Leaving Robe

---

The bureaucracy at the College is quite amazing! I had to undergo ‘internal clearance’ before theywould write the clearance letters that I need for when I leave Ethiopia. This involves 32 different people each signing (seven times) to say that I have nothing belonging to the College and am free to leave. Most of the 32 have had nothing to do with my work here! Luckily, one of the office workers, Ture, was given the task of collecting the signatures for me. There have only been two slight problems …

When I handed over the running of the Higher Diploma Programme to Kefyalew, we did not formally sign over the office equipment and furniture. We spent a couple of hours with two other workers, going through the list - we even had to account for a stapler, hole-punch (small), hole-punch (large) and a bin! The other, more major, problem was the stolen laptop that was taken from the HDP office in November 2006. Apparently, as a result, the finance department wouldn’t sign my clearance, so the Management Committee has to meet and discuss it. This was despite the fact that the College administration at the time knew who stole it, but chose to do nothing and not to involve the police! I was then told, by the Dean, that the Committee had decided to ‘exempt’ me but that I had to write a letter to ‘apply for exemption’. I finally got the clearance letters at lunchtime on my final day in Robe.
The last week in Robe has also been spent in celebrating my time here. On Thursday 19th, Mengesha, Gizaw, Buno and Kassahun invited me out for dinner at Choice Bar and Restaurant. It was a lovely evening but, as is often common here, finished very early. I had bought each a present - I have noticed that Ethiopians don’t usually open gifts in front of the giver, but take them home still wrapped up.

Then, on Saturday Hannah and I went for a last walk. Hannah is not a big walker, but insists that she has enjoyed our excursions. This walk went along the track from the north of Robe (that runs parallel to the road out of town towards Dinsho) to the River Shaya. It was an easy walk, apart from scrabbling down an overgrown bank to get down to the river, ducking low under thorns; reminiscent of when the Right to Roam first came in (in the UK).

On Sunday, we went to Robe Bazaar - a big event (the biggest ever seen in Robe) at the Stadium to raise money for the development of the town. We had intended to breakfast at Welmall but they didn’t have eggs firfir so we went to Delicious (opposite the College) … they had no furniture - but were at the bazaar - so we went to the Stadium for breakfast. It was a great atmosphere and there was even a beer tent, which we obviously headed to in the late morning. The highlight was the gift of Harar Beer aprons from some guys who also had them, but wore them on their heads.

The College had organised a leaving ceremony for me on Wednesday afternoon. It is very embarrassing to sit and listen while different people make speeches about you. I had decided to wear Oromo dress (bought by my HDP Candidates last year), which was the right thing to do, and my friends and colleagues loved it. Although, walking through the streets from Hannah’s house (we had moved all my furniture on Tuesday, so I spent my last few nights there) caused some comments from the local populace - I like to think they were all positive. The Dean presented me with another traditional outfit (from a different area of Oromiya) which he helped to dress me in, much to Hannah’s amusement. The soft drink, bombalino and speeches were followed by lots of group photos outside.

I had several nights out - Tuesday with Yosef, Demelesh, plus their colleague from the Kindergarten Institute and Hannah at the Bekele Molla Hotel; Wednesday with Kefyalew and Hannah, again at the Bekelle Molla; Thursday (my last night) with Tesfaw and Tamrat (both from VSO), Hannah and a group of friends from Robe College. It was a perfect last night! Dinner at Harar Hotel (although I didn’t eat, having had two lunches at Aberash’s and then Tenaye’s) followed by lots of gin and dancing at a bar in town. Hannah and I had decided to wear traditional clothes - I wore my new outfit from Wolega, Hannah wore her’s from Bale - which caused heads to turn as we walked into Harar.

---

Photos

Waiter
The waiter at Welmall who has finally remembered that I drink macciato yella sukar.

Choice
Buno, Gizaw and Mengesha

Robe Bazaar
Not how aprons are normally worn!

Robe Bazaar
The Harar beer tent.

Robe Bazaar
Inside the beer tent.

Presentation at the College
The Dean of the College dressing me in the outfit bought by the staff.

Buno
Wearing cloth woven by deaf students at Galema School

Oromo women?
Out for the night in Robe

Last night in Robe
Mengesha dancing at Fact Bar