[REWIND] Around the Woredas - Days 1 to 6 (Chagni, Pawi, Dangur, Guba)


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Africa » Ethiopia » Benishangul-Gumuz Region » Asosa
January 18th 2011
Published: January 19th 2011
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All aboard the skylark!All aboard the skylark!All aboard the skylark!

Stuff in, strap down and set off.
Time for this slack blogger to go back to March 2008 (ouch!) and extend the entry on our field trip to the remote parts of Beneshangul-Gumuz Region (see "Around the Woredas in 18 days").

Clearly there is some demand for pictures out there (if not my interesting and amusing commentary). My site statistics say the Woreda Trip entry has been viewed over 1,000 times. More than double my *better* blog entries, and ten times more visited than a typical entry!

I suspect good old Google returns our blog at one of the top hits if you search for "woreda ethiopia beneshangul gumuz" (in fact I just tried it - number 9 in the list!).

From the comments we have had on the blog it seems that Ethiopians who have emigrated abroad, people with adopted children from the region and NGO staff looking for information on Beneshangul-Gumuz are common examples non-family/friends readership.

Though we recently had a comment about how old the photos are, as previously pointed out, some things change very rapidly. Other things (like mountains and scenery) do not.

And I've said it before, Ethiopia is a beautiful, beautiful country; and Beneshangul-Gumuz a beautiful little
Nekemte daybreak Nekemte daybreak Nekemte daybreak

Our ABC tent; arrived the day before we set off
corner of it. All I can do is apologise of my little compact camera does not do the region and country justice.

* * *

The timing of the trip was perfect.

We had only been in country for six weeks; in Assosa for probably four.

Other volunteers had taken trips into a few of the 20 Woredas that make up the 3 zones of Beneshangul-Gumuz region, but generally much later on in their placements; and for shorter periods of time.

Lesley, a VSO working with Sara in the Education Bureau had been on a field trip and passed on some good tips and we had been in Ethiopia long enough to know what our basic requirements would be.

For us, it was a great chance to see more of the region, understand some of the challenges faced by people living in these remoter Woredas and to make some friends on the way.

Woreda Net

The main purpose of the field trip was to audit and fix where necessary, the installations of the government VSAT wide area network , known as "Woreda Net".

In a nutshell, the Ethiopian government (funded by
Chat!Chat!Chat!

(Does what it says on the tin)
the World Bank) had rolled out a set of satellite links to each and every one of the 500 or so Woredas across the country.

A very ambitious project, it promised to deliver the capacity to hold video conferences over the Internet (between Woredas and between Woredas and central government in Addis), provide broadband-like Internet to the main Woreda office and supply a couple of voice-over-IP (telephone over the Internet, like Skype) links so that remote Woreda offices could stay in touch, even if the mobile and landline networks were unavailable.

The Woreda offices would have some Cisco routing/switching equipment installed, along with a couple of "IP" phones (like a Skype phone), a decent desktop PC and a couple of satellite decoders, linked by cables to an externally sited parabolic satellite dish (you'll see the pictures soon enough).

This infrastructure could be used as a starting point for a small office network (hence the switch) and all communications relied on signals being bounced off of a satellite in geostationary orbit and either ending up at the destination Woreda, or a huge French-built Earth station in Sululta in Addis Ababa (think Goonhilly Downs or Jodrell bank).

The
Abora!Abora!Abora!

That's dust; not fake tan
mechanism is very similar to your Sky TV dish, except this system is two-way, whereas with Sky and satellite TV you just receive signals, rather than send them.

Satellite technology really interests me (can you tell?) and is a great way to reach remote parts of the world with data networks like the Internet. No need to lay cables, put up telegraph poles or install cell phone masts.

Of course, it is not cheap. The cost of firing a satellite into orbit has to be recovered over the 20 year life of the system. If you have ever got a bill from a satellite mobile phone, you know what I am talking about!

(Note to wannabe intrepid traveller - going somewhere with no phone network and need to keep in touch with the Eastenders gossip? Get a satellite phone! No need to use it, but in case of unexpected plot developments, very handy.)

The Cunning Plan

I thought Woreda Net was a great idea, along with its smaller sibling School Net - using the same sort of infrastructure but to beam lessons into school classrooms and give kids Internet access.

Unfortunately what do I
Lake Bure en route to ChagniLake Bure en route to ChagniLake Bure en route to Chagni

Not sure I fancy drinking it though :)
know?

Although I gather Woreda Net has enthusiastic users in the more developed parts of Ethiopia, such as Tigray and Amhara, the rural areas have yet to benefit.

As you will see, environmental conditions (dust, rainy season, heat), a lack of electricity (pretty fundemental), a lack of spare parts, a lack of skilled support staff and the main reason - a lack of mandated use - has resulted in something of a white elephant.

Anyway. Our task was to hit as many Woredas as we could across Metekel and Kamashi Zone and if we could not fix their Woreda Net installations, we would document the cause and request spare parts from Addis.

Four of us would be needed - Habtamu (the Woreda Net expert), Getnet (IT Specialist), Gebre (IT Specialist) and yours truly. We also needed to pick up an Ethiopia Telecom engineer at Nekemte, as Ethiopia Telecom had inherited the ongoing support of the satellite dishes post-implementation of the Woreda Net plan.

Given we would have a long wheelbase Toyota 4x4 at our disposal, we probably ought to add a few more bodies into the mix and get more bang-for-petrol-buck.

With an erratic
Small boys selling 'kok' (peaches)Small boys selling 'kok' (peaches)Small boys selling 'kok' (peaches)

Your dirty mind twisted that; not mine...
bus service to these far out places, and travel times are two days plus, just to get to Gilgel Beles, the opportunity of a Capacity Building Bureau car for use was just too good to miss.

So joining us would be Berhanu and Abdu - carrying out interviews and delivering the gospel of BPR (Business Process Re-engineering).

BPR was the latest buzz word of the year. Everyone was at it. And if you were on it your number had come in.

An elite body of bureau talent was seconded to BPR, to read, digest, train and evangelise the message. You even got a substantial pay rise for your troubles and even free tea, coffee and pepsi every day.

We had to clear an office for the BPR team and install computers and good furniture.

When we had finished the door was locked to prevent any unwelcome interruption to their meditation on the perceived wisdom of Hammer and Champy. Only the lady with free pepsi was allowed in.

The sound of communal meditation (snoring) could occasionally be heard by the workers struggling to implement the various BPR dictates coming down from on high. Clearly process
The Topland RockThe Topland RockThe Topland Rock

Hope it's not just bottled Lake Bure!
re-engineering was a tiring business.

(One cynic suggested BPR was actually a disguised opportunity to clear out some dead wood from across the civil service. He even went so far as suggesting any restructuring might be favourable to the friends of those making decisions. Keep your friends close and your enemies re-engineered...)

With only 7 seats accounted for now, we had room for a few more, so I suggested Sara join us, under the banner of the Regional Education Bureau.

She got the necessary permission and mission notes to visit as many schools of possible and complete an attached survey. Woreda trips are not known for their comfort so Assosa civil servants, particularly those from regions like Tigray of Addis, prefer to take rain checks when these opportunities come along.

With eight signed up, Argenyo the driver (meaning "I have found it") started preparations and the paperwork.

Purple Stamps

Before we could depart we had all manner of purple stamps to obtain.

We had ours, but getting the advance daily allowance or "per diem" was another hurdle to jump and for Argenyo and his car, there were even more (petrol, tyre money, his
Pitstop in Gilgel BelesPitstop in Gilgel BelesPitstop in Gilgel Beles

Not the busiest of main high streets?
daily allowance etc).

For two days we had been packed and ready for the off.

For two nights we unpacked our toothbrushes as something or someone was not ready.

Then before dawn on the third day we heard banging on the gate and a chorus of "Mr Alan, are you ready?".

(This seemed the way of the world at times during our two years overseas. Sometimes it would appear nothing was happening and then suddenly everything would happen all at once and very quickly! I think that not understanding the language meant that you missed out on progress reports and contributed to this feeling in a big way 😊

Herding IT Experts

Jumping in the back with the fellas, while Sara made herself comfortable in the front we set off to round up the rest of the crowd; gaining our friend and my colleague Zed, who was off to Gilgel Beles on some Bureau errand and was pleased to blag a lift with us.

By the time we had everyone it was mid-morning and I was already starting to ache a bit from the little ease, stuffed in the back of the Toyota.
Pawi Special WoredaPawi Special WoredaPawi Special Woreda

Time for a special brew then!


Fortunately the guys were travelling light - small knap sacks with a change of clothes was about all each person had.

Of course, us Ferengis had packed a gynormous 20kg+ hold-all full of 3 weeks worth of clothes, provisions, recommended items, batteries, chargers, laptop, toolkit and towels etc.

Argenyo, our driver, looked at it and smiled.

He wasn't smiling as he boosted it up onto the roof!

Lashed down it left us each with stuffed backpacks. Mine had water and lots of spare bits of equipment - cables and cable making kits plus anything I could forseeably expect to be broken out in the more remote parts of BGRS.

"Tetoj!"(Play!)

All squeezed in we started the two day trip to Gilgel Beles from Assosa, via Nekemte and Chagni.

As there was no direct road to the Metekel Zone from Assosa (the Regional Capital) we had to drive east into Oromia, stop over in Nekemte, the next day drive north into Amhara Region (with a stop over in Chagni), then head back west into Beneshangul-Gumuz.

This first leg was back along the road we had travelled from Addis to Assosa, little more
The equipment we came to fixThe equipment we came to fixThe equipment we came to fix

In full working order. Tick, VG
than a month previously.

(UPDATE: The Ethiopian Road Building Authority, with the help of the Chinese, have built a road directly across the region from Assosa to Gilgel Beles now. What used to take over 2 days now takes 6 hours I am told!)

Several years later, having done this journey rather a lot of times now, I can say that not only is it stunning in parts, but worth doing in both rainy and dry seasons as the landscape changes completely from yellow/brown in the winter and lush green in the rainy summer.

(Though avoid the really rainy season as mud becomes your enemy - see later entries!).

Given I had seen this, albeit, picturesque part of the journey before; and I was starting to feel decidedly car sick, being at the far end of the long wheelbase, facing sideways and rolling with every bump; and we couldn't open the window for some fresh air as it would coat the interior of the vehicle with red dust; I plugged in my iPod and tried to think of stationary objects on a distant and stable horizon.

Ethiopian culture lesson #7: Ethiopians like to play.

My reverie was interrupted by shouts of "Tetoj, Mr Alan". Come and play!

I was scooped into the middle of the gang of 7 guys and so began the fun.

We stopped twice en route to Nekemte - at the usual shai/buna hang-outs in Mendi and Gimbi.

In between we stopped to buy stuff from the village kids who wave produce (bananas, mangos, tooth cleaning sticks, peaches and chat etc) at the handful of cars that pass during the day.

Berhanu taught me how to suck the inside of a mango out through one little tear in the skin. Useful if you have no knife handy! It looked like a prune by the time he finished.

Another fella then bought some chat (he shall remain nameless as it can get you sacked if you chew chat on the job) and proceeded to litter the floor with discarded shoots and our eardrums with random babblings and what I guessed were jokes (he did a lot of chuckling)

By the time we reached Nekemte - 350km later - we were all a bit tired and uncomfortable, so it was with relief we checked into the main
Pawi airport depature loungePawi airport depature loungePawi airport depature lounge

All quiet so Argenyo guns the Toyota down the runway
hotel by the bus station and called our VSO buddies to meet up for a pint.

I am sure I mentioned it before, but the kids in Nekemte are a lot more in-your-face than the gentler Assosa kids.

"Give me money" or "where is my money?" they would shout, or stop in front of you, hand outstretched and say "birr".

As a crossroads town, Nekemte saw a fair number of Ferengi and like any city, life is a lot more impersonal. I always felt there was a sinister edge to night time in Nekemte, which I never felt elsewhere. Even in Addis.

The VSOs there had planned to meet us at the local ferengi resturant selling (to our delight and amazement - we were still new to life outside Addis) pizzas and chips.

Oh yes, we were told by Aynsley, Jane and Karin (not sure if Emma was there), in Nekemte they even had draught beer as well. Not to mention hot showers in their houses!

I looked around and noticed for the first time that there were big advertising hoardings and even neon lights flashing around shop signs.

Hmm. Not entirely sure
Abdu the Man United fanAbdu the Man United fanAbdu the Man United fan

At least he's not from Essex :)
I'd swap the hot water and draught beer for a life of constant hassle from kids; but once in a while? Why not!

Day 2 - from Nekemte to Chagni

Yet another rude awakening.

This time at 5.10am for a 6am departure.

We also needed to pick up our man from Ethiopia Telecom - a smiley fella called Norseged - who wore a white vest and carried nothing but one enormous spanner.

(I subsequently believe his name was "Luleseged" - but he seemed happy to answer to the above).

We set of for a largely uneventful trip along bumpy, dusty roads towards Bahir Dar in Amahara Region, but you dive off left towards Chagni and don't take the road to Bahir Dar.

As we approached the turnoff to Bahir Dar the surface became asphalt (a sign of the better funded and more tourist-orientated Bahir Dar area) and we enjoyed a higher average speed and less vibration of the lower back areas.

A brief stop was made to visit a small lake - apparently called Lake Bure, though I think Bure is the nearby town, not the name of the lake.

Personally
Satellite dishes, schools and sportsSatellite dishes, schools and sportsSatellite dishes, schools and sports

We'd see a lot of these over the next 18 days :)
I found it somewhat underwhelming but everyone else was crazy for it. Each of our fellow passengers took the opportunity to splash water on their heads and drink a few mouthfuls. Everyone was in a good mood and play fighting and joking with each other.

I guess it's a sign of our different cultures. To us the lake was nothing special - bit like Blagdon Reservoir en route to Bristol Airport. Just another lake.

Whereas the stunning mountain scenery and thorn-bush landscapes were awsome for us.

For Ethiopians, the scenery is, well, just another mountain, but a lake like this? Wow! Don't see this every day of the week in Assosa...

By the time we reached Chagni we had seen the Topland Rock (see every bottle of Topland bottled water in Ethiopia), knocked over and tried to resuscitate a small monkey and I was covered head-to-foot in red dust and feeling sick as a dog once again.

The Ethiopia Hotel in Chagni was a welcome relief as we jumped under a cold shower and "took rest".

Day 3 - Chagni to Pawi, via Gilgel Beles (capital of Mandura Woreda)

Our work would start
Cows = occupational hazard of Ethiopian car travelCows = occupational hazard of Ethiopian car travelCows = occupational hazard of Ethiopian car travel

Sara looks relieved to stretch her legs
today.

After a short stop for tea/coffee at Gilgel Beles we were off to Pawi - an autonomous Special Woreda that is not managed by the Metekel Zone beaurocrats.

I am not sure why it is a special woreda - usually there is a special ethnic group living locally that self-governs (like the Mao/Komo Woreda near the Assosa Zone).

The Woreda is definately special - in that it seems to have a certain level of infrastructure left behind by the Italian occupation under Mussolini in the 1930s.

We were told there was a pasta factory near Pawi, as well as an Italian-funded hospital (we later visited - a huge complex from the 1970s - now somewhat run down and under-staffed, but apparently acting as a nurse training school for the region).

* * *

The administrative buildings are an impressive row of prefabricated units on stilts, several miles out of Pawi town centre. En route we dropped Sara at the local secondary school and promised to collect her later in the afternoon.

If this was to be the benchmark site for Woreda Net in BGRS, then it would be a good one to
At last, Sara wins the lottery!At last, Sara wins the lottery!At last, Sara wins the lottery!

Claims it won't change her life
choose.

Once we arrived we had to wait to see the administrative head. He would have a queue of people waiting to see him and without any pre-warning (no email and limited post) he would not be expecting us.

Once our papers had been checked we were allowed to open up the rooms with the Woreda Net equipment and set up a test video conference call to Assosa.

All the equipment powered up and functioned and I was surprised by the low level of dust in the rooms.

There was a problem connecting to Assosa - probably at the Assosa end - Bekema was on duty to set things up at the Regional Administration Office HQ. It might be that the room was in use by the regional president or Bekema was taking shai/buna (tea break).

In the end we satisfied ourselves with the connection to a deserted Addis server room and tested the SQF (Signal Quality Factor) to make sure the satellite dish outside did not need adjustment.

The Internet was not available. Addis usually switched it off in the afternoons so the (expensive) bandwidth could be used by regions like Tigray or
Mambuk Woreda and environsMambuk Woreda and environsMambuk Woreda and environs

A "no power" day, so let's enjoy the view
Amhara, rather than by remote woreda IT staff, idling away on Yahoo mail and Ethiojobs.net.

OK. Time for a brew under the buildings and to "play" with the guys until we had to pick Sara up.

* * *

Sara's visit was productive. The school was a boarding school with around 360 girls.

The principal's two main concerns were the corrugated iron rooves of the classrooms - which boiled the girls alive in the hot weather and drove them crazy with the hammering rain in the rainy season - plus the problem with malaria.

Every day at least one girl would go down with malaria and need taking to the hospital, though not the local one in Pawi, I guess it didn;t have the skills needed, but the Amhara Region hospital in Bahir Dar.

* * *

On the way back through to Pawi Argenyo passed the old Italian airport.

Once the HQ for the Italian occupation of the region, Pawi had a dirt runway (like Assosa).

With no-one about Argenyo's eyes lit up and he floored the pedal looking to find escape velocity.

Given we couldn't see any cows
White goods and wrong aidWhite goods and wrong aidWhite goods and wrong aid

Roller blades for the poor
or other stray quadrapeds AND the fact Argenyo actually drove faster than this around the main roads of the region (when on asphalt anyway), I was unconcerned.

* * *

Pawi itself was a small town, centred around a tree-filled roundabout and it was decided we should stay here tonight, rather than stay in Gigel Beles.

The hotel we all stayed in was pretty simple - one of the simplest of the whole journey, with an public open air toilet and shower that kind of encouraged one to wait.

Our room was the usual square, mud walls, a bed, a bottle of dodgy looking water and a potty (for washing in or peeing in, I am not sure - most blokes just peed up against a tree).

We were glad of the all-in-one anti-mosqueto, flea and bed bug facilities of the ABC Tent that night. As we were told by Bekema before our trip "if you go to the Woredas, you will scratch".

Day 4 - Pawi to Mambuk (Capital of Dangur) via Gilgel Beles

Up early once more we breakfasted in Gigel Beles on some fantastically freshly deep fried "biskut". These are
If the cap fits!If the cap fits!If the cap fits!

The 'intimate rooms' at the local hotel
round balls of dough that form a hard chewy crust and a soft tasty middle when deep fried correctly. It is quite a skill to get it right.

During breakfast a lottery ticket seller shuffled over and we each bought a ticket. You scratch off numbers and if they add up to 7, you win.

Three times Sara won!

Three birr (15p) richer we headed off to Mambuk, the capital of Dangur Woreda. We would check Woreda Net and Sara the local school.

* * *

After the usual waiting for the head honcho to give us the green light, we set off to a small nearby courtyard to visit the two rooms where the Woreda Net equipment was stored - network kit and workstation in one and LCD display and audio-visual equipment in another.

Unfortunately the doors were locked.

And the man with the key was not in today.

Where was he?

No one knew.

(Absenteeism is not unknown our experience - people would go to Addis for "trainings" and come back days, sometimes weeks after when they were scheduled to return. Of course we should not generalise, sometimes Bekema would not turn up for work and I'd later find out his malaria had flared up again).

Time for shai/buna.

While we waited I heard a sound that I had not heard in over 20 years. The unmistakable "clack-clack-clack" of a typewriter. I guess on days without power ("mabrat yellum") it made perfect sense. Particularly in an area where power is more off than on during the course of any given month.

Our man finally turned up. Someone had gone to find him.

When the rooms were opened we were greeted in the first room to a dusty jungle of cabling, packaging and industrial lead batteries (each Woreda Net installation had a UPS and battery backup - though none of them were functioning).

The second room contained the LCD screen and audio-visual equipment, but was half-buried in semi opened bags of jumble.

Our man explained it was donated aid from North America; yet to be distributed.

I looked at the sacks and realised they were full of completely impractical fashion clothing, skimpy underwear and a lonely looking single roller blade.

Whilst I really should commend the generosity of spirit that donated
"Mabrat Yellum?""Mabrat Yellum?""Mabrat Yellum?"

Time for a sunny stroll
such gifts; I can't really commend the generosity of intelligence that collected up the likes of solo roller blades and second hand Anne Summers lingerie, put it on a plane and then transported it to one of the furthest Woredas of a remote Ethiopian emerging region!

The mess was a moot point. We had no power.

Another tea/coffee.

Hang on? Every Woreda Administration should have a portable generator!

Our man was dispatched to fire up his and run a cable to the rooms so we could do our job and test the equipment.

Another tea/coffee later and two strands of bell wire have been daisy chained via the most precarious looking twists of the bare metal wires to the end of a 4-way extension socket.

Everyone stood back (me further back still) and the switch was flicked.

The equipment opened a sleepy eyelid and murmured into life (the under-voltage if not causing catastrophic failure of the power supplies, was rapidly shrinking the mean time between failures of any attached hardware).

As the generator spluttered and missed beats from across the compound, the network equipment breathed manfully but asthmatically long enough for us
Goat climbing a treeGoat climbing a treeGoat climbing a tree

Makes a change from a monkey!
to diagnose that (a) the workstation was knackered (lucky I brought my laptop) and (b) the signal quality factor was ok - no need to move the satellite dish.

The smell of burning as the inadequate bell-wire melted under the load called an early time on our triage. We would have to return later in the trip to test the audio-visual equipment.

* * *

Sara's day had been very productive. Two bright graduate teachers had looked after her and happily any and all her questions.

We returned to spend the night in "The Presidents Hotel".

Named "Hotel Soliyana" it was owned - if through family - by the President of the region at that time - Ato Yaragel.

It was the only hotel in the region with a bathroom and shower per room in the entire zone. As such most Ferengi NGO workers stayed here and used Gilgel as a base for work in the Metekel Zone (some actually stayed in Bahir Dar in Amhara and drove into Beneshangul-Gumuz only when required!).

The management know they have Ferengis over a barrel so charge ridiculous prices (well for VSOs, not NGO staff). The
The Road Less TravelledThe Road Less TravelledThe Road Less Travelled

Italian bricks. Made of stern stuff.
price was something like 70 birr per night, yet our Per Diems were only 90 birr per day (to include accomodation). We showed our Ethiopian Residents Card and Government ID but the woman just smiled.

* * *

That evening we met up with Mark - a lone VSO placed at the college in Gilgel Beles to help with their English teaching program.

I felt somewhat sorry for the guy as he couldn't stop talking to us. He was getting faster and faster and talking about anything that came into his mind.

He'd pause. Apologise. Explain it had been months since he had been able to talk to someone who spoke English as their mother tongue so he just had to speak - months of talking slowly in broken English had really been getting to him...

...then he was off again, talking talking talking.

It reminded me how lucky I was that every day I could go home and speak my mother language with Sara. And to be fair, I was lucky in Assosa - most of my collegues spoke good English. Gilgel Beles is somewhat more remote than Assosa I guess...!

Day
Guba WoredaGuba WoredaGuba Woreda

Next stop? Sudan...
5 - Gilgel to Guba (Capital of Mankush Woreda) via Mambuk

Sara would stay in Gilgel on day 5 - she could visit Mark at the College of Education and we would head off on the long drive to Guba. Right out in the sticks, Guba is a stone's throw away from Sudan.


First we would take a heavier power cable from Gilgel Beles Adminstrative offices and try that at Mambuk.

The new cable was a marginal improvement - the problem was that the generator power was not clean.

We at least managed to test the video camera and it was not functioning.

So we set off on the 2 hour 45 minute trip (150km) across country to Guba.

The first hour or so was spent trying to find a Muslim resturant - it was Friday and Christians fast but Argenyo our driver wanted meat.

Then the Guba visit followed a similar pattern to Mambuk.

No power and the generator was at the local school.

Argenyo set off to get the generator.

The Woreda Net equipment was in a dusty room full of cobwebs but luckily it was undamaged
"Eniblah!" (eat!)"Eniblah!" (eat!)"Eniblah!" (eat!)

Little doro's. Too small for the wot.
as it was still in its packaging.

We eventually powered everything up but were missing any AAA batteries for the all important remote for the LCD display.

Once we checked all we could we packed the equipment away and headed home (while Argenyo stuffed the car with "hitch-hikers"). At one point I counted 15 people in the car.

Luckily I was in the front, squished up with Habtamu. Those in the back were less fortunate and one poor woman was sick all over the place. Made for an interesting 3 hour ride home.

Out in the rural, the driver is king. If he wants to pick up a few paying passengers for pocket money, you don't want to be saying "no". Your space is looking mighty tempting for that person waving a 50 birr note at your driver 😊

Day 6 - Gilgel to Chagni

Gilgel is actually the capital of Mandura Woreda and hosts its own Woreda Net equipment.

Before heading out of the Metekel Zone and towards Kamashi Zone (via Chagni and Nekemte) we would need to check the local installation.

Everything was in tip-top condition - even with dust
Looks like a two-pipe problem, WatsonLooks like a two-pipe problem, WatsonLooks like a two-pipe problem, Watson

Argenyo? Not sure he has found it.
sheets.

The link to Addis was perfect but there was some picture freezing on the link to Assosa. It happens - particularly if the link is being used by other Woredas.

Off we went to Chagni and back to the Ethiopia Hotel.

That night a bunch of us went out to a DSTV to find Bolton vs Arsenal where I had my moment in the sun.

By half-time, Arsenal were 2-0 down and the Arsenal fans were leaving by the score. Bolstered with a couple of Bedele Special beers I began shouting to people to "hang in there - the boys are going to come back".

Mobbed outside as some sort of curiosity - you don't see many Ferenge in that part of Chagni - I safely predicted a 3-2 comeback for Wenger's band of brothers.

And they did it!

Final score 3-2!

Step aside Russell Grant. I'll read your horoscope with certainty!!

Good job I didn't put any money on it - that would have guaranteed I'd get it completely wrong 😊



Additional photos below
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Houston? Can you read me?Houston? Can you read me?
Houston? Can you read me?

Connected to the Addis Mother Ship.
VSO Mark, I presume?VSO Mark, I presume?
VSO Mark, I presume?

Bekema's sister (and her buddy, right)
Scenes ahoyScenes ahoy
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Chagni flash mob at Bolton vs Arsenal


1st August 2011

Great
I likes to thanks u all people that makes this bog,because I got detail information about to my area and those people that are volunteered to help this society and tries to introduce our culture. special thanks for Al Mercer & Sara Hassen.
22nd May 2013

Correctin
"The Woreda is definately special - in that it seems to have a certain level of infrastructure left behind by the Italian occupation under Mussolini in the 1930s." The infrastructure that you had see in the woreda is not the results of Italiyan occupation rather it is the constraction of Italian company Colled,Saline since 1977 E.C.following the re-setttling program taken place in the Regem of Derge(Mengstu H/mariyam)

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