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.