I went to a movie last weekend. It was a nice treat. -yes, it was in English! I enjoyed it a lot, but it was disturbing at the same time. Being SO immersed in this culture that is SO different from N. America, I didn't realize how my perception of 'normal' had changed. For 2 hours, I entered a world that I had lived in for 30 years - but it was as though I was seeing it with new eyes. It was a small taste of what it would be like to go home. When the lights turned on and I found myself still in Africa, I was relieved. It was a good feeling. Another reminder that I am where I need to be.
Things have been busy around the compound. We've had quite a few very sick patients that have been challenging to care for. One of my very special patients died this week as well. He was a simple man, but so kind. Every morning he would call out to me 'farenji' (white person) as I passed and laugh and blow me kisses. He had a great laugh! What a great way to start the day. Tuesday, however, I didn't see him in the courtyard when I went for mass. When I was walking out of mass, Sr. told me he had died that morning. Thankfully, we were able to spend some time praying for him before they removed his body. It's hard to see my special patients go. Sometimes it makes me wonder who is making more of an impact; them on me or me on them. I'm almost positive its the 1st.
Community life at the compound with the other volunteers has grown more challenging. I'm looking to get my own place and am hopeful to move this weekend. Last week one of the patients got into the room where we hang our laundry. She tore 2 of my shirts and one skirt. In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal. BUT, when you only have 6 shirts, and you have to wash them by hand, loosing 2 is a big deal! Couple that with the fact that shopping here presents a whole new set of challenges. Finding something that you like, that fits adn that you can barter down to a reasonable price takes WAY more effort than running to the mall and picking a shirt off the shelf.
Many of you who know me, can appreciate how I value sleep. After 3 months of 5am wake ups by patients or loud music, repeated late night disturbances and as many as 7 other volunteers sleeping in the same room - I am anxious for some quality sleep. A REAL shower with hot water, a REAL toilet and some personal space are also plusses to having my own place.
The nurses that I've been teaching are now preparing for a big licensing exam. They are all very anxious. They write the theory portion in 2 weeks. If they pass, they have a practical portion later on. I"m confident that 2 of the boys will pass, but I'm not sure about the other 2. The sisters said that they can only hire those who pass. I was asking one of the nurses some questions about basic physiology. He's the weakest one, and he didn't know the answers. He knows he's struggling and he can see that the other boys are catching on faster adn that I give them more responsibility. He started to cry - it broke my heart. He frustrates me the most out of all of them, but I couldn't help but have compassion for him. He was telling me how much pressure he is under. He's the oldest of 10 children. His father works as a guard at one of the other MC houses. The sisters paid for his nursing school. Its his responsibility to get a job and to help his family financially adn younger siblings get an education. He told me that one of his brothers struggles with mental illness and lately has been out in public naked. It has brought a lot of shame to their family. The small business that his mother runs has lost most of its customers. He was pleading with me to petition his cause to the sisters to give him a job. It was heart wrenching! I already know that the sisters won't hire him. If he doesn't pass this exam, it will be very difficult to find a job. I can't imagine having that much responsibility placed upon me at 20 yrs old. Another very real reminder of how incredibly blessed my life has been!
There is so much need here. A day doesn't pass that I don't meet a child that should be in school, or a patient that needs treatment the either no one can afford or no one can perform. Hunger and malnutrition are everywhere. I feel like what I"m doing is such a small drop in such a huge bucket. I am grateful for the opportunity to experience all that I have. I know that my heart has changed in ways I can't even recognize. It brings me so much joy to serve the poor here. It reminds me every day to cherish each moment, accept everything as a gift and to choose to love in all circumstances. I still have so much to learn! Good thing I didn't buy a return ticket!!! :)
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Back in Addis
My friend Leah (from California) and I jsut got back from a 2 week trip through part of northern Ethiopia. It was incredible! The sights were amazing and the natural beauty defies explanation. I couldn't help but wonder, on several occasions, why I am so priviledged to see these sights. I am truly blessed!
As with travel in any developing country - part of the fun is getting there! We travelled by public bus mostly. We were fortunate to be pretty lucky as far as achieving our destinations.... eventually. The public busses are big busses that carry 50-65 people, they are a real cultural experience! You can't buy tickets in advance, so you have to get there when the bus depot opens at 5am, find the bus that is going the way you want (don't even think they're labelled), run to get a seat and then wait for the locals to negotiate a price with the driver. If the driver charges too much, everyone gets off the bus in protest. You have to make sure that there isn't another bus going in your direction that the others can get on in the meantime, because your bus won't leave the station until its full. So, after all of that, you wait for them to totally overfill the bus with people and then you actually leave the station around 8am.
Ethiopia is an extremely hilly an mountain filled country, the roads are not in the best condition, the vehicles are old, and around every turn you find a herd of oxen, sheep, goats or monkeys. As a result travel is SLOW!!! The funny part is that if a vehicle hits an animal on the road, the driver has to pay the farmer for the cost of the animal. Needless to say, if you achieve a speed over 60km/hr, you're really cruising.
Our first stop was a city called Bahir Dar. One day we went out to a small village just outside the city to see the Blue Nile Falls. We were trying to be thrifty and hopped on a public bus. Who would have expected a 34km journey to take 2.5 hrs?! It was an experience to say the least! I was sitting between two shephards - hook and all! The smell of the goat/sheep didn't bother me as much as the hole in the bottom of the bus that I was sitting over. Gravel road + old rickety slow bus + 2 shephards = cost efficient travel. I was sneezing dust for 2 days. The sight of the falls was totally worth it though. I guess their size has been dramatically reduced as a result of a hydroelectric dam, but I was still impressed!
Also in Bahir Dar, we rented a boat and visited some orthodox monasteries. They are on little islands of Lake Tana (have you pulled out your atlas yet?). Some of them we weren't able to visit as they don't allow women, but the ones we got to see were really neat.I was thankful for being taught all my bible stories and saint history as all the artwork in the monasteries was religious. They depicted the lives of the saints, the life of Christ, or other biblical stories. It was a lot of fun to pick stuff out and many of the monks took extra time to show me stuff when they understood that I recognized some of the stories.
The history was phenominal. Stuff dating back to the 14th and 16th centuries. The Ethiopian Orthodox church has a lot of traditions and it was nice to learn about it and see a lot of history which has formed and continues to guide the culture here.
The next place we visited was Gonder. Its a smaller city built near the base of the Simean Mountains. At one point, it was the capital city. The emperors built castles there. Of course, each emperor had to have his own castle, so there are several. It was neat to see the different things they built including lion cages and turkish baths. There were hawks everywhere - which gave the city a very mideval feel. I can't say that the hawks didn't make me a bit nervous as they swooped down on people quite regularly.
Next was Lalibella. This is the part where transportation got a bit more interesting. We couldn't get a bus from Gonder to Lalibella. So, we got dropped off at a junction. The first bus that came by, tried to charge us 3 times the appropriate amount. Refusing to be swindled, we let that one go by. Sitting on the side of the road in the heat of the day in the middle of Africa for 2 + hrs is really quite the experience. I made friends with a few of the kids as I had some bananas and candy in my bag. They turned out to be good allies when the next bus cam by and they petitionned for our cause. I wish I could describe the scene of Leah pleading for a ride for a reasonable rate. Its one of those moments I won't soon forget.
Lalibella turned out to be my favorite. A smaller town with an incredible history tucked away from everything and thus maintaining a lot of innocence. King Lalibella comissionned the construction of 11 rock hewn churches. How these churches could have possibly been constructed with the technology that existed over 1000 yrs ago is mind blowing. The details of the architecture and intricasies of the connecting cames and caverns are really neat. We hired a really good guide adn spent 2 days exploring. Another day we hired mules and climbed to the top of a steep hill/mtn to another monastery that was carved into the rock. I'be been kind of fascinated by the donkeys since arriving in Africa. Getting to ride a donkey up the hill was pretty cool! In the end, the monastery wasn't as impressive as the view, but the whole experience was worth it.
After a very boring 15 hr drive (only 700 km), I made it back to Addis. It's good to be back. White people are a bit more plentiful here, so we're not as big of a spectacle when we go outside of the compound. I'm not anxious to get on another bus anytime soon, so I think I'll be staying put for a while. I also missed my patients. It's good to be back at work and in some sort of routine. The patients and the workers were very welcoming upon my return, and it was nice. It made me realize how much this has become my home.
As with anywhere, the longer you are there, the busier you seem to be. I've been back at work now for 3 days, and I'm already behind! It's great to be serving in this way though, and I am blessed that every day I get to touch Jesus in a very special way.
My internet time is running out. Thanks for all your emails, prayers and encouragements. I keep you all in my prayers, but please let me know of any special intentions you may have.
God bless!
As with travel in any developing country - part of the fun is getting there! We travelled by public bus mostly. We were fortunate to be pretty lucky as far as achieving our destinations.... eventually. The public busses are big busses that carry 50-65 people, they are a real cultural experience! You can't buy tickets in advance, so you have to get there when the bus depot opens at 5am, find the bus that is going the way you want (don't even think they're labelled), run to get a seat and then wait for the locals to negotiate a price with the driver. If the driver charges too much, everyone gets off the bus in protest. You have to make sure that there isn't another bus going in your direction that the others can get on in the meantime, because your bus won't leave the station until its full. So, after all of that, you wait for them to totally overfill the bus with people and then you actually leave the station around 8am.
Ethiopia is an extremely hilly an mountain filled country, the roads are not in the best condition, the vehicles are old, and around every turn you find a herd of oxen, sheep, goats or monkeys. As a result travel is SLOW!!! The funny part is that if a vehicle hits an animal on the road, the driver has to pay the farmer for the cost of the animal. Needless to say, if you achieve a speed over 60km/hr, you're really cruising.
Our first stop was a city called Bahir Dar. One day we went out to a small village just outside the city to see the Blue Nile Falls. We were trying to be thrifty and hopped on a public bus. Who would have expected a 34km journey to take 2.5 hrs?! It was an experience to say the least! I was sitting between two shephards - hook and all! The smell of the goat/sheep didn't bother me as much as the hole in the bottom of the bus that I was sitting over. Gravel road + old rickety slow bus + 2 shephards = cost efficient travel. I was sneezing dust for 2 days. The sight of the falls was totally worth it though. I guess their size has been dramatically reduced as a result of a hydroelectric dam, but I was still impressed!
Also in Bahir Dar, we rented a boat and visited some orthodox monasteries. They are on little islands of Lake Tana (have you pulled out your atlas yet?). Some of them we weren't able to visit as they don't allow women, but the ones we got to see were really neat.I was thankful for being taught all my bible stories and saint history as all the artwork in the monasteries was religious. They depicted the lives of the saints, the life of Christ, or other biblical stories. It was a lot of fun to pick stuff out and many of the monks took extra time to show me stuff when they understood that I recognized some of the stories.
The history was phenominal. Stuff dating back to the 14th and 16th centuries. The Ethiopian Orthodox church has a lot of traditions and it was nice to learn about it and see a lot of history which has formed and continues to guide the culture here.
The next place we visited was Gonder. Its a smaller city built near the base of the Simean Mountains. At one point, it was the capital city. The emperors built castles there. Of course, each emperor had to have his own castle, so there are several. It was neat to see the different things they built including lion cages and turkish baths. There were hawks everywhere - which gave the city a very mideval feel. I can't say that the hawks didn't make me a bit nervous as they swooped down on people quite regularly.
Next was Lalibella. This is the part where transportation got a bit more interesting. We couldn't get a bus from Gonder to Lalibella. So, we got dropped off at a junction. The first bus that came by, tried to charge us 3 times the appropriate amount. Refusing to be swindled, we let that one go by. Sitting on the side of the road in the heat of the day in the middle of Africa for 2 + hrs is really quite the experience. I made friends with a few of the kids as I had some bananas and candy in my bag. They turned out to be good allies when the next bus cam by and they petitionned for our cause. I wish I could describe the scene of Leah pleading for a ride for a reasonable rate. Its one of those moments I won't soon forget.
Lalibella turned out to be my favorite. A smaller town with an incredible history tucked away from everything and thus maintaining a lot of innocence. King Lalibella comissionned the construction of 11 rock hewn churches. How these churches could have possibly been constructed with the technology that existed over 1000 yrs ago is mind blowing. The details of the architecture and intricasies of the connecting cames and caverns are really neat. We hired a really good guide adn spent 2 days exploring. Another day we hired mules and climbed to the top of a steep hill/mtn to another monastery that was carved into the rock. I'be been kind of fascinated by the donkeys since arriving in Africa. Getting to ride a donkey up the hill was pretty cool! In the end, the monastery wasn't as impressive as the view, but the whole experience was worth it.
After a very boring 15 hr drive (only 700 km), I made it back to Addis. It's good to be back. White people are a bit more plentiful here, so we're not as big of a spectacle when we go outside of the compound. I'm not anxious to get on another bus anytime soon, so I think I'll be staying put for a while. I also missed my patients. It's good to be back at work and in some sort of routine. The patients and the workers were very welcoming upon my return, and it was nice. It made me realize how much this has become my home.
As with anywhere, the longer you are there, the busier you seem to be. I've been back at work now for 3 days, and I'm already behind! It's great to be serving in this way though, and I am blessed that every day I get to touch Jesus in a very special way.
My internet time is running out. Thanks for all your emails, prayers and encouragements. I keep you all in my prayers, but please let me know of any special intentions you may have.
God bless!
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