Well, since I don’t have the luxury of getting on my normally slow email to blog or update facebook, I’m forced to actually sit here and type.
So I woke up at 4:50a.m. to get ready for my second trip to Somali region in as many weeks. The flight on the Fokker 50 (can you guess the nickname we’ve got for it?) on takes off and lands twice before getting to my destination….the next great vacation spot in Ethiopia….Gode! The town is actually not bad. It seems small but I’m sure there are lots of people. It’s relatively flat, the roads are not paved but pretty good (probably because it hasn’t rained here in 7 days) and the people are very friendly! I was shown to my room at the UN guesthouse and was presently surprised…it’s really not too bad. Clean, has an a/c, has a bathroom, and a mosquito net. After being left to “rest” for an hour I spent at least that long trying to hook up my computer to the wireless. Usually macs are easier but nothing was getting through. Eventually I gave up and shot a quick email to my boss letting him know that, despite my inability to get a signal on the satellite phone I brought with me, I was indeed fine.
For those of you who don’t require use of a sat phone on a regular basis, the whole point is that when you’re in the middle of nowhere, you can get a signal from multiple satellites we’ve tossed into space for expressly this purpose! And though expensive, it’s very helpful in areas of “diminished communication”. So why wasn’t the stupid thing working?!?! I’m starting to suspect that on my last trip into Somali region, when subjected to extreme scrutiny at the airport trying to leave, the military people were trying to pull ou the antenna instead of twist it to make it go up. Of course, they never even figured out where all of the buttons where—what with there being a little flap covering them up. Ding dongs. If they broke an expensive phone I’ll be ticked off! As it is I’m annoyed that I’m in the middle of no where and breaking security procedures left and right because I can’t connect through the flippin’ phone!
Anyway—we headed to the office for a briefing on program activities. A snippet would be maize—50kg seed planted year 1 first season, 45 kg planted year 1 second season (for three years and multiple crops. I must admit it was hard to stay focused for that part. After that we headed off to see some womens groups. All of the groups have been given basic training on developing group structures and policies, how to save and track money, etc.
The first was a group of women who’ve been given a donkey, a cart and the plastic barrel so that they can haul water and resell it. They make a pretty tidy profit! The next groups were three groups of 10 women each who’ve been organized into “petty trade” groups. They all sell basic groceries but one is also collecting and reselling incense, one is selling veggies, and one has lofty plans of a refrigerator for cold drinks to enhance the tea business they’ve got going in front of the store. The NGO I’m visited helped them by providing a start up grant and constructing the building where they now have their shops. All of the groups were really interesting and had their own dynamic, but it was amazing how empowered these muslin women in a small town (chosen because they are poorer, are head of their household, have limited earning opportunities, etc) have become and how they envision their future because of the opportunities they’ve received with this program.
To be honest, by the time we got to the last group of women, I was running out of questions. But they really wanted to chit chat anyway. The decided that since I was wearing jeans, they should try to convince me that I should dress as they are and promised that I would leave Gode in two days time dressed beautifully, with henna on my heads and with a new husband. The best part was when they said they would find someone for me, I could marry him and take him away. So I asked if they were trying to get rid of someone and everyone just cracked up. It was all downhill from there. I escaped only by saying that I was holding out for President Obama (of whom they all approved) and I promised that if I ever did marry Obama I would bring all 30 women to the White House. I warned them not to hold their breath but I’m not sure how that translates in Somali.
So at 6 pm we returned to the guesthouse and I again failed to get online. Instead, I watched the latest episode of Glee I downloaded from the iTunes in Addis (it only took about 12 hours or so). Then it was off to dinner which in a meat-focused town with few options means cold spaghetti. I decided that upon returning I would take advantage of the warm temperature to have a cold shower. I mean, there’s no hot water, so better to take a cold shower now while I’m hot instead of in the morning when I’m not.
While walking to my room I noticed the proliferation of crickets. I had seen some crickets earlier today, but imagine a march on the mall in Washington and convert all of those people to crickets and it will give you an idea of the number of crickets I’m talking about. There were also beetles, ants, and other things I can’t identify. But welcoming me to my room was a giant preying mantis. Yikes. Now as many of you know I’m a nature lover, but that doesn’t really translate to tolerance of creepy crawling, hopping flying things in my sleeping quarters. I made it past the crickets, beetles and the PM and gleefully shut my door thinking the worst was over.
I went into the bathroom and counted 8 crickets in my shower. Eeeeeewwwwww!!! So I decided, being a good environmentalist and conservationist, to try to flush them down the drain with water. No dice. Those things are smart. And in my attempts and remote cricket drowning I only succeeded in flushing the HUGE cockroach out of my drain. Double eewwww. Then, to add insult to injury, the water coming out of the tap was brown.
Now, I’ve stayed in some dodgy places. Some with scary dirty rooms, bathrooms that you’re glad you don’t ever have to go in again, etc. I think the real problem here is that my expectations where raised. I mean I’m at a UN guesthouse, it’s got a/c and electricity, there’s a nice (looking) bed, etc. So brown water and many of natures finest examples of entomology were just not warranted. Needless to say I will be tucking myself into the mosquito net very well both nights I’m here.
---Day 3
Yesterday we went out to visit more programs. The women really like having another woman come visit them and never hesitate to ask for more money or support. First we visited an irrigation program started a few years ago. The women were formed into a group and taught how to use irrigation from a nearby river to grow crops. This group of women (50) used to rely on livestock for income but because of years of drought have lost most of their herds. Now through the irrigation program they grow enough food for their families, stalks and grasses for their livestock (about 20 cows) and have some left over for sale. They’ve also used money to buy additional water pumps and have built another irrigation canal. So they’ve taken the idea and used it to increase their activities and make additional profit. Apparently at first the men weren’t really on board, but now that they understand the value, they’re involved as well.
After that we went to another petty trade group—nothing too different from those of the day before, and then we headed out of town to visit a water harvesting system called a birkhad. It collects rainwater in a 10x15x3 cement pit and is covered and locked. Then, when it’s not the rainy season and water is hard to come by they charge people for filling up their 20-liter containers. Most households use 2 of those 20-liter containers per day. When it doesn’t rain, they hire a truck to bring water from town (1 ½ hours away) and then increase the amount they charge to help cover the costs. But with increasing fuel costs it’s possible that this will run into a hitch; the cost of bring water out might be more than these people can afford to purchase. I’m not sure what will happen then. This year has had good rains so far so for now they’re in good shape. Long-term though???
It’s a hard job because you want to help people survive, but should we really be helping people live in an environment that isn’t really meant to hold this population size? Would it be better if people moved to cities where good jobs are few and far between and require far more education than most of the people in Ethiopia have? Quite the conundrum as we continue to provide relief and development activities in an area of subsistence farming and livestock production where the climate is changing and population size is booming. In school I learned that famine, floods and other extreme events were nature’s way of putting things back into balance—keeping the resources and populations (of people and animals) in check. But we’ve changed that with so much assistance. And some of these areas still have inhabitants when it probably shouldn’t. So when do we stop? How do we ethically stop? This is what I’m thinking about when we drive for hours through a desert-y environment.
Back at the UN guesthouse I eat some cheerios snack mix for dinner (I can only eat plain cold pasta so many times in a row before I balk). And after a small battle with a few crickets I clean up and head for bed. I got up at 6:50 this morning, packed up, ate a plate of oil with a bit of egg and some bread and headed to the airport. Though my flight was scheduled for departure at 11, you have to go through two security screenings before you get to the departure area. It’s now 11:36 and I’m sitting in the waiting room before the departure area so I thought I’d take this time to explain what my morning entailed.
You’re not allowed to drive all the way to the airport (security) so you have to walk for about 10 minutes to get to the first check. There the military checks your ticket and id, searches your bag thorough and by hand and then you get a pat down. The searing by hand is very invasive and takes a while. They check everything and since I travel with everything in little pouches and zippered compartments they get a kick out of it while I cringe. Today I had to show them that my camera lens was in fact a camera lens. So I switched lens and put it on the camera but you’re not allowed to take pictures at the airport or of military so how could I prove it? We settled on them looking at the digital display and nodding sagely. Then it was on to the spare tampax I carry. Hmmm…how to explain?? I went for “it’s for women…..only” which made the guy behind me laugh and seems to satisfy the examiner—though he doesn’t really speak English. After that exciting experience in the blazing sun, I walked to the “terminal”.
In this case, the terminal is a corrugated tin shack that’s been painted pink on the outside and blue on the inside (gender equality?). Also a hot and painful experience, you check in with the guy at the desk, get your luggage weighed on an old scale with different metal weights for balance and then have your bag rechecked. The first check was the military or police, while this check is the airline. I did have to show here a few things, but she was pretty blasé about the whole thing and I got through that pretty quickly. Since then, I’ve been waiting. And waiting. And waiting. I actually broke down and bought a warm coke just to have something to do. Turns out, the plan (which as previously mentioned has to make two stops before it gets here) has stopped with mechanical difficulties. So they had to send a new plane. Apparently now it’s en route and they’re starting the process of the additional body screening so we can go into the departure room—basically a smaller room that could fit about 6 cows. As soon as the plane lands, they’ll walk us out to the runway where we’ll wait for disembarking passengers before we can load up. Did I mention the blazing sun?? Anyway—at least it’s progress and at 2 hours late, it’s not too bad! At least I’ve got the computer and a book!
Here's a link to my photos....
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| Gode, Somali Region May 10 |
and the slideshow in case the link doesn't work: