Reflections on the Trip

I’ve been back in the UK now for a few months, and have had time to reflect on my experiences. My six weeks in Mek’ele were amazing, I saw so much in such a short time. The school I worked with was a fantastic institution, and was really making a difference to the lives of many young people in the city. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of the team for a while. Ethiopian culture was fascinating, and the majority of people were warm and friendly (especially when it came to discussing English football).

I can’t finish my blog off without writing about the students at the school. Many of them became my friends by the end of the experience, we had lots of fun which more than drowned out the memories I have of getting frustrated with their cheating/lateness for class (what a hard teacher I was!). The lives of my students were at times both inspiring and depressing, but I glad to say that I felt the former more than the latter. However, there was one student who faced a difficult and life-changing experience in my final week…

The Case of Tekeste: Tekeste was one of the top students in my class, a 13-year old who works hard and is always well behaved. He is quite small (probably a result of not getting enough food whilst growing up) and so he gets teased by his fellow students. I liked him a lot, it was a pleasure to have him in my class. However, he wasn’t present during my last week of school. I was naturally worried as to why he hadn’t been turning up, so I asked his fellow students and the social workers at the school. What had happened soon became apparent – Tekeste’s mother had died of an illness that week.

Whilst this is enough for most young people to have to deal with, this also meant that Tekeste’s future had been dramatically changed. Tekeste does not have any other adult relatives (his father had died previously), and so he was now the oldest in his family. As such, he had the prime role of looking after his four other brothers and sisters. He now had to be the bread-winner, and would have to give up school to work/beg on the streets. Tekeste also had to deal with the fact that he and his siblings no longer had a home – Tekeste’s mother had been paying rent on a small shack, but now there was no money coming in for the accommodation. In the space of a few days Tekeste’s slow but positive climb out of a life of poverty was cut dramatically short. He had gone from receiving a relatively good education and having dreams of becoming a doctor, to having to go back to living and working on the streets.

This is a prime example of just how fragile someone’s escape from poverty can be. It is also an example of the poverty trap – the main reason why Tekeste’s mother was sick was that she was poor. The main reason she couldn’t get the medicines she needed was that she was poor. These barriers to an individual’s development are significant, and a real injustice. It’s a real reminder for me to keep pushing for greater assistance to those in need, and spread the word about what I saw with those back home. On that note…

Life back in the UK: After several days stuck in a hotel waiting to leave Ethiopia, I have to admit that it was great to final make my way back to London Heathrow. However, the difference between life for Ethiopians and for the people who live in my home city of Winchester really hit home. The vast array of items in the shops, the children leaving food just lying around – all normal things to see, but a bit more poignant considering what I had just experienced. It was also a bit depressing to hear what people were talking about (which celebrity has just broken up with her boyfriend, which TV programme they had just watched, etc) – now that I was back in the UK I could fully understand what people were saying, but often I wish I couldn’t!

A particularly bizarre experience was going to an Ethiopian restaurant in London. I ordered the staple food of pancake with lentil sauce (injera and shiro). Whilst the immediate shock was the price (£8 compared to the local Ethiopian price of around 30p), it was perhaps the strangeness of eating such food in the settings of a London restaurant that really seemed strange – a “world away” from what I had experienced.

I hope I’ll keep in contact with some of the sisters and staff at the school, I remember them and the students very fondly. I have no real idea of what the future holds for them, but the certainty is that they will all continue to face many challenges in their lives. I’ll keep them all in my thoughts and prayers, and maybe someday I will see them again – I would certainly like that… Anyway, that rounds off my weblog. I hope that you’ve enjoyed it, and that you’ve found some of the things I’ve written of interest. If you’ve got any questions or would like to contact me please feel free to send an email to schliner[at]talk21.com.

Lots of love and best wishes to you all, take care of yourselves,

Robert

Revolutionary Thinking

This week I did a lesson drawing comparisons between the country information of both Ethiopia and Great Britain. The number one controversy arose from the breakdown of Britain’s different religious beliefs – “how could so many people have no religion at all”?! This seemed like a completely crazy idea to my class, all of which seem to be affiliated to a particular religious group. The next controversy was comparing the economies and human development indexes of the two countries. Many of the students had no idea that Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world (ranked 169 out of 179 countries), and were surprised at how they were even one of the poorest countries in Africa. We looked at the difference in doctors’ salaries, and how a British doctor would often earn more than thirty times the salary of an Ethiopian doctor. The British minimum wage also shocked many of the children – how could the bare minimum a British person earns in an hour be six times more than a waiter in Mekele earns in an entire day (about $1)?

I was really surprised at just how unaware the students were of their economic poverty. Whilst it was not a pleasure to inform the students of just how poor they are in comparison to the economically developed world, many of them seemed to leave the lesson determined to push for Ethiopia’s development. They mostly agreed that leaving Ethiopia to seek higher paid jobs in the West was a bad thing to do – the consensus was that they should all work hard to help Ethiopia have a better future. Anyway, fingers crossed they’ll use their new found awareness in positive ways...

Trip to a local swimming pool - After all of this heavy stuff, it was good to spend our final day together doing something a bit more fun. The school organised a day trip out to a swimming pool on the outskirts of the city, and we all had a good time. I spent most of the morning on the nearby field trying to copy the acrobatic skills of the students, and also joining in with the boys’ favourite past time of wrestling (although most of the time was spent trying to react the wrestling poses of their favourite American wrestlers!). After a very enjoyable day we all returned back to school. I then spent the remainder of the afternoon clearing out my classroom and desk in preparation for...

The Goodbye Ceremony – On Thursday it was finally time to say our goodbyes and finish our work at the school. In true Ethiopian style a big ceremony was laid on for us “guests”, and so Ged and I were treated to songs, dances and poetry readings (and of courses copious amounts of lovely coffee). There was even time for a report from the local “newsdesk” on how our time at the school had gone. We closed off the proceedings with our goodbye speeches, and then made an emotional farewell to the project and the fantastic students. I will miss them all in different ways, and just hope that they will have good futures. With the help and opportunities that the project gives them, they have every chance to go on and be successful.

Cultural Observations of Ethiopia – One thing that has both confused and interested me during my stay in Ethiopia is the different time and date system that is used here. Perhaps most immediately striking is the time difference – Ethiopians start timing the day from sunrise, and so our 06:00 hours is actually 00:00 Ethiopian time. This system seems to make a lot of sense, with sunset occurring around 12 o’clock local time (6pm our time). However, confusion is obviously bound to arise when English-speaking Ethiopians suggest to meet at a particular hour – is Gabreselasie being sensitive to the foreigners’ understanding of time, or is he seriously suggesting to meet at 4am in the morning?!

Another complication is the differences in dates. Not only do Ethiopians start their year at a different time (Ethiopian New Year will take place on the 11th of September), but they also have 13 months! Each of the first 12 months are exactly 30 days long, so another month with 5 extra days is tagged on at the end. Difference number three is that the Ethiopians are 8 years behind the Gregorian Calendar we use. This is the result of a dispute on when exactly Angel Gabriel informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Thus, the current date in Ethiopia is 11/12/01. For a much better explanation of all of this, please check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_calendar

The result of the Ethiopian Calendar is that my journey back to the UK should take 8 years! On that note, I now have to pack my bags and prepare to say a sad farewell to this very interesting country. I’ll write more when I’m back home, but for now lots of love and take care,

Robert

The Afterschool Coffee Club

The last week has been packed full of interesting trips. I’ve been to the countryside to see some rural development projects, visited the houses of some of my students, and have had a trip to Mek’ele’s monument. There’s a lot to tell you all...

After School Visits – Whilst I’ve had plenty of time to get to know my students in the school setting, it’s clear that I’m not seeing the whole picture. The children all come from difficult backgrounds, and yet the school does its best to provide most things for the children within its walls. Thus, after lessons I’ve taken the time to visit the homes of two of my students. The living conditions are very basic (often there are no tables or chairs, and the only form of cooking equipment is a charcoal burner), and the families all seem to live in very cramped spaces.

However, everyone is extremely generous – as soon as I walk through the door I’m sat down and a “coffee ceremony” begins... The ceremony starts with the women roasting coffee beans. Once roasted, the smoky beans are passed under the noses of all present, to ensure everyone appreciates the aroma. After this, the beans are hand ground and then put into boiling water. The result is a lovely, strong coffee (even I, someone who usually shies away from coffee, like it). The coffee is given to the guests, and then incense is lit. This invariably leads to the small single-roomed house becoming engulfed in smoke, but it’s all very lovely! The women of the house will then patiently wait for the guest to say “tuum boona” (“nice coffee”), before they can relax and get back to their regular duties. Coffee ceremonies seem to be a big part of Ethiopian culture, and I’ve certainly enjoyed the chance to get to know families during these coffee-fuelled events.

I’ve been able to visit the students in a home environment mainly due to the work of the Aba Gabremichael Project. The project has meant that the vast majority of the students no longer live on the streets, with most being reconnected with their relatives, or given temporary accommodation at the school. However, there is one group of orphans who have taken matters into their own hands, and are renting a single roomed mud house close to the school. Seven teenage boys live in what they call the “San Siro”, and they have made the place their own – the walls are a bizarre collage of posters of footballers, scantily-clad women and religious icons! They all seem well organised and happy, and support each other very well.

Visit to Mai Zeg Zeg – On Friday the 31st we were very kindly invited to see some of the projects run by the regional Catholic authorities. The vast majority of the day was spent going to see the Mai Zeg Zeg (Spiralling Water) project, which was nothing short of astounding – a word which I don’t use lightly. The project has focused on improving the lives of the people in one rural area outside of Mek’ele. Its primary focus has been on developing the agriculture of the region through the use of water management techniques. The result is that the whole area is green and fertile! This is in stark contrast to the area outside of the project boundary, which is dry and arid. The difference is striking – it’s rare to see the benefits of a project so visually. Needless to say, the locals now have a steady flow of food and income, and their future looks brighter. The project has been such a success that the prime minister of Ethiopia visited it himself recently. It just shows that with a little bit of aid and expertise from charitable agencies, local people can really achieve great things.

Mekele’s Monument – as soon as you enter the city of Mek’ele, you are confronted by a gigantic pillar. Apart from being a very striking part of the skyline, it also has a special place in the hearts of the local Tigrian people. The monument commemorates the role that the Tigrian People’s Liberation Army had in freeing the nation from the tyranny of the DERG regime. The DERG? Just from the name you can tell that this is an unpleasant organisation! The DERG ruled Ethiopia for over 25 years (between 1976 and 1992), and from what I can tell seemed to inflict a lot of pain and suffering upon the Ethiopian people. Whilst calling itself a socialist regime (mainly to ensure that it got weapons from the USSR) it did little for the poor, and brutally clamped down on any opposition groups.

One of the best parts of the monument is found at its base. Amongst various statues is that of Desalegn, a mule who famously transported arms and supplies through enemy lines. Desalegn’s crucial covert activities helped ensure that the Tigrian rebels had the necessary tools to take the fight to the DERG! Today, the former rebels hold key posts in the national government, and seem to be doing a good job in pushing Ethiopia’s development forwards (that is at least what people from national and international aid agencies have told me).

Just one more week to go before my departure from Mek’ele, and I’ve got a lot to fit in. Our last day of teaching is Thursday, so I’ll be spending my time trying to round off the classes and organising an “end of term” trip to a nearby waterfall. On Friday we’ll be off for two days to Alitena (a town further north), and then we’ll make a tearful farewell on Monday the 17th. Expect an update shortly afterwards. For now though, a big Tigrian hug to you all,

Robert

Beatles To the Rescue!

The English lessons continue to go well, and most of the students seem to be really improving. We’ve just about got the grasp of when to use “I’m playing football” and when to say “I play football”... However, there continues to be a group of children who bring out the disciplinarian in me! My new tactic is to make my lessons and teaching style a bit more fun and relaxed. We’ve just studied “Yesterday” and “She Loves You” by The Beatles, and it seems to be paying off! The students and I really enjoy it. Surprisingly, no one seems to know the Beatles in Ethiopia (a far cry from my past experiences in Mongolia, where they’ve even built a statue of the Fab Four), so I’m enjoying the chance to expand the fan base.

This week we’ve also looked at the family, a topic which the students seemed to really get into. However, the lesson brought up some interesting points – I’m surprised that for such a traditional culture many of my students come from divorced families. Perhaps my “sample” of people is a bit skewed, being that the students are all either street children or are from the poorest families in the city, but nevertheless it’s a bit strange. Another thing that grabbed my attention during this particular class is that I’ve noticed the English language can be a bit sexist! One cannot really say “how many sisters and brothers do you have?” or “do you have any daughters or sons?” – the males must come before the females!

Cultural observations – Spend a day as a white person in Ethiopia, and you’ll surely hear at least one child shouting “farangi!” (white person!). The local children are very friendly, and get excited when they see a farangi. They run after our car when we’re driving through the city, and will sometimes jump up and down in excitement when we walk past! Whilst I’m sure it would really grate after a while, I have to say that it’s been lovely to have children follow me around and grab my hand, wanting to talk and play games. They seem happy, and are quick to laugh. The same cannot be said of babies however, most of whom are petrified of whites. Sadly, I’ve brought a few babies to tears!

The Power is On – Newsflash: we’ve had our first two days of consecutive power! Why this change? Well, Mek’ele has been enjoying a period of heavy rain, and thus more electricity is being generated by the hydroelectric plants. If the rain continues, we may soon have the luxury of not having to plan our photocopying and printing well in advance. The only downside would be that we’d have light in the evenings – I’ve grown strangely attached to whiling the evenings away by candlelight...

The street children’s entrepreneurial skills – I take my hat off to one of the street children I work with, who told me that he managed to gatecrash his way into a wedding party. The boy in question found a wedding invitation that someone had lost, and then decided to make the most of this good fortune. Taking on the persona of “Mr Getachew” (the name on the invitation), he went along to the wedding and enjoyed an evening of food, drink and dancing! He was happily recounting how he ate 12 different types of food, including many different types of meat. This was a far cry from his usual existence, in which he cannot afford to meat and works in order to get the leftover scraps from local hotels. Needless to say, “Mr Getachew” didn’t have the appropriate attire to attend the wedding party, arriving in a dirty Manchester United top and sandals. Thus, many people were suspicious of him (although the guard on the door seemed happy just to see the invitation). He said that whilst queuing for food the other guests would stand side on to him, because they were worried about being pick-pocketed! Anyway, “Mr Getachew” said that he loved the evening, and the feeling of just having a full stomach. After eating, he even had the audacity to have a dance with the groom before leaving!

Time for me to sign off again. All the very best from a hot and rainy Mek’ele, take care of yourselves,

Robert

Ups and Downs

On reflection, this week has been a bit of a learning curve. Whilst it was fun, my students were leaving me tired and stressed at the end of each day. I’m just starting to know my students, and whilst some are really progressing, other seem only preoccupied with getting top grades. Thus, there is an unbelievable amount of cheating and copying that goes on! Many of the students really struggle to write full sentences in class, but when looking at their written homework assignments everything suddenly becomes near-perfect. The students either get their friends in the advanced class to write for them, or copy whole letters from books (sometimes with hilarious results – one letter from an eleven year old started off with “Dear lover, I miss your embrace”!). During class spelling tests, everyone will get nineteen or twenty out of twenty, rather than admitting that they had made some errors. This all makes my job as a teacher harder, as it’s difficult to judge which areas the students need to improve in, and also means that the students aren’t really learning.

I had a chat with Nugus, the head of the school (and head disciplinarian of the students), about all of this, and he agreed with many of the comments that I made. Ethiopian education has been preoccupied with getting results, and has not focussed much on actual learning in the past. Nugus gave the example of how today a person with a Masters degree would always get a job above a person with a Bachelors degree, no matter how skilled or experienced either person was. However, he also said that I shouldn’t be worrying about this so much, as it’s very unlikely my efforts in the remaining three weeks will make a big impact(!). He’d heard that I’d been getting quite stressed and disappointed about my students, and wanted me to relax and just concentrate on teaching. I’ve taken his advice, and so Friday’s lesson (post Nugus chat) was much more fun and enjoyable. I guess I’ve just got to crack on and try to get as much through to my students as possible. However, it’s test time again on Monday, and I’ll be keeping an eagle eye out for any copying!

Low wages – whilst I had read about the low wages that people in Ethiopia receive, it’s a different thing confronting the issue face-to-face. Across from the school there are a group of workers who are building a house. They seem to be constantly hard at work, and yet receive just 17 birr a day (which comes to about £1). I’m told that this is actually a reasonable wage, as many people work as street sellers or shoe shiners for about half that. Whilst I know many will think “oh well, things are much cheaper in Ethiopia”, this still means that local people really struggle to get by. Food prices have soared in the last year, and even the cheapest mud hut requires rent to be paid. Whilst it’s an obvious point to make, there is a real divide between my life and that of the locals - on the few occasions I’ve gone out for a beer or glass of coke, it has struck me how that drink can cost more than the daily wage of a normal person...

Inter-religious tensions? Ethiopia is a predominantly Christian country, surrounded by Muslim states. This has obviously made for an interesting history. However, in today’s Ethiopia the relationship between the Christians and the Muslims seems to be pretty good. In Mekele, the churches and mosques seem to sit happily in close proximity to each other, and the two communities seem to get along quite well (from what my foreign eyes and ears can detect!). At the school I work in, the Christian and Muslim students get along very well, with every student I talk to having a friend from the alternative religion. However, the same could not be said for ecumenical (inter-Christian) relations! The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, of which 98% of Christians here belong to, is very suspicious of the new Protestant churches that are starting to spread in the country. About 5 years ago some of the local Orthodox went on the rampage in Mekele, burning down all of the Protestant churches and schools – the Catholic church was only spared because the mob saw a statue of Mary inside! As a result of this anti-Protestant feeling, the local Protestants have to worship in secret. Two weeks ago I saw a secret Protestant wedding take place in a hotel on the outskirts of the city, where everything was well secluded. You’d have to be pretty committed to be a Protestant here!

Lynda’s departure – unfortunately my fellow volunteer Lynda received some bad news this week, and so has to return to the UK. Her flight back to Addis Ababa is on Monday, so she’s just getting ready to leave. Lynda is very sad to have to cut her stay short, and feels like she’s still got loads more to see and do. This is a reminder to me that I should really make the most of my time here, as the remaining time will fly. Anyway, I wish Lynda well, it’s sad to see her go. Ged and I will miss her a lot. Fingers crossed we can meet up again when we’re all back in Britain.

Now we’re all off for a fun-packed day with Lynda, to try to visit a few of the key local sites before she leaves. Lots of love and best wishes,

Robert

Silence of the Goats

So, a third of the way through already! Time flies, as I’m being put to good use. Aside from the daily English language classes I’ve been fitting in trips to see the school’s football teams, visits to the homes of families and various large meals that the nuns have been giving us! At the end of every day I’m tired but happy, which is a pretty good sign that I’m using my time well. Anyway, here is a collection of information and thoughts from the week:

The challenges of being a student from the streets - It’s become increasingly apparent that each and every one of the children that we’ve been working with have a very interesting and often saddening story to tell. Many come from broken homes (in two cases the children had to live on the streets after their fathers had murdered their mothers, thus making life at home untenable). Others face extreme poverty, or do not have a safe place to sleep in the evenings. Such a simple thing as access to light in the evenings becomes a rarity – something that I have to bear in mind when I give my pupils homework to do. Add to this the lack of nutrition and sleep that the children get, and it’s very difficult for me to feel able to tell my students off when they don’t do their work or concentrate during a lesson (however, I must say that the majority of students are very hard working and do a lot more work than I ask them to do).

Nationalism - Curious to find out more about the attitudes of my students, I set the children homework on "What is your favourite country? Why?" and "Which country do you hate? Why?". Unsurprisingly almost everyone chose Ethiopia as their favourite country. People here are very patriotic, and are keen to point out the fascinating history that the country has. One Ethiopian joked that when God was creating man He first put man in the oven too long, creating the very dark skinned West Africans. On the second attempt man was baked for too short a time, creating white people. It was only on the third attempt that he got it perfect, creating the brown skinned Ethiopians! When answering the "which country do you hate?" question, almost all picked Eritrea, citing the recent conflict as the reason for their dislike.

#You’ve got to pick a pocket or two boys# - the other main piece of information that I’ve got from the students is about the darker side to life on the streets. I’ve managed to get to know some of the older boys (or I should say young adults), and after a while they’ve felt confident enough to tell me more about their previous lives trying to survive as a street child. I’ve seen some of the drains that they would crawl into to find a safe place to sleep (out of the reach of the police who would beat them). I’ve also had a lesson in pick pocketing, in which I was shown top tips on to remove someone’s wallet without them noticing! The boys all seem ashamed of this past life, and very thankful of the opportunity that the Abba Gabremichael School gives them. They are also glad to be away from dangers of the streets. One young guy told me of how other children would get drunk or high, set pieces of plastic on fire and then throw them at the other street children. The plastic would attach itself to any exposed skin, and then slowly continue burning. Many of the boys have scars from such attacks. The life of street children has moved on a bit since the days of Oliver Twist...

Visits to our students’ homes - During the last two weeks I’ve been privileged enough to have visited the homes of two of the children that we’ve been working with. It’s here that one can really see the necessity of the work that the Abba Gabremichael Project does. On Friday I visited a grass hut belonging to one of Ged’s students. The student in question is a young girl of about 14 (although no one seems to be able to confirm the age of any of the children) who lives with her grandmother. The girl’s mother was killed by her father, who was then swiftly sent to prison. The father committed suicide soon afterwards, which had the knock-on effect of forcing the girl and her grandmother to flee their family home, for fear that the mother’s family would seek retribution on them...

Upon arriving in the city of Mekele, the two of them had to beg on the streets to get food and enough money to cover the 5 dollar a month rent on the grass hut that they live in. Life was, in their own words, very difficult. However, it was on the streets that the girl was spotted by the nuns who run the Abba Gabremichael Project. After a few checks to verify that she was a worthy case for support, not only does she receive free schooling, but also gets breakfast and lunch every day. The grandmother also receives support to pay the rent. Now neither of them beg on the streets, and the girl has a real chance of a good future – she’s hoping to be a pilot, and considering her grades and her work ethic this may not be so unrealistic. Both of them are so grateful to the project – it’s amazing to see how the work of the sisters, together with a little funding, can change a family’s life. On a slightly separate point, it was really heart-warming to see the love between the grandmother and granddaughter. They both support each other so much, and the granddaughter always rushes home from class to help do chores around the house. Despite all the problems they have experienced, they are both very loving and kind people.

Sister Meden Tesfay’s return - Sister Meden Tesfay, the leader (or Sister Servant) of the group of nuns that I’m staying with, returned to Mekele today. She’s been receiving treatment in Addis Ababa for the last few weeks, so she had a grand welcoming on her arrival back. Perhaps the most interesting part of this was that two goats were killed and cooked in honour of Sister Meden T. I got up early in the morning to see the process of slaughtering the goats – a process which was both gruesome and interesting at various points... I won’t go into great detail, but just to say that it wasn’t quick and painless!

Ok, that's it for another week. I hope all is well and that you're enjoying the summer. Lots of love and best wishes from Mekele,

Robert

Welcome to Abba Gabremichael School

What a week! On Sunday Ged, Lynda (my fellow volunteers) and I arrived in Mekele, the capital city of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. We were greeted by our hosts, Sister Feseha (the nun in charge of the school we’re working in) and Nugus (the school’s administrator). It was great to finally make it to our destination! Anyway, after a day settling in to our new surroundings we were straight to work. I’ve been teaching two groups of approximately 23 students, and so far it’s been a really fascinating and enjoyable experience. First of all though, let me introduce the school that I’m working at...

The Aba Gabremichael School – a really fantastic institution. The school was set up in 1995 to help the street children of Mek’ele, but now also works with a variety of particularly poor children in the city. Its aim is to give these vulnerable children education and support/counselling for their daily problems. Whilst the education is key to the children’s long term future, the school also meets their more pressing needs – every student receives a basic breakfast and lunch, and the children can use the school’s showers and laundry. This support is fantastic. However, because of financial constraints the project cannot offer every student a place to stay in the evenings, and cannot give the children dinner. The staff spend time ensuring that the children who attend the school have a safe place to sleep in the evenings, and seem to be having success (relatives or charitable people can often be persuaded to let a child sleep on their floor). However, the students still have to find some way to get food in the evenings. A few of my students have to work the whole of the evening to get enough money for a bag of food left-over from the plates of diners at the local hotel. It’s been really shocking to hear of stories like this from the happy, smiley faces of my classmates.

The scene that greeted us on our first day at the school will be in my memory for a long time. Upon arriving at the school gates we were met by about 150 students, all of whom were cheering, singing and clapping. We were then each given a bunch of flowers and were taken by the hand by some children in traditional clothes. After processing through the students we sat in the school’s main hall, and were treated to a variety of songs, dances (which we had to join in with of course!), speeches and jokes – all for our benefit. I’ve never felt such an important person! It was a really touching experience. I left the room feeling that I had better do a good job as a teacher so that I’d do justice to this welcome!

Teaching – I’m teaching two groups of about 23 students. My students are aged between 13-17 years old, and are all loosely at the intermediate level. They are great fun to teach, being a hard-working and (on-the-whole) happy bunch of children. The boys are energetic, always putting their hands up to answer questions. They seem to know everything about English football – one boy was telling me about the reserve team goalkeeper that Tottenham Hotspurs (the team I support) have! The girls are really sweet but were a bit shy at first, but the fact that I make a fool out of myself on a regular basis seems to have helped a bit. I’ve got the classes to choose a name for themselves, so boring "Class 3" has now been reborn as "Class Michael Jackson" and "Class 4" is the unforgettable "Class Bob Marley"! Everyone seems keen to learn, hopefully we’ll make good progress in the weeks ahead.

It’s been really interesting to see the education that the students had received before our arrival. To sum it up in a sentence, the students are all incredibly intelligent for their age. Their knowledge of different subjects is so impressive – they seem to have memorised every scientific formula and the dates of every historical event. It is so frustrating to see such educated, hardworking children face so many problems and have so few opportunities. I guess this will be a theme of my time here... Anyway, on a lighter note, I took a photograph of some of the English language work my students’ had done in the past (no doubt they had written it down after a teacher had dictated it to them). You can see it to the right of this paragraph, click on it and enjoy!

Living with the Daughters of Charity – Ged, Lynda and I are all staying with the sisters who set up the school. Sister Feseha and Sister Meden have been our main hosts, and have done an excellent job at helping us settle in. We’re really well fed and looked after, so much so that we’ll probably return home double the weight that we came. The sisters have a group of female students doing all of the cooking and housework for us, which whilst making things easy for us, is a bit uncomfortable. I’m not entirely keen to have people my own age doing everything for me! However, we are "guests", and besides, men cannot do any housework here...

The main staple food is "injera", a thick and sour pancake. This is then complimented with a variety of toppings, usually some kind of stew. Whilst we sometimes have meat stews, this is very uncommon in Ethiopia - most people will live off lentil stew. The enforced simplicity of the Ethiopian diet really hit home when I asked my students what extra-special food they would eat at Christmas. Their answer was "meat!".

Challenges of living in Ethiopia – the main challenges so far have been dealing with the power cuts and water shortages. Both are linked, as the lack of rainfall in the region leads to a lack of power – much of the local electricity is generated through hydroelectric power plants. Thus, we only have power on alternate days. At least this is planned, so we can arrange things accordingly (we have to do most of our lesson planning and all of our printing during the days that we have power). Water, on the other hand, is less predictable – fingers crossed I’ll be able to have a shower tomorrow, otherwise my colleagues will not be happy...

I have loads of other things to share with you all, but this blog has gone on for ages! Sorry that this has all be condensed into a single, long blog entry, but I have very few opportunities to access the internet (both because of the power cuts, but also because I simply don’t have much free time during the working week). Fingers crossed you found it interesting and that you managed to read this far! Expect another update next weekend... I hope all is well with you, lots of love and take care of yourselves,

Robert

P.S. Apologies for not replying to any emails that you're sending me - the internet is very, very slow here - it takes about 3 minutes to load up an email... Your messages are much appreciated though!