Ok, ok, I know! I am late updating! I apologize... I’ve either been too busy or too lazy...both really but at different times. Actually this has been on my computer for weeks and i haven't got around to posting it. Lots more has happens so ill have to make a newer blog post soon. But, no excuse!
SCHOOL
The school year here has been wrapping up and that has seen a few things change. Previously I had been helping with a few English classes, but I now was unable to interfere during end-of-year Testing. I did, however, go to an end-of-year Environmental Club meeting. I had been hoping to attend a meeting and get to know a few teachers involved. I didn’t expect what I got.
When I arrived there were near 200 students sitting outside.
And they had me sit in the front at a table, along with two other professionals. Apparently I was a guest speaker! Thanks for informing me -_- after which they had some traditional dancing and a question game show, none of which I understood.
After finishing that, it was suddenly announced that I was going to hand out the awards to the winners. I, of course, being the "Town Celebrity" shook the students' hands as they proudly walked to the front where I handed them a little notebook and pen. At the end I was asked to speak to everyone, and so I rambled off a ‘thank you and hope to work with you in the future’ speech… in English, I might add. Not sure if much was understood. There was more planned for the event, but it then started raining so everyone was dismissed.
While everyone was filing out, one of the teachers introduced me to a deaf student. The teacher knew sign language and was responsible for teaching both the deaf and blind students. There are a decent handful of these students that I have seen pass me as I go to work and I have wondered whether they are all from this town or if they come from neighboring towns due to our town having a special needs teacher available. Regardless, as the teacher was introducing me I noticed something about his signs. Even though the alphabet signs were different than I've seen, there were other signs that I recognized. Back in junior high and on a few other occasions I have picked up a handful of signs and the ones being used here were fairly recognizable such as “name”, “person”, “father”, “mother”, “world”, “day”, etc. This made me quite excited as more than likely Ethiopian sign language is adopted in part from ASL and therefore only have a few local words as different. Sign language had always been on my to-do list and I could see this being a great way to connect to a specific group. So I expressed my desire to learn sign language to the teacher and he agreed to give me some Amharic/English sign dictionary, as well as a local sign starter video. I have realized, though, I will likely need to pick up more Amharic simultaneously because when a sign is unknown you need to spell it, and I would have to spell it in Amharic… that may be a challenge.
MY WEEK IN ADDIS ABEBA
Soon after that, I left for Addis Abeba the capital for our three month reconnect. We were allowed to stay in a very nice hotel called Ghion, which is clearly geared towards foreigners on vacation. One of my favorite things about Ghion is the amazing hot showers. Not only is it a shower instead of a bucket, it also is hot and has decent pressure!!!! You have no idea. It had been a long, LONG time. The hotel also had a nice swimming pool which I intended to use later that week. [Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance since it closed at 4 and classes didn’t get out till closer to 6.]
After cleaning up on Sunday, I headed out to the city for what was my only day to have any free time. I got a massage. It was nice and consisted of another two showers one to relax me before and another to wash off the oils after. Unfortunately, I ended up a bit bruised the next day. Oh well, that was only $15.
The other luxuries of Addis included the wide host of ethnic restaurants. I was able to enjoy a bit of Ethiopian food, along with Egyptian, Thai, and of course, good old-fashioned hamburgers… which really can only be found in one restaurant in all of Ethiopia.
The first few days were all about debriefing and need to know on reporting and such. Very full schedules anywhere from 8-10 hours each day.
BEES
After the first few days the environment group headed out to a town where we learned about local bee-keeping, how to make a transitional hive, how to process honey and bees wax, and capped it off with a night class of hive transfer… [***More details on honey and bees at the end of this post.]
My class practiced building traditional hives in small groups… pounding eucalyptus is harder than you would think, especially when the nails are so cheap they almost always bend.
The next day we stopped at an apple orchard to get some Ethiopia-specific management tips, and finished the last day back in Addis... learning about how to make a composting outhouse! I finally got a few hours off in order to shop for a few supplies. I got a cheese grater (for hash browns, not cheese = real cheese isn't that abundant) and some ramen! I had a last shower, then woke up at 4am the next day to catch the only flight to my region. In Labibella I found olive oil, margarine, and quick oats, which sufficiently improved what I can make in the kitchen.
SCHOOL pt 2
Finally I got back home in time for another end-of-year event where the students graduating from 7th grade made food for their teachers. I somehow got invited. (Not sure how though.... local Celebrity, again.) During the eating I chatted with the English teacher who has become a friend and somehow got on the topic of family planning. Though contraceptives are available, there is very low use due to the belief that they are sinful, or that if you use them, you’ll somehow lose the ability to have a baby later in life. This is another issue for the spread of AIDs, though comparatively, Ethiopia has fairly low numbers of infected. So I offered that I could pull together a family planning/ HIV prevention class. He was enthusiastic and I’m hoping to pull together the curriculum in the summer and be able to teach during the next school year.
I had known that a Health PC Volunteer is stationed in a town about an hour away. Her hub town was about half that distance and rumored to have a good selection of goods not available in my hub town. So I planned a trip and met up with her. We did a bit of shopping for more kitchen supplies and I even bought a Gabi (modeled by my "brother" Binium on the left, white cotton handmade sheet designed to drape over the body in place of a jacket). I was able to connect with her and pitch the idea of doing the HIV/AIDS program in the school with me, and that we could then switch off and do the same in her town. The plan is to get it ready over the summer to be implemented in the fall.
GARDENING AND CHICKENS
My day to day work has been fairly empty since my Counterpart has spent the last two months either handing out Urea to farmers or going to meetings with supervisors. As a result I spent one or two days sitting at the distribution sight watching farmers collect bags of fertilizer and leave. I usually only spent about an hour or two in my garden which is doing very well… Well, the one bed I planted is doing well. I still have no perennials for the berms. I’m hoping someone will send me seeds for garden herbs. That would be perfect!
As a bonus, my walking through town carrying a hoe has garnered some interest. As a result I was asked by a man about my garden when I was walking home, so I started explaining how it worked and what I was growing. He was surprised I was growing multiple crops in one bed. So I started explaining how intercropping worked and how certain plants complement each other and can improve growth. Next thing I know I’m surrounded by about 15-20 men asking me to draw out in the dirt exactly how to plant two plants in the same bed. I was using twigs for onions, big rocks for potatoes and small rocks for cabbage and drawing circles around them to show how potatoes must have a 30 cm range to grow while onions only needed 5cm diameter. And how you can plant them in the places between… for a spur of the moment lesson, it worked fairly well! It also gave me an opportunity to announce I’m willing to give home garden training at their home as long as they have a handful of friends to help and simultaneously learn.
My host brother, Binium, was at the impromptu training and of course repeated what I had taught to anyone who would listen. I hope the others did the same spreading what I taught around. I was informed that a few days ago someone planted their garden in triangular spacing like I had taught instead of row cropping, though I don’t think they did the intercropping method. I’ll have to check that out in person.
I also have spent time with Binium discussing some improvements to his chicken coop, namely that he needs a roost and nest boxes for them… He had no clue what they were or why he would want them. So I was able to explain a bit about chicken habits and natural inclinations, and how the birds will be happier, healthier, and even be able to encourage egg laying in specific areas which ease the time for maintenance of the chickens! I’m happy to say we now have a makeshift roost and will be making nest boxes shortly. They aren’t old enough to lay anyway. I’m going to see what I can do about an automatic watering bucket, but that’s for later.
I’m also working with Binium on getting a garden going, and have discussed intercropping, crop rotation, and natural soil amendments. We have the first bed by the house planted and will soon plant more across the street. I’m starting to think my host brother is my “early adopter” and will be a great link to the community. Every time I go out with him, he is talking about all my ideas, and the benefit is he explains them in Amharic. As a result farmers go to him to ask if I can help them. I have a line of 8 farmers so far that wish me to show them how I do things. I already helped my neighbor(right). Though they decided to do just one bed like I said. I suppose through the season we can compare the normal bed planting method with the one I suggested. It’s actually a good thing. Seeing direct comparison will convince more people. And now that I have a bed in the front yard, people don’t have to go to the FTC to learn my techniques. It’s like rolling a boulder... at first there’s a lot of inertia, then "kess ba kess" (slow by slow) it starts to roll, then pick up speed!
Also, I finally got my second garden bed planted! I had gone to work and this time the sight of my hoe brought in ten curious bystanders, who just sat and watched as I pulled weeds. Finally one stood up and decided to help me. Soon all ten had cleared my garden and I decided to show them how to dig and amend the bed. The next day I finally got my Counterpart to come out and I did a short training (for his benefit alone) on bed preparation and intercropping. Now I just need perennials and annuals for the berms. If anyone could send me seeds for common cooking herbs as well as other garden seeds like squash, watermelon, sweet corn, peas and beans, carrots, etc… it would be much appreciated. I’m a bit limited on selection for my garden. And I really need perennials. I would particularly love rosemary, thyme, and basil.
ON THE PERSONAL SIDE
I have begun to make an Ethiopian basket called a “Suffet”. It is made from Teff straw and either plastic strips, or colorful string, sewn into it in a spiral. I don’t spend much time on it so it’s slow going, but I’m trying to make a fruit basket.
In other news, I have discovered how to make Butter! It took a while! I finally figured out how to properly boil the milk and separate my cream. Basically, after letting it sit for about 12 hrs you skim the top, and instead of throwing it out (as I did before!!) you save it in a jar- this is heavy (whipping) cream. If you then shake or blend or whip the cream for a few minutes it turns in to whipped cream. Those of you who have done this know whipping too much will turn it back into a fluid. If you whip it even more it soon turns to butter, and the leftover fluid in the jar is buttermilk.
I also have a lovely little kitten named Oliver (despite being a girl)… she’s orange, what can I say? On the down side, I now have fleas… I’m waiting to receive flea powder and collar from home.
My computer unfortunately is telling me to replace the battery, which is strange because I changed it a few months before I left home. It shouldn’t have any issues, but it does, and I’m not sure how to get a new one here.
Well, that’s all I can think of at the moment. I wish I could come home for a visit to see you all, but it’s a bit outta my price range. Much love from the land with 13 months of sunshine. <3
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More explanation on bees and honey:
Ethiopians are very proud of their local honeys; each region displays different properties and colors. The most unusual is the white honey found in Tigrey and Labella, and perhaps a few other locations. Instead of a caramel or amber, this honey is white and fetches a high price on the specialty market. But all of Ethiopia does honey to one level or another. It is eaten straight, or with bread, and used as a sweetener in coffee on occasion. It is also used to produce a popular alcoholic drink similar to wine called Tedge.
Bee-keeping in Ethiopia is normally done with traditional hives which require little-to-no management. They are made out of a woven, conical basket, and coated with mud. Usually in order to collect the honey you destroy the whole hive, dropping it from a tree or such. The government is trying to make the people use modern hives which require a lot of skill in management as well as high start-up costs, but also produce far more honey and preserves the bee colony after harvest for the next year.
In order to be easier on the locals, who don’t know how to manage the hives nor have the high start-up fee, the government is also promoting a transitional hive model. This is made out of a local wood frame (smaller on the bottom and wider on the top) and woven sides, then it is coated with mud manure and hay mix. Finally there are top bars laid the top of the hive with a line of bees wax to guide the bees on where to build the comb. This allows the bee keeper to make the hive smaller or larger throughout the year, as well as open the hive to inspect the hive, lifting each comb away attached to each top bar. This is something the traditional hives cannot accommodate.
Usually the honey you buy in market is unprocessed. You get a bucket of honey mixed with comb and a bunch of bee bodies to boot! [For the American in me, used to nice processed table honey, this has induced honey nightmares of bee zombies crawling out of the honey to sting me as I slept! I’m completely serious.] Ethiopians seem to think its normal! Usually the quality of honey is not considered because the main purpose of honey is to be fermented into Tedge. Luckily, processing honey is not all that difficult. In modern hives you would put the comb in a centrifuge. It spins the comb around, the honey basically flies off from centripetal force, and then drips down the walls of a metal drum into your honey pot! However this contraption is again expensive and needs to be upkept. Instead for the intermediate or traditional hives, it is better to simply melt the honey and strain it through cheese cloth. Or as I did in my own kitchen, let it cool and the wax will dry in a solid layer on the top. The wax can then be used to make candles, or a variety of salves and natural medicines. It’s valuable stuff! :)
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