July 20, 2013
Well hello there! As I commonly hear in
Ethiopia “tafach”, meaning “you
disappeared”. My response “allow”, “I
have”. And for many good reasons. But before I get into the past I want to talk
about today. For the past week I have been sick with a nasty chest cold that
left me drained with no energy, which always brings the added challenge of
staying positive and out of my head. In the “Peace Corps Life Cycle” this is
the slump period. But today I was finally feeling a little better and made
myself strawberry crepes! My kind landlord gave me the strawberries, so I made
the crepes and gave him some “ferengi cake” as I called it. This afternoon I
finally made it out to my favorite river spot and sat watching the newly formed
rapids and dark clouds pass in the distance. Being outside always helps me find perspective
and peace. I feel so lucky to have a beautiful spot to go to that is so close
to my home.
After sitting a while a youngish man walked
by singing a lovely song. I said hello and we started talking. It turns out he
is really passionate about the environment and volunteering and helps to run a
youth club in the summer time. We had a nice talk and then as we walked back he
wanted to show me the location of the club. It was in a building I have been
curious about for a while- from the outside it looks run down and abandoned but
inside there were several rooms all with different “programs” going on.
Randomly we went into one room where there was a meeting with the local HIV
club. It had just begun and they were serving buna, popcorn and bread. As a fun
fundraiser they had a game of passing a loop over a wire without touching the
wire. If the loop touched the wire a light turned on. It cost 1 birr per try so
of course I had to try. Then (as far as I could tell) the rest of the meeting
was people reading poems, telling jokes or little stories. It was a beautiful
sharing experience and inspiring to see people spending their Saturday
afternoon in this way. It is always the random interactions that lead to
wonderful new discoveries.
So now to back up to where I disappeared
to. First I went to Addis for a few
days, mostly to eat good food, but also for a short meeting of the “Peer
Support Network” group to talk about helping to train the newly arrived Group 9
volunteers. On the 4th of July we had watermelon and lit sparklers
and talked with the new trainees. It was neat seeing their enthusiasm and
realizing how far I have come in the last 9 months. I am starting to feel
confident in navigating around Addis; hoping on the Blue donkeys (line taxis)
and arriving at my intended destination, finding the ferengi grocery stores,
etc. Even travelling the 9 hour bus ride is fairly enjoyable. I love seeing the
country and remembering that I live in Africa as I see classic mud huts, acacia
trees and kids playing in the rivers. One image that stuck in my head was a
group of colorfully dressed women in skirts and head scarves working at a
cement factory carrying cinder blocks on their heads. So beautiful and hard
working.Africa in a nutshell.
After my quick trip to Addis I turned
around and headed to the all girls camp in Bekoji with my two campers. At the
last minute I was able to pull together a contract taxi to take all 11 people
from the Bale area to Bekoji, saving a big headache in travelling. The camp was
a great success with 21 girls, 10 PCV’s, 4 Ethiopian counterparts and 2 junior
helpers. It was held at the Agricultural College, which is closed for the
summer, so we stayed in dorm style rooms and had the campus to ourselves. I was
in a room with 4 girls and a lovely Ethiopian woman. At first the girls were
very shy but over the week they opened up and quickly formed many new
friendships and self confidence.
A success for me was at the last minute for
the opening ceremony I had to fill in for the person who was supposed to lead
it. I had no time to prepare but was able to wing it and lead the girls in an
activity of writing on papers their “I can’ts”, things they think they can’t do. (My example
was saying before I came to Ethiopia I would have said I can’t speak in front
of 30 people which I was doing at that moment). They then put them in an
envelope and at the end of the week we burned them in a ceremonial closing bon fire.
I also led a session on meditation which I
think went well. Another highlight was hiking to the top of a local mountain
which was a big challenge for many of the girls in their skirts and little
plastic slipper shoes. But they all made it and the sun even came out! It was a
beautiful area with many different plants. The return part of the hike was
through a maze of heather that was over our heads! Other activitiesof the week focused
on nutrition, team building, peer pressure, and safe sex (where I learned that
a common believe is rigorous exercise after sex will prevent pregnancy!). The closing
ceremony was a touching and memorable experience. We made smores (oh yum!) and
the girls taught us many great traditional African songs. Imagine chanting,
drumming, and dancing around a fire and you get the idea. Classic Africa
experience.
At the beginning of the week I was able to
sneak out and visit my host family. It was great seeing them all, especially
Abi the little 4 year old boy. In “talking” with them I was finally able to see
an improvement in my language skills, something I don’t
see on a daily basis. Sadly I was not able to connect with Tsion, the 9 year
old girl because, as always, she was busy with chores. The rest of the week
went quickly and by the time we got home to Goba I was exhausted. Luckily we
again were able to contract a taxi and cruised home quickly and comfortably.
Now I continue to rest and recover, gearing
up for building a composting toilet and other adventures…
