I can't believe that I have been in Ethiopia for almost two weeks! During my time here in Ethiopia I am again impressed with the resiliance of the Ethiopian people. Their lives are hard, often really hard. Yet, inspite of it all or maybe because of it all they always welcome you with a smile. I am grateful for the individuals that I have met in Ethiopia and the lessons they teach me.
We have been back in Addis for a few days now and we have been busy. The group has been divided up and given assignments each day at the three educationa support centers (Kid's Hope Gullele, Kid's Hope Alemgena, and PATH) and our vocational training center SSCM. Some of us helped with art classes, other volunteers helped witht the medical team as they did medials on the children in our prgram and others provided business traiing to aspiring entrepreneurs. Here are a few pictures of our work.
Demitrios from YTH Gullele
Merkato (Africa's largest outdoor market)
More kids from LiGA School
The last few days have been extremely busy. While working in Gindo the group divided up in to three groups. One group ran an open clinic in Gindo for anyone who wanted to see a doctor or dentist. Volunteers worked alongside local clinic staff as doctors, nurses, pharmacists etc. Many, many people saw a doctor for first tiem in their lives. Here in Ethiopia there is one doctor for every 50,000 people. Another group spent time with the children at the BEKA- Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Center. This center provides educational, nutritional, emotional and sanitation support for 20 children and their families/guardians.
I was with the third group. We were responsible for constructing a fence around a piece of land that was donated to our local project partner by the government. Once the land is fenced, Canadian Humanitarian will work with BEKA to build a education support center. This new center will give us the space to expand out program in Gindo Town to include 50-75 orphaned and vulnerable children. If there is one thing that I learned very quickly while building the fence it is that Ethiopians are tough. Not knowing the prpoportions or technique for mixing cement, we hired some locals to help mix cement while others volunteered hauling it to secure the fence posts.
After 4 days of work, a lot of sweat and a little blood (from the barbed wire) we had a 2 meter high barbed wire fence, a total of 200 meters long. I sure am glad that someone else will be building the BEKA Center.
After a few days in Addis to get over jetlagg, exchange money and work at LiGA School, we travelled to Gindo Town, about 3 hours south west of Addis. During the bus ride down to Gindo the group really started to gel. We have a TON of work to do when we arrive so it is great that everyone is working well together.
Along the way we were able to see the huge contrast between urban and rural Ethiopia. I thought it would be nice to get away from all the traffic in Addis. Little did I know...
The first project we visited is LiGA Primary School. Over 100 children atttend pre-school and kindergarden here. Our goal to help the two physicians and the one dentist do medical and dental check-ups on all the kids. Easier said than done.
Volunteers helped take height and weight of each child. The kids were all quite healthy with only minor interventions needed.
I am finally in Ethiopia. From Calgary we flew to London and from London on to Addis. Yes, the over 24 hours of straight travelling was worth it. The whole team, staff and volunteers are now together. As we drove from the airport to what will operate as home base for the next two weeks, the Weygoss Guest House, this is the scene before me. It is good to be back.
I am off to Ethiopia again. I can't wait to be back in that beautiful country. It has been over a year since I was last there in Oct 2010. The projects have grown and I look forward to seeing all the kids and how they are doing. I am also anxious to meet the volunteers they seem like a pretty committed group.
