Blogs from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 14

As I wait for the minibus to take me to the airport, I chat with the gate boy, who has been eager to please throughout my stay. In fact, I'm fairly sure he has been stalking me, as he has always been within five yards of my door whenever I've opened it, including when I poked my nose out of my room the previous night during an impressive thunderstorm. He repeats the story he had regaled me with then - that he comes from a village 36km away with such poor access that approaching on foot is the only possibility, that he is paid B150 (~$14) per month for working 24 hours a day, and that his parents are too old to work so there is little family income. Despite these unpromising circumstances, he wants to ... read more

Ruta witing……I am a firm believer in the power of play. When playing simple games with kids, you show by your actions that you want to spend time with them. You like who they are. You share your time, your game pieces, and your turn to win. It’s also fun! When we visit the Safe House each weekend, we usually bring donations or candy, and we play. The kids play checkers or a variation of it. The boys play volleyball or soccer. Volleyball is very popular; even the older women join in the pick-up games. They put down their laundry, play some volleyball, and then go back to their chores. Vasara has a following a girls (little girls through teenagers) jumping rope. Boy, some of them are really impressive jumpers! I enjoy the youngest kids the ... read more

continued... The people with whom we spoke became blind at ages 7 and 9, from measles and small pox. Measles - a disease that to me simply means remembering to take my kids to the doctor to get a measles vaccination. Yet here we see firsthand the devastating effects of these diseases that caused this blindness. Heavy sigh. How many difficulties and trauma is suffered that could theoretically have been prevented. One man became blind at age 8 from a disease locally know as “Metch”. After 2 years his father died and his mother left the family. The grandmother took care of him, but then she died, so he attended the local priests’ school. Eventually he walked to Addis Ababa on foot from his rural village - it took him 11 days. Here he attended a ... read more

Ruta writing…Taking advantage of Brendan Thompson’s visit, we toured the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa center, the headquarters for the United Nations in Africa. Observing the activities and results achieved by the many UN programs, I have to agree with an oft-heard assessment of the UN. The United Nations really is a vital organization needed by the world. As the world’s nations economies and livelihoods become more and more interconnected, the UN needs to exist to foster communication, multi-lateral support, and peace-building. The UN provides critical opportunities for countries to talk to each other, understand common challenges and work together. Touring the UN complex is amazing from its size and symbolism of all the world’s countries working together for the common good. The pictured mural of stained glass depicts Africa past, present, and future. It ... read more

Ruta writing…. I was honored to be asked to be a guest speaker at a friend’s school that teaches English to adults. The class is taught by a private for-profit institution, catering to university students and young adults seeking to improve their conversational English skills. It was an eye-opening, amusing, fun experience. During the first half of the class, the Ethiopian teacher taught the 5 classes of nouns (sorry - I can’t even name the 5 classes myself) and taught via a tongue twister. The class perfectly repeated faster and faster, “Mr Kantta can tie his tie. Why don’t untie an’ tie my tie like Mr Kantta tie.” Yes, it didn’t quite make sense to me either, but that seemed beside the point. The tongue twister was used to illustrate that Americans don’t say “and”; they ... read more