The last two weeks have been very full. Time has flown by and I can’t believe it’s the middle of January already! My friends Erinn and Sarah from Canada have been visiting. It’s been great to have them here and to show them around. January 7th we celebrated Ethiopian Christmas. We went to Christmas Eve mass at the compound and celebrated with the patients. It was a very beautiful celebration. Everyone was in good spirits and the music at mass was very lively. The compound was beautifully decorated; each room had made its own stable out of hay. It was nice to introduce the girls to some of my favourite patients and have them see a little bit of what I’ve been doing these last months.
Christmas day, we were invited to Hailu’s family for dinner. We were very honoured to be their guests as they had killed a goat for the feast. Needless to say the food was incredible, and it was very nice to be a part of their family celebration. We were also invited to a smaller gathering of boys that Hailu works with. These boys used to live on the street, but have been sponsored by a German organization which offers them a place to live and schooling. Hailu works with them to offer social support and counselling in varying degrees. They prepared a lovely meal that we shared with them and then played some ping pong and foosball. By the end of the day, it was very reminiscent of Canadian Christmas as we were so full of food; we fell into our beds with hardly a word.
The next day, we set out on some travel. We decided to head south this time as I had never been. I was excited to show the girls some more of Ethiopia and have them experience some of the pleasures of 3rd world travel for themselves! As usual, getting there was half the fun, and I will be forever grateful for the effectiveness of the Canadian transport system! We were disappointed to encounter that our guide book was quite out of date. It led us astray many times. One day we got off the bus, and following the advice of aforementioned guide book, walked 3km to the nearest resort along ‘beautiful Lake Langano’. At the end of the road, we discovered an abandoned former hotel. It reminded me of a bad horror film, and I was grateful that we had set out early on this venture and it was the middle of the day. So, we walked the 3km back to the main road to seek out some transportation. While I have never hitch hiked in Canada, this was my second experience in Africa. Really, we were left with no other option. Thankfully, we were welcomed into the back of the truck of a very friendly coffee salesman. He brought us safely to the next town and gifted us with 1kg of coffee. Needless to say, we never did see ‘beautiful Lake Langano’. Maybe I’ll try again another time!
It’s good to be back in Addis again though. Things here are very familiar to me now, and I miss the work and the patients I have grown to love when I am away. This week everyone is busy preparing for Epiphany. It is a big feast here, and I am excited to see all the festivities. Since the majority of people here are Orthodox Christians, most public celebrations centre around faith. For this feast, the priests from each church bring the tablets (that are usually kept in the holy of holies in the church) with the 10 commandments written on them, in procession down the streets. They are all gathered at a special place prepared in a large park where everyone congregates and there is a vigil filled with singing and dancing for a whole day. The following day, the tablets are processed (again with singing and dancing) back to their sacred places within the churches. I am anxious to see all of this, and hope to give you a more complete report following the festivities.
The longer I am here, the more the everyday things become routine, and I am able to process a little bit more of some of the political and social things that occur. I’ve started to try to pay more attention to the news and read a newspaper now and again (when I can get a good one in English). A few months ago, a project sponsored by some of the Christian aid organizations as well as UNICEF, embarked on a mission to count the street children in the central part of the city. They did an extensive canvas of central Addis, and contrary to the government claims of 4000 street children, they counted well over 11 000. Following the publication of this report, the government was obviously very embarrassed. To rectify the situation, they hired busses and trucks, and over the past few weeks have been loading up the street children and taking them to ‘rehabilitation camps’ outside of the city. Since there are several agencies here in Addis that have been working FOR YEARS to improve the conditions for children living on the streets, I can’t imagine that this is an effective solution to the problem of childhood poverty and homelessness!!!
Please continue to keep the poor in your prayers!
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