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.