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Published: June 22nd 2009
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Congratulations!
The lazy ferengi nets 3 million birr for the region "You are a lazy Ferengi. You should not be in Ethiopia" This was the cry from one of the two adolescent boys walking behind Sara as she made her way back from the sigga Bet (Butcher or 'meat house') with cat meat last week.
Sara seems a bit unlucky at times. It seems the weirdos and rude kids gravitate towards her, whereas I rarely get any trouble.
Maybe because I am 15 stone and don't look much like a vegetarian - in fact I look like I could eat a small kid for a snack - that they keep their own counsel when I walk past.
To be fair, most of the kids in Assosa are lovely. They say hello! and how are you and run off with a big smile on their face.
One or two start asking for money and occasionally a few shout things unpleasant - though in most cases they have no idea what they are saying.
Someone has told them to ask foreigners for money or to F-off, even though they have no idea what "money" is or F-off means!
Again. clearly someone had told these punters that "Ferengis
Fizzy stuff!!!
Wow! That makes a refreshing change are lazy and must leave Ethiopia".
In my experience in Assosa, there are only a handful of Ferengis and given that Ethiopians in general think this is tha back of beyond and would rather be in Addis, I would hardly call Ferengis in Assosa "lazy".
Yes, we know a few who take cars everywhere, but they are consultants on big tax-free salaries with drivers (who are also minting it in from whatever aid project the Ferengi is working on) or they have lived here a while and are rich enough to own a car.
As I have said before, VSOs have to walk the streets as they do not have cars, so they bear the brunt of any misconception or animosity from the general public.
Clearly a lazy Ferengi would not walk from A to B, they would take a car or taxi.
Clearly a rich Ferengi ("give me money, give me birr") would also be in a car, watching the beggars from behind tinted windows, not walking amongst them on their way home.
Of course, we are judged by the colour of our skin and lumped into the "rich, lazy Ferengi" bracket and
Cat's seem non-plussed
Well, the ARE cats, after all all the unfair assumptions that go with it.
But this is all part of the experience.
Walking past a "spare any change?" or "Big Issue?" cry is somewhat easier than walking past someone who has dragged themselves several kilometers along the road on a piece of cardboard as they have stumps for legs and hands and face ravaged by leprosy.
And to claim that we (comparitively rich westerners) do not lump many Africans (and Ethiopians) into a huge stereostype would also be a lie. Pick your African stereotype and run with it.
Breaking the stereotype The day after the kids told Sara she was "lazy" she found out that her proposal for funding from the European Union had been accepted!
Since she had transferred 50%!o(MISSING)f her time from the Education Bureau in Assosa to the ethnic Development Associations (a bit like a union for certain ethnic groups) she had been working on a 200,000 euro funding proposal.
Four of the ethnic development associations (Berta, Shinasha, Gumuz and Mao-Komo tribes) had joined an environmental and education association to make the proposal to join forces and train key people in key areas of the
Weird sky at night
Uh, weirdo's delight? region in conflict management and prevention skills.
Sara has worked extremely hard to get the proposal through Phase#1 of the selection and win the right to submit a full proposal, and then on to Phase #2 to actually prepare and submit a full proposal.
To win the bid for the entire Beneshangul-Gumuz region was a result and a half!
It means these development associations can not only start the good work on preventing conflict in the region - preventing conflict is key to development, business and progress - but also keep their staff employed while they seek additional funding.
One of the elements of the proposal was to help expand membership and so the development associations can ultimately become self-funding.
Sara says she works with some awe-inspiring people - like an ex-President of the region who is 110% committed to improving the lot of the people in this area.
Many people here - our friends included - and (I think) many Ethiopians as a whole - are looking to improve their own lot.
Personal and family survival are not assured like they are in the UK (no national insurance, NHS, pensions, unemployment/disability benefit
Mars Attacks!
Feeling the Beagle vibe etc etc) so in the main every man is out for himself and his family. Not unreasonably. You have no job, you have no money, therefore you and your family starve to death.
To find altruists amongst the many people we meet here is quite a challenge. Granted people want "the country" to develop and support such efforts but family and number one are necessarily the bottom line.
Of course, Sara has not single-handledly won this funding - she has had the patience of a saint and used all the VSO-taught "participatory approaches" with the "stakeholders" to reach agreement and create a workable proposal for the funds, but the associations have also put in the hard graft to complete the facts and figures as required by the EU.
I have watched her go through periods of depression and frustration as well as periods of panic, optimism and enthusiasm.
To see her enjoy the deserved fruits of her 6 months labour has been a pleasure for me! We broke out the fizzy stuff that Sara had brought me for my birthday and I can't think of a better reason to drink it!
I am somewhat luckier with my original placement - I have management support, good counterparts, a good manager and some budget. Granted Sara has made some good friends and but she has also faced indifference and at times some rudeness in her placement at the Education Bureau. Not from everyone of course.
Whatever Sara does from now in her placement on she can be proud of what she has achieved with the development associations.
Not bad for a lazy Ferengi, eh?
(...and to underline their complete ignorance of Sara's work, good manners and human anatomy, the adolescents followed up their "you are a lazy Ferengi" jibe by asking Sara to..uh...show them 'her penis'....!?!?!?!?!)
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Steph
non-member comment
Sara..you're one hell of a woman! Penis or not. Well done and big congrats! xxx