MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Greetings Friends. For those of you who are checking this blog out today, on Christmas Day!, MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Enjoy the day however it may unfold for you.

~Vanessa~

Random Adventures

Merry Christmas Friends! I've got several photos to share with you that give an idea of what I have been up to in the last week or so...

Last night was a big medieval feast for the youth in my church. Kendelle, myself and one other friend spent most of the day decorating (unfortunately my camera didn't get pictures of that work, just the great costumes!) Hopefully I'll post some pictures of the decoration later (off Kendelle's camera). It was a lot of fun.

"The King and Princess...aka Blake and Julia"

I managed to find a costume for myself

My brother was the court jester, of course!:)-

Last Wednesday, on the last day of classes, a couple of my friends came over in between exams and we had a baking fest (I think I told you about this last week but here's a picture from the event). If you look closely at the table, you can see gingerbread in various stages of decorating. They blend in really well with the table cloth. It was a tonne of fun though.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!

School is Out!!!

......A happy picture I found from this summer out at camp...makes me think of all the fun that will be had this coming summer when I head back out to Manitoba Pioneer Camp...

Wow, the day finally came when I didn't have to go to an 8:30 class!!! (until next year aka Jan 7, 2008). That's right ladies and gentlemen, I have finished term 1 of my education degree. I don't really have much to complain about because my exams were pretty laid back and I didn't even get stressed about them:) Things were so slow that yesterday, between my last two exams, I had my school friends come over and we baked 3 batches of gingerbread men, 4 lemon squares and 1 batch of truffles;) It was a blast. I'm working hard right now on getting prepared for a big medieval feast that I'm helping host and organize for our youth of the church (grades 6-12). It's on Saturday night, and I'm incharge of decorating the hall to make it feel like you're in a medieval castle of sorts. So far I've been painting banners, shields and making stained glass out of cardboard and tissue paper...who knew I was so crafty:P

Anyways, just thought I'd enter a little update for those who are interested to know about what's going on in my daily, not so interesting life.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Christmas Is Coming!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!!!!

The first big snow storm has hit the Brandon region and I am so excited! Last night I had the chance to bake my first batch of Christmas baking which is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season. I made traditional sugar cookies, using cookie cutters in the shapes of snowflakes, evergreen trees, and gingerbread men. There was Christmas music playing and the fire place was glowing brightly. It definitely feels like winter and Christmas around my house. We set up our tree on the weekend and transformed the house into a wintery wonderland.

My school term is almost at it's end. Only 2 more presentations and 2 more papers and 3 exams until I am finished. The light is shining brightly at the end of my school tunnel! I have grand intentions of doing almost nothing after I finish classes next Thursday and trying to soak up the holiday relaxation (it seems a bit odd for some to think about relaxing at Christmas, but that's how I view holiday time).

I'd love to know how those of you who still follow this blog are getting ready for Christmas in your homes...

5 Things You Maybe Didn't Know About Me...

This is the first time that I have been 'tagged' and it's kind of fun! I looked at some of the blogs of other people that were tagged by my friend Rayna and they had some pretty interesting responses. My only dilemma is that I don't have very many friends that have their own blogs (or at least would appreciate being 'tagged') so I won't be passing this on to 5 people, unfortunately.

These are the rules of this little tag: Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog (some random, some weird). Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs and then let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.



1) I have a serious travel bug and can hardly wait until I can get in an airplane again and visit somewhere new on the globe. I spent last year travelling around Europe (on 2 occasions) and living in Ethiopia for 3 months to work for SIM (Serving in Missions). Near the top of my travel wish list is: China (anywhere in Southeast Asia actually) and seeing more countries in Africa. South America is very appealing (Brazil, Chile) and New Zealand and Australia. SO, pretty much the whole world!!!



2)I get really annoyed when I enter a messy room (my own or someone elses). I turn to cleaning or cooking whenever my life gets stressful. Being in school allows for a lot of opportunities for stress-induced cleaning:)



3)I love being outdoors, and actually think it's a great idea to live out in the bush for 10-12 days without showers, indoor toilets or real beds. Living in the bush is my idea of a good time.



4)In my dream world I will have at least 4 children, we'll see after I have the first one some day:)-



5)I don't really like silence. When I'm home alone I always have music playing somewhere or I'm creating the music! Being outside alone is never actually silence, because there are so many great natural sounds. Though I am trying to learn to appreciate silence in small doses:)



The people I'm going to tag are: Catherine, Sarah, Erin&Matt, Andrea (she has private viewing though) & ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE...?

Have fun!

Blogs in the Classroom

As part of my "Technology in the Classroom" class in the Education program at Brandon University I am sharing how blogger could be used in the classroom. There is the potential for teachers to post a new idea or controversial topic and allow their students to comment in a group discussion of sorts. Blogs are easy to set up because you can just choose a template and then insert your own text and images where you want. They are a safe place for students to share ideas, because the teacher can control who is allowed to comment on the site and even who is able to view the blog. It would also be possible to set up your kids as administrators of the blog so that all students could take a turn posting a blog as part of any subject really.

• You can insert hyper-links for sites you want your students to check out.


• You can insert images


• You can also include video clips

Blogger is easy to edit and alter to your own specifications.

All Done

Wow, hard to believe, but yesterday was my final day of Placement 1! How time flies. I had a really great time in my placement at Crocus Plains. At the beginning I wasn't sure if I was in the right profession, but by the end of the time in the school I know it is the right place for me. I have enjoyed going to school as the teacher (most days:)) even though sometimes the kids drive me crazy! Seriously, I'm kind of sad that I have to go back to my own classes on Monday, being a student again.

My formal evaluations were really good-my co-operating teacher even nominated me for an award that I may win at the end of my time in the education faculty (next spring). I guess I'm doing something right! (Not bragging or anything:)) No Really, the only thing my faculty advisor could suggest for improvement next time out would be to find a more difficult class so that I can practice classroom management and have kids that will give me a run for my money...if that's all he can come up with I'm not too concerned!

My next few weeks back at classes will be busy (2 major presentations and 2 papers to write) but it will all be over in a flash and then CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS!!!!! hooray! Incase you can't tell, I'm a little excited about that thought. I love the baking, decorating and general fun that comes at Christmas. I love that my family is all together and we can relax and play together. I'm only praying that we will have snow so we can play outside too (and it just doesn't seem right without some white stuff on the ground!).

What's your favorite part of Christmas celebrations?

(the picture is of my sister last winter during a saturday adventure to Adam's Lake in southern Manitoba)

Random Things

I've just entered my first online contest. I'm hoping to win this amazing sounding make-up (Mineral make-up) and all the details about this amazing product can be found at Pure Anada. I'll let you know if I win...

By the way-just wanted you all to know that I"m loving my placement at Crocus Plains and I'm getting kind of sad about the fact that I have to go back to being the student in a weeks time. I guess that's a good thing because it means education is what I should be doing right now.

Another exciting note is that my mom's brother's and their families are coming out to Brandon this weekend! It's gonna be loads of fun and laughs.

A little Magic!

I wanted to share some of my exciting (and some not so exciting) updates and events from the last two weeks. I had forgotten it had been so long since I last posted anything up here in blogger land. Anyways...



Halloween was probably one of my most favorite days so far during student teaching. Now usually I'm not really a big halloween fan but this year I helped plan and run a chemistry magic show for all my classes on the day of candy and costumes. I (being the student-teacher who is supposed to be impressing all the staff around) planned the chemistry show and made sure we had everything that was needed and basically hosted the show. There were 5 teachers who worked together to put on a 20 minute magic show for our classes during the five periods of classes on Halloween. It was a blast! Lots of fire and explosions...every person's dream (at least if they're at all interested in Chemistry or science in general). We dressed up in costumes and pretended it was a wizard's school and each 'wizard' had special tricks and talents that they had learnt. The kids seemed to get into it a lot which was great (and I didn't have any lessons to plan-though I quickly realized that this show took a lot more time, energy and effort than any lesson plan I could have put together)...that being said it was really a great time.

Here are a few pictures from the show (I was dressed up as a pirate incase you can't guess...)

I had a pumpking 'cauldron' and used my magic wizard powder (flour) to make great flames and flares that jumped out of the pumpkin's face.

We had 'flaming snowballs' that we could juggle. The kids were pretty impressed!

In other teacher news; I am getting to know my students more which makes my days more enjoyable because they are starting to trust me and a relationship of sorts is beginning to develop. It's hard to believe that I'm already starting week 4 (of 5) on Monday...where does the time go? My co-operating teacher is awesome. She pretty much gave me complete control over 2 of her classes (grade 12 Chemistry) for the 5 weeks I am in her class so I get the full experience. Officially, people in my position (1st time placement) are supposed to teach only 2 lessons a WEEK...I teach 2-4 lessons a DAY. It's more work, yes, but the experience is much more beneficial for me to be in there full-time teaching because observation is only good to a certain point. Eventually you have to get infront of the students and start coming up with your own ways of doing things. SO it's really working out well.

Enjoy your weekend!!!

STUDENT TEACHING the first week

HI Friends.

Some of you may know, for others this may be new information, but I am currently in my FIRST student teaching placement. Tomorrow is the end of week 1! wow! I am going to be at Crocus Plains High School for a total of 5 weeks in a grade 12 chemistry and grade 10 math class. Today was my first chance to actually teach a lesson that I prepared myself! WOW again! It was about calculating pH (chemistry stuff!) and it went fairly well all things considered. I think the students got it (we'll find out tomorrow when they bring in their homework) and I didn't get too flustered. It works out well because I teach two sections of the same class so it's like a second try at each lesson (the afternoon class gets a better version:). I'm looking forward to the time in my teaching career when lesson planning doesn't take nearly as long as it does right now...it's pretty time consuming right now.

I'm going to teach my first math class on Monday (as well as continue my chemistry lessons) so life is only going to get busier! But it is a good busy (at least that's what I think).

Gotta get on that next lesson plan so bye for now!

Something you Can DO!

I saw this on my friend's blog today as I think it is so important to have early detection with any kind of cancer, I wanted to share this opportunity with you. Do this daily! Pass the link on to your friends. Post it on your blog! Share it on Facebook!

"Please tell ten friends today; and tell them to tell ten more. The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota for donating at least one free mammogram each day to an underprivileged woman. It takes only a few seconds to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' (the rectangular pink button in the middle). There's no financial obligation; it doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammograms in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know: http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/"

Click now - it only takes two seconds. And then tomorrow, go back and do it again. And the next day...and the next day...and the next. (You can also sign up for a daily email reminder to go click once a day if you are forgetful like me!)

This is something simple that we can do that will help reduce mortality rates from breast cancer. Go and click today!

Thanksgiving Craziness!

Wow,what a weekend! I spent almost 24 hours travelling for the love of friends and family! It started out with a trek to ThunderBay to see two friends (erin & Matt) celebrate their marriage on Friday. The drive was kinda long and ugly (not all the time but mostly:D)but I drove with another friend (Janelle) so the ride was entertaining all the same. Plus, we stayed with our camp friends (matt & ruth) in their apartment and saw other camp friends while celebrating at the wedding. So the wedding was beautiful and filled with the joy of spending time with friends. Saturday night I hopped aboard the good ol' greyhound bus and travelled back west to Kenora where my parents picked me up VERY early in the morning. Thanksgiving continued with the family out at the cabin on Lake of the Woods! SOOOOO much food! I'm still stuffed and have no desire to eat anything sweet for quite some time. It was fun to hang out with family, play games and did I mention EAT!? We headed out of the Kenora area this morning around noon and made it back to Brandon for supper! Fun times:) What did others do for their thanksgiving celebrations?

Cheerio friends!

Only 2 more weeks!

Today I went to the school I'm going to be student teaching at in only 2 WEEKS! I met with my co-operating teacher and we worked out my schedule and she gave me a pile of resources and materials to start looking through to get ready for my teaching assignment. I'll be teaching grade 12 chemistry and grade 10 pre-calculus (I know some of you are wondering how I can like that stuff!). I'm excited and scared at the same time. Excited because I'll finally be doing what I want to be doing (and put into practice some things we've been talking about in class) and scared because I actually have to put lesson plans together and be responsible for the class and whether the students are actually learning anything or not. And, hopefully they're having some fun while learning. So this is going to stretch me but I know it's good to do tough things so that I can grow into something more than what I am right now.

On a happier note, I'm going to the Manitoba Pioneer Camp 2007 camper reunion on Saturday! It'll be a lot of fun seeing some of the campers and staff that I spent the summer with:) Maybe even a stop for some good ethnic cuisine while I'm in Winnipeg before heading back to Brandon. Kendelle's coming with me so we'll have a good time together.

Here's a little picture to give you a smile (one of my cousins that I spent time with in Ethiopia):

You're Invited!

Hi Faithful Blogging Friends: For those who live in and around Brandon, I want to invite you to come to my house on October 10, at 7:30pm for a time of story sharing, coffee and yummy desserts. I want to share some pictures and stories from my time in Ethiopia with you while we enjoy the creations from my kitchen. Please RSVP via email (vanessa.fawcett@gmail.com) or phone (725-2904) so that I can make sure there is lots of dessert for everyone who's coming. Feel free to spread the word to people who might be interested.

Hope to see you soon!

Bah, Powerpoint

Sometimes technology is a wonderful thing, but when your brain doesn't know how to use it most efficiently it can be SOOOOOOOOOOo frustrating! That's where I'm at right now. I'm working on making a(hopefully an awesome) powerpoint show to share my stories about Ethiopia with my friends. I wasn't smart enough though to think about the fact that with so many pictures my file would probably get too huge. It did, and my computer was freezing up while I was trying to work on the project. Before you all start sending multitudes of suggestions of what to do, don't worry I figured something out. I just had to go back to my photo editing program and change the properties of the file to a more manageable size. The bad part is that I had already selected all my photos (after sorting through over a thousand photos to find them) and then I had to do the same thing again to resave them in a smaller format and then insert them all individually and resize them in the powerpoint presentation. (I don't know if that even makes sense but the general jist is that I had to redo all my work pretty much...frustrating to say the least!)

At the end of my evening I at least have my pictures all picked out and I now have to format and create this amazing presentation that looks nice and sets up my stories well. I'll let you know how it goes!

Sorry to those who actually read through this rant...I try not to make this a rant site very often.



Just a little something to make you laugh after sufferring through my sappy story:)

Moving into a new house

Well it's not me that's moving into a new house, but I had the chance to help some people move in! Through my church, I am connected with some people who are helping new immigrants that are moving into Brandon. Today we were specifically cleaning and moving things into a small home for an El Salvadorian family that is moving to Brandon in only a few days. The father works for Maple Leaf Hog plant in Brandon and he is bringing his wife and three children to live in Canada after leaving them over 2 years ago. It's just so exciting to be part of helping someone start a new life. People from around Brandon have been donating furniture, dishes, clothing etc to help this family start their new life in Brandon. It's just so hard for me to even imagine what it would be like to move to a place where I don't speak the language, know the culture or hardly any people and only be allowed to bring maybe 1 suitcase to start my new life. It's beyond my thinking.

First Day of School

The first day has come and gone and I survived! Classes don't seem to bad and most of the teachers seem to be friendly enough. It's sort of like being back in Junior High because I travel around to my classes with the same people but that's okay. I did my first cut & paste project for something due tomorrow. It's kind of fun pulling out the scissors and glue stick again:) None of my assignments look too difficult (except for some personal teaching philosophy papers and other personal reflection type assignments) but there are sure going to be a lot of small little things that take up time.

I'm still waiting to see where my placement will be. I am hoping for a Brandon placement but I'll have to wait and see.

Nothing too exciting yet but I'm sure something will be coming in the next days.

Stay safe and have fun!

Just a little picture from my travels in Austria that I thought would add some interest to this blog. Nothing special, just me at the top of a mountain that I went up with my aunt and Uncle during my stay with them.

PICTURES ADDED

Finally, after months of waiting, you can head down to a previous post, on April 28, 2007 and see the few pictures I was talking about. Sorry for the delay...it may not even interest you anymore but I was updating my blog and thought I'd fix that little detail.

An Amazing Summer

I am quite ashamed to say that I appear to have forgotten how to blog. Sorry my friends. I had great intentions of sharing my time out on Shoal Lake at Manitoba Pioneer Camp with my blogging friends but life got a lot busier than I imagined. My summer was quite fantastic though. Tough some days, but so rewarding on other days. I was directing girls camp on the island (so I was the head boss during our 2 12-day girls only camps on the main island). A big job, but one that I know God sent me to do (with his help of course!) Here are a few of my favorite shots from my time at camp...a bit late, but at least they're up here now!


A little lion and her lion tamer! Always a good time dressing up for Banquet.


Kendelle (my sister) and I led a 10 day canoe trip together. It was SOOOO much fun. This pic was taken on day 8-our lay-over day which included tasty pancakes cooked over the fire and coffee! As you can tell, we hadn't seen a shower or soap in over a week (a little greasy but still having a great time)


The 6 girls that we took on that canoe trip. The girls had a chance to shower before this pic but Kendelle and I still look a bit dirty!


I will try to stay more faithful in blogging, with my life back in Brandon as that is the location of my adventures now...in the Faculty of Education at Brandon University (they tell me that in 2 years I will be a certified teacher-specializing in High school-scary!). I'm sure there will be some interesting tales once I start my student teaching placement.

Home (or just visiting?!)

Well I made it back to Brandon, Manitoba about 5 days ago and I've already left the city for the weekend. I guess my roots aren't too deep here in Manitoba. But seriously, it was so amazing to make it all the way home last Wednesday night and get to give my family members big hugs and see my little puppy and sleep in my own bed with my own pillow. Home is a good place to be. There is of course more than a person can ever fully share after an experience like I have just had, but I am willing to try and share as much as possible with you. I feel like a blog is not really the place to do it, so I am writing an update letter today or tomorrow which will emailed or snail mailed out to all on my list from previous letters. If you are interested in getting this update and haven't received one from me in the past please send me a note on my blog or email (fawcett_v@hotmail.com) and I would be happy to add you to the list. Also, in the fall I am planning on having a little get together to share my photos and stories with anyone in the Brandon area (or those who feel they would like to come and visit) but I will keep you updated about that time.

I don't have time in the coming days to have this sharing time because my next adventure is already waiting for me. I am going back out to Manitoba Pioneer Camp for the rest of the summer. I am going to be the director of girls camp and many other exciting opportunities. I am really excited to be going back out to the island for the summer and can't wait to be living out there again.

So this will be my last post for a few months until i get home from camp but hopefully you've enjoyed tracking my journies over the past months. This blog will be kept alive so check it out every once in a while and when my next big adventure comes up I will be sure to put an update on here.

Thanks for your friendship and faithful reading.

Chow!

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Hi Friends...

I realize that it's been a little while since updating on life so I'm gonna do it now. I have just finished a great 12 days travelling in Italy with a great friend...Julia (You can see her in the pictures from my last post!). Yesterday morning we parted ways in Rome, and Julia went home to Canada while I took a long (did I mention it was REALLY long!) train ride up to Salzburg, Austria. I have to admit that i did get nice layover in Venice (to eat my last cup of authentic gelato and buy a few souvenirs while enjoying the beautiful city!).

Since I last posted, while in the Cinque Terra, Julia and I went down to Florence, then Naples and finally Rome. Each a very different city. Florence is historic, but Rome is even older and therefore totally different look and architecture everywhere. Naples is also really old, but the culture there is much different than a sophisticated city like Florence. In a lot of ways Naples reminded me of Addis Ababa where i had just lived. For example, people drive with their horns (instead of signalling to change lanes, or just waiting your turn to move through the intersetion, both populations believe it's better to just lay on the horn and hope people respond!); the city is quite dirty (though the cars don't spit out clouds of black smoke in Naples like they do in Addis) [it also didn't help that the garbage men\women of Naples were having a strike while we were there so there was no garbage pickup]; the city is quite poor and I met a lot of people begging on the streets of both Naples and Addis. Anyways, those are just a few similarities. It was interesting that I felt so at home in that setting though, and my friend was always commenting on how different it was from any other city she had ever been to. I think my standards for cleanliness and general upkeep have been lowered and I am much more tolerant to these kinds of things after living in Ethiopia.

Now I am in lush and beautiful Austria for a final few days in Europe. It is so lovely to be staying in a green, green country after so many months with hardly any grass or plants and the cleanliness is of utmost importance here in Austria. It's very refreshing (and quite different). I fly home to Canada on Monday and then will be home for about 10 days before leaving for my next adventure to work at Manitoba Pioneer Camp again (like last summer).

I'll keep you all posted as to how my summer adventures unfold...no doubt to have some good stories!

Talk to you soon.

in the Cinque Terra

Hi My faithful friends!

Life is beautiful in Italy...especially the cinque terra! I highly suggest visiting this part of Italy if you ever have a chance to tour around this great country. The gelato is fantastic (I had 5 scoops yesterday...in 2 seperate times!) and the view is out of this world. Here's a quick photo or two from my day hiking around yesterday...hope you get a sense of the beauty surrounding us here on the coast. Julia and I have been having a great time and we're enjoying spending time with each other, not just the scenery. Tomorrow morning we head for Florence to take in more sophisticated beauty and leave the coast behind for a few days!

Ciao!




Julia and I enjoying gelato at the beach!



The beauty of the cinque terra

SAFELY IN PARIS

Hello All:

I just arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon after quite the eventful time in London. Let me give you a quick recap.

I flew out of Addis Ababa at 7:30am on Friday morning. My flight to Heathrow London was uneventful but once I got to London things got kind of crazy. It all comes back to Traffic! The bus I was supposed to take from Heathrow to London Luton (where I was supposed to catch a flight to Paris) was stuck in traffic and after waiting for an hour I decided to try a personal taxi to the airport. I ended up paying over 120 pounds (GBP) for the taxi ride and I was still too late to get on my flight to Paris. SO i wasted that money and the money for my plane ride. i had to buy a new ticket but this one to Amsterdam for early the next morning. I spent the night by myself in Luton Airport and caught a flight at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. then I took a ride to Paris from AMsterdam on the train...but I did get to ride first class because it was cheaper for me (don"t not exactly how, but that's what the lady told me at the ticket counter).

SO anyways, I finally made it to Paris and it"s really lovely. I'm travelling with a friend from camp last summer named Julia. We get along really well and I know it's going to be a great time. We already went to the Eiffel tower last night. We took the lift all the way up to the 3rd level for a great view of the city. Today we"re going to enjoy the river and parks around the city. Hopefully spend the afternoon on the grounds of the Louvre museum. They"re just as beautiful as some of the art in my opinion within the buildling because there are sculptures and all sorts of outdoor art on the grounds of the museum.

I am looking forward to meeting with many of you when I return home. I will be sending out a last thoughts on Addis newsletter and blog update before I head for my next adventure (working at Manitoba Pioneer Camp) for the next three months after returning to Canada.

Take care my friends

Away we go.

Well hello all that read my blog. Just a quick update as I am leaving Ethiopia tomorrow(May 11). I will be back in Canada May 28 after 3 weeks in Europe with friends and family (France, Italy, Austria). I hope to get some more of a update soon to tell you all of my latest escapades.

Chow

Pictures of This Week

*Note that the pictures have finally been added!

Hi Friends:

Here are a few photos from the past few days.

In this one, I am swimming with the girls from Deborah house. We took the girls for a one day outing in a town south of Addis Ababa, called Debre Zet. There was teaching time for them in the morning and then swimming in the afternoon. Most of the girls don't know how to swim, but they loved being in the pool.

This photo was taken at Joy Academy (the school that I teach at in the afternoons). The children are so cute and they seem to really love it when I'm there. I am always mobbed by the kids when I enter the gate in the afternoons. I have had repeated invites to their homes (though the parents have not been part of the invite, so I'm not taking it very seriously!)

This last photo was taken on the bus on our way to Debre Zet on Saturday. The two

ladies are two of the house mom's for the shelter. Their names are Esther and Alimush

(left to right). The little girl is Esther's daughter, named Bethlehem (Betty for short).

They are such loving ladies. And infinite patience it seems to be the mother for 32 girls.

A different mom is in the house each night. There are 3 women that share the job.

Down County Adventure

Hello Friends! It’s been many days since I last posted anything, but many exciting things have happened since! The main one being that I left Addis Ababa for about 10 days and went to Sherkole Refugee camp which is about 50 km from the Sudanese border. We drove down in a landcruiser and saw beautiful scenery along the way. The last day was very dusty. Warning this may not be for all readers…after that dusty day (you must know that the dust there is a red color) when I blew my nose it looked like I was bleeding because I had breathed in so much dust over the day’s journey. (A little gross I know, but it gives you an idea of how much dust was coming into the vehicle during our drive).

When we arrived in Sherkole on Good Friday, there was a group of people who were getting ready for repatriation. Here’s a picture of one family with their belongings.

All of the people’s things were put in trucks and then the people would ride on buses until the Sudan border. At the border, they would have to transfer into big trucks (look sort of like grain trucks on the prairies) and then continue into Sudan because the roads are so poor. It was amazing how little these families took with them (or had to begin with). The UN gave each family 1 tarp, 2 wool blankets, a new jerry can for carrying water and one pail to use in rebuilding their lives. There were about 250 people being taken back to Sudan that weekend. I also watched later in the week as a convoy of 13 buses drove through the camp with more people from a different refugee camp who were going back to Sudan.

Easter was definitely a different experience for me. My most unique Easter yet I think. I ate 3 Easter meals that Sunday-I was SOOOOO full. We started out at the Maaban church for a 3 hours service with lots of singing and dancing (I have video of that to share when I get home) and it was boiling hot. Probably close to 40 C within the church…it had a few tiny windows and two doors. A long rectangle shape with mud walls and a thatched grass roof. There were probably around 400 people in the building and another hundred or more outside the building because there was no more room. After the service, we went to one of the church leader’s homes for a big meal. We ate a variety of foods. Most I couldn’t really identify (and didn’t ask for clarification!) but it was okay tasting. I know that the sheep’s stomach was in one of the stews that we dipped the bread in. Another dish was really slimey from the okra that they put into it. Sudanese cooking is quite different from Ethiopian. IT is not spicey at all, but does have flavor most of the time. I think I prefer Ethiopian cooking to Sudanese. Sugar drinks are also a very important part of properly serving guests. We drank many glasses of something like tang (but with lots of sugar) and multiple cups of tea and ginger coffee (quite tasty) with ample servings of sugar within. I had my sugar quota for weeks by time I’d left that home! The women were the ones working so hard to prepare all the food. This picture is of the head cooking lady named Martine. She has a great sense of humor (hence the big smile on her face…I think she was laughing!) They made so much coffee to serve everyone that day.

Our next destination was an Ethiopian household who is friends with Sandra and Angela (two of the people on SIM team). She served us another meal with more cups of ginger coffee. We were getting quite full by this time!

Last meal of the day was in the Darfur zone of the camp. They served us some more Sudanese food and then invited us to a wedding. Yup, they’d just decided that day that they were getting married and the wedding was schedule for the same day. A little rushed by Western standards. There were only 4 women at the ceremony (all of us were SIM people who had come to visit and were invited to the wedding). I’m pretty sure that traditionally women are not part of the marriage ceremony. It was also different from the west because the groom and bride did not attend the ceremony. They stayed in their respective huts and knew they were married when people who were at the ceremony jumped up and started yelling. The father’s of the bride and groom are the ones who settle the details of the marriage. The chief of the Darfur people acted as their fathers because neither had their parents in the camp (either they had been killed in the war or had not come to the camp).

While on the SIM compound in Sherkole I mainly worked as a nanny/pre-school teacher/cook for the team. The long-term family working there has three young children under the age of 5. Here’s a picture of me and the oldest child (kalia) as we have a tea party one afternoon.

I really had a great time filling this supporting role within the team. The SIM compound is really quite rustic. Here’s a picture of a ‘tukul’ which is a grass hut with mud walls that one of the short-term people live in.

I really loved the rustic feel of being away from the city. There is no electricity at the camp, but the NGO’s do get power through a generator from around 7-11pm and 8-12am. All cooking is done with gas stoves.

The camp was much different than I had imagined. I had thought there would just be thousands of tents and people milling everywhere. In reality, it is like a small city. The camp is divided into 7 zones (different tribal groups in each zone) and there is a market, schools, clinics and the housing is quite permanent. They have mud walls and thatched grass for the roof. The people are quite friendly and there are so many languages spoken. The main ones are French, English, Arabic, Amharic and Swahili. There are people from Sudan and Congo and Burundi. There are also so many tribal languages for each group of people from different parts of Sudan and the Congolese as well as Burundi people also have tribal/mother tongues. I got to use my small amount of French while I was in the camp which was great!

Flying home at the end of my time away was just as much an adventure. The short story is that you need to be really flexible and don’t get too set on a specific departure time or date because you might just have to wait another day or two. I can share the full story some day when we see each other in person.

SO that’s a summary of my adventures away from the city in the last 2 weeks. I have only 3 weeks left in Addis so my time is quickly filling with the busyness of finishing up projects and saying good bye to all the friends I have made.

Bye for Now!

Experience of a Lifetime!

Yesterday was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. I met my sponsor child named Hanna Teshager. She is 15 years old and in grade 8 right now. I started sponsoring her when she was 11 years old. I felt so honored when I arrived at the home, and found out that almost all of Hanna’s family had specifically stayed home (either from school or work) because they didn’t want to miss my visit. Talk about being the honored guest! I was glad to see that her house was in good shape, and everyone in her family was healthy and happy. The home is larger than many that I have visited in my home-visits with SIM, so that was encouraging. The project seems to be doing a good job of helping families improve their homes. As I was walking to Hanna’s house, the project workers pointed out two homes nearby that are being rebuilt through CCFC’s (Christian Children’s Fund of Canada…the organization I have sponsored through) assistance for family’s of children in the project.

Like any good Ethiopian woman, Hanna’s mother was very intent on feeding me as much as humanly possible. The picture below shows me sitting beside Hanna, with a platter full of food that I was expected to eat. It was a good thing that I had a few people help me out…I really think my stomach has expanded since coming to Ethiopia! The other picture shows the family members that were home to see me. One older brother was away at work, and the other sister did not want to be in the picture, but these are the remaining family members. Hanna’s father died about 3 years ago due to Tuberculosis.

I had such a fantastic time just getting the chance to say hello in person to Hanna and her family. After we had eaten, Hanna pulled out every letter, picture and card that I have ever sent her. She keeps them in a special envelope in the house. Her mom told me that whenever Hanna receives a letter, she will immediately (after reading it of course) put it in the safe spot so that it will not get damaged. I had forgotten that I had sent so many letters. But I was glad that I could tell her I’ve kept all of her letters and pictures as well. As a note of encouragement to any of you who have sponsor children…WRITE LETTERS!!!! It means SO much to these children to get things from their sponsors. They don’t have to be novels, but sending a picture and a quick note means the world to them. So please take 15 minutes today and write a quick letter to your child if you have a sponsor child.

I also learnt that CCFC does more than just child sponsorship. They are working in the community to help mothers set up micro-enterprises with aid in setting up business plans and providing the initial capital needed to start a business. They have over 400 women running their own business now, which is an awesome way to help family’s become self-sustainable. The goal of CCFC in Ethiopia is that they would be able to help families not need the assistance from sponsors or the project anymore. I was happy to see that they are teaching people, not only handing out money. They also have another big income generating project making carpets. Women and girls who have no job or income are employed by this project. They work the wool through all the stages from sorting and cleaning the wool to weaving the carpets. I had to buy 2 carpets to bring home of course!

I am going to have another chance to go back and spend some more time with Hanna before I leave, which is very exciting. Hanna and her mother are going to teach me how to make injera (the bread-type pancake that is eaten with all meals) when I go next time. This is a skill I wanted to try before leaving Ethiopia so I’m really glad they’re willing to try and teach me.

Having met Hanna and her family, I wish that I could become true friends with them and spend more time with them like I do with other people in SIM’s projects. But I will have to be content with what opportunities I have and maybe one day I will be back in Addis and be able to spend more time with her.

If any of you ever have an opportunity to meet your sponsor child, take every effort you can to make that come to reality because it is an experience of a lifetime.

Weekend Adventures

Hello fellow adventurers!

I thought I'd share about my weekend adventure out of Addis Ababa for this week's post. On Saturday, I went with a group of people from SIM out to a town named Wolisso. Our final destination was Negash Lodge, where we could relax and enjoy being out of the city. You don't even realize how dirty and noisey the city is until you have the opportunity to get away and be in a quiet place. The drive out to the lodge was fantastic because I saw what most of Ethiopia actually looks like. Addis Ababa is really the abnormality for the country. There are actually mud huts with thatched roofs (either a circular shape or square shape) and goats, cows, chickens, horses all just wander around the road and fields. It looks like what my imagination thought of Africa. I've included a picture from the drive out. It was a bit odd to see the power lines going into many of the mud huts (not this
picture!) but I'm glad that the people have a chance to have some of the conveniences of modern living.

Here's two photos that were taken at the Lodge itself. The wild turkeys had free roam of the pool area. I just thought this was a great picture though I think the birds are very ugly! And the monkeys also ran the place. One tried to open up my backpack which was sitting by a chair while I was swimming. They are used to people and so are not very afraid. This was my first chance to see monkeys running on the lose (besides the zoo, which doesn't really count!)

This weekend I am heading out of the city again, to a place called Babygayou (not sure on the spelling) and hopefully I'll have some new photos to share with you next week from this weekend adventure!

Never a dull moment, Vanessa

ps I hope to get the pictures up soon.

1/3 Finished

Well, month number one has passed, and two more remain as I experience living and working in Addis Ababa. Time is always a funny thing, because it can feel long as well as seem to pass very quickly and yet we all know that time itself cannot change its speed of passing.

My actual "job" has not worked out as I had anticipated before arriving in Ethiopia but that is ok. If you had asked me that question a week ago, I would probably have seemed very frustrated and anxious to get going and doing something. But this week I've come to the realization that I have no control over my "job" here and so I might as well just make the most of the time I have here. I have been reading more, journaling and trying to spend time with people who are staying in the guesthouse. Even though I am not doing a lot of "jobs" around here, I know that I am learning everyday. Just having the experience of living in Addis Ababa is so eye-opening and as I reflect back on my time here, I know I will see many lessons learned.

What does my life look on a daily basis? Good question…in the last two weeks, my schedule has changed several times. The plan right now, is for me to continue working with the girls living in Deborah house 3-4 times each week. Usually in the evenings. I am helping them out with their homework, just chatting, playing games and this week I hope to start a bible study with those who are interested. In the mornings, I am interviewing families as well as mothers who have started small businesses with SIM's assistance. I am taking the stories I hear during the interviews and turning them into write-ups that can be used in brochures and to help the long-term missionaries as well as program officers share what is happening in the projects with administration and the government. This is not my first choice of jobs, seeing how at home I would not choose to have a writing project. Writing is not one of my favorite past times, but it is a job that is helping people out in the Urban Ministry Project so I will do it. This job is often left to short-termers, because the Ethiopians who work within the project do not have English skills that are good enough to do this type of writing and the long-term missionaries are wrapped up in many other things. My afternoons (hopefully-depending on how my initial meeting tomorrow afternoon), are going to be spent at a local school (kindergarten-grade4) that was started by a couple from the church that I attend for Ethiopian children. They want me to come and help bring science teaching and let the kids have experience with experiments and investigative learning. I think this will be a great match because I love science and teaching. If this all pans out, and continues until my departure in two months, I think I should have no more empty afternoons J.

What are some of the fun parts of living in Addis Ababa?

-having two marriage proposals in one walk home…ladies at home who are looking for husbands-I found prime picking grounds (haha)

-being able to go for a steak dinner and pay less than $10 (Canadian!)

-getting a root canal for $30US (the root canal might not be fun, but the price ought to make your smile a little bigger!)

-getting on the mini-bus that officially has 14 spots, but it's not uncommon for almost 20 people to be stuffed in…how well do you know your neighbour?)

Just a few of the entertaining moments in my time here so far (except the root canal…my friend had the pleasure, not me!)

And to finish off this little reflection, here's a cute photo I took last Saturday. The little girl's name is Kalkinad and she's 4 years old. She's the daughter of Sinke (one of the girls from the shelter). I had brought a jar of bubbles along, and Kalkinad had a fantastic time with them. She is a really sweet little girl, though she believes she rules the house and her 32 mothers (all the girls in the shelter), usually allow it!

Adventures in Addis

Some of the highlights for this week:

My first trip up to an area of Addis called the Merkato. It is a huge
outdoor market where one can buy almost anything under the sun.
Anything from flooring to cheese! The market is so expansive that my
friend (Lisa), and I hired a man who was wandering through the market
to take us to the specific types of shops that we wanted. For only 10
birr we were able to get exactly what we were looking for. During my
shopping trip up there I bought an abasha dress…a traditional dress.
The guy selling it to me wanted to try and get me to buy a set of
men's traditional clothes because the dress is mostly white and he
thought it was for a wedding. Sorry, no go! Lisa bought shoes. For
those of you who know me well, you'll know that I struggled against
the desire to buy shoes for myself. Thankfully most of the shops
don't even carry shoes as large as I need. Lisa had enough trouble
finding her size (around a 9 ½) so I think it would be nearly
impossible for me to buy size 11 shoes!

Another highlight was spending Thursday out at Bingham Academy here in
Addis. It is a private school that provides education for missionary
kids and for children of diplomats and other important people around
Ethiopia. Meryl, my supervisor of sorts, teaches there twice a week,
so I tagged along. I went to Amharic class in the morning and then
helped out in the kindergarten class for the afternoon. It was
fantastic. I felt very much at home in the classrooms there.

It was a slow week overall because Urban ministries was undergoing a
government evaluation, which I was not part of. This meant that I had
no work except spending time with the shelter girls. I went down
several evenings and yesterday (Saturday). Having a slow work week
turned out to be a good thing because my cousins, amy and abby, were
still in addis as they waited for their papers so I could help out
their dad by taking care of the twins. I also got to spend more time
with Lisa (an SIM worker from Kenya) and we did some shopping and
hanging out that wouldn't have been possible if I had been working all
week.



This picture was taken at Deborah House a week ago. The ferenge on
the left, is Sandra. She is from Australia and is a good friend that
I've made while living in Addis. She is leaving for her position out
in a refugee camp on the western edge of Ethiopia next week. The girl
on the left is named Emebett. She has lived at the shelter for around
5 years. She is a sweet girl with a big smile. She loves to sing and
compose music on the guitar. Someone from SIM gave her a few guitar
lessons a few years ago. She is just one of the many great girls that
live in Deborah house.

Hopefully this coming week will provide a few more interesting
tidbits, but not every week can be thrill filled or I would be tired
out in no time.

Ethiopia Extravaganza!!!!

Here is the quiz that I sent out via email the other day. The answers are at the bottom of the post.

ETHIOPIA EXTRAVAGANZA
As I’ve begun to adjust to and learn about life in Ethiopia I’ve discovered some interesting facts that I wanted to share with you. So try your knowledge at this little quiz. I know that some of the answers have appeared in previous newsletters and blog postings but incase you don’t remember, I’ll be putting the answers up on the blog in a few days. Good luck!!!

Approximately how many Ethiopian Birr is one Canadian dollar worth?
a. 3
b. 7
c. 20
d. 10

The Amharic word for yes is:
a. Ow
b. Oui
c. Si
d. Kaw

Traditional Ethiopian bread is:
a. Crepe
b. Sooula
c. Injera
d. Ktef

Taxis in Addis Ababa are painted what two colours?
a. Yellow & Black
b. Red & White
c. Blue & Black
d. Blue & White

The predominant practiced religion in Ethiopia is:
a. Orthodox
b. Muslim
c. Judaism
d. Christianity

Ethiopian calendars have how many months?
a. 10
b. 11
c. 13
d. 12

The Ethiopian day begins at:
a. 12:00
b. 6:00
c. 3:00
d. 9:00

There are over ____ dialects spoken in Ethiopia:
a. 39
b. 42
c. 81
d. 15

The Amharic word for tea is:
a. Chai
b. Shai
c. Kwai
d. Lawi

To greet another person properly in Ethiopia, one must:
a. Just say hello
b. Just shake hands
c. Shake hands and kiss on the cheeks and say hello
d. Just kiss on the cheeks

ANSWERS:
1. d
2. a
3. c
4. d
5. a
6. c
7. b
8. c
9. b
10. c

Pictures

View out of my bedroom window at the guest house.












My first lunch with Nationals













Doing homework with the girls













My first braid night!!















Big Ben - London stopover for 6 hours















Westminister Abbey - London stopover for 6 hours.

The Weekly!

It’s Picture TIME!!! I am sending this blog as an attachment to everyone that I know so that they can see the pictures. If you want to receive the attachment and haven’t please email me: fawcett_v@hotmail.com and I’ll send you a copy.

Hello friends:

This past week has had it’s busy and slow times but over all a great time. One big highlight has been my second cousins, who have been at the guest house since Monday. Their parents are Canadian missionaries with SIM who have worked in Ethiopia for over 15 years. The girls’ names are Amy and Abby. They are 2 years old and were adopted by my cousins. They are waiting for their paperwork to come through so the girls can go to Canada with my cousins’ during their home assignment. I’ve enjoyed spending time with the girls playing all sorts of things. One of the favorites is coming up to my “house” and drawing or playing dress-up with my shoes and sunglasses.

My coffee making training has continued this week. My friend Amelework invited me over to her home again for a meal and I got to grind the coffee all by myself!! There’s something really special about the smell of roasting coffee. If you have the chance to roast your own some time I would highly recommend it-even if you don’t like to drink the stuff. Before coming to Addis I was not a big coffee drinking but I’m pretty sure I’ll be an addict before leaving. It’s so good here-I still don’t prefer to drink it black but Macchiatos are very tasty.

On Friday night I went out with a bunch of friends to a restaurant that was designed to share a cultural experience with its patrons. Though definitely made for the tourists, the restaurant had many locals which is always good sign in regards to the food. There was traditional dancing and singing which was very entertaining. I took video footage that I will post upon my return because of the slow internet connection. I am still amazed at the flexibility and talent of the dancers. Anyone who has seen Ethiopian dancing will understand what I mean. The food was quite spectacular…the platter looked like a piece of art. It is fasting time right now, so there are many fasting dishes made with vegetables and peas or lentils. I have discovered that I like the fasting food best because it is not as spicey! Most people in Ethiopia don’t eat such variety as on our platter but we were able to pay, so there are many options. The pictures show a snapshot of one of the dances and the fantastic display of food we received.

I had a further experience of working in conjunction with a government run structure-the public school here in Addis. I was supposed to help with tutoring after school as part of my project here but that has now changed. The government decided to extend classes for students until 5pm instead of 3:30pm because they will be taking the month of May off for a census in the country. The students will then be expected to return to class in June for final exams and July and August will be off because it is the rainy season. It seems a bit bizarre to me, but that’s the government for you. I now face a dilemma of deciding what I should do with my afternoons now that I can’t tutor. Please pray with me as I need to redesign this part of my schedule.
CHOW!

What's new in Addis?

I know I promised something reflective, but I also have some exciting experiences to share so I’ll just do the usual and give you some highlights of my week so far and some reflections on those…hope this is satisfying everyone’s desire to know about Addis Ababa. Feel free to email me questions if you have any. The whole blog thing is not working out as well as I had hoped, so I don’t get a chance to look at anyone’s comments if you’re writing them. THEREFORE, if you have anything interesting that you want me to actually see then please email mE! fawett_v@hotmail.com

A) I had my first opportunity to be part of making coffee. This is a big deal in Ethiopia! You buy the beans green and then roast, grind and then percolate your own coffee. It is not a quick task and I don’t think Tim Horton’s would ever catch on around here. The smell is so delightful. I had the opportunity to help roast and then try grinding the beans for my friend. She invited me over to her home for lunch on Monday. A really big honour. She went to great lengths to prepare special wat to go with our injera as well as made a guacamole type dish and rice with potatoes and carrots. She also served me “tibs” which is sort of like ribs but its not actually ribs. It’s some part of the sheep or pig or cow that is boney with a bit of meat on it! The funny part was that she served me about 3 times as much food as herself, and then was upset that I couldn’t finish all my food. I think my stomach is going to have to learn how to expand if I’m not going to insult my hosts! A great thing is that so far I haven’t gotten sick from eating at people’s homes. Praise God!

B) I went to a place called Mother Theresa Hospice & Orphanage. A heart-wrenching experience. Most of the people living there, adults and children alike have come to their final home on earth. Almost all the people that walk in the hospital never walk out. The exception is some of the TB patients come for treatment and then gain some vocational training in woodworks or metal and then go back into society. HIV/AIDS patients fill up much of the adult wards and this place is somewhere for them to die without being on the street. One of the few encouraging parts of the visit was seeing some sets of parents coming to the orphanage to get their babies which they were adopting. A big thing that broke my heart was that many of the children that lived in the orphanage or hospice/hospital were not true orphans. They only lived at the hospital because their parents and dropped them off at the gates and walked away because the children have severe mental retardation and disease. I don’t know the names of all their illnesses but most of the children could not talk or walk and I only wonder what kind of life they could have if they were to live in the West where there is more sophisticated treatment and possibly parents that would love them.

C) I went to a soup kitchen called Hope Enterprises. SIM recommends that people living at the guest house (where I live), hand out meal tickets to this soup kitchen instead of handing out money to beggars on the street. I went with a few other short term people and we talked with one of the pastors who works with Hope Enterprises. A few quick, astonishing facts-this kitchen serves ~660/day (every day of the week) for only 284 birr per day (~$35US). Pretty astonishing if you ask me. The day we went, everyone was being fed for free because someone had donated the money for all the food. That way everyone could save their ticket for another day.

Those are just a few of the big things that I’ve been part of in the last week. Thanks to everyone who’s sending emails-I love it! And for those who just read what I’ve been up to without responding that’s great too.

Braids and Tea-without pictures :(

Hello Faithful Readers!

It’s been a while since I shared an insiders’ look at what is happening in my life in Addis Ababa. I decided to put an email out so that pictures can be included because the dial-up connection here in Addis is not fast enough to put pictures on my blog even when I downsize the file. I will be putting the text on my blog as well. My well laid plans of having a blog to keep you up to date with just isn’t quite as good when I am living in a country without high speed or wireless internet. (One of those facts that I didn’t realize before leaving from Canada!)

To start out with, some of the exciting happenings in my life lately:

1) I look less like a Fereinge (foreigner) and more like a local thanks to one of my girls at the shelter. Grace braided my hair on Thursday night. It took her less than an hour and people are telling me that it looks good. I thought I looked kind of bald. I definitely have to protect my scalp more now than ever before. The little girl in the picture with me is the 4-year-old daughter of one of the girls who lives at the shelter. The mother is now 19 years old.
Thursday night was my first evening alone at the shelter; previously I had only been introduced to the girls on one occasion with Meryl (my supervisor of sorts) helping me out with the translation issues. Saturday afternoon I also went down to Deborah house to spend time with the girls. The girls are so appreciative of the time that I spend with them it’s kind of crazy that after only knowing some of them for several hours they seem concerned about when I will come back. Every time I move (just to stretch even) they ask “are you going now?”. They are very affectionate girls (mostly) and love to touch in some way (either holding hands or just have our legs touch when we sit side by side).

2) I was given the honor of going into a National’s home for an Ethiopian meal. I went along with the social worker that I have become friends with, Amelework, to a woman’s home on Saturday. Her name is Meserat and her daughter’s name is Nazaret. There’s a picture of the two of them in their home. We ate injera (big, thin pancake made with sour dough) and wat (stew-type dish) made from lentils along with a cottage cheese type spread. It was tasty, but SPICEY! I hope my taste buds learn to adapt to the amount of chili peppers Ethiopians cook with.

A note about hospitality in Ethiopia: you are supposed to measure how good a hostess is by the amount of sugar they put in your shai (tea) or coffee. So often my drinks taste more like flavoured syrup than tea or coffee but I am very honored. The part that makes this even more crazy is that sugar is so expensive. For many of the homes that I visit the monthly income is maximum 150 Birr (approximately $20US). I think there is something to be learnt from people here in Ethiopia: we might want to consider our level of generosity and way of treating guests and possibly start acting more like the Ethiopians (ie offering our best when a guest comes).

It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been in Addis for 12 days and yet I feel like I’ve been here a lot longer. My room sort of feels like home and I’ve gotten used to the schedule here at the Guest house. There is still much to learn about life in Addis (I still don’t really know where anything is) but at least I’m not afraid to walk about in our neighborhood anymore. Life continues to move forward and I am sure I will leave here with many lessons learnt and much to ponder in the future.

Chow!

P.S. A snapshot from my trip back down the mountain (Entoto) that I wrote about last week. This picture captures what life looks like for the majority of people living in Addis. Lean-to/shanty style homes with corrugated steel roofs often and walls made from mud and straw. Life is very simple. All of the jugs lined up will be filled with water to be used for every purpose from cooking to cleaning and drinking.