Phew what a whirlwind. Life in Ethiopia goes from slow as
molasses to a blur of activity and this past week was packed. I’m not even sure
where to begin so I think I’ll start backwards with what is most fresh on my
mind. This morning my unofficial new counterpart Gobezie called me asking if I
wanted to participate on a tree planting day, happening today, so I should come
now. Typical. Since these opportunities are rare I grabbed my things together
and headed out the door. We ended up walking quite a ways, maybe 1 ½ hours, up
towards the base of the Bale Mountains. On an open field sloping into a stream
we planted little native Juniper seedlings into pre dug holes alongside several
local men. Once the planting was finished we headed back to Goba, me using the
excuse that I needed water (which I had forgot to bring). Half way back we ran
into all the “heads” of the Agriculture Office and other officials driving up
in a truck. They sent a guy on horseback to go buy me water and we hopped in
the truck and drove back to the site. When we got there the number of people
had tripled including women who had brought ceremonial food. Like the last tree
planting, after several long speeches, we all ate chicko (barley powder and
butter) and drank milk out of woven leather pouches. I didn’t eat much but
thoroughly enjoyed myself. I really enjoy being out in the rural areas hacking
my way through with speaking Oromifa and seeing how the people live in these
tough conditions. Hopefully the trees survive and provide an alternative source
of fuel in the future. Today not only did I have fun but I earned major brownie
points with some important people I want to work with in the future. Often my
most “successful” days are the random unplanned ones where I meet just the right
people.
Ok now to backtrack a bit… so two weeks ago I had some silly
drama with the Agriculture office and my counterpart Alemu. I had decided to
bring a different person to a Peace Corps training on Project Design because I had
been having a hard time getting a hold of Alemu, and I saw more potential in
working with Gobezie (which means smart by the way). My project idea is to
plant trees along the main road of Goba and Gobezie is the Natural Resource
expert and a good forester (and a very kind, motivated, older father type
figure). To put it in a nutshell Alemu did not take this too well and in a way
threw a fit telling the head Ag Office boss (Hirpa) all sorts of lies about
Gobezie. In the end I had to decide to stick to my decision and potentially
risk burning my bridge with Alemu and Hirpa. (Side note- trainings are a big
deal in Ethiopia because people get paid a lot of money for per diem. Sadly it
has created a culture of wanting training for the money not the knowledge).
So I left Goba with my fingers crossed. First stop was my
favorite resort town Hawassa, four hours away. There I had a fun weekend of
hanging out with many other PCV’s and ran a 7km race for the “Save the Children”
campaign. Monday was the start of our week long training in the paradisiacal
site of Wando Ganet. It is a University for Natural Resources set on 10,000
hectares of virgin forest mixed with plantations and research crops. Every
morning I woke up to monkeys and baboons eating avocados out my window (and
sometimes clanging on the roof). The campus is filled with huge Ficus trees and
other lush vegetation. One day we came across a huge tortoise and in the
evenings we would walk in the forest seeing lots of beautiful birds, warthogs
and monkeys.
The training was very good with the first two day focused on
the Project Design Management. Gobezie provided a lot of good information and
we took the first steps in planning the road tree project. It felt really good
to finally get started on a formal project. The training was a small regional
one so it was a nice small group of 6 other environment volunteers from my
group. The other three days were for just us volunteers and we learned how to
build a different mud stove, talked about the bio briquettes, got a tour of the medicinal plant gardens, learned
about fish aquaculture (growing fish for food), and beekeeping. One day we took
a tour of one particularly gobez farmer who was raising fish and feeding them
by means of a chicken coop suspended over the water. The poop from the chickens
fed the fish, then the water from the pond fertilized the surrounding crops. He
was growing a variety of cash crops including coffee, corn, beans, and chat (a
stimulant plant that people chew to get high). His investment was low and his
output was high. If every farmer in Ethiopia did something like this it would
be a different world. Needless to say it was very inspiring to see.
Friday afternoon we had the luxury of going to a nearby hot springs
pool and relaxing. A class of about 30 students from the university showed up
and it was hilarious to see them in their swimming lessons. (Most Ethiopians
never get the chance to learn how to swim). We gave a few pointers and had a
blast playing in the warm water under the tropical trees. On Saturday I left
the little green oasis and made my way solo back to Goba, stopping in Sashamene
to eat some tasty rice and beans at the Rastafarian community. Often I get overwhelmed
with too much social contact so I enjoyed being on my own again. Now I’m back
in good ole Goba ready to jump into my project and try out some of the things I
learned.
Big hugs and best wishes to all! (As always I would love an
email or letter from everyone (or anyone)!
