So I’v been in the city of Addis Ababa for a week now I’m
starting to get the hang of it. Addis is almost a different country in itself. In
the more developed parts of town I see modern snappily dressed men and women
eating cheese burgers and drinking beer, and lines to get on the mini buses. (The
norm for most transport is to shove and squeeze in any way you can to get on and
get a seat.) The rest of the city is a bustling mix of shops selling fruits and
veggies, shoes and everything else typical of a developing country capital. Sadly
there is a high amount of homeless people, especially young children and it’s
hard having to be cold to them, or dealing with them following and begging for
10 minutes. I am also building up my street sense in knowing the kid selling
gum is by shoving the box at me is really reaching into my purse. Balege leba!
Rude thief!
Anyway today was a particularly memorable day. We finally
had a day off which coincided with a women’s only race celebrating women’s
rights. About 20 of the female PC volunteers went, wearing our race t-shirts
and had a blast. I have never been in a race before and was blown away by the
energy and enthusiasm. We hooted and hollered till our voices were scratchy and
bounced and danced till our legs were jelly. Wonderfully fun to see all the
women out supporting each other and increasing awareness of women’s rights.
Some of the Muslim women even ran the race in their head scarfs and were
obviously having a great time. The “race” was only 5km and went through the downtown
“ritzy” part of Addis which was also neat to finally see and explore. Now I’m
relaxing in the shady grass finally enjoying some free time and quiet.
The past few days were spent in training building a
permagarden. Good, useful information that hopefully I can take back to my site
and share. It really is an incredible thing if it works- the ability to grow
lots of vegetables in a tiny space by reusing waste materials (i.e. compost).
Another inspiring session was taught by a PCV about seed saving and now I have
a handful of good seeds that will grow in these sometimes harsh conditions.
Good timing because I just recently learned that the program that funds my
being here- “Feed the Future” is partially funded by Monsanto. Scary! I have
heard from other volunteers that sometimes being a PCV sometimes has very negative
unintended consequences for developing countries, paving the way for western
exploitation. I will do my best to be aware of my impacts and hopefully only
create positive change. Fortunately all of our counter parts (the person we are
assigned to work with at the Agriculture office) also attended the training and
hopefully heard the message that natural fertilizers and seeds are 100x better
than chemicals.
I’m working on the final pieces of my CNA report and will do
a short presentation on my project ideas tomorrow. I have one more week of
training in Addis, with an additional 3 days for a new group I just joined. I
am now an (elected) member of the Peer Support Network, a group of volunteers
who help with trainings and offer support to fellow volunteers. I am excited at
this chance to learn more social/counseling skills and hopefully continue to
grow and help others. I’m sure it will also push my comfort zone and force me
to do some more public speaking but it’s all good in the long run right?
Now I’m going to go enjoy city life by taking a hot shower
and maybe even go out for dinner and eat some yummy ferengi food like Chinese,
Mexican or a pesto Panini sandwich…and ice cream! Oh the joys of delicious food
the big city!
So the journey
continues this time with more sunshine and flowers in the city named “new
flower”.
