthusiasm for this group of kids. 

At Sunday school we have been rehearsing "The Friendly Beasts" for our Christmas Eve service at church. And all of us, family and MCC staff, have been watching the World Cup, rooting at this point for Morrocco, since the US was knocked out. It would be great to see an African team win!