Re entering the virtual world

Hello all,we are doing fine.Sorry we haven't been in touch, but blogging is difficult from here. So a young intern recently showed us how to set up a VPN and it even let's us sign on to skype. We don't have a headset yet so can only do instant messaging. We just returned home from a millineum celebration at the Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital. It was a big deal and Dee and I were the first two to donate blood. Lots and lots of speeches in Amharic and then they asked me to speak, with no notice, so my extemporaneous skills were put to the test to speak on behalf of Clinton Foundation. I think it went OK. Anyway we went there at 9:30 and finally left at 2:00 before the lunch of huge chunks of raw meat was served. So now we are home having a fresh mango pineapple frappe. One thing we did get when we arrived was a blender and it was worth the effort.

Yesterday we visited some young girls, 12-18 who live in a really disgusting neighborhood who have received training about children’s rights and go and confront parents and others who beat their children or treat them badly in other ways. You would not believe how delightful they are. We plan to support their work.

As you may know, it rains like mad here from May to September, but especially August. You wouldn't believe it. Our street is a mud lane and the other night we went out to dinner with a friend who has a car at 6:30, right when the most intense rain storm I have ever seen was starting. We had to walk three blocks to get to him, cause he would have gotten struck and we were soaked to the skin even with umbrellas. Then the restaurant had a leaky roof so we had to move our table around and then when we got home the wind had blown the rain under our doorways. What a night.

Each morning we are awakened at 4:30 am by the preaching over loud speakers from the local orthodox church, in ancient Ge’ez, the precursor to Amharic, or by the call to prayer from the mosque. Then it is non-stop until about 8 am. Oh, I also forgot the siren a the fabric factory that goes off evey hour beginning at 5:00 to make sure people get to work on time. But there are also the birds singing, the donkeys braying and the sheep and goats bleating. As I leave our house and ride my bicycle to work, the big paved road we call Lakeside Dr. (they don’t name streets here) is full of others on bicycles. And then there are the NGO vehicles, big white land cruisers and smaller pickups, driving very fast and aggressively and honking all the time. There are also little blue and white minibuses (like a VW bus) that cost 1 Birr, 20 sentum to ride (13 cents US) and Bajages, (little 3 wheeled motor cycle with covered bench seat made in India) for the same price. There are also lots and lots of people walking. The country people are all barefooted and you would not believe the loads that the women carry. When they are in a hurry, they simply run. You can’t believe it. No wonder so many great runners are from Ethioia. We also see lots of two wheeled donkey cart with huge loads and as I ride, there are people living and farming along side the road next door to office buildings. No, it is not Kansas anymore.

Work is a little of a struggle. We only have power about half the time and my internet connection is not working about half of that time. I don’t know how anything gets done here. The Amhara region has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country (about 7% overall) and the highest rates of Malaria. Having said that they are making progress. One of the favorite sayings here is kas ba kas, unculal begrew yehedal. Or little by little the egg grows legs and can walk. I use it all the time to describe my efforts to learn Amharic or Amhareyna in their tongue and it makes people laugh a lot. It took me a week just to learn how to say it.

Anyway, my job is to help the head of the health bureau improve the capabilities of the 16 hospitals in the region. They are really struggling. They are not places that you or I would want to seek care. Some are very close, within hours, some are very far, a two day trip. Not everyone has email and most are political appointees. The other challenge is that no one uses a calendar, so if I want to see someone, I have to go sit in their waiting room and they take people as they come except that “jumping the line” is just fine here.

Today we will attend an end of the millennium celebration at the hospital. This country has been celebrating their millennium (according to the Coptic calendar) for the past year (2000) and this August is the final month of celebration (their year runs 13 months from September 11 to September 10). We just returned home from the millineum celebration at the Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital. It was a big deal and Dee and I were the first two to donate blood. Lots and lots of speeches in Amharic and then they asked me to speak, with no notice, so my extemporaneous skills were put to the test to speak on behalf of Clinton Foundation. i think it went OK. Anyway we went there at 9:30 and finally left at 2:00 before the lunch of huge chunks of raw meat was served. So now we are home having a fresh mango pineapple frappe. We have lots of mango One thing we did get when we arrived was a blender and it was worth the effort.Next Saturday the frenghi (foreigner community) will celebrate with the local community. We have asked the girls I mentioned above BIRHAN TESFAW (A Glimmer of Hope) to come and dance. We think maybe we can generate some support for their work.

President Clinton visits next week, so all work in the office in Addis is focused there. Chickens with their heads off comes to mind. We just found out a good friend of ours Dennis Walto has been appointed Africa director for save the children and will be based in Addis Ababa. I worked with him in Albuquerque. OK enough for now. Hope you are well. On Thursday the 7th we take off for a visit to tel Aviv, Jerusalem and then Dahab, on the Sinai penninsula to dive with Desert Divers on the red sea. It is supposed to be incredible.

Below are a couple of emails we sent to family when we only had email:

_____________________________________________________________

5/29/2008

Hi,

Ethiopia and Bahir Dar are awe-inspiring and beautiful! We are still pinching ourselves and wondering how we ever got to live in this incredible place on beautiful Lake Tana. The lake is Ethiopia’s largest and its waters are the source of the Blue Nile, which flows from here thru Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean. And the people – oh God’s people never cease to amaze me. They are extremely friendly, sometimes uncomfortably affectionate (ha ha), and always solicitous of visiting with us. And already everyone in Bahir Dar is looking out for us so that all of our experiences are good and nothing bad happens to us! Wish we could return the favor, but we can barely say good morning in Amharic!

We’re well aware, of course, that all is not beautiful here in Ethiopia, but for now we’re awe struck by this ancient and beautiful place.

At this moment Charlie is at his new office (and everyone at CHAI is excited with the fact that Dr. Asrat has given him an office) and I’m waiting for the new boss to arrive from the U.S. so that I might go to work in the HIV/AIDS Rural Initiative Education program. They said he’s graduating and then will come. So today I spent the morning at the huge market and now I sit here exhausted - writing and listening to monkeys outside our room at the beautiful Tana Hotel. A storm in brewing and it’s nice and cool! We’ve arrived just in time for the rainy (and we’re told muddy) season.

Seems like the entire country is under construction – and everyone says it is! While there is still a lot of anxiety about the government, it seems to be opening up to outside businesses and everyone we talk to is excited about it. We’ve been told that 40% of the population is under 20 and government universities are abundant. I just met a couple of young students this morning while at the market and had a juice (which is magnificent here) with them. They told me they don’t have to pay for university, but when they finish and go to work the government will extract their fees from their paycheck till it’s paid for. I asked if it was an interest free loan, but couldn’t ferret that one out. The young man did say “I can’t go anyplace, even to America to visit my friend, until that debt is paid.”

As vegetarians, we were so happy to be coming to a place where fasting (which is practiced widely here) means NOT EATING MEAT!!! YEAH Fasting is done every Wed. and Friday and then numerous holy days throughout the year for a total of 250 days a year of NO EATING MEAT. HOWEVER, during the first week in Addis Abba (which means new flower) we kept asking for fasting food and everyone said no, not now. We finally learned that during the 40 days of lent everyone fasts so the day after Easter all fasting is stopped for 50 days and everyone is eating gargantuan amounts of meat – any kind of meat, and much of it raw!!!! Lucky us to arrive during this unique time of year!

NOT

After only a week in Bahir Dar we found a home to rent and will be moving in next Tuesday. We’ll be living in the housekeeping quarters until the daughter of the owner sits for her final exams for university – then she will move out of the big house and we will move in! It will function as a Guest House for CHAI (Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative) staff and visitors so it’s larger than what we need and nicer too! If you get a wild hair to trek to the horn of African you have a bed and spectacular place to visit with us ANYTIME!

I’m embarrassed to say we tried every hotel in Bahir Dar before finally settling in here at the Lake Tana Hotel – every other place we tried we couldn’t sleep – either bugs, noise, or the bed was so bad we had to sleep on the floor! After 3 nights of no sleep, I was beginning to think we just might be too old for this. But persistence (and moving around) paid off and we’re in heaven here for the next week.

Yesterday was a huge celebration of the 17^th anniversary of the overthrow of the Soviet backed Derg! We attended several celebrations where coffee ceremonies were performed and it is simply beautiful!

We’ve spent an afternoon hiking up to the Blue Nile falls (and still can’t believe it), spent morning visiting some of the islands on the Lake where ancient monasteries and monks are and still live (since the 16^th century). Some restoration of the paintings has taken place over the years so were in remarkable condition – these islands are like visiting another place and time! At 2 of the islands I had to stay on the boat as women are not allowed. I was told the monks wish to live holy lives and do not wish to be tempted. When I asked what if they were gay and were attracted to my beautiful Charlie they looked at me askance! JUST KIDDING – I didn’t really say that, but I thought it!!! Ha ha

Lalibela, Gonder, Aksum, and the Simien Mountains await! They’re all just a few hours from our new home in Bahir Dar – GOOGLE THEM YOU’LL BE AMAZED!

The birds of Ethiopia are A M A Z I N G!!! The African Fish Eagles, African Hoopoe, pelicans, superb starling (so beautiful), Cinnamon chested bee eater, and paradise flycatcher abound. We’ve been so startled by how abundant and diverse the bird life is here we had to buy a bird book!

The internet is abysmal so if you don’t hear from us that is why. I’m typing this off line on 5.29.08 so check the date you receive it and know that when you do receive it – it is TRULY A MICRACLE!

Tell everyone hello (and share this) from East Africa and please know that while we’re enjoying ourselves immensely and starting to build friendships here, WE MISS YOU and look forward to breaking bread together next year and catching up on one another’s journeys. Please email us from time to time about what’s happening on your journey and we’ll catch up whenever possible. Charlie is working on getting internet service in our new home, but we still don’t know what that’s like yet!

Love & Peace,

Dee & Charlie

THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED

In

THE CRADLE OF HUMANITY

ETHIOPIA

July, 2008

TIME

A few years ago, a friend and I were discussing different cultures and in that conversation I commented that time is such a cultural thing. She responded by saying “No, Dee, time is NOT cultural – time is time!” I’ve been thinking of my sweet friend a lot lately – and laughing!

The Ethiopian calendar, based on the Coptic calendar, is divided into thirteen months, each thirty days long except for the last, which is only five or six days (depending on whether it is a leap year). As you probably remember – they just celebrated the New Millennium last year – well, the celebration actually started last Sept. 8, and continues to this day!

Unlike our western calendar based on the Gregorian calendar ( July 14, 2008) today in Ethiopia is July 7, 2000! And while I am writing this at 10:30AM (western time) it is 4:30 (Coptic time). One Lonely Planet author wrote “Time is expressed so sanely in Ethiopia that it blows most travelers minds! What I think he meant is time begins when the sun comes up (6am) and one hour after the sun goes down, it’s 1 o’clock again. There is no AM or PM it is simply “in the morning” or “in the night.”

All of this makes for interesting fun when filing out an expense report with dates such as 30 May 2000, on the receipt but we put 07 June 2008 on the report! It also makes for a lot of confusion in conversations should we fail to clarify a meeting time. A typical conversation might go something like this: “Let’s meet for coffee in the morning, okay?” “Yes that would be good. Maybe 2:30, is that okay for you?” We stand confused trying to count on our fingers what time that is while the onlooker laughs. Did you figure it out? It would be 8:30AM for us.

In summary, the Ethiopian calendar is 7 ½ years behind the Gregorian calendar. The good news for me is I am now 49 years old (again)!!!!! YEAH

PRIESTS AND RELIGION

Orthodox Priests are everywhere in Bahir Dar and it is common, while walking down the street to see an Ethiopian walk up to the priests and bend down before him to demonstrate their humble stature. I’m told that what the priests does then is give his blessings and permit the person to kiss the crucifix which they proudly hold in their right hand. What most priests have in their other hand is a chira – long strands of horsehair bound together on a decorative metal handle which is used to swat away the flies. I need a chira - and probably one of the beautiful crosses also.

I was going to the market with my new friend, Astor, and we passed a priest sitting on the ground with his cross and chira. Astor kind of acknowledged him with a small bow but kept on walking away (rather rapidly). I know that Astor is Orthodox, so I asked her why she did not stop for his blessings and she said “because I have on pants today and they don’t like women wearing pants.” Some things never change!! Ha Ha

Faith is a very part of everyday life here in Ethiopia and the Protestants that we have met seem to be very anti-Orthodox as far as I can tell. It all looks very familiar to what we experienced in the Philippines between the Catholics and Protestants. And, not surprisingly, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church considers itself superior to all other religions, as well as all other forms of Christianity so its response to protestant churches is rather – shall we say negative!

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church still carries a lot of clout with the people and government and is regarded as the guardian of the ancient traditions – and I do mean ancient! The Aksumite Kingdom was first written of sometime in the 1^st century AD, but had such great influence at that time that it is believed to have come to power long before then. New archaeological evidence hints that it (Aksumite Kingdom) may have emerged as early as 400BC. And Ethiopians know their history! Fortunately for us, most people are anxious and willing to share that knowledge and their pride shines through as they do so.

One last important note and religion. While I could rattle on about Ethiopia’s 14 saints (which are pretty interesting) I cannot fail to share with you that according to Ethiopian tradition, none other than the ARK OF THE COVENANT is here - in Aksum! It is believed to sit in Aksum in the church of St. Mary of Zion. Don’t jump on a plane and come over here to get a peek though as it is carefully guarded in a chapel and just one specially chosen guardian has access to the Ark. It’s believed that many the unfortunate onlooker has “burst into fire” just trying to get closer so we’ve decided to keep our distance and leave that adventure up to Harrison Ford!

SACRED TREES & TRADITIONAL BELIEFS

The Adbar tree is a traditional sacred tree. It is carefully tended and incense is often burned underneath it. Sacrifices are made to the tree, but I’m not sure what that means. So while Christianity and Islam are the preponderance of the population (45% and 35%), everyday conversation is helping us understand that there are still many traditional believes and practices at play. Last night at dinner a young man told us that Lake Tana is filled with devils. He said he knows that because, while he’s never seen one, he has heard them talking many times while swimming in the lake.

To glimpse a bit of Orthodoxy I’ve chosen to share with you, from Notes from the Hyena’s Belly by Nega Mezlekia the authors telling of a devout woman that lived on his family compound. He says he cannot really recall why she lived there with his family, but:

“Ms. Yetaferu was an Orthodox Christian, like us. She believed in the sanctity of the Orthodox Christian Church and in its superiority over all the other churches that had followed in its footsteps. But most of all, she believed in the saints and their ability to mediate or intervene on behalf of parishioners who found themselves at odds with Christ. If one needed any kind of help, she was convinced, one could always appeal directly to the saint – for rains, say, or a good harvest – and the saint would deliver, unbeknownst to Christ. After all, there were far too many saints for Christ to keep track of.

Like us, she also worshipped the Adbar – the traditional sacred tree of the family. The huge tree rooted in our front yard was like no other tree in the compound; its roots needed frequent watering, and incense and ood needed to be burned under its huge trunk. She made sacrifices before the Adbar at the beginning of each month, and knew to make only small request of the Adbar, for the sake of expediency.

What annoyed Dad most was how she worshipped, with equal fervor, the spirits of her ancestors. The old woman burned incense and ood behind her door and invited the spirits to sneak in, camouflaged by the smoke. Her Wukabi, or personal spirits, required three days of uninterrupted blessing each month and endless festivities. So Dad tried to get rid of her by wedding her to a solo barroom entertainer and then chasing him out of town, with his new wife and his violin in tow. It didn’t work. What Dad failed to understand was that the woman was married already, to her Wukabi.

Ms. Yetaferu never worked a day in her life – though it wasn’t because she was lazy or loathed work. Everyone knew that she was the first to get out of bed in the morning; that she was the one who prepared the household’s first of three coffee ceremonies each day, waking the neighbors and inviting them to join her; that she read each individual’s daily fortune from the dregs in the mugs, before sending them off to work; and that she never went to bed before the hyenas had reclaimed the town, descending in droves from the mountains like an arms of ants tracking sugar grains. The reason Ms. Yetaferu never worked at all was because there was not a single day in the year that was not sacred to her.

…Every day of the month is assigned to a saint or two; day one of each month is dedicated St. Raguel and the Adbar, day two is St. Samuel’s, day three is St. Libanos’s, and so on. Of course, not all saints are created equal. Indeed, only a few of them are considered saintly enough to warrant an official holiday, preventing the farmer from tilling his land and the carpenter from felling a tree. No fisherman, for instance, can fish on the nineteenth day of any month, because it is St. Gabriel’s day; nor on the twenty-third day, as he has to pay his respect to St. George (after which the local beer is named!!); nr on any one of the other nine days throughout the year assigned to the saintliest of saints. Other individuals have their own favored saints throughout the year, further reducing the number of days they are allowed to work.

Compounding Ms. Yetaferu’s scheduling problems was the fact that some of the saints’ days coincided with spirit days, forcing her to make a grave decision, choosing one over the other. She always placed her Wukabi ahead of any saint, though in some cases she was able to go to church in the morning and return home early enough to reconcile with her spirits. On such days she would close the door and windows of her room and use pieces of rag to plug any crevice that might let in light to avoid detection by the saints while she communicated with her spirits.

All told, Ms. Yetaferu’s holidays, each of which demanded prayers and sacrifices and prohibited doing any form of work, consisted of 263 saints’ days, 52 Sundays, 9 other Christian holidays, 13 Adbar days, 36 Wukabi days (9 some of which coincided with saint’s days) and 12 days to worship her ancestors’ spirits. Altogether in an average year there were 368 consecutive days on which she was not able to work. Alas, the calendar was three days too short for her to complete her prayers.”

I’m sorry that was so lengthy, but I found it so priceless I simply had to share and couldn’t describe it briefly myself. While much of Ms. Yetaferu’s story makes me laugh, it helps me understand some of what I’m seeing.

One day we were in Addis Ababa and I was walking back to the office from lunch just as a service at the beautiful huge Orthodox church across from the office had started. I had been wanting to visit the church so I took this opportunity to mosey up. As I approached there were 4 or 5 ladies (all covered in their white shawls) hanging around the door of this magnificent sanctuary. I’m not positive why they hadn’t entered to worship with everyone else – but I can guess? I excused myself and stepped inside to the horror of these ladies as I could tell by their gasp! I turned around to find them all chattering away at me and pointing to my shoes. YIKES – I had forgotten to take off my shoes!

After bowing and apologizing and stepping outside to take off my shoes, I reentered and sat in the closets empty pew to my left. Well, the chattering began again, but I tried to ignore it and finally it stopped. After about 5 minutes or so I realized I was sitting on the men’s side of the sanctuary! I quietly moved over to the women’s side without looking back at the ladies at the door!

While I doubt I could get an Ethiopian to vouch for me – I join Ms. Yetaferu in her belief that there is not a single day of the year that is not sacred!

LANGUAGE

Amharic is the official language of the country and believed to also be the “language of the angels.” Geez, however, is the language that most daily sermons are conducted in via loudspeaker in every community – and they are DRIVING US CRAZY! Initially I thought we could get used to it and might even find it enchanting - but NOT! It appears to us like the Muslim call to prayer ritual has met its match in the loud and lengthy sermons (1 – 2 HOURS) that begin around 4:30 each morning in Geez. We’re thinking Geez is to Amharic as Latin is to Italian. Many Ethiopians admit that even they cannot understand what is being said by the priest and that they struggle with the microphone blasted sermons.

THE DERG

We’ve learned much about what happened to young and old in Ethiopia during the height of the cold war and how the communist government that came to power during that time, the Derg (or sometimes spelled Dergue), operated. Needless to say it wasn’t pretty. We had met two people, one female one male, who told similar stories of having to flee the country to stay alive. The lady, who now lives in Dallas, was visiting family here and told of her walking from Bahir Dar to the Sudanese border when she was 18 years old, leaving family and everything behind because she and her family knew she would be killed if she didn’t risk this journey!

Nega, in Notes from the Hyena’s Belly, posed a question to himself upon viewing some of the young Ethiopian soldiers during the reign of the Derg – a question that I believe is apropos for us to ponder today: “I couldn’t help wondering what went on in the minds of those young men (soldiers) on the stretchers as the final curtain fell over their brief lives. Did they pass into oblivion confident that they had advanced the international spirit of Marxism-Leninism.

I was used to seeing the dead. … When society deems carnage justifiable, it organizes a parade to celebrate the occasion, heaping praise on the murderers, addressing them as crusaders, martyrs and patriots; it engraves their names on expensive stones and lays their remains to rest in public places, weaving their achievements into the national anthem and placing their likeness on our currency. No one would pause to reflect on what these idols of ours had actually done to claim our respect.”

While Nega’s thoughts are about the “red terror” in his country – I can’t help but feel how true they ring for me today when I read of our young people recruited to fight in the military for “Iraqi Freedom” – I wonder – and I often wonder how we convince our young people that war is worth their very lives. And I weep – I weep when I ponder what our government, and thus we, ask them to actually do to earn our respect.

FGM

As you may know, female genital mutilation, or cutting, is still practiced widely in parts of Ethiopia. While legally women have acquired a relatively equitable position here, I believe the fact that this is still practiced is to let women know, in no uncertain terms, that men still rule. The only purpose of this violence against girls was to please men and subdue women’s sexual appetites (which by the way I’m told it does not work). One doctor put it, “these women are holding back a scream so strong, it would shake the earth.”

The good news is that one of the Clinton Foundation employees, Mary Ann, told us of a friend of hers who worked diligently with the Orthodox Church in the Amhara region (where we live) about five years ago to engage them to participate in stopping this practice – and guess what? THEY DID IT! We have had other conversations with locals/friends here in Bahir Dar that confirm that the church was highly instrumental in helping to abolish FGM in this area.

LUCY

Most of you know LUCY – discovered Nov. 30, 1974, right here in Ethiopia! She was a new species and walked on two legs 3.2 million years ago and earned Ethiopia the title of the CRADLE OF HUMANITY.

You may or may not know, however, several new discoveries have been made since then that prove Lucy may not be the oldest; Another find in Kenya dates 6 million years ago and a find in Chad dates 6 – 7 million years ago.

So there you have it – but maybe tomorrow an 8 million year old find will be discovered here in Ethiopia – that’s what they’re hoping for!

WEATHER

We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season and being desert rats we are once again AMAZED at just how hard and long it can actually rain! And there really is a winter here in Ethiopia. While the days are mild (usually low 70’s) the nights are down in the 50’s and with the rain every night it is quite COLD! For those of you who know me well and know that I believe I have a stuck thermostat - this is why you haven’t heard me complaining about the heat - yet!

BEAUTIFUL LALIBELA

We first learned of Lalibela from some old Save the Children friends from Albuquerque as they were married their years ago and named their first daughter Lalibela – beautiful, huh? We got to see it for ourselves a few weeks ago.

In the 16^th century a Portuguese wrote about Lalibela: “I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more…but swear I by God in whose power I am, that all that is written is the truth, and there is much more than what I have written, and I have left it that they may not tax me with its being falsehood.”

He had come upon 11 medieval rock-hewn churches carved down into volcanic rock which is now a World Heritage site and ranked among one of the greatest religious historical sites in the Christian world. Scholars believe they were built during the rein of King Lalibela (12^th or 13^th century) who had, for awhile been exiled in Jerusalem. He vowed to build a new holy city upon his return to Ethiopia, as the Muslim’s had invaded Jerusalem at that time. And he did just that – there’s the River Jordan, Calvary church, the tomb of Adam, etc… The most famous and beautiful, I think, is the Bet Giyorgia (meaning the place of George) who is one of the patron saints of Ethiopia. Do yourself a favor and Google Lalibela – it’s simply breathtaking!

I feel so blessed to have learned to laugh constantly, love unconditionally, and live without fear.

Seulam,

Dee