Safe & Sound in Addis Ababa

I've arrived! I don't want to tempt fate but everything has been pretty smooth so far, all my baggage is here and I had no problems with passport control. Stepping out into the arrivals hall, I got my first taste of Ethiopia - a huge crowd of people all trying desperately to spot their loved ones coming out of the baggage hall. Despite this hustle and bustle we were spotted by the very kind Salomon, the driver of the local organisation that's running our project.

After dropping off luggage to the hotel, we were taken to visit local staff to receive a security briefing. I say "we've" because I'm part of a team of volunteer teachers working at the Mek'ele summer school. Ged and Lynda are CAFOD staff who are also going to be helping out with English classes. Ged is from near Newcastle and Lynda is from Aldershot. They both seem nice, and we're getting on well - although conversation is not as fluid as we would like, we're all pretty tired!

The security briefing was interesting - it was good to get some basic information and also have a first opportunity to ask questions about life in Ethiopia. On issue that popped up a lot in conversation was that food shortage is still a big problem here, 25 years on from the major famine that gripped the country. Our local source suggests that this is down to a variety of factors, such as a growing population, climate change and poor water management by the government. In addition, the foreign aid that has gone to Ethiopia has mainly been spent on food handouts, rather than developing local agriculture. The result of all of this is that over 5 million people are still dependant on food aid. In the coming blog entries I'll pass on more information about the issues in Ethiopia.

Back to the day's events: At 2pm all our sessions were finished and after lunch I took the opportunity to have a little walk around the area of the hotel. Please find some photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/16775704@N03/sets/72157620814648217/. Addis Ababa seems to be an interesting place, full of people and noise. The thing that first struck me are the endless rows of market stalls, and the many buildings that are half-constructed. Salomon tells us that there is a lack of building materials in Ethiopia, so the buildings are unlikely to be finished anytime soon.

However, there's no time to further explore Addis - we're leaving for the northern city of Mek'ele tomorrow morning (6:30am flight - horaay!). I'm excited but have no idea what to expect, I will tell all in the next edition of this blog... For now though, lots of love to you all and all the very best from Ethiopia,

Robert