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
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
Hi Robbie!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the project you're working with is really reaching some of the most vulnerable people where you are - as hard as it must be to see the scars and hear those stories from the past - it must feel good to be a part of that positive change :)
Can't wait to hear more first hand!
xo