Blogs from Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 17

(Ruta writing) Taking advantage of the children’s extended school Christmas break, our family set out to explore the treasures of northern Ethiopia. It’s written that 90% of the tourists that visit Ethiopia travel the northern circular highway to visit Ethiopia’s historical landmarks, many of which have been designated as UNESCO world historical sites. We’ll write more specific blogs about our adventures, but here are some highlights: - Marveling at 11 fascinating rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. These mostly connected large churches were carved out of rock. Even each of children shake their heads in amazement at the wonder of these 12th century churches. - Exploring real tombs from 1AD in Axum, a city that headed an extensive enmpire for 1000 years. It was amazing to view the tombs, ruins, pagan stelae, juxtaposed with regular life being lived ... read more

(Ruta writing) Travel makes you rethink little details in life and the collective effects of our daily habits. One of the changes in lifestyle here is how you buy items. I wrote earlier of the little shops and outdoor marketplaces. For us (and 95% of the other Ethiopians here without a car) we are inherently limited in how much we buy because we need to carry it all home ourselves or squish onto an overcrowded bus with our packages (easier written than done). This different manner of shopping highlights the large amount of packaging we use in the US. Granted, individuals don’t have the power to eliminate packaging of items on store shelves, but it is useful to understand the issue of the U.S.’s largest eco-footprint on the world. Small changes in our daily lives could ... read more

(Lukas writing) Yesterday was the end of term which means there was a humongous water fight. It was crazy. Before school, Vidas and some of his friends went to a store, and they bought balloons. Then at lunch they filled the balloons up with water, went to the top (4th) floor, and threw the water balloons out of the windows. That was what started the water fight. The teachers didn’t seem to care. When the first water balloons started hitting people, everyone either got a water bottle, lunch box, plastic bag, and I even saw one person had his book bag to fill with water. Everyone was throwing water at each other. Other people were running around trying not to get wet by the person that was running behind them with a full water bottle. Most ... read more

(Rytas writing with mom’s help) My mom wanted each of us to start a club at school. My brother Lukas started a Chess Club, because he is really good at chess. I started a Power Rangers Club. I made a sign and hung it up by the door. 13 kids signed up, but 30 kids come to our club. My dad helps me run the club. My dad starts out each lesson teaching us how to wash our hands and cough into your elbow. My dad is really funny and all the kids like him. We act out Power Ranger stories. We make up the story. Because we can’t decide who will get to be the Power Ranger characters, my dad decides who plays what part. Everyone wants to be a Power Ranger and no one ... read more

Orphanage Many of you have been very, very generous is sending packages to us and to distribute to the poor. Thank you, thank you. Here are pictures from the Abebech Gobena orphanage in Addis Ababa (www.agohelma.org.et) who is benefiting from your generosity. This orphanage is an impressively well run institution that not only takes care of orphans and vulnerable children, but has loads of women empowerment programs. The organization states that “Helping the children is not enough - we need to improve conditions so that women do not need to abandon or leave their children.” Makes sense. Among their many programs, every 6 months they run free training sessions for classes of 100 women. They prepare low-income women for housekeeping, food preparation, catering, nanny jobs and help them find employment. The donations of the games - ... read more