Blogs from Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 25

Our house is very different from America. We sometimes have a cook to help us. She wears a scarf on her head. She cooked us injera. It is a big pancake bread with meat on top. She made us oatmeal in the morning. We have a servant bell in our house. We don't have a TV. On Saturday nights we watch a video on our computer. I like the animals here. We see donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs and cats every day. Last Sunday we saw a babboon outside. He stole a man's shoe. Everybody laughed. We have 2 guards, a night guard and day guard. I play soccer with our night guard. I play soccer. It is hard because the kids are older. The coach likes ... read more

If you or your school or club would like to send items for either school or to distribute to local youth clubs or street children, they would greatly appreciate anything sent. Our school is considered more upscale and still the walls are bare, the 2 restrooms (for 450 kids) have no soap, toilet paper, nor towels. The street kids wear the most threadbare clothes that are almost see through, or they wear shoes worn down to multiple holes on the bottom. The non-food items don’t need to be new - gently used is fine. Candy, all kinds. You can buy small Snickers here, but the cost is 80% of a shoe shine boy’s whole day salary. Even when I buy crackers for my kids that cost $.15 each, I have to hide them in my bag ... read more

(Ruta writing…) I kept searching for a post office near our home, school, or work. Since we either walk or take public transportation, I wanted someplace that is convenient. In Ethiopia there is no door to door postal service, and thus I expected post offices to exist in the main sections of town. Think again! Thus, we’ll use my work’s PO Box below - a staff boy takes a line taxi to the Post office every week to check for letters and packages. From other volunteers, I understand that it takes 2-3 weeks for post from the States to arrive. Ruta Kulbis P.O. Box 2187 Code 1110 Addis Ababa Ethiopia Email: Ruta, Rytas: zaliaruta9 @gmail.com Tadas: Kulbis @sbglobal.net Kovas: labas317 @yahoo.com Vidas: heyvidas @sbcglobal.net Lukas: doctorman @sbcglobal.net Vasara: vasarasummer @gmail.com House tel: 011-251-0116187204 Tadas’ mobile: 011-251-910077301 ... read more

We were expecting to be assigned a one-bedroom house when we arrived and then we would look for something that would be adequate for 7 oversized Lithuanians. We had understood that because we have children, we would be sharing the cost of housing with our volunteer agency, and that we would have a say in where we lived. It was very important for us to live near work and school. Upon arrival a small house was provided for us with no negotiation. On the positive side, the house is new and clean and in a seemingly safe neighborhood with very pleasant landlords. It is enclosed by a sturdy gates, and there are several levels of security guards by the time you reach our house. Our neighbors include the Embassy staff from India, United Nations Development Program ... read more

When our kids answer the question, “How do you like Africa?” they answer, “Good - we walk a lot.” Living without a car is definitely an adjustment. Any small item that we purchase, we need to carry home. As mentioned, our house is quite far from public transportation. Addis Ababa has an efficient network of public minibuses that take you to various city centers. The minibuses have 11 seats in them and are often full. However, for our family of seven, we need to find not only a bus that is going where we want to go, but also one that is half empty. On the bright side, we have been warned that sometimes you have to wait until the bus fills up before it will leave. We never seem to have that problem because we ... read more