Help me help a lioness

Hi all--

Most of you know or remember how much I LOVE animals. Here is Ethiopia it's particularly hard to see the goats/sheep on the side of the road for sale, the donkeys carrying ridiculously heavy loads back and forth, the sad and hungry street dogs. It can be overwhelming. But I've recently found a small way I can make a difference and I'm hoping you can help me.

When on a site visit with one of my NGO partners, I went to a town where there was a man with a lion cub in his back room. I asked to see it and took this quick photo while I urged them to give her to the "proper authorities" as she would grow so quickly. I didn't know who the proper authorities were, but when I got back to Addis after a few other trips, the deputy of my agency had just visited the new program manager of the Born Free Foundation in Ethiopia. I emailed him and he followed up with a phone call and he was heading out for the two day drive a few days later. I've never seen anyone move so fast.

He got the local authorities and the lion "owner" to give her up (as they'd realized they really couldn't afford to feed her) and has brought her back to Addis. She's in a temporary enclosure while BFF sets up the permanent animal sanctuary outside of Addis. I've offered to volunteer with James to both try to get work crews together for the new site, but also to help out in whatever way necessary. Needless to say we're happy that he was able to rescue her from the stick hut where she was chained up and being poked and teased by kids.

Right now Safia is eating about $10 of food per day and that will more than double as she grows. I've attached a picture of her from later September. I'm hoping to see her again this weekend and will send out a follow up to those who are interested. The enclosure she's being moved to here in Addis while they set up the permanent center will cost about $600. James is looking for people to sponsor Safia as right now BF is paying for all of the food and other costs (for Safia, the two cheetahs he's got, the owl and the tortoises!).

If you're interested in making a donation to something really worthwhile and which I can provide updates on, it would be much appreciated. If you're in Addis, see me. If you're elsewhere and want to help out, go to one of the sites below and you can either donate for Ethiopia or just in general as they're now paying all costs. Just put in a reference to me and Safia (the lioness--we've discovered) if you can so James knows who sent you.

Sites: http://bornfree.wildlifedirect.org/category/born-free-ethiopia/
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/further-activities/born-free-ethiopia/

This would be a great Christmas present for someone who loves animals!!! It's also tax deductible :-) !!!

Please pass this on as you see appropriate.
Jane

Two more trips to the field....lovely!

Hi,

So our protection officer was out for a few weeks and we made two trips to two areas of Ethiopia where our partners are working but which I had not yet visited. Both trips proved to be fascinating....and a bit of a trip!

The first trip was to a town called Kersa Dula in the Somali Region of Ethiopia where people had been displaced due to fighting but had returned with assistance from a partner that we give funding to. So we chatted with community members for a bit and visited the water point that has been rehabilitated to alleviate some of the tension with the neighboring community. The next day we traveled to another displaced persons camp and talked with some of the women and children about the issues they face. The driving to this region takes one and a half days so on the way back we stopped in Awassa and enjoyed a soda by the lake (with monkeys and birds galore).

Ethio-Kersa Dula/Hudet 9/28-10/3

Link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/EthioKersaDulaHudet928103?authkey=Gv1sRgCNjI34z3yoKXbg&feat=directlink


The second trip was to the Gambella region of Ethiopia which borders Sudan. There are Sudanese refugees but again, we were looking at Ethiopians who've been displaced within Ethiopia. The people in Gambella really don't "look" like other Ethiopians. They look much more Sudanese. So you'll see in the photos a difference there. The second village we went to is accessible by boat and we saw lots of cool birds (this country is really a bird watchers dream) and some crocodiles! The community isn't getting flooded out this year (thankfully) and we're funding our partner in the region to provide a clean water point in the coming months which should help with many of the basic health/hygiene issues as right now they're using river water (which they don't boil though they know they should).

Ethio-Gambella 10-09

Link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/EthioGambella1009?authkey=Gv1sRgCLv7y9KNwtf7Sg&feat=directlink

Anyway--both trips were really interesting for me since I haven't been to these areas or seen the programs of these two partners.

Now I'm in Nairobi for a week and then heading to a training in Kigali Rwanda (where I hope to take the weekend to look for mountain gorillas!!!).

In the meantime I'm being treated for amoebas and feeling MUCH better. Thank goodness for access to quality medications! And things are going along with work well. I've had a few requests for photos of my house so when I get back (and now that it's not raining) I'll take some and post them in early November.

Thanks for all of your emails and notes and enjoy this latest batch of photos!!

Abrazos,
Jane



P.S. -I'm hoping the slide show and links will work, but if not, let me know and I'll try a different post option.

Take 2 on the photo links

Let's see if this works:

Photos from trip to Asebe Tefari and Blue Nile Falls:


or

http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/EthiopiaBlueNileFallsAndAsebeTefariSeptember2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJK7penu0erq6AE&feat=directlink

Photos from Mom's trip to Lalibela
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/EthioLalibelaWithMom72772902?authkey=Gv1sRgCLG1z4bbh_TaJQ&feat=directlink

or

Ethio-Lalibela with Mom 7/27-7/29

Long overdue update from Ethiopia

So it’s been ages since I’ve written. I’ve been on some trips for work within Ethiopia, had my mother visit for a week, and went to Nairobi for meetings followed by almost a week with my sister and her family in Tanzania. And I’ve passed the 6 month mark. I can’t believe I’ve been here for a half of a year already! Time sure does fly.

First, for work, we’re definitely being kept busy. The situation in the country overall is precarious with successive poor or failed rains, cholera outbreaks, and lack of food and financial resources for relief operations. Despite that, I’m enjoying being here.

In one of the locations I visited there is very little food and people are eating cactus as their main food source. In another area I saw a completed water program that, with our funding and the diligent work of the NGO, provides water to four villages and one town a 11 different locations which means that people have to go much shorter distances for clean water. I’ve been able to travel with some other donor representatives and have thus have made some great new friends.

My mom came to visit for about a week in July which was lovely. But the weather and Ethiopian transportation systems conspired against us. Despite my plan to visit two locations, our flight was canceled after a terrifying landing attempt at the destination airport and then we had a scary flat tire a few days later. But we did get to visit Lalibela so Mom could see the famous rock churches. Maybe when she comes back we’ll visit other places (thought I don’t think coming back is tops on her list right now!).

Here are some photos from her visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=jane.e.strachan&target=ALBUM&id=5364527697822569809&authkey=Gv1sRgCLG1z4bbh_TaJQ&invite=CNbt2e4D&feat=email

In August we had some regional meetings so I was able to get out of Addis and the incessant rains for a few days. Let me clarify that the rainy season started in June with hail storms and the thunderstorms and rains that have followed have been significant and fairly constant. Of course, this is in Addis which is up in the hills. In many of the other areas of the country, the rains will not be long enough that planted crops reach maturation—so people will likely loose another harvest. The rainy season is starting to abate—which is good for me as I’ve been enjoying the sunshine, but not for the farmers. In Nairobi I was able to do some shopping, download updates for my computer, some shows from iTunes, etc. But as it turns out, I’m a mobile cloud gatherer. After about 5 hours of sun in Nairobi the clouds rolled in for the remainder of my stay. So after our meetings finished I headed to Tanzania to see my sister et al.

Tanzania is of course, still lovely. Just driving along next to crystal blue waters lowers your blood pressure. Again, after about 5 hours of sunshine, the clouds rolled in. And then it was partly sunny and windy for the remainder of my stay! My sister, friend Tracy and I went to a beach about 4 hours from Dar that was beautiful and relaxing. It was a great break and I got to sit in the hammock, watch the little monkeys roam by looking for fruit in the trees, and read my book. I did take a dip in the ocean (before the rain started), and then it was on to the bar! On Sunday we drove back to Dar and I spent the next few days with my nephews and brother in law while my sister went back to work. I returned to find Addis still rainy and cold. Not much changes in a week and a half I guess!!!

The remainder of August has passed in a blur and we’re now in September. I’m just back from another trip for the inauguration of the water program I saw in July. Then I traveled with some friends to Blue Nile Falls and Lake Tana for a little break.

Photos from Asebe Tefari and Blue Nile Falls
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=jane.e.strachan&target=ALBUM&id=5378984635112285425&authkey=Gv1sRgCJK7penu0erq6AE&invite=COiGwNUO&feat=email

This Friday is Ethiopian New Year (September 11) so we have the day off and I’m planning some shenanigans with friends. Then we’ve got someone coming from WDC for a few weeks and I’ll be traveling with her, and then it’s off to meetings in Nairobi Kenya and Kigali Rwanda. Yippee!! I’m planning in Rwanda to go with a friend to see the gorillas—something I’ve wanted to do for years! I’m so excited.

So besides all of the travel and who-ha with work, not much is new. I’m pretty settled in and enjoying expat life here. There will be more to come with all of these trips to new places so stay tuned!

Miss you all,
Abrazos,
Jane

This update's been a long time comin'....

Hi all,

It’s been ages since I’ve written. Mostly I’ve just been slammed and super tired. And not having an internet connection at home or a super slow one at the hotel I was staying at exacerbated that problem! I still don’t have it at home but will hopefully correct that next week. In the meantime, it’s when I’m working late or on weekends, and frankly I’ve just been exhausted. Well, let me back up a few weeks.

In early May I went to Lalibela with my friend Sophia. This was all arranged because we had a three-day weekend and a friend in from Washington wanted to go see the sites. But during that week the H1N1 situation started worsening and the friend in from the states works for that division of USAID so she had to go home. It was the fourth time she’s tried to go to Lalibela on visits to Ethiopia so I blame the entire outbreak on her.  Anyway, my original plan was to go up on Friday and back on Sunday. But since she cancelled, I decided to return with Sophia on Saturday instead.

Lalibela is famous for the 11 Ethiopian orthodox churches that have been carved into or out of rock. It’s a popular destination for religious holiday’s like Easter and you can see lots of priests, monks, other devout, praying in each of the churches. They’re all kind of dark and smelly on the inside, but it is quite a site to see. Supposedly they were all done in a few years but one man and his angels. Anyway—Sophia and I had a great time except for the flights delays both out and back. I like Ethiopian airlines but their in-country service isn’t the best.

Here’s a link to the Lalibela pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/EthioLali?authkey=Gv1sRgCIfn98uSmvOfdg&feat=directlink

After that quick break it was right back to work. Things are heating up here as the short rainy season wasn’t very good. In April it was all about predictions, in May it’s been getting an accurate picture. Ethiopia is sooo complicated. There’s highlands, midlands and lowlands. They all have different rainy seasons and seasons with different names. They grow different things. In some places they’re pastoralists and in some places their crop-growers. And then there’s the food programs in the country. There are literally something like 5 of them. I’ve had it explained to me by different people and I still don’t understand the intricacies of who’s targeted for what activities. Both of those might not be super important for me to understand if it didn’t ultimately result in malnutrition—which is one of our major sectors. Needless to say, things could be better here.

So I went on a trip a few weeks ago to see four partners we fund for nutrition activities. In some places the situation is pretty good and the trained staff are doing really well. In other areas it’s not as good. There are sensitivities around this issue so I can’t say much. But the interesting thing is that as you drive around you see different crops. The problem is they’re way to short/small. I remember being told when I was little that corn (somewhere in the US) should be knee high by the Fourth of July. So using that marker, it looks like July 4 but is actually late August. Not so good.

Anyway—our partners are doing a good job but they’ll have a lot of work ahead of them. Especially as there’s not emergency food expected in the country in June which is the start of the “hungry” season (when people generally don’t have much food because they’re waiting for the Sept/Oct harvests). Then on the 4-5 hour back to Addis we hit a dog. It was awful. Kind of slow motion. And being a dog person I was very upset. Now dogs aren’t of value here for the majority of people. Sheep, goats, donkeys, yes. Dogs, no. So we didn’t stop. I just felt awful and got upset. The two people in the car, presumably not knowing how to react to my being upset just kind of chuckled. Which set me off into “a strop” as the Brits would say. And I had to sit in the car for another 2 hours. So I jus started losing it. I called my sister Molly to see if she had time for a getaway. Turns out she does—yeah. But ticket prices are between $700-1000—boo. Ugh.

Here are some photos of my trip to SNNPR, a region south of Addis.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/TripToSNNPMay09?authkey=Gv1sRgCMbR85T2_qa_Rw&feat=directlink

So, the trip is over and I’ve got a million things to do and emails to catch up on. But my house is ready! So I’ve got to move in. Which means learning the security system, meeting the night guards provided by work, hiring day guards/gardener guys, finding a cook/cleaner, etc. And unpacking a ton of boxes. As my mother said, I have too much stuff. A friend came over and helped me unpack so now most things are out of boxes, but not away. My kitchen and living room (easy) are pretty much done. But the bedroom, etc. Not so much. So I’m living in a mess. Then at the same time they re-did our office set up. Now I’m very supportive of this because now I’ve got a proper cube instead of a space the size of a piece of toast. But it meant that I was stressed at work, everything was discombobulated, and the same at home. It’s been a bit too much. So I had a three day weekend but didn’t get everything done. Yesterday (Thursday) as a holiday here and I ended up working an 8 hour day so again nothing at home got done. Yikes.

Here are some pictures of my house before I moved my stuff in. After photos coming soon…..
http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.e.strachan/HouseInAA?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyn8LP595zLsgE&feat=directlink

On the plus side, work is definitely not boring and I think I’m really appreciated here which makes a difference. Slowly, slowly I’m making new friends and that’s also helping. Once I get my car in (it’s in Djibouti right now clearing through customs), that will make a big difference.

Also—for those of you who miss the sound of my voice, dripping with sarcasm, there are lots of phone cards you can buy that allow you to call my cell phone. Check out noblecom.com if you’re interested and I’ll pass you my cell digits!!

That’s about it for now. I miss you all and am giving you big hugs!!
Jane

Update from the middle of nowhere

Hi all,

Sorry for the 1) long time in between notes and 2) the brevity of this one. I'm at an internet cafe in Wolayita which is in SNNP Ethiopia to monitor some of the partners who do nutrition for us. The situation is varied--in some places good and in others not so much. I can't say much in this forum, but if you want the 411, let me know and I'll email you.

Basically we've been looking at the great work the health extension workers are doing at the community health posts in treating severe acute malnutrition. It's definitely good to see such intelligent young woman making a difference in their community. I've got a few more projects to see in the coming days and then back to Addis.

The really exciting (personal) news is that it looks like I can move into my house this weekend!! YEAH!! No more Sheraton/Sidama...but my own home!! And it sounds as though my personal effects (sent from the US by my office) will be arriving soon as well. Double yeah!! And my car may soon get here after it clears customs of the port in DJibouti! Triple yeah. I'm hoping for the May trifecta!!

Other than that, not much new. Things have been really busy. I've been working on planning for an H1N1 outbreak here---where we anticipate the situation would be much worse than in the US due to crowding, health care availability and underlying illness and malnutrition rates. So I've been working long days and collapsing into bed (with the Twilight Saga series) for the last week or two.

Anyway--things are calmer now. More soon with pictures of this trip and my new house coming soon. I hope you're all well!!!

Love,
Jane

My soon to be new house

So a few weeks ago I was able to see what will be my house....someday.....

It's not far from work (10-15 min drive), but it's not really close to the Bole area (more like 20 min-30 depending on where I want to go) where the shops and restaurants are. My main issue with the house (since I'm not even in it yet) is that it's strangely laid out and is a weird combo of pink and brown mostly (the owner REALLY likes pink) plus a little stone on the front.

You pull in the gate and go down a hill to park. At the top of the hill there is a guard house (and what look to be two small metal cages for guard dogs). There are two little patches of lawn on the right side as you roll down (big enough to stretch out on, not for table/chairs). You walk up a few steps and there's a very small little porch (enough for a hammock though). When you walk in the living room/dining room is on the right and connects to the kitchen (brown tiles on the wall--eeww). Nice high ceilings and wood floors in the LR/DR. if you exit through the other kitchen door there's a bathroom on the right. That's at the end of the hallway from the front door (meaning if you walk in the front door and keep going straight you'll end up in the bathroom). Across from the LR/DR is the master bedroom--so it faces the front/driveway and there's a big closet, bathroom with a green sink, toilet and bathtub (I mean, really? Is white so bad?) and get this--a tiny sauna. :-) So back out on the main hall way--if you're facing the bathroom to the left are two small rooms. One is "the guest room" and the other is?? office? Exercise?? I can't quite figure it out. They're not really big enough for much. Bummer.

So that's what the housing office considers the liveable space. But there's this whole other downstairs section. Since it's built into a hill, there's stuff underneath. There's another "guest room" as the owner calls it--it has a big room, small but full bathroom and bedroom. Then there's a little very weird room with a slanted wall. Then there's another room that leads into a huge space--big enough for ping pong and a pool table. Each of these rooms has a separate entrance--and none are connected by stairs to the top. So you have to walk outside to get into any of these. And each of these has been painted pepto-bismal pink. Also outside there's a little patio. And another room that will be for laundry. And the another little room for storage maybe? or for the guard to change? I don't know.

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how I'm going to arrange things, what the logical placement is, etc. I can't quite imagine it yet. But since I don't live there yet, I've got some time.....

Anyway--that's the news on the housing front.....

Jane