First Impressions

Fertile-Ethiopia

I am not actually in Ethiopia on holiday (though I will do my fair share of exploring)! I am spending over 2 months here getting practical development experience, as part of my Master of Development Practice at UC Berkeley. I will be working with Lem, the Environment and Development Society of Ethiopia ("Lem Ethiopia"), a civil society organisation, on a couple of projects including

• An urban waste management project in the capital
• A rural community project integrating population, health, and environmental aspects 100km north of the capital
• A green zone tree plantation project along a new road being built
• An agroforestry project 300km south of the capital

Lem’s symbol is a colobus monkey on a dry branch, symbolising the fragility of human interaction with natural resources—if we do not start managing them sustainably, the symbolic dry branch will break and we will fall

Funnily enough, I didn’t know until my second day at the office that “Lem” does actually have meaning—it means “green and fertile” in Amharic! About time I learned that…

The team at the Lem office: Mogues (executive director), Gebeyehu (programs/operations manager), me (intern for data analysis etc), Sammy (financial manager), and Natsanat (secretary)

First Impressions of Ethiopia

Such warm people..

Ethiopia… Wow, so much more to this country than the stereotype of barren land and starving children (though that is a reality in many areas). What strikes me the most is the people. I cannot do justice to the people here with mere adjectives, but their temperament can be crudely described as unbelievably hospitable, shockingly giving (even a starving family will invite you in for coffee), relaxed (often even when doing business!), and welcoming (people call Canadians nice?). This is all calmly accepted as part of “Ethiopian culture,” the obvious norm.

One of many orthodox Christian churches

No kidding when people warned me that Ethiopia was like no other place. One of the few African countries that was not colonised, Ethiopia has retained much of its ancient culture. The lilting music, the traditions, and the hospitable culture have all made it through to today. A defining characteristic of many Ethiopians is their extreme religiousness, with Ethiopian orthodox as the dominating religion followed by other forms of Christianity, Islam, and traditional faiths.

On the way to St Giorgis orthodox church

Drinking culture

Coffee ceremony

Coffee and Ethiopians are inseparable. During the coffee ceremony, grass is laid out on the floor, coffee beans are roasted, and strong coffee is brewed and served in small cups. I am personally a latte drinker, but this coffee is so good I drink it black like the locals do, with some sugar, and stirring in some "tena adam (rue)" herbs.

Morning coffee

Alcohol is also a regular part of life here. Good beer. However, I cannot keep up with the quantities imbibed…

Om nom nom

The staple food here is injera, which looks like a giant crepe with mini craters, made from teff. Unique taste, slightly sour—I like. On top of the injera is either lamb, goat, chicken, or shiro (bean paste). The injera is used like naan/chapati/bread to gather up the meat or bean paste. I think my spiciness tolerance will have to increase over the next few months…

Injera with "tibs" (meat) and "shiro" on top

No, I am not that much of a pig. Meals here are served on one big plate that everyone eats from.

Gasp! And let’s hold hands.

An interesting observation I made today was the “inward gasp.” In most "Western" countries, when one is nodding in agreement to another’s words, one often adds an “mmhmm.” Over here, one often adds a slow, quiet “gasp” to demonstrate they are listening. I figure it makes sense as an “mmhmm” requires one to be breathing out (Ethiopians “mmhmm” too), but if one is breathing in, the “inward gasp” is quite convenient ;)

Another tradition here is hand-shaking. You shake hands with EVERYONE you meet, EVERY time you see them, and then again when you say goodbye. It’s nice, this added human touch—increases the feeling of friendship and unity.

Speaking of the human touch, a common sight here is 2 men holding hands, or a girl with her hand around another girl’s waist, or a man with his hand on another man’s knee. Nope, homosexuality is certainly not accepted here! These are all just signs of good friendship.

A gargling surprise

Sintu, a baby adopted by a German couple

 When I moved into my temporary guesthouse upon arrival in Ethiopia, little did I realise I would be woken up the next morning by lots of crying babies. My guest house was actually an international adoption centre! Couples from around the world stay here and adopt Ethiopian babies or young children from orphanages around the country. I learnt a lot about the long process of adoption across countries, capability testing, and child rearing training that these couples went through before being joined up with their future children.

I was pickpocketed!

Transferring between one chaotic public minibus to the next, the man walking in front of me stopped suddenly to tie his shoelace, forcing me to also stop suddenly. For my next few steps, I remember thinking that the man behind me was walking quite close—maybe he was in a rush. A minute later, I brought my backpack in front of me to find something and realised the zips were open! Luckily, I had locked the one pocket with valuables, and nothing was taken from the other pockets.

Babo Gaya lake

After 3 hours of hectic transfers on various forms of public transport to get out of the capital,

The "public taxi"

The "bajaj" (we call it "tuk tuk" in Kenya)

I found myself at a beautiful hidden gem of a lake, teased by light swirling mist after a hailstorm and rainstorm.

Babo Gaya lake

Nomadic Wanderings

Started off in the Yeka guest house (adoption centre).

Moved to another guesthouse situated above a Bar & Restaurant, very close to my office. The owner and I have become quite good buddies.

Addis Abeba Bar and Restaurant, owner below

 

Chilling with my buddy Tedy

Yesterday, I moved to Piazza (infamous for pickpockets) to stay with a family of 3 who have decided to temporarily adopt me as their “daughter”/“sister”.

 

Tomorrow, I will be travelling to southern Ethiopia with the Lem Ethiopia team to tie up an agroforestry project. There we will stay for a week. The adventures continue…