I’m sitting writing this in the 5 star “Haile” resort, sipping an expensive macchiato and looking out on an amazing view of Lake Awassa. This volunteer lark is hard work sometimes. I’ve sorted out emailing updates to my blog, so hopefully that will be seeing more activity there over the next few months.
Leaving
I guess the biggest bit of news is that I’ve decided to finish my placement in August. My flight is booked and I’ll be back in the UK on the 3rd August. Home in time for my birthday. It’s been a tough decision, but it is definitely the right one. My main task will be complete by then, and it feels like the right time to be coming home. Ethiopia is a hard place for a “Ferenji” to live and the amount of hassle that you encounter on a day to day basis becomes very tiring. In a way, I don’t like how I have started to react to the hassles- in the beginning, I would just ignore it, but now more often than not it gets to me, and I become angry. And I’m not an angry person. A good friend of mine, Tony, from the US Peace corps left the country very suddenly, and sent an email out to his friends saying his reason for going was “he didn’t like the person he was becoming in Ethiopia”- I really understand exactly what he was feeling. I think if I could have done things differently I would have broken up my stay in Ethiopia, and come home a little bit more, but unfortunately I didn’t really have the funds to do that.
College network
The college network is well underway at last and will be completed by the time I leave. We are in the middle of attaching all the PC’s up and giving the staff access to the internet. It’s been a hard job, and one of the reasons for me deciding to leave early was to help expedite the work. I’ve had nearly a year of waiting for equipment and cooperation from the college, and the only way I could see to get them to cooperate was to give them an ultimatum and a deadline to work towards. And it worked. As soon as they I told them I was leaving, funds became available to purchase all the equipment I needed. There is still quite a lot to be done before I leave, but as Ethiopians like to say “it is possible”. I’ve managed to give them what I believe is quite a sustainable infrastructure- they have redundant firewalls, and a number of backup systems should they run into problems. All that remains now is to get some documentation done, and I will have completed the task that I was given when I arrived in Ethiopia.
Egypt
Just after Christmas, Joanne and I jetted off to Cairo for two weeks in Egypt. It was amazing. We spent a few days in Cairo, visited the Pyramids at Giza and Saqqara, and then headed south to Luxor. We spent a few days cycling round the tombs and monuments that surround the Valley of the Kings on rusty old bikes. After that we went to Alexandria and the Egyptian coast. It was so nice to see the sea again, and also to see Alexandria. My grandfather was in North Africa during the war, and one of the only pictures I have of him from that tome was taken in Alex- we did try to find where the picture was taken, but I’m afraid we had no luck. All in all, it was a truly amazing holiday. It was interesting to visit another African country- Egypt is almost completely the opposite of Ethiopia, so the contrast was refreshing. I must try to get the pictures sorted out and uploaded.
Engaged
Whilst in Luxor, I got down on one knee, and proposed to Joanne, and even more amazingly, she said yes. We have set a date for the wedding- 28th July 2012. We are to be married in Joanne’s local church in Glasgow. I am the happiest man in the world. (And Joanne is the happiest girl in the world – insert by Joanne!)
In Country Training organiser
In February, I was involved in the training of 20 new VSO volunteers. It was a tough 3 weeks, and probably the hardest work I have had to do whilst in Ethiopia, but ultimately it was very rewarding. I had to push myself outside of my comfort zone and do a number of presentations- not something I usually relish, but in the end I found it a lot of fun. It was nice to be there for the new volunteers and offer advice from my experiences in Ethiopia. Not that they all wanted to listen though- they were a tough crowd sometimes. But I shan’t complain- what happens on ICT stays on ICT.
James and Dom
James and Dom arrived in Ethiopia just as I finished the training for the new volunteers. It was great to see faces from home, and we had a cracking week, though the time just seemed to fly by. We visited Aregash lodge in Yirgellem, and Dom and James cameras were glowing white hot from all the pictures they took. We got to see hyena’s at dusk being fed- or what looked like hyena’s in the dim evening light. They might have just been men in hyena costumes for what we could see. Dom and James stayed around Awassa for the rest of the week, and it was so nice to share my life in Ethiopia with old friends. The highlight of the week for me was definitely the trip on the lake to see the hippos – fantastic, definitely the best time I’ve been out on the lake. I think James and Dom had a great time, and I hope that I was good guide for them.
Joanne moves to Awassa
At the same time that James and Dom came to visit, Joanne finished her placement in Addis and moved to Awassa. The VSO were very accommodating, and sorted everything out so we could share my house. It has been so good having this chance to spend a lot of time together in Awassa. And it is so nice not to be doing the trip all the way to Addis on the bus any more. I think I probably have to make that journey only a couple more times before I leave- I won’t miss that at all.
I’m running away to join the circus
Whilst I’ve lived in Awassa, I’ve met some amazing people doing amazing stuff to help their communities, but one of the most inspiring is Mashresha. He runs a circus for poor street kids and orphans. They teach the kid’s circus skills- tumbling and juggling seem to be the major ones, and they then put on performances to raise money for equipment and facilities. They also have a decent small recording studio and are producing some really good music. Food is supplied to the kids that need it. They are some of the best behaved children I have come across in Ethiopia, and their enthusiasm is infectious. We are trying to raise a little money to buy some new mats for them to do the tumbling on before we leave- if you interested in donating something, drop me an email and we’ll work something out.
Getting locked out
The other day I went to leave my office to sort out some network equipment in another building with the electrician, and as I locked up my office the lock broke. Now, there is only one door to my office, and inside the office were my bike, and my bag. And inside my bag were my phone wallet and house keys. I was pretty stuck. So Tadiwos looks at me, with a reassuring look and says “chigger yellum” (no problem) and runs off to get a man with a ladder. Man with a ladder returns, and I’m thinking, what good will that do- there’s no upstairs to my office. Man with the ladder climbs up on the roof, tears off a sheet of corrugated iron, and reappears through the loft hatch. Once inside, he grabs the spare keys off the desk, and opens the door from the inside. Sorted. There is always a way!
Joannes placement comes to an end
Joanne’s placement finishes on the 10th June, and by the middle of August she will be back teaching in Glasgow (providing Glasgow council get their act together, but that’s another story!) It’s strange to think that I’ll be back on my own in Awassa again, but it’s only for just over a month, so I’m sure I’ll cope.
Kenya
As a treat to celebrate the end of Joanne’s placement we have booked a Safari in Kenya for 10 days in June. We will be visiting Amboselli at the base of Kilimanjaro, Lake Nakaru and Masai Mara. Then we move onto Nairobi to catch up with our ex-VSO Kenyan friend, Mary. It’s really exciting to think we’ll get to see so many animals. In a way, it’s been strange living in Africa so long and not to have seen a lot of animals- sure there are monkeys and amazing birds in Awassa, but its quite hard to see wildlife in Ethiopia without doing a lot of hunting. In Kenya, we should see most of the “big 5” – lions, leapord, rhino, buffalo and elephants, with the added bonus of zebras and giraffes! To be honest, the thing I’m most looking forward to seeing is giraffes- I just think they are amazing!
The Future
On my return I’ll be heading back to Woking and staying with Lisa and Ed (Thank-you Lisa and Ed!) for a little while. As my flat is still under rental contract till next February, I’ll be moving up to Glasgow to be with Joanne. I’m looking for some contract work in Glasgow to keep me going, so if anyone knows any contacts on that front, I’d really appreciate it! I still have a plan for a big bike ride next year, but I’ll have to work out how to fund that first. As well as how to pay for a wedding. But, I’m sure together we shall work it all out...
Sorry this has been so long coming- keep an eye on the blog at ride-lots.blogspot.com as I will be trying to update that more regularly.
If anyone wishes to donate some money for the kids at the circus- drop me an email.
Cheers everyone- speak to you all soon, and see you quite soon too.
Your man in Awassa,
Paul
:o)
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