Apart from the cactus and the people washing their clothes in the river, the landscape as I walked along the River Shaya could have been somewhere in Northumberland. The recent rains were holding off, so I had decided that, as we had a day off work for Patriots’ Day, I would go for a walk. I left Robe at 8am, and headed towards Hora Boka. It is amazing how quickly the mud dries - after only a couple of days without rain, there was a hard crust underfoot. I walked along the main road, only getting a few comments, giving the impression (however wrongly) that people in the village are getting used to seeing me. Heading down the hill beyond the village to the River Shaya, I got the inevitable question, “Where you go?” I headed ... read more

Monday 31st March - Friday 11th April 2008 I wasn’t sure that anyone I knew was going to use the opportunity of me being in Ethiopia to visit this wonderful country. Finally, after 18 months, my first visitors arrived - my Mum and Dad! I went to Addis to meet them at Bole International Airport and was just beginning to wonder if I should try and get into the arrivals area to look for them, when they appeared. I am very proud of them for coming to what can be a difficult country and coping so well with it. After a day to recover from the overnight flight, and a meal at Delicious Dishes, close to Liza’s house where we were staying, we headed south in a hired car with Elias, our driver. Bishangari Lodge, on ... read more

Most of the time I feel a little bit like a fraud as a volunteer in Ethiopia, as my quality of life is so much better here than in the UK. I am often asked how Ethiopia and the UK compare economically - my stock answer is that it is difficult to compare because, of course, wages are much higher, but so are costs in the UK. There is no air pollution; just the dust of Robe to contend with in the dry season. And I rarely take work home in the evening or at weekends. I sleep well and eat locally produced, organic, food. However, over the last week or so, I have felt like a “proper” VSO volunteer. I have been running lots of workshops in Cluster Centre Schools for teachers. When the workshops ... read more

I was invited to go and watch the Mamilla Kindergarten Institute (where I teach on a Saturday) playing in a volleyball match yesterday, but missed the game as it had finished by the time Hannah and I got there - based on the experience of today, I have no idea how! They were playing again today, so after a Sunday breakfast of eggs (the best in Robe) at Welmall Café, we went to Robe Stadium. The volleyball was taking place behind the actual stadium, in the grounds! The first match, between Robe Teachers’ College and Agafa College, was supposed to have started at 3am (local time, i.e. 9am) but had still not started when we arrived at 4am. Buno, one of my friends, was the RTC coach and Kuma (an HDP candidate from last year) was ... read more

Tuesday was Hannah’s birthday. She had decided to have a huge party on the Saturday. Hannah’s invitation had said that it was an English party. In Ethiopia, the custom is that if you invite someone for a coffee, beer or meal, you pay for them. Obviously, Hannah was not able to pay for everyone. The party was at the Harar Beer restaurant (sometimes known as Ketema) and started at 3pm. Attota, one of Hannah’s candidates was the MC and told us the programme for the afternoon, which started with an icebreaker (oh, the influence of the Higher Diploma Programme). A second activity involved slips of paper being randomly distributed to some of the guests who had to do the action stated. Holly’s impression of a lion was a definite crowd pleaser, and worth her coming from ... read more