Ethiopia!
I had the great opportunity of traveling to Ethiopia for 10 days, to attend some meetings for work, and to visit some of the project areas to learn about the implementation approaches of our sister country program. As the trip was planned last minute, I had no time to read and research about Ethiopia, and I left without much information except for memories of my Mother telling us to finish our broccoli because children were starving in Ethiopia.
I was pleasantly surprised, arriving in Addis Ababa, to find a cultured vibrant city, full of history, culture, pride and vitality. The city was filled with proper infrastructure, buildings, restaurants, cafe's, shopping districts, markets, cinemas, and best of all, a booming middle class able to enjoy it all. Described by many as a "sprawling shanty town", I found it to be cosmopolitan, energetic, and developed beyond my expectation. Ethiopia is one of the few African countries that resisted colonization, and as a faranji (foreigner), it was refreshing to be treated as an equal,as opposed to being looked up to because of the color of our skin. It is a pity that the western view of Ethiopia is one of a famine ravished country, which overshadows it's true richness, diversity of people, tribes and traditions.
After two days of meetings, we traveled through rural Ethiopia to visit different project areas. The first project area was in Jarso, a small rural district situated on the cusp of the Blue Nile Gorge. The landscape was breathtaking, yet the beautiful geography also presented difficult challenges for its inhabitants living on the edges of the cliffs. We spent a day in the Jarso district interacting with the inhabitants, and visiting the project sites including agricultural, solar energy and rain water harvesting projects. While the rural areas continue to battle abject poverty, I did find an overwhelming sense that these people were fighting to better their situation, instead of waiting for aid agencies and their handouts. While poor, I was impressed with the organization and ingenuity present in the average rural household, basic things that I have yet to find in a typical Malawian village. Comparing village to village, Ethiopia is definitely 5 steps up on the proverbial development ladder compared to Malawi, which actually filled me with hope.
We continued our travels Westward, 200 kms from the Sudanese border. The Dibate district is an extremely remote area inhabited by the Gumuz tribe. The Gumuz people, are by far, the most unique, primitive indigenous tribe I have ever encountered. Literally, after our 12 hour car ride, I felt as if I was stepping out of our vehicle, and into a national geographic magazine. Bare chested women, adorned with beautiful beads, and beauty scar marks on their cheeks. The men carrying home made spears and arrows. We stared at them, and them at us, in mutual fascination and curiosity. The Gumuz tribe is a semi-nomadic tribe, who continue to subsist on hunting and gathering. Their strong cultural practices, present very difficult developmental challenges to my Ethiopian colleagues, as they battle basic health, and education issues. We visited alternative education, agriculture, bee keeping and water projects, and shared technical details and implementation practices. But most fascinating was our visits to their homes, and interacting with them. I took a photo of a beautiful young girl milling grain in her home. After taking the photo, I showed her the photo on my digital camera. She shrieked in astonishment, and ran out to show everyone the photo. My colleague translated, telling me that she had never seen her own face before.
After our long trip back to Addis Ababa, we spent our last day taking in the restaurants, entertainment, drinks, and all the small luxuries that one will not find in Malawi. While downing my third ice-cream cone, and kicking back one last cup of Ethiopian brew, I was reflecting on the great richness and diversity of the African subcontinent, and how our ignorance of Africa biases us towards thinking of Africa as one large homogeneous war-torn poverty and disease stricken continent, instead of allowing us to appreciate it's diversity, culture, history, tradition and beauty.
P.S. - Mom, they don't eat broccoli in Ethiopia! ;)
Addis Ababa - A thriving, vibrant, and developed city. 
Addis Ababa - A mix of modernity and traditional ways of life
Feast of the Ephinany
The Gumuz people - a semi-nomadic tribe who survive on hunting and gathering
A Gumuz woman, fetching water at a project waterpoint
The photo of the Gumuz girl, milling grain
Dibate Project Area - On the cusp of the Blue Nile Gorge
A village, situated deep down in the Blue Nile Gorge
Some of the beneficaries in the Jarso project area
posted by Tess and Jim O @ 3:23 PM
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