Where are all those Polish Plumbers when you Need One?

Sunday 16th March

The plumber arrived but Mekdes didn’t, leaving me to try and explain the situation. The plumber had a wrench and that was it. He tried to explain to me that he needed tools to fix the problems. Went off to the market not to be seen again.

Lunch with my neighbours. Adina (Mum) really pleased with the photos and Dad tried to convince me that the ‘bites’ all over me at the moment are not being caused by mosquitos. I hope he’s right. They put themselves out to make me feel welcome. As much food as I can eat and then looking offended when I can’t eat anymore. Followed by television. They think it so sad that I’m living on my own and don’t have a television, so they put on BBC news to make me feel at home.

Gardening, Shopping and the Grauniad

Saturday March 15th

I note that I’ve given up putting the Ethiopian Calendar dates up – I should do this.
This morning I rose early and spent and hour on the garden before Mekdes and the landlord arrived.

Dug another hole – taking out all the rocks and stones. Took them outside of the garden and filled my bucket with some of the dusty soil to put in the hole. Put in this week’s food waste and a little plant food (precious commodity) and planted some basil seeds. Noted the peas are beginning to shoot and the coriander is coming up.

Mekdes took me shopping. I gave her the money, she wrote out a list, collected up the bag and I trailed along behind, beside and sometimes in front. Managed to buy most of the bits and pieces I wanted without breaking the bank. I enjoyed wandering around the market and mostly ignored the children begging until one little boy came up, poked me and said ‘’you give me money’. I gave him my most severe look and said ‘eidellum’ (sort of no!). Gave him a bit of a shock.

Visited the Post Office and picked up my first copy of ‘The Guardian Weekly’ (thanks Sheila) and a letter from Nan Pegs.

The day being exceptionally hot, I spent the afternoon sitting on the veranda sipping mint tea, reading the Guardian and trying my hand at crotchet.

I tried out the local hotel for my evening meal. They had grilled fish on the menu with chips and tomato ketchup! Irresistible.

Visit to Keye Ameba School

Friday March 14th

A setting to die for – nestled in a small valley surrounded by hills covered in Eucalyptus trees. But the school itself was a series of mud huts. Tiny classrooms dark and dingy with nothing on the walls save a blackboard. The staff room was a small shelter made from sticks with a tin roof. The Director thought the whole exercise a waste of time and left. Over 100 teachers sat in a tiny room to listen to Meleshew and Mulgeta give their training on active learning, continuous assessment and action research. The college instructors ran subject workshops with the high school teachers and I ran a maths workshop for the maths teachers. We looked at what the problems were and what they would like training in. Top of the list – how to teach geometry without any basic equipment!

Sadly, I forgot the camera today. I took a couple of pics on the phone camera – we’ll see if they come out.

Teaching the Teachers

March 13th

Day started at 8am with a session training the supervisors to do Lesson Observations. Except that there were no supervisors, electricity or colleagues! Finally got started at 9:15 with 3 participants and 2 colleagues. Turns out that the ‘supportive’ training on offer, whilst appreciated, wouldn’t help them with the task of ‘monitoring’ teachers. What they really wanted was how to undertake lesson observations without the teachers hating them! I’ve asked to see the forms they have to fill in…… we’ll go from there. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a version of the OFSTED form handed down via the Ministry, Regional Bureau and Woreda.

Then straight into a meeting with the Cluster Committee to evaluate the training at Atse Bekafa and plan the whole day session for Friday – with 104 teachers. Two members of the committee asked if we could post pone it because they’re teaching in the morning!

Both meetings ended up with long and animated discussion in Amharic leaving me to pick up what I could from the body language – surprising how much you can pick up that way! At one stage, I intervened and suggested they listen to each other having observed one poor man desperately trying to get into the discussion.

Since I had worked through lunch, I decided to leave early and have an afternoon at the house. So glad I did.

Mekdes and I sat and chatted about how to crochet. We gave each other an informal language lesson – she enjoys teaching me Amharic and doesn’t notice how much English she has to use. We observed a large Bird of prey that she assures me lives in the tree on the other side of the fence. It sometimes catches small chickens.


This is a bird of prey that nests in the tree just outside my garden.

I suggested tea, Mekdes suggested the coffee ceremony. Ethiopian people take their coffee very seriously. Not for them walking around with a mug in the hand getting on with jobs. Coffee is an event that takes at least half an hour. So I sat back in my new plastic chair whilst Mekdes made coffee and popcorn. I assisted by creating an impromptu table out of an upturned bucket with one of the many crotched place mats. I forgot about the three brews rule and ended up having two cups out of the first brew but in any case the cup is so small it only takes a couple of gulps. I am now the proud owner of a complete set of coffee ceremony cups – courtesy of my colleague Meleshew and a proper coffee maker and stand – courtesy of Mekdes. And a special little dish in which to burn coal and incense – courtesy of Michael and Gill who left it at the house. So now I’m set up for entertaining visitors. But only when Mekdes is here since she doesn’t think my coffee making skills are up to it.

Observations on life in Gondar

March 12th
Wandering around markets, shopping and generally looking at what people are doing, is one of the activities that make life interesting especially when in a new place. I realise this is one of the pleasures I have to forego for the time being. It is sad (for me) but I am white therefore I am rich, therefore shopkeepers, market stall holders and anybody else can ask what they like, including the beggars in the street who shout ‘you you’ and ‘money money’. I’ve written about this before but I return to it because it can be so incredibly wearing. It also means that I have to face up to my own situation. I am white and I am here. So I have a choice and that means that I have money. People here are poor. Some people are very poor.
Begging is considered an acceptable way of life particularly by the church.

Inflating prices to a silly extent for the ‘ferenji’ is also considered acceptable. No-one questions it or disapproves of it. I discussed this with my house guard, my colleague and my line manager. They were all of the opinion that the only way I could begin to manage on my allowance was to be accompanied at all times by an Ethiopian.

An example from this week. I have a pleasant enough veranda but no seats so I decided I would try and buy a couple of cheap seats so that I could sit outside comfortably. I saw something suitable in a shop on the main road so called in on Monday and asked how much. I was told 135 birr. That’s about £6 for a cheap plastic chair. I decided to leave it. I went back today to check. The price had gone up to 230 Birr! And I thought ‘if it had been 130 Birr, I would have bought it’ and probably gone back for another one later. Even though I knew it was probably at least twice as much as a local would pay. In the end, I described what I needed to Mekdes and she bought me two chairs for 170 Birr.

But begging is there in all sorts of different forms. From the boy in the street running alongside you and demanding money to the young priest standing at my gate with his hand out, the Headteacher wanting sponsorship for his son, my colleague wondering if I could help her daughter get to England.

Again, I need to emphasise that a lot of the people I meet are wonderful, helpful, friendly, curious and anxious that I should feel happy in their country. But the level and range of begging causes me to doubt the sincerity of people speaking to me and that is very sad.

It also strikes me that many of the people who ‘beg’ are not the most needy. I did give money today to a man who was walking along the road with his hand out. He was accompanied by a young man, possibly his son. I suspect given his pallor, this man was probably dying and almost certainly from AIDS

Evening with Carlyn, and Begging

Monday 10th March

After work, went home and packed up my valuables to visit Carlyn. I had decided to take up her offer of staying over. This meant I could give Tilahun (the night guard) the night off. Although I feel quite safe around the area, I wasn’t comfortable with coming back on my own after dark.

Had a lovely evening chatting with Carlyn. I have been missing this. She was full of useful ideas and local knowledge e.g. wear a scarf at night so you’re not visible as a white woman. Don’t give money, offer food or drink but not money.

We discussed the whole issue of poverty in Ethiopia. I told Carlyn about the young man and she explained that the priests are professional beggars. People give to them because it is considered ‘good’ always to give to a priest but also to beggars in general so this encourages the system. In addition, the aid agencies have fostered a view that white people come with wealth and mostly that’s what we do. We respond to need by asking for things from home and so we are associated with unlimited sources of money. This is difficult because VSO are trying to move away from this idea to encourage self-sufficiency. I explained the issue about trying to fund maths sets for schools and realised that was exactly what I was doing.

NB: I spoke to Meleshew in the afternoon about the possible project of raising funds to buy maths equipment for the schools. She was of the view that I had only visited one school and should wait to see what other problems I would encounter e.g. some of the ABE schools don’t have rooms let alone seats and desks. Even some of the regular schools don’t have toilet.

So I guess I’ve got a lot to learn.

I haven’t abandoned the idea, just put it on hold until I’ve had more opportunity to consider all the issues.

At this point I’d like to thank everyone for their suggestions and those that have made more tangible offers. I will come back to this.

Sunday...

Sunday 9th March

Usually on Sunday, I am woken by the priests chants and today was no exception. But as light dawned and the sun came out the chants were replaced by hordes of (mainly) young lads cheering and chanting for their team on the dust bowl of a pitch at the back of my house.



Spent the day at home pottering – dug a big(ish) hole in the garden and removed a ton of rubble! Problem is I don’t have any soil to replace it with. No worms to be found anywhere. I really wanted to go out and wander around with a bucket picking up the animal droppings but didn’t think the locals would be able to cope with that! I filled it in from the dried up objects on the compost heap put in some plant food left by my predecessor and planted some peas. I used some of the stones to create a little wall around the soil area in an attempt to stop it being washed away. I had to remove all the rubble so did venture outside with buckets full of stones to add to the piles already there and of course was immediately surrounded by little ones shouting ‘hello’ over and over in their high pitched voices. I retreated back to the calm, cool garden.

Carlyn rang in the afteroon to invite me over for dinner on Monday.

During the afternoon, someone knocked on the gate. I went out and was surprised to find a tall, healthy young man dressed in religious garments – he did not speak but looked at me appealingly with his hand held out. I refused.

I was supposed to be going around to my neighbours at 8 o’clock and expected Kebebe to call round for me but she didn’t come. By 10.30 I decided she wasn’t coming and cooked myself some dinner. Pasta with tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions and parsley from the garden. I put in half a stock cube to give it a slightly meaty taste and it wasn’t too bad at all. Dreamed of a pot of parmesan – the packet rubbish I wouldn’t dream of buying in London but will be stocking up with on my visit home.

The Weekend

Decided to be a tourist today (8 March). Walked up to the Goha Hotel. About 2/3 kms mainly uphill.

Was escorted by two young lads, one called Thomas! About 8 years old and happy to chat in English – they also made me practise my Amharic! They were very entertaining and polite. The older brother joined us. As we neared the hotel they stopped. We had been discussing football and they had been telling me the price of footballs and hoped I would buy them one. At 25Birr, I said no but since they had been charming companions, I did give them 10 birr towards one.



Spent the next couple of hours relaxing in the cool confines of the Goha Hotel. Caught up on the news (CNN style). Ate lunch – salad made with white cabbage, lettuce, onions, carrots, tomatoes. Roast veal with vegetables – potatoes, cabbage, beetroot and banana for desert. Expensive by Ethiopian standards but worth it.
Walking back down, my two companions were sat on a wall playing Oware! I took their photo and they accompanied me to Piazza where they made a last bid effort to get me to buy them a ball.



Later in the evening, I decided it was time to go and investigate the night life – at least the early evening. I went to the local hotel and sat in the garden for a couple of hours, writing postcards, reading and people watching. Walked home in the dark and was pleasantly surprised at the street lighting and number of people around.

A Second Visit to Atse Bekafa School

This afternoon (6 March), I went to visit Atse Bekafa school alone. I’ve given up on expecting to be escorted- this is not going to happen.



As if that wasn’t an adventure in itself, I stood in the heat of the day waiting for a line taxi and watching the breeze whip the roadside dust up into tornado style swirls. A taxi arrived and I was given a much prized front seat! Over the past week, there has been an enormous amount of activity involved in relaying the main road and laying tarmac on several side roads. Clearly, something must be happening on the main road because we turned off on what was nothing more than a dirt track going up the mountain. Very precariously. Not least because the road was not designed for two way traffic. The journey was twice as long as usual and with the windows open, with choking dust or, with the windows closed, stifling heat.

Finally made it to Piazza.

Spent the next few hours being taken around the school. This school is relatively well organised and developing well. It has a School Improvement Plan which is up on the wall and includes: Teaching and Learning, Administration, School and the Community. Teachers have begun their Continuous Professional Development – in English. There is evidence of the transplanting of the English education structure everywhere – I find it difficult to sort this idea in my head. I thought I was supposed to be developing from where they’re at but keep bumping into English educational structures that appear to me inappropriate in schools without basic facilities.



All the teachers at Atse Bekafa have received training in ‘active learning’ including the sessions that the college teachers led on Tuesday. The school now has the beginnings of a model classroom. It also boasts a media room where materials are being made from locally produced resources supplemented by an NGO grant last year. The teachers are able to go to the room and borrow the resources for their classrooms. Going around the school, there was no evidence that this was happening.
I only found evidence of ‘active learning’ in one class – the teacher was very proud that I came in to see his children working in groups.

The Director then took me back to his office to discuss ‘important’ things like how I might get more resources for his school and…… well maybe a sponsorship for his son who is and exceptional student.

I eventually thanked him for his hospitality and left.

I went off to the local film shop and managed to get some prints made- progress!

On the way home, I met another teacher from a different school. Very anxious I should visit. She teaches English. I asked whether this was the best idea. She was adamant that it was. English being an international language and the predominant language of computers meant that children in Ethiopia needed to learn English in order to participate in the world.

Having left my companion who also offered for me to visit for refreshments one evening, I headed off for home and found a mass of people around near the hospital. I had heard a siren some time earlier and noted it because it was the only one I’ve heard since I’ve been here. It was a fire engine. There had been a big fire and people were still trying to put it out before it spread to the eucalyptus trees nearby where it would have caused enormous damage and spread to the hospital.

OK that’s the main part of the evening over. I’ve come home, discussed Mekdes’s English work. Read the paper (from last January), cooked dinner (spinach and potatoes with rice), written my diary, about to put the heater on for my foot soak and get ready for bed. It’s now nearly nine o’clock.

Atse Bekafa School

These photos are from a visit to Atse Bekafa school - my first visit to a school with children in it. Atse Bekafa is a state elementary school based in Gonder.



The children attend for half day shifts which change weekly. In the morning, they arrive at 7:50 for the raising of the flags (one national, one local) and school finishes in the evening at 5:00 with the lowering of the flags - both accompanied by singing the national and local anthem.



I need to visit a lot more schools before making any firm suggestions about supportive funding - my colleague Meleshew explained that some ABE school (Alternative Basic Education for children who can't attend mainstream school because of distance or poverty), don't have a classroom, toilets, tables and chairs. They meet under a tree at times that fit in with their lives e.g. weekends, evenings. They teach grades 1 - 4 and are open to everyone, the grades refer to the teaching materials, not the age.

Maths Equipment Wanted!

VSO and the Ethiopian authorities policy is to use locally available resources wherever possible. One of my colleagues Mulageta, spends his days in his workshop producing teaching aids from locally available resources. However, there are limits. Last year, science teachers asked for some basic materials - a charity came up with the funds to provide a science box for each school.

Following on from the training workshop on Tuesday, the maths lecturer has asked for some basic geometry materials for schools - they rarely even have rulers. I would like to try and raise funds for a maths box per class - two per school - one for the infants and lower primary and one for the upper school. Any maths specialist with a bit of time on their hands might come up with a suggested content and a costing.

For the moment, post any suggestions as comments to this blog. Watch this space for practical steps....

Photos of Gondar Town

Training Day at Atse Bekafa School

Today I finally had a chance to view the work that I will be doing for the next year. Together with colleagues from the college, I went to Atse Bekafa School to assist in delivering training to teachers and set up a ‘model classroom’. The school was built during the Italian occupation of that part of the country. It was used for arms storage for some time.



Later it became a bus depot and now a school. I didn’t expect much and I wasn’t disappointed. What those teacher’s achieve in those circumstances is beyond belief.



Classrooms no bigger than those in the UK and in many cases a lot smaller but with twice as many students. Blackboard and chalk, government textbooks and that’s about it.



This was the first time such an event had taken place and had been set up by my predecessor. A small group of college instructors (lecturers) have been allocated to help the CCU deliver some INSET training to teachers. Delivering INSET in those circumstances is an absolute minefield of logistics. The Science teacher, Hiwat, had provided an excellent plan and undertaken preparations diligently only to be told by the college at the last minute that the materials she needed for her experiments were not available. She changed her plan, got to the school and found the materials she needed. I am putting a photograph of the science laboratory up so you gain some understanding of what these amazing teachers put up with.