Oh yes, wait a minute mister postman

04/04/2013

Forgive me for it has been some time since I last blogged! Nonetheless plenty has been going on. Upon my return from Langano I was pleased to receive a parcel from home, well two to be precise as they had to be split to be under the required weight for air mail. Post is somewhat unusual here because not many people have postal addresses, the use of PO Boxes is common though and I was able to provide a PO Box address which belonged to a fellow volunteer to my sister so she could send me a surprise.

My anticipation waiting for the parcels to arrive was evident and I was so excited to receive them that I opened them in the post office, after paying 10Birr for the privilege of them being given to me over the counter.

I burst open the first box and found it full of materials to use;

21 Paintbrushes

1 Set of 12 watercolour paints

1 pack of Easter themed paper chains

1 A6 notebook

2 A5 notepads

4 Magic painting books (just add water to reveal the colour)

4 Colouring books

1 Pack of playing cards

4 Dice

4 USB memory sticks

36 Mini felt tips

More about how I have put these to use will follow in future blog posts.

To my delight the second box was full of home comforts and personal treats;

1 Large bag of marshmallows

1 bag mini eggs (saved for Easter weekend)

6 Hot chocolate sachets

11 pairs of ear plugs

1 box of Mikado chocolate sticks

A bag of green tea bags

A bag of Tetley’s tea (for the benefit of the other volunteers)

4 Melody pops

1 bag of Jellyatrics (like jelly babies but old people)

3 of my nail varnishes from home

2 packs of face wipes/make up remover

2 bottles of eye drops

3 DVDs to keep me amused

A great stash of goodies!

I have managed to share a few bits, ration some others and certainly made use of it all. I was particularly comforted by these things because my sister included some little notes on certain items to explain their purpose of being included which added a personal touch. I was also coming down with Tonsillitis so having these home comforts made me feel a little better about being ill and of course the tea and hot chocolate helped to soothe my sore throat.

I now have less than 2 weeks left in Ethiopia; the packages have helped to keep me going and also made me anticipate returning home even more than before. I know a lot of thought and coordination went into getting these things to me and I am so grateful that the effort was made (and that they arrived unscathed, sadly some other volunteers have had parcels gone missing en route).

I’ll be re-using the packaging to pack some trinkets to bring home with me so I making sure everything has been made use of and not going to waste!

Kx

I like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain

22/03/2013

As the title suggests I am a fan of cocktails and spontaneity in the rain, only one of these two things have occurred here in Hawassa!

When I arrived I had a weather discussion with my host father, in which he assured me that the months I am spending here are dry months and there will be no rain. Much like the ‘seasons’ in the UK this has not held true.

Of course when it rains here it actually pours, you get the whole shebang not just a few trickles. It comes down heavy and fast causing everyone to scarper to the nearest shelter. One day I waited long enough for it to be lighter so I could walk home, after all our skin is waterproof, but a couple of minutes into the journey the heavens truly opened and I joined the locals in sheltering until it passed.

This is the view I had while I sheltered; the bajaj drivers had abandoned their vehicles to stay dry!

This was my drowned rat state when I returned home in the rain

I did actually come prepared for rain, I have some rubber flip flops which are more suitable for rain than my other shoes, and I have a rain mac with me. The key to making use of these things is to actually have them with me when the weather turns which so far has not happened. It is so unpredictable, the majority of the day could be glorious, and then late afternoon/early evening it turns entirely. The beauty of it is watching the sky change colour like a chameleon to the mood of the weather, and seeing the area around you light up by the flashes of lightening.

This is the weather rolling in over Lake Hawassa, the image is not perfectly clear as there was no light other than the lightening for the shot.

The best part of this weather, for me, is getting home, drying off, feeling a chill and putting on something warm - it causes a real nostalgia of the UK (and I hear that even in mid-March the UK is being ravaged by cold weather and snow). Even better is the sound of the rain plinking on the tin roof while I drift off to sleep like a melody that drowns out any other noise that would normally disturb me.

The interesting part of it all is that in the mornings after the rain, you would barely know it had happened. There is not a puddle in sight and the ground is barely damp, whether it is soaking in or evaporating in the heat I am not quite sure. One thing that is certain is in the days leading up to the storms the heat is scorching, and once the storm has passed the temperature comes down to a bearable level again.

Kx

Lake Langano

21/03/2013

On Saturday 16^th March we made our way to Lake Langano as part of our Mid-Phase Review (MPR) and to participate in the VSO Ethiopia conference – the first to take place in 3 years. We were fortunate that our MPR could be pushed back a couple of weeks so that it overlapped with the conference. It allowed us a 5 day break to enjoy some time together and we were reunited with the other ICS volunteers who are based in Addis Ababa.

Lake Langano

Lake Langano is a picturesque area, the large lake is inviting for those that want to swim and the water is considered to be ‘safe’ - although it is murky brown in colour it is refreshing. I only swam once, finding myself busied with other things and missing the opportunity to go again, the thing I noticed most was that the lake itself does not get very deep until you are considerably far from the shore, this is a benefit for the few who were not confident with swimming although it could hinder your attempts at trying.

Sunday was the start of our MPR, we spend the day together as a full ICS team, around 40 of us in total, discussing various things about our placements and our experiences so far. Across the Hawassa and Addis team there is a huge variety in sectors covered by our placement work so it was good to hear what the other volunteers have been doing in the last two months.

The full VSO ICS team in Ethiopia, complete with VSO Ethiopia conference t-shirts

Monday marked the start of the VSO Ethiopia conference. All the VSO volunteers in Ethiopia gathered, some have been here for years; others are just starting their permanent placements. Again, the areas covered are vast, from Family GP to education and much more, I noticed that many of the long term volunteers were ‘skilled’ in certain sectors and were either here in their ‘retirement’ time or here to gather some experience to launch their careers. We were referred to as the youth Volunteers (although I soon found out that I am roughly the same age as many of the long term volunteers and was often asked ‘why are you here as a youth volunteer and not a regular one?’ – I am not sure I have an answer for that at the moment!). We did not participate for the full day on Monday as we were finishing our MPR off, however we re-grouped with the conference for a session that they called ‘Open Space’.

The purpose of the Open Space session was for people to share some skills they have with other people. On the first day, some of the options were; reflexology, photography, face painting, bird watching, and storytelling – can you guess which one I got involved with? Face painting! I was the first guinea pig, being painted as a tiger and we soon branched out to taking it in turns to paint each other and try new things. Here are some of the art works created:

Tuesday was a day of being integrated with the conference, we were all mixed up into small groups and asked to discuss various case stories and scenarios which reflect moral issues within volunteering – it was interesting to see how our short time here compares with the experience of the other volunteers. The afternoon brought another Open Space session and this time I offered my origami skills (though I had not brought my paper to the lake with me which made me kick myself). I only had a few people join me, but it was enough to be able to share the method of folding a Japanese Warrior Hat, Water Bomb (Cube) and the perfect Paper Aeroplane. My claim to fame here is that the CEO of VSO Ethiopia came to learn from me and was particularly excited about the paper aeroplane!

Each evening we had buffet food and some spare time to socialise, although some of our efforts to enjoy the scenery were scuppered by the frequent storms we got each night. In particular on Tuesday night, we sat watching the storm form around us, with lightening illuminating the lake and thunder rolling in before the heavens opened and we huddled for shelter. On the last night we had a barbecue of sorts, and a bonfire but the weather rained on our parade and we retreated inside to party the night away before we headed back to our respective placement areas on Wednesday.

Kx

There is no place like home

14/03/2013

It was an oversight not to pack my ruby slippers for my trip, I am not sure that my flip flops can be considered a good substitute. There have been a couple of occasions where I have wished I were Dorothy, being able to click my heels and return home. Alas I am still on the yellow brick road, with a few weeks remaining until I stumble back to Kansas.

Much like the venture to Oz, I hoped this trip would bring me courage, strengthen my heart and feed my brain, I can safely say that so far all of these things, and much more, have transpired.

As I anticipate returning home, because there really is no place like it, I turned to my fellow volunteers and asked them to finish the following sentence;

‘When I get home, I cannot wait to…….’

The survey says;

“When I get home, I cannot wait to bathe, with candles, bubbles and a glass of wine.”

“When I get home, I cannot wait to get into my own bed, with fresh sheets and fluffy pillows.”

“When I get home, I cannot wait to eat bacon.”

“When I get home, I cannot wait to see my mum and my sisters.”

If we were in Oz, no doubt the Wizard would grant these requests, but for the mean time we will make do with chasing the flying monkeys and avoiding the wicked witch.

Kx

Coffee for the community

14/03/2013

This article is written as part of my role within the Media team for the volunteers placed in Awassa, it is published for the VSO ICS program.

On Saturday 16th February 2013, VSO ICS volunteers Habtamu, Jess and Tsion organized a coffee ceremony by Lake Awassa to create awareness of Fiker Behiwot Orphan Children and Youth Association within the community (FBOYA).

FBOYA, it is a member of the national NGOs, licensed by Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Charities and Societies Agency as an Ethiopian Residential Charity. It has 542 members and is the only orphan association in Ethiopia. They represent children and young people who are living with HIV and affected by the epidemic. Their Vision Statement is to have orphan children & youths, who can stand for society free of HIV/AIDS and have strong self-esteem.

One of the goals of the placement program is to raise funds which can be used to support 5 children for a full year. This would include their educational material, books and uniforms etc. The volunteers decided that the most effective way to engage the community would be to hold a coffee ceremony, something which is much revered in Ethiopia.

In the week leading up to the event date they produced cards to distribute which were sold for 5birr each. With the help of all the VSO volunteers in Awassa they distributed all the cards, raising over 2,000Birr and bringing the event to the attention of a large portion of the community.

Picture: Tsion, Habtamu & Jess preparing for the event.

On Saturday afternoon the event was set up with speakers, informational posters, coffee ceremony decoration and people dressed in cultural clothing. During the event quite a crowd appeared, there were around 500 people watching, with more people coming throughout. A traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony took place; fresh coffee beans were roasted and ground whilst incense burned and cups were prepared with sugar. When the coffee was ready it was given out to the crowd with popcorn whilst the different acts performed.

The Youth Campus Club and Eyerusalem Club performed traditional cultural dancing, drama and singing. There was also a solo guitar and singing performance by Laura, a VSO volunteer from the UK.

 

Picture: Dancers performing traditional Ethiopian dance

Picture: Laura singing and playing guitar with Habtamu holding microphones

Most important was the input of the Fiker Behiwot team, discussing the benefits of the organization and the future plans, emphasizing that it needs the help of the community for their vision to be attained. The event was a big success; it has certainly increased the community knowledge of Fiker Behiwot and the VSO presence here in Awassa. The fundraising was a huge triumph, and a great time was had by all.

The team will be continuing to innovate and fundraise during their time with FBOYA to try and meet the set target before their placement ends.

Kx

Global Citizenship Day - Disability

14/03/2013

This article is written by Alice Duckett as part of her role within the Media team for the volunteers placed in Awassa, it is published for the VSO ICS program.

Raising Awareness on Disability in Hawassa

On Thursday 21^st February the VSO ICS Hawassa team held our first Global Citizenship day on disability, throughout our 12 week program we will have four GCDs focusing on issues we have noticed within the local community that we want to challenge.

For this topic the morning activities were held at AESTD – one of the volunteer placements that works with disability. Here four of the volunteers facilitated some learning for the rest of the group; we began the morning with identifying famous people with a disability and then learnt some less obvious ones who suffer with mental disabilities. We then answered a questionnaire which was passed onto the organization for their research; this was to find out more about our experiences and attitudes towards disability. The morning session finished with a quiz where we all learnt some statistics on disabilities within England and Ethiopia.

In the afternoon the team of 18 was split into four groups, these groups went out into the community to work on issues AESTD are currently backing. This included gathering signatures from the people of Hawassa for education and training services for persons with disabilities to be built using the government budget put aside to see that every child has access to primary education. In just a few hours we managed to collect 301 signatures including the manager of The World Food Program.

Kieran Gilberthorpe who helped organize the event said ‘It was great to get the team together to work on issues we are all passionate about, the event was a success and we managed to raise awareness on not only my placement organization but on problems disabled people in Ethiopia face”

To complete the day a small panel of people with disabilities that work with AESTD were taking questions from the volunteers on disability within Ethiopia and what is being done to help them and what frustrations they are facing when working on change.

Written by Alice Duckett

Global Citizenship Day – Gender Equality

14/03/2013

This article is written as part of my role within the Media team for the volunteers placed in Awassa, it is published for the VSO ICS program.

Friday 8^th March 2013 marked the Global Citizenship Day (GCD) on Gender Equality held by ICS volunteers based in Hawassa and International Women’s Day.

International Women’s Day 2013 brandishes the slogan “The Gender Agenda - Over time and distance, the equal rights of women have progressed. We celebrate the achievements of women while remaining vigilant and tenacious for further sustainable change. There is global momentum for championing women's equality.”

The purpose of a GCD is to raise awareness and create topical discussion regarding different global issues. Over the duration of the three month program, four GCDs will be held. This was the second one to take place. Alex, Endalkachew, Fisseha, Kimberly and Laura were responsible for organizing the day. The majority of the event took place at Ebenzer Grace, an orphanage which is also the placement organization which Fisseha is part of.

Their intentions for the day were to provide information to the other volunteers about Gender Equality, discussing it at a global level and bringing it in to Ethiopia. To put the information into context the contrast between the UK and Ethiopia were highlighted. The topics covered included; a brief history of women’s empowerment around the world, information about International Women’s Day, details of Millennium Development Goal 3 – promote gender equality and empower women, key facts from the Global Gender Gap Report produced by the World Economic Forum, African gender issues, excerpts from the National Policy for Women in Ethiopia and role models from the UK and Ethiopia which break ‘gender specific’ expectations.

Following this, the group was split to have segregated male and female coffee ceremonies. It was agreed that having segregated discussions would allow for comfort and confidentiality to ensure that the topics covered were openly reviewed. The men went to another venue to have their coffee ceremony and discussion.

Each coffee ceremony consisted of the ICS volunteers and a couple of guests from the community. It was vital to have people from the community involved to learn the perceptions of gender equality from the people that it matters to. It also ensured that there were a couple of generations involved, and therefore comparisons could be made from the past to current day. Some of the items raised in the discussion included; Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other Harmful Traditional Practice (HTP), how a young woman can develop her self-esteem and self-image in the eye of the community, and what contributions can be made by the male population of Ethiopia to empower their women.

After the debates came to an end, the volunteers regrouped to review and compare the outcome from each group. The general consensus from both groups brought agreement on the importance of changing opinion and improving female status in the community. The female group had in depth and precise information as the community members involved had a breadth of real life scenarios to share. Their stories had a direct and emotive effect on the volunteers. The men had a different perspective on the subjects and also discussed some situations that had been rumored in the area.

As a whole the GCD was informative, it brought a lot of quality discussion and raised several critical issues which proved to be an eye opening for many of the volunteers. For some it has cemented that there needs to be considerably more done to close the gender gap around the world and that education on HTPs needs to be at the forefront.

Kx