Roth Amstutz Christmas Letter

Peace prevails in this pleasant room at the Mennonite Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya. I may have been wound up a bit tightly lately by all the cares of the world, our jobs and our lives. So now I am unspooling . . .

It was the many hours of work that wound us up, both Wanda and me. The many meetings with so many folks who all seem to have good causes. The many hours looking at proposals and at budget numbers. The many hours of dealing with ‘a situation’. Then there were the many hours where someone in the house was experiencing illness. Bugs, amoebas, viruses, bacterias . . . somehow they managed to slip through our defenses. The worry of watching a loved one in pain or suffering from nausea, diarrhea, headaches, fever, etc., can wear one down.

So the retreat at Brackenhurst (a Baptist facility) was the beginning of the unwinding and the days of rest & relaxation at the Mennonite Guest House was the continuing of the unwinding. To hear the voices of loved ones far away on Skype has added to that peace. And the openness of time has brought on the peaceful, easy feeling.

This Christmas will feel different from last Christmas. We now have one Christmas in Addis under our belts so we know what it will feel like. We will feel the separation from family but we won’t be alone. There are too many good friends who will celebrate with us together. Our house will be filled with laughter and voices of Christmas present. Memories to be created in the moment.

Now a word about our girls: Amani, Abigail and Sophia continue to grow in mind and spirit (growth in stature has been incremental thanks to the Amstutz DNA. But don’t worry, one of these years they’ll shoot up). Amani loves to read and is very conscientious in her studies. Abby is not far behind but she is more the social of the two. Sophia is doing well in her studies this year but isn’t much into reading at the moment. However she is still the little teacher and we can hear her teaching a virtual reality class in her room, often consisting of names of classmates past and present.

2008 – Ah, but what about the year, you say? What about 2008 past? Yes, it was a full rich year. As a family we did our share of traveling together. We all went to the MCC East Africa Regional Meetings (EARM) in southern Sudan in the spring and Arusha, Tanzania in the fall. We went on a safari in Tanzania, an experience of a lifetime. We drove the northern tour of Ethiopia and learned why most folks fly to the ancient and great cities of Lalibela, Axum and Gonder. The roads were rough and the travel was hard on the family but it was a tremendous experience which none of us will forget. Oh yes, the girls will store it away as another experience, just as I did of our family vacations as a boy, but someday they will pull it out of their memories and, with prompting of photos, remember that most singular tour. And of course we’re now in Kenya. What a privilege it is to travel, to meet colleagues and friends and to discover new places.

Our pets have kept our family occupied. Our two dogs, two cats, rabbit and turtle have kept the girls company and kept us busy feeding them and keeping them healthy. Coca and Peanut are the ‘guard’ dogs. They keep watch in the sense that they raise a ruckus whenever someone comes into the compound. Coca might defend/ attack in a pinch but Peanut would surely turn tail and run. Fortunately we have not had to face such a situation yet. Spot and Princess Waffles are our two cats. Spot is a laid back male and PW is a slightly neurotic female and together they make a nice pair. Will there be kittens in the future? After one fiasco (both kittens died, PW is not mother material), we hope not. Cindy the rabbit just keeps getting bigger and bigger in his cage. The question is whether he is a pet or culinary feast, right now the former only. And there is the turtle which I love the most because Yertle the turtle is maintenance free.

The girls have settled into Bingham and now know what to expect at school. This fall hasn’t been easy because of all the school they have missed by either traveling with us (one week in Tanzania and one week here to Nairobi) or because of illness. We hope they will have a better track record in the spring. We have enjoyed meeting a few more families at Bingham, particularly one family, the Johnsons, who play Rook and Dutch Blitz like we do! What a pleasant surprise to find that out! We’ve also played Frisbee football on Saturdays with them as well.

Wanda and I have been happy to see MCC partners accomplish a number of the goals set to feed the hungry, comfort the ill and give hope to the poor and disadvantaged. We have been especially happy to see some of the peace projects paying huge and immediate dividends in the communities where our partners are working. But we continue to find challenges with getting the information about the projects back to us and on to Akron or Winnipeg. Sometimes it is benign neglect, sometimes it is more intentional. We struggle with that. I have more gray hairs now than I did a year ago.

Meserete Kristos Church is our main partner, although we have others as well. MKC is the “Mennonite” connection in country and the leadership continues to learn about MCC and the Mennonites in North America even as we learn more about who MKC is. We have made many good friends in the church, most of those are people we work with either in the head office or in their relief and development agency wing (RDA). Our other church connection has been the International Lutheran Church (ILC) on Sundays where the service is in English and we connect with fellow believers who are mostly ex-pats from around the world. Wanda and I have occasionally led worship services there and have enjoyed that familiar feeling of being up front. But mostly we are content to sit in the pew with our girls and be in the congregation on a Sunday morning.

Ethiopia remains a country to be explored by us. From the Bale Mountains in the south, to the Simien Mountains in the north. From Wollega in the west to Afar in the east. Ethiopia has its share of problems, both political and economic. The country is progressing when it comes to infrastructure and parts of the economy but regressing when it comes to elections, government and politics. We can hope for stability, peace, progress, good government to bring hope, justice and liberty to all in the future.

A Wake Up Call

I heard the Imam make the call to prayer at 5:15 this morning. It wafted through the valleys and along the hillsides where we live. I had been waiting for this morning for a long time. Election Day in the U.S.A. Waiting with anticipation that Barack Obama might win. Fear that something might happen that would throw the nation in turmoil and dash my hope . . . our hopes. Wanda and many of our friends and family were holding on to the same hopes and fears.

With fear mingled with hope I turned on the computer to go online. This is the moment when I would peer into the darkness to learn the results. For some reason the Old Testament story of Daniel in the lion’s den came to mind. Daniel, King Darius’ most trusted advisor, had been betrayed by palace intrigue and was sentenced to death in the lion’s den. He was thrown in overnight, if he survived the night in the presence of hungry lions he was free. King Darius stayed up all night, refusing food and waiting for dawn. At daybreak he went to see if Daniel made it through the night alive, hoping against hope. And he had. What a relief and joy that must have been! And it was a similar feeling that I had, going to been hoping against hope that everything the pundits were saying was going to happen, but fearful. And as North America was going to bed, we were rising to the news of an Obama victory. And we shared our relief and joy in the morning.

Over the past year of campaigning (he said 22 months ago, for him) Barack Obama has shown an incredible steadiness, intellect, discipline and, frankly, a Christian witness. In the face of much false charges and innuendo he has not responded in kind as is normative in political campaigns. In his speeches Obama has always been gracious. In his victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago, he acknowledged his opponent’s achievements. He said that Americans owed a debt of gratitude to John McCain for the long service his has given to his country. He said that he wanted to be president of the all Americans not just those who voted for him. He has steadfastly refused to take the low road in politics, not demonizing his opponent, even though he has been the recipient of slander. Not once did he attack Sarah Palin personally although she personally attacked him time and again. What a witness! On the one hand I was proud to associate myself with such a person of high character. On the other hand I was embarrassed by those who call themselves Christians who supported all the personal attacks from the Christian conservative far right.

So I echo the words of Michelle Obama in saying that I am proud to be an American today. When Michelle said it in the primary season she was attacked for the implication it made and after that we never heard from her again. But many of us silently nodded and understood. I am proud to be an American today, I have never been able to say that with such conviction and passion in my adult life before, in a political or national sense. Oh, I remember being happy that Bill Clinton was elected President but it felt like the lesser of two evils. I was in high school when Jimmy Carter was elected President so I didn’t have the experience of years to feel joy (but I have grown in admiration for Jimmy Carter over the years, a truly Christian man). I am proud that America has elected someone of Obama’s character and intellect. I am proud that America has chosen the high road over the low road in politics. It makes me believe that change is possible over the next 4 years. A hope I haven’t had in a long, long time.

Finally, this blog was a long time in coming. I wasn’t sure whether to write it or not. But I thank my MCC colleague in Bangladesh who wrote so well about her feelings on the eve of this historic election: We are hoping to celebrate the election of Barack Obama as next President of the United States. You may be able to hear us from across the ocean if you listen carefully, or maybe not, maybe there will just be silent tears of joy as the full impact of the news really settles in. I'm not trying to start a political debate, I am aware that some of you are hoping for different results, but not to mention it would be to leave out a huge part of our lives here.

That applies to us as well. At the risk of starting a political debate, I write this blog because leaving it out would leave out a huge part of our lives here as well. Our office is adorned with an Obama/ Biden sign and the Ethiopians love it! So there it will stay for a long time. And so on Friday night we will celebrate fresh start with a party at our house. And so I await the next milestone in this journey, January 20, Inauguration Day . . .

What’s Going On?

How are things? Good friends and family want to know and we are grateful for their concern. The short answer is that everything is fine. No major accidents or injuries or illnesses to report. But there is a longer answer I can give, so I will for the sake of good friends and family.

Health: we are fortunate for overall relative good health and when we are ill we are grateful for medication that cures. All of our family has fallen ill with headaches, diarrhea, achiness, fever, occasional vomiting and general weakness. Not all at the same time nor the same symptoms. For the more severe we are grateful for Ciproflaxacin, the miracle drug of choice for gastro-intestinal illness. Wanda and I were hit with something just before we came out to Tanzania, then last week at EARM we were hit again. I took Cipro and Wanda got a stronger prescription from a doctor in Arusha. We’re both fine now but Amani isn’t feeling well. Now all this talk of health issues may make you wonder why so indiscrete? But anyone who has lived overseas in a 2/3 world country will tell you that when ex-pats get together it’s one of the first things to come up in conversation. It’s so common. But even more than that, one can more readily sympathize with the people we are serving who struggle against other, more deadly, diseases and illnesses on a daily basis. It makes me wonder how often the Ethiopian population actually feels healthy.

Animal news: When we left Addis all our animals were doing well. But we had a traumatic time with Princess Waffles, our female cat. It became clear in September that PW was pregnant. Who the father was, we don’t know for sure although we’d like to think it was Spot, our male cat. When PW was in heat though neighborhood Toms did come around and it was hard to keep her away from them. Wanda guessed that she might have kittens while we would be in Tanzania. But she had them the Monday before we left. Just 2 kittens, one DOA and the other should have been because PW rejected it. The girls were alternately thrilled by the birth event and then horrified when PW treated the kitten with contempt, biting it and throwing it up in the air. So our family separated mother from infant. But then it became our responsibility to keep it alive. All week long the girls, Wanda & I tried. We made PW lie down and tried to get the little kitten to nurse. It was hard since PW had no interest in the event. Hands had to hold her down and prevent her from grabbing the kitten and running off. We also tried to keep it warm by wrapping it in a wash cloth and holding it in our hands to stay warm. Then we tried feeding it with a syringe and later an eye dropper. In all cases short term success but ultimately failure. The kitten would cry and we tried to make it comfortable. But by Thursday we were losing the battle and it was getting weaker and in the night it died. It’s hard to say who was sadder, the girls or the parents. In the end Wanda & I tried to keep it alive for the girls’ sakes. Being invested meant being sadder. In talking about it afterwards Wanda & I both found out that we chastised ourselves for feeling something when all around us, every day in Addis, are sad, sad cases of people and animals who are in misery. One wee kitten dies and we are getting emotional? Yes, for in the end it is the personal that counts. That’s the way it works for all of us, isn’t it?

School news: Just before we left for Tanzania we sat down with the Grades 4 and 5 teachers. The good news is that our girls are very strong in reading and ‘riting. The bad news is that they aren’t in ‘rithmetic. They need to learn the multiplication and division tables which will make life easier for all of them. But in their reading comprehension and writing skills they are all at the top of their respective classes. They also seem to not be a problem in class behavior as well. So Wanda & I were grateful for those reports. It made it easier to travel and miss a week of school for this trip. But the girls did bring homework along with them to work on.

Piano and Lessons: Just before we left we bought a used electric piano off another expat family. It is a Kawai and seems to be good enough for the girls to use. We also found a young woman who is with her family who is at Bingham Academy this year. She graduated from university back in New Zealand and is willing to teach piano for the year for free! We are grateful for her servant attitude and look forward to the girls starting piano the week after we return to Addis. Will our girls end up like my sister Anita, who stuck to her lessons and is an accomplished pianist, or me and Lon, who took the obligatory lessons until we could get out of them and never looked back, until well into our adulthood. Yes, I wish I could play now. You were right Mom.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, Easter and then . . . Yes, we are looking forward to the various high points of celebration coming up but it is true that we are looking forward to June 2009 when we’ll be coming to North America on home leave. Let’s see, that would be 8 months from now . . .

In the meantime, we’ll try to keep up our correspondence with friends and family. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

East Africa Regional Meeting

Mennonite Central Committee calls for 2 meetings each year for Country Representatives. Our regional meetings are known as EARM, or East Africa Regional Meeting. Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda make up EARM in MCC (there is also WARM in the west and SACG in the south). This ‘fall’ (we still use North American seasonal names even though they don’t correspond to the African seasons) we met in Arusha, Tanzania in a Danish-Tanzanian retreat centre.

Mennonite Central Committee is going through a re-evaluation period known as New Wine-New Wineskins. This is both a North American and worldwide event over 3 years. The hope is that when all is said and done something new and fresh, both in structure and in relationships, will pour out of the work. The hope is to invigorate and point MCC in a 21st century direction. Toward that end MCC partners were invited to the meeting for 3 days. Jan Schmidt from Winnipeg led the proceedings. Small groups of our partners and the CR’s were used continuously and given assignments that met the Appreciative Inquiry guidelines (a ‘positive’ way to develop a shared understanding on what MCC is good at and how that can help us in thinking about the future direction). We were asked to share what personal accomplishments we felt good about and what MCC accomplishments we felt good about. In order to be creative we were asked to illustrate by way of drawing, story, skit or song to convey our message.



One exercise included colored pipe cleaners. It seemed a little juvenile to play with pipe cleaners to get a message across but everyone was still in good humor on day 1. Afterwards we were told by one of the leaders that in purchasing the large amount of pipe cleaners needed for the exercise, the vendor wondered aloud if MCC has a large group of pipe smokers! Of course, it was noted, add the New Wine-New Wineskins theme and outsiders might wonder if we are all big smokers and drinkers!

There has been a tug of war going on in North America over the “MCC soul”; is MCC to move towards mainly being a professional funding agency, thereby allowing overseas staff levels to fall to minimal levels for maintenance alone (more efficient use of money). Or is MCC to maintain the idea of being relationship driven which means building up MCC volunteer postings worldwide, particularly in Africa, which can be so important in building relationships between peoples? How important are church-to-church contacts, such as in Ethiopia between MCC and MKC?

How will MCC address the problems that were talked about? The situation in many areas seems to be the same all across Africa. Some things MCC can address, others are out of our control.
Education – too many children in too small classrooms. Not enough space, not enough teachers, not enough education materials (uniforms, textbooks, pens and paper). Motivation is low because teachers are poorly paid, students are poorly educated and there are more graduates than jobs. Education is the key to all other areas listed below.
Health – HIV/AIDs tops the list, but don’t forget about malaria, river blindness, sleeping sickness, tuberculosis and complications surrounding birthing. Not enough doctors, too many patients, not enough clinics and so on.
Agriculture – there are many areas that are food insecure or suffer from a water shortage, or both. Ethiopia is one place for both but the problem is growing in other countries as well, especially as the climate changes. How to care for the soil so it won’t become depleted or eroded, or how to bring the soil back from those conditions (a much harder proposition). How to feed growing populations on limited land?
Peace – It is no secret that war and violence are rampant in Africa on a larger scale than anywhere else in the world. When governments purchase the missiles, tanks, warplanes, guns to equip and train militias and armies, the next logical step is to use them. It doesn’t help that western and eastern nations (from the USA to Europe to Russia and China) are willing partners in crime, for there is money to be made. Merchants of death have never had any moral pretense in selling weaponry over the centuries and it certainly hasn’t changed. On a smaller scale both MCC and its partners agree that teaching about the things that make for peace, especially reaching across religions, is extremely important. Hearts and minds can overrule weapons only if love and trust replace fear and injustice. But even here, peace is a word that causes suspicion in some governments. They know their dirty souls and suspect that peace would target them. After all, the popular saying, If you want peace, work for justice, is tacitly acknowledged as true . . . and dangerous.
Political – this is also a sensitive subject in Africa. But participants affirmed the importance of CSO’s (Civil Society Organizations) that do advocacy work on behalf of the marginalized and voiceless. Government responses range from partial engagement to tolerance to outright hostility. Sometimes NGO’s like MCC can do all the relief and development work they want and still fail in the long term because at the end of the day the governing structures are so poorly designed and implemented. Corruption is rampant in all countries and the participants noted this (however, corruption is more visible in some than in others).

So we were told to dream of an ideal world 10 years in the future. What would it look like in the communities where the participants came from? What could MCC do to bring about that dream? Time and again we heard that MCC should be doing what it is continuing to do. Based on our resources and our size, it feels like we are at full strength. The peace and justice part could be expanded but everyone acknowledged that that could jeopardize MCC presence in their respective countries. Perhaps one needs to be selective, like Daniel or Esther in the Bible, and know when that time is come to speak up. Our partners would need to prompt us, like the Jewish communities of Daniel and Esther’s time.

EARM wasn’t all New Wine-New Wineskins. After 3 days our partners left and the Country Reps and MCC Africa Desk leaders from Akron stayed and spent an additional 2 days going through a laundry list of things to talk about. But it was more informal and relaxed by now, perhaps because folks were so ‘talked out’ from NW-NWS. There are new CR’s this year in Sudan, Kenya, Somalia (that’s still up in the air because of the political situation) and in January there will be a new layer of authority, MCC Regional Reps based in Nairobi. Bob & Judy Zimmerman Herr will take over many of the duties of Africa Desk directors Bruce Campbell-Janz and Melody Rupley. This is seen as a positive because they will be so much closer to the action in Nairobi. Akron is a long ways away in more than one sense. We all look forward to working with Bob & Judy.

Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge (written Oct. 22)

How much can one expect of lodging? Should one just expect high prices, indifferent service, uneven food service and sloppy maintenance (or none at all)? Our experience so far in Africa has been all of the above . . . with 2 notable exceptions: Sabana Beach Lodge on Lake Langano in Ethiopia and now Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge near Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. (http://www.rhotiavalley.nl/html/tented_lodge.html)

This was our safari tour’s second choice and after hearing that the first choice had a pool and this one didn’t, we were worried (for our girls’ sakes). So what about this ‘tented lodge’ that was off the beaten track through poor villages, up a mountainside? But I told myself wait, hold your judgment. It certainly looked nice enough but what was it like up close?


When the owner met us shortly after we stepped out of the vehicle I felt good. A Dutch woman who has decided not only to build the lodge but tie it in with a children’s home which will assist underprivileged children in the area. It’s brand new, opened this summer of 2008, and is a series of tented lodges overlooking the valleys and hills.


The owner has made the lodge and quarters just right. The attention to detail is amazing. Little things like a garden that you walk past on the way to your lodge, with the fresh produce on your table that night for dinner. Or the price of drinks being reasonable. Or the bottled water at the dinner table, gratis. Or having the system set up well to let people know when the hot water is on, when the electricity from the generator comes on and goes off. Or the layout of the tented rooms. Or choosing to bill one by exactly how much time one used instead of an exorbitant flat fee. Or coming back from dinner to find the tent flaps zipped up (keeping the room warmer, nights are cool at 1,700 meters) and hot water bottles in our beds.

But it was the hospitality of the owner who really set this place apart in my mind. She was interested in who we are and we wanted to know more about her project. I’m sure if we weren’t in a talking mood she would have stayed away but it was such a refreshing change of pace for us. So tonight we sleep in rustic luxury . . .

Tanzanian National Parks

Picture this; a lodge built on a ridge with a sweeping panoramic view where a ribbon of river splits the valley below. There are ‘tented lodges’ that are really half and half, half tent with zippers to enter and a tiled back part for a bathroom. There are bungalows that are rounded one room structures with a thatched dome roof which makes for a high ceiling inside. A partial wall separates the beds from the bathroom. The ridge is dotted for several hundred meters with these tented lodges and bungalows. A beautiful swimming pool is ready for all those who put in a hard day of safari in the hot, intense African sun. Cool and refreshing, a swim just like those European explorers took every afternoon after their safaris (not!). In the middle is a great lodge with a grand patio. This has a thatched roof and a vaulted ceiling and oversized chairs to sit in. There is a dining hall which is open, looking out over the valley.

And the valley is a place of action during the day as the animals come to the river to drink. Elephants, zebra, all manner of deer (from tiny dik diks to large impala) and the occasional giraffe. The landscape has been well-grazed and is left with dry grasses as well as dotted with trees from the baobab to the acacia and tamarind. The lodge is not fenced off so by day one can spot dik dik between the tents. Monkeys roam the grounds. Not far off zebra and water buck move. By night lodge guests are escorted by a man armed with a flashlight. No one should walk unescorted from the main lodge to one’s lodging, there could be lions or leopards about.


The first afternoon we went on safari. Now I know what a safari is. Basically one goes out in the morning and afternoon in a Land Rover or Land Cruiser or similar SUV-type vehicle. Most of the vehicles have roof hatches than one can open and stand up and observe the game while either driving or stopping. The vehicle also has three rows of seats, the last row slightly raised for that ‘riding shotgun’ feel. Our girls couldn’t see out in the middle and front seat so they ended up standing on the seats or the armrests or even on the headrest for the best view! So we would drive on the beaten paths through the game parks, never straying from the road (it’s against the law although, ironically, we saw game park workers flagrantly violating the law). No one is allowed to leave their vehicles in the game park so it was one long ‘Sunday afternoon drive’. It ended up being pretty relaxing overall, especially since I left the driving to someone else. But the sun beating down on us soon zapped us of our energy. We did lather up with sunscreen but the intensity was strong. So we drank our bottled water (no other options available, apparently). On long safaris we would have a packed lunch from the lodge we were staying in and stop at an official picnicking spot in the reserve.


Our driver Urio Amos was very laid back, in fact his demeanor and smile reminded me of the father of a boyhood friend. He tended not to speak unless spoken to or if there was something worth viewing. We did talk about some things, especially when we said we resided in Ethiopia; a little politics, religion, game parks, economies, etc. But for the most part he let us do the talking and basically said nothing as occasionally family dynamics played out (children that went from silly and happy to whining and complaining). The safari was for 5 days but we realized after 2 days at Taranguire that a 3rd day was not only unnecessary for our family but that we needed a break. So we cancelled the safari that day and stayed at the lodge swimming and relaxing. Urio was expressed mild surprise and suggested even a short drive. It seemed that he was disappointed which surprised me a bit, after 30 years of driving in these game parks I would welcome a paid day off. But then what could he do at the lodge? At any rate, he said no more and the next day inquired only once how our ‘day off’ was (it was great!).

Tarangire National Park is in Tanzania just south of Arusha town and Mt. Kilimanjaro. The park has both savanna and marshes which are mostly dried up during this time of year. In two days of safari we have seen a huge variety of animals. This park is full of giraffes, elephants, zebras, lions, ostriches, gazelle, impalas, water buck, water buffalo, warthogs, mongoose, a variety of birds and more. We haven’t seen rhinos or hippos but may in the other two locations we plan to visit. Here is a blurb from the internet about Taranguire:

Day after day of cloudless skies. The fierce sun sucks the moisture from the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red, the withered grass as brittle as straw. The Tarangire River has shriveled to a shadow of its wet season self. But it is choked with wildlife. Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that here, always, there is water. Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons.



It's the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators – and the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed. During the rainy season, the seasonal visitors scatter over a 20,000 sq km (12,500 sq miles) range until they exhaust the green plains and the river calls once more. But Tarangire's mobs of elephant are easily encountered, wet or dry. The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world. On drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world's largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys. More ardent bird-lovers might keep an eye open for screeching flocks of the dazzlingly colourful yellow-collared lovebird, and the somewhat drabber rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starling – all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.

Disused termite mounds are often frequented by colonies of the endearing dwarf mongoose, and pairs of red-and-yellow barbet, which draw attention to themselves by their loud, clockwork-like dueting. Tarangire's pythons climb trees, as do its lions and leopards, lounging in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree disguises the twitch of a tail. [Size 2850 sq km (1,096 sq miles)].




Manyara National Park is a mostly a ground water ‘rainforest’ which includes a large lake/ wetlands as well. It is abundant with wildlife and birds of all varieties, including those who fly south from Europe for the winter (they were just starting to arrive as we left). We saw hippos, but alas no rhinos. We drove under the canopy most of the morning and eventually over to the lake in the afternoon. Here is a description of the park:

Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. The compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.

From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows, and outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously in the high canopy. Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.
Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages in their shade. Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of the park.



Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. Size: 330 sq km (127 sq miles), of which up to 200 sq km (77 sq miles) is lake when water levels are high.

On our final day we visited Ngorongoro Crater Park. This is an amazing park. A former volcano at the beginning of the long chain of ancient volcanoes that now make up the Rift Valley which stretches through Kenya, Ethiopia and into the Middle East, Ngorongoro was active about 3 million years ago. Then it became extinct and collapsed within itself, leaving a large plain that is guarded 360° by the ancient volcanic walls of Ngorongoro.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact caldera in an exceptional geographical position, forming a spectacular bowl of about 265 square kilometres with sides up to 600m deep, the stalking ground of around 20,000 to 30,000 wild animals at any one time. The crater floor consists of a number of ecological environments that include grassland, swamps, forests and Lake Makat, a central soda lake filled by the Munge river. All these various habitats attract various wildlife to drink, wallow, graze, hide or climb. Although animals are free to move in and out of this contained environment, the rich volcanic soil, lush forests and spring source lakes on the crater floor tend to incline both grazers and predators to remain here throughout the year.

The Crater rim, over 2,200 metres high, touches swathes of clouds for most days of the year, with cool high altitude vapours that seem to bring a clean lightness to the air, and also a chill. These highlands wake up to a misty fog in most months, other than the high dry season during December and January.

More information on this amazing place can be found at the Wikipedia website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngorongoro_Crater

I’m sorry to say that I cannot add photos momentarily due to technical difficulties. My hard drive crashed about a month ago and even though I have a new hard drive much was lost, including my Sony camera software. We’re working on it, so you may see photos later, when this is all resolved.

When it rains, it pours . . .

I suppose many other MCC programs around the world could write this blog. Ethiopia is hurting. It began with a lack of normal rains in February-March. The normal dry season from October to February turns everything brown and thus rain is needed to ‘green things up.’ Also to begin the first planting of the season. But there was to be no planting in the desert dry soil. Then when the rains did come in May and the farmers planted, another plague besides drought hit the corn crop. Being as the soil was much warmer, when the rains hit it, army worm larvae popped out of the ground and found the tender shoots of corn ready to eat. The crop was devastated.

But that wasn’t all. Prices for all food basics had been rising in the past year; livestock, grains, oil, sugar and, especially here in Ethiopia, the staples of teff and berbere. Not just 5 or 10% mind you, 100 to 200% in some cases. Imagine people who make the equivalent of $1-2 USD per day and were just surviving a year ago on that 10-20 Birr, now all food staples have gone up but wages are not going up near as fast, particularly in the agrarian countryside. What can the family head do?

What should the government do? There have been no riots over food prices here like in other countries and we’re glad about that. But I’m not sure why. The government does have a feeding system in place and lots of foreign aid helps. A familiar sight since March, at least in the city of Addis, has been the large feed sacks of wheat that say US AID in large letters. The government was handing them out free to the poor families in the kebeles (districts) all over the city. If you are registered at your local kebele then you are to go to the kebele office on a certain day of the week (based on your name), wait in a long line all morning for your sack of wheat. In April one could get the grain if one registered to vote. Is that encouraging democracy or bribing the poor?

A ship laden with Canadian wheat is just arrived this week at the docks in Djibouti. The wheat comes from Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) partners, all the church denominations in Canada, with strong assistance from the Canadian government. For every dollar raised by CFGB through their partners, and ordinary Canadians, the Canadian government gives 4 more dollars through CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency, the counterpart to US AID).

This grain will be given to partners of CFGB here in Ethiopia. MCC’s partner, Meserete Kristos Church Relief and Development Agency (MKC-RDA) is one of those partners. We are the intermediary, the liaison between CFGB and RDA. The grain will be unloaded within the week at the docks onto trucks which will then be trucked to the various regions in Ethiopia where all the partners are working, from the Ogaden region in the east to the Borena region in south and to the Southern Nations & Nationalities People Region (SNNPR) where MCC and RDA work.

It all sounds so straightforward. But there is a story behind this too of course. A story about how it almost didn’t happen . . .

As Good as Advertised . . .

Yes, it had only been a week since we travelled north through Ethiopia’s ancient historical sites and visited several of the MCC programs in those areas. Yes, we were glad to go north but it was work. We all came back feeling exhausted from the trip. We had planned to go somewhere else for a real vacation as far back as May, but where to go? Kenya? Egypt? Yemen? Dubai? North to Europe? South to South Africa? But the cost of travel and the unknown as far as lodging seemed to be more work than we wanted to do.

How about staying in Ethiopia? Even before we travelled north we questioned whether there was anywhere in Ethiopia that we could relax & rest. There was no evidence of any place ‘getting it right’. The trip north seemed to confirm our doubts. Even the nicest places, at Lalibela and Gonder, there were always a bunch of small things (sometimes big things too) that bugged me. The Roha Hotel in Lalibela was without electricity and water as often as in Addis. The Goha Hotel in Gonder gave us rooms that felt like I was back living in a basement apartment with the accompanying musty odors. There were many small things that showed that the management didn’t know how or didn’t care about paying attention to details. So we felt the despair of not being able to go anywhere in Ethiopia where the industry would get it right.

But we booked rooms at a place called the Sabana Beach Resort on Lake Langano. Open for less than one year, it was advertised as a place ‘where your senses come alive’. Our friends, Sam & Kathy, had taken their family there earlier in the year and highly recommended it, which is why we chose to try it. But would it be as good as advertised?

It is a 3 hour drive from Addis to go 200 kilometers south to Langano. Monday morning I fought the usual traffic and the girls managed to hang out in the back of the Land Cruiser in peace and quiet. We left cool and rainy (between 12-17C or 50-65F) and arrived in the warm sunshine at Langano (20-25C or 70-80F). As we drove into the large compound of Sabana it was clear that a lot of work was done to transform a bare and rocky land into a beach resort. There are four rows of bungalows at four levels, almost like risers for a choir.
The level below ours, about a 3-4 meter drop, is enough to allow us a view of the lake, although not completely unobstructed (one needs to book the 100 level bungalows for that). There is grass here! Highly unusual in Ethiopia. Granted, it isn’t the finest Kentucky bluegrass but green and pleasant nevertheless. The construction of the bungalows are a blend of west and east; thatched roofs with iron wrought structure. Another amazing feature is the shower that has real water pressure and well-controlled hot and cold water (in contrast to our shower at home where the knobs that are so sensitive that you can look at the knob and it changes from brutal cold to blistering hot).


Sabana Beach resort has been as good as advertised. The beach has a nice beach with water slide on a platform, kayaks to take out, volleyball, soccer and table tennis equipment. The restaurant’s menu is actually diverse; from Ethiopian food to Mexican chile to Indian curry to American ice cream and they taste pretty close to the way they should taste. There is a conference room with a DVD player/projector where one can watch their favorite movies (bring your own).

It is hard to believe one is still in Ethiopia when one is here. It was quiet (no TV’s in the rooms) with the only noise being birdsongs and the far off baying of mules and lowing of cattle. It was a break from the daily bombardment of people, animals and vehicles. The days were partly cloudy but no rain, a break from the rainy season. We made the most of our time here; playing on the beach, watching DVD’s, playing games (Monopoly was played with Amani and Dad being the last two standing), lots of reading books and magazines, relaxing over food and the girls simply playing.
Just about the only disappointment has been the full moon sequence which obscured a normally brilliant starry, starry sky (the last time I was at Langano in April one could see the Big and Little Dipper, the Milky Way in all its glory and the Southern Cross as well as many other constellations).

We were able to relax and rest as each day passed. Thank you Lord for the short but sweet getaway . . .

Travelogue: Day 1, Addis Ababa to Dessie

Welcome to our northern Ethiopia journey! Our family has been in Ethiopia for almost a year but we haven’t been on the well-known ‘northern route’. This is the way most tourists go, or are taken, when they come to Ethiopia. The famous northern route hits the 4 major cities; Bahir Dar, Gonder, Axum and Lalibela, usually in that order. But we will be going ‘backwards’, counterclockwise if you will, starting with Lalibela.

Our journey started Monday morning, June 23, from Addis Ababa. Our first stop would be Dessie, about 400 kilometers away. For those of you following at home, follow the road that runs northeast out of Addis. We were to leave our house at 7:30 a.m. but I guess it is hard to get 5 people moving all in the same direction and on time so we left at 7:45. We said good-bye to the pets; to Coca and Peanut the dogs, to Princess Waffles and Spot the cats, to Cindy the male rabbit and Yertle the turtle somewhere in the back yard.


The journey from Addis to Dessie starts out high in the cool mountain air of Addis and ends up in the warm desert-like air of Dessie. In between are mountains to go up and down on. The guidebooks said that the road was asphalt-paved but that was only half true for our trip. It seems that the Chinese are helping to widen the road from 2 to 4 lane most of the way from Addis to Debre Berhan so the first 200 km were rough. In many places we saw the Chinese out on roads leading the construction crews. In some places the road was being moved away from the old road cutting across the land like a shortcut. The old asphalt road, meanwhile, was in sad shape, having been patched many times over. It was better at times to drive on the dirt roads beside them.

The second part of the journey was much nicer. Soon after Debre Berhan a four lane paved road appeared and driving became much easier. We were fortunate not to see too much traffic. Mostly trucks and long distance buses which we were able to pass fairly easily. This road was made with the European Union’s help, thanks EU! Our drive had been mostly through towns and plains up to that point but now the road took us from the top of the mountain winding our way down with many switchbacks (curves). Now we saw forests made up of some sort of pines or evergreens or similar looking. We also saw more of the Italian built bridges probably built 70 years ago. Beautiful stone bridges with arches undergirding the road. In fact the scenery was very alpine. We felt like we were in Switzerland or northern Italy, what a nice drive. Of course we would see the ‘tukuls’, the round huts of the populace and know that we weren’t in Europe. And there were the occasional camels and monkeys that also reminded us that we were in Africa.


We finally arrived at Dessie in the early evening and found out that no hotel room had been booked. Apparently the hotels won’t accept reservations. The hotels are filled these days with Chinese. So as Mekonnen checked out hotels, along with a kind MKC evangelist who helped by going place to place to check for us, we found out that everything was full. Full, that is, except for the government hotel. These hotels feel like something out of the 1940’s, which probably when they were built. Many were privately owned but were seized by previous communist government (called the “Derg”) and now this government would like to sell them off but they don’t have a sense of a selling price and refuse to accept a reasonable price. So the formerly beautiful wooden floors creak ferociously, the rooms have one dim bulb in the ceiling, the thin ancient wiring looks scary. The walls need a fresh coat of paint. The windows have an old wood frame with single pane glass. The beds are soft and sag in the middle, but at least the sheets were clean. The whole place is kept relatively clean and we appreciated that. Unfortunately there was no water for washing up or for the toilet. A real problem.

So we took the 2 rooms that were left and inspected them. Sophia and I slept in one room and Wanda and the twins in the other. We had a late (7:30 p.m.) supper down in the dining room before going to bed. The dining room was part of the whole 40’s look, high ceiling with wooden cortaround and ornate decorating. But to my amazement the atmosphere they created was very nice. The music was familiar American jazz but more importantly the volume was low, it stayed in the background and we didn’t have to yell over the music like often happens. And the food was good; the pasta and sauce was good and the salads were full of fresh veggies.

Travelogue: Day 2, Dessie to Lalibela

We said good-bye to the ‘grand old lady’ in Dessie and were not sad to leave the hotel or town. It was no fun to use a toilet that didn’t have a toilet seat and was obviously used by men who didn’t care if the next person might have to sit down on the bowl. And the lack of water also meant that I couldn’t wash up properly the next morning (morning face all day long). The last straw was the fact that the toilets were backed up and couldn’t flush and yet one had to use the facilities, no other choice.

But the breakfast was good; scrambled eggs with toasted bread or cereal (but with warm milk; not a good thing with cold cereal, the corn flakes just melt into a congealed mess). At least they had good food. We packed up and left soon after. We tried to buy gas on our way out of town but all the gas stations were out of gas (diesel, actually). No worries. We still had a ¾ tank and I reckoned we could easily drive to Lalibela if needed. Mekonnen had advised that we buy gas and fill up whenever possible because of just such a problem; gas stations which were out of gas.

The drive from Dessie to Lalibela took another full day of driving, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. without lunch. We stopped for fuel in Woldia and stopped for a potty break another time but that was it. Not that we wanted it that way, there just weren’t opportunities along the way for a lunch stop. Thank God for the cooler of snack foods we brought with us. Some good friends shopped at the U.S. Embassy commissary for us before we left so we had Cheetos and Rold Gold pretzel sticks along with k’olo (roasted barley and peanuts). Somehow we all managed to drive under these conditions without too much strife or mutiny. The girls complained a bit but were quite good overall, given the circumstances.

The drive was once again a scenic wonder. Yes, the land was dry in this rainy season from a lack of water and yes, the roads were alternately bad and good (acceptable). But as we left Dessie we once again headed up into the mountains on roads that were clinging to the mountainsides. I was driving so I couldn’t linger on the sights as we climbed higher and higher. The view of range after range of mountains and the vista of the valley below was tempered by the fact that we were on a gravel, dusty road that sometimes was only one lane. And don’t look down over the edge, these roads don’t have any guardrails and the drop-off was usually thousands of meters. So Wanda and the girls were nervous. Hey, I admit I was fighting off a bit of vertigo myself. Just concentrate on the road, just don’t think about it.

Along the road as we climbed the mountain we would come to villages (a welcome respite from the cliffhanger- driving). We would see water running in ditches beside the road. That water, in an arid land, was water from hot springs that gushed out of the mountain side. So there were pockets of green lush landscape and growing crops.

We kept climbing. One common theme that we have experienced since leaving Addis has been the construction of roads all along the way and the presence of Chinese road builders. Everywhere roads are being built, the Chinese are there. Ethiopians are used to the presence of white western foreigners (we’re called ‘fereng’) but now a generation of Ethiopian kids are seeing Chinese. One boy even mistakenly shouted out, ‘China’ to his mother in his excitement when he saw us in our Land Cruiser. The roads are being paved all over the country. We had to drive around and sometimes through the construction but as we did we all thought how nice it will be when it is done in a couple of years (if we do this route by vehicle again).

It seemed like forever but we finally reached the top of the mountain. We all expected to start a downhill crawl but amazingly the road went on and on. Like we were on a long plateau. Again the scenery reminded me of other mountainous scenes I have seen; alpine scenery in Europe or the Rocky Mountains. Windswept land that was green but not lush. Rocky outcropping everywhere. And a road runs through it. We found another stone circle and stopped for our bathroom break. Mekonnen struck up a conversation with a mother and two daughters who were fascinated by our stopping. The older daughter (a teenager) was married and had a child. The younger daughter, 10 years old, was ‘promised’ to a boy in marriage. Traditional practice in these parts, Mekonnen said.

We finally found the road to Lalibela (no road signs, you just continually stop and ask) and started the downhill plunge. The road was full of switchbacks. I used my horn continuously to warn the people and animals on the road ahead. Don’t want to hit anyone or anything. As we descended the landscape changed again. Now we were looking at something from the American desert southwest. The cactus, large ‘spider’ plants and other relatives of the aloe vera plant. The rocky, sandy brown soil. We went on and on through the desert landscape.

Everyone was getting restless by 3 p.m. We had not stopped for lunch and the girls were ready to end this drive. We continued to go up and down through the mountains, more spectacular scenery. We counted down the kilometers until we were scheduled to reach Lalibela; 200 kms, 100 kms, 70, 60, 50, etc. Then we saw a large billboard looking very out of place in this desert land, a sign that was advertising St. George beer and saying ‘welcome to the holy land of Lalibela’ (yes, holy land, the Orthodox Ethiopians regard this land as quite sacred).It took another 20 km but we wended our way upwards one more time to the city on the hill. Houses clinging to the hillsides. A road once again on the side of the mountain. Wanda remarked that it is hard to believe that there is an airport, an actual flat landing strip, somewhere in the vicinity. They must have flattened a mountain top to do it.

Our hotel was on the far side of town, through the cobbled streets. We could tell we were coming to a tourist trap because as we got closer to town people started shouting things in English at us. By the time we had arrived in Lalibela there were English speakers. The Roha hotel is also a government hotel but is a marked contrast to the one in Dessie. About the only thing they have in common is the same soap is in the bathrooms! This one is more ‘Ferengi’ friendly with a large common room, dining area, even a small gift shop. The rooms have running water, electric, even satellite TV (although only 4 channels; BBC World Service, Al Jazeera News, a Arab movie channel of English language films and a Euronews channel that has no sound)! The courtyard is well maintained and the girls enjoyed running around. Beautiful flowering bushes in colors of yellow, white, red, blue and purple. We had a nice supper and relaxed before bed. Another day done, another adventure about to begin.

Travelogue: Day 3, Lalibela

Today was a ‘country orientation’ day. The girls were up early, as usual, and I went out to take some pictures of our compound at the Roha Hotel. After a nice breakfast we arranged with a guide, Mesfin, to go with us to the Lalibela churches. It cost the children $10 each and the adults $20 each (Mekonnen got in free with his Ethiopian citizen card). We started at the Bet Medane Alem (‘Church of the Savior’) church. The major churches in two clusters are now under a very modern canopy which was funded by UNESCO. The canopy keeps the sun and rain off the stone churches but looks odd in their place; the essence of ancient under the essence of modernity. The churches survived 800 years but time did leave their mark on them.

So what are the stone hewn churches all about? Many ancient churches in Ethiopia were literally cut out of the stone. Not on some mountain, like in Petra (in Jordan) but dug out of the ground. The builders had to cut through stone over 30 meters (90 feet) to make the trench, then shaping whole churches, doors, windows, pillars, roof and all, cutting away the stone to create space. Those who have seen the ‘wonders of the world’ have classified the Lalibela stone churches as easily within the category. There are a number of these stone-hewn churches in Ethiopia but none are a large or as intricate in design as these. Experts wonder at the building of these churches in the same way that they wonder how the Pyramids in Egypt were built, how could the ancients have built these structures with ancient tools?

So we went from one church to the next, through ancient doorways of wood and metal. We saw rectangular burial places hewn out of stone in church floors and in the walls of stone around the churches. We saw priests who dressed up in their robes, pulled out their crosses and had their photos taken (small tip appreciated). We saw a few people at prayer (but most had prayed prior to the hours of 8 a.m.- noon and the rest will likely pray later). We were fortunate not to see a lot of tourists like ourselves, we mostly explored in some isolated peace.

The peace was broken at Bet Giorgis (St. George Church), probably the most splendid church in Lalibela. The church stands alone and across the street, away from the other 2 clusters of churches. We had just walked down into the church area and we noticed other tourists there. A group of 5 or 6, probably European I guessed. Mesfin led us over to little pool of water when he and his friend Zedeke got a little silly and started spraying water on our girls (in the ‘blessing’ fashion of orthodox priests) and our girls squealed in delight at the moment of play. In that moment a white haired man in a thick accent berated us ‘Americans’ for having no respect for the church and suggesting that we were behaving inappropriately. I asked, where are you from? As he went on and on, I asked a couple more times until he said, European and immediately walked into the church before I could respond further.

I have to admit that that got my dander up. Actually it flustered all of us, even the Ethiopians with us (Wanda protested, “I’m Canadian,” but no one from their group acknowledged that). I think being unfairly charged was one annoyance (it was our Ethiopian tour guides that started spraying water, but so what?). It was also this Euro-prejudice that annoyed too. In the past and even present we have experienced prejudice, either very subtle or quite open (as in this case) from Europeans to North Americans. The stereotype is that North Americans are culturally inferior and backwards, the ‘Ugly American’ overseas comes to mind. The irony is that as we talked afterwards (much later after things cooled down) Ethiopians said their favorite tourists are Americans and Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders.

Those from the continent: German, Italian and Spanish are especially arrogant and snarky. Perhaps this was for our benefit but Mesfin seemed personally aggrieved by the whole situation (maybe he recognized his role in it and our unfair labeling). It was a good lesson for our girls and I used it as a teaching moment. This is how prejudice feels: To be unfairly labeled and stereotyped. But our response is not in kind, but rather to not to stir up anger with harsh words (even if many good replies come to mind). The matter is closed, I said. We all agreed and things did cool down. I had even told one of the women in that group that since we will see each other more that day it would be good to be on friendly terms. She tried to say in her best English that what one in their group says doesn’t represent the whole group. Fair enough.

So we continued on that morning and did see the other group again but they let us go through and we continued touring until the noon hour when they closed the churches. We said goodbye to Zedeke, our shoe-bearer (since we have to take our shoes off for each church someone watches our shoes), and paid him the agreed price plus a bit more. We paid the one guy who watched our Land Cruiser as well. We took Mesfin back to the hotel and agreed to have him escort Wanda and Abby shopping in the afternoon. We came back and washed up for lunch and, sure enough, our Spanish friends were in the lobby as well. So there was nothing to do but walk past them and down to the dining room for lunch.

The afternoon was mostly relaxing: Naps, games, shopping, organizing photos of the morning. The girls played out in the compound grounds. We could have visited monasteries near and far since we had a vehicle but the girls would have lost their joy and will. So it suited everyone to relax. Sometimes it is better not to do or see everything even if we may never pass this way again. That’s OK. I’m grateful that the girls had a good time overall this morning. They loved all the walking around in the churches, between churches in narrow passageways, over high wooden bridges, through dark tunnels, across streets and around the church buildings. I think memories will last long and I am glad.

Travelogue: Day 4, Lalibela to M’kele

It was hard to say good-bye to Lalibela. After all, everyone enjoyed the tour day of the stone churches and the hotel was given high marks by my family. But now another travel day was before us and no one in my family was looking forward to it (I was ok with it but then I was going to be driving). It was another 7 hours of driving with more of the same; the same scenery (spectacular), same roads, same dust, same weather . . . and of course no roadside rests or nice restaurants to stop at along the way. So once again the girls talked about the sheer cliffs on our right or left (with no guard rails) and shivered at the thought of the drop off. I knew I needed to concentrate in order to not make a mistake. Going down, going up, shifting up, shifting down, constant curves and switchbacks. The only thing that made the driving nice was the absence of other vehicles. I counted around 6 vehicles that came toward me on the open road over the entire time. There were still people and animals to contest with but they were fewer as well.

And so we drove through to M’kele. There was the incident of Sophia getting sick but other than that the girls did great the whole time. I played Keith Green music and the girls mostly slept after a rowdy start. We had the windows down but as we wended our way from the mountains to the desert floor the temperature rose to 34c (about 90F). The air flowing through the car prevented further car sickness for a while but finally we needed cool air and we closed things up and turned on the a/c. The girls became restless and we did the times tables with them (one of our summer goals). They also did the, “I went camping and I took . . .” game and got all the way to Z. Once again we didn’t have a meal until we got to M’kele.

Finally the road came out onto a plain and I could drive faster. By then we all needed out of the Land Cruiser. As we came over one final hill there was M’kele, a wonderful sight to see. We found our way to the main road, it was nice to see a paved road again after 7 hours. M’kele is one of a handful of rare modern cities in Ethiopia that was designed by a future looking individual (nephew of the last emperor, Haile Selassie). Along with Awassa and Bahir Dar, the city has wide city streets and sidewalks and it laid out like a grid. The most important thing, however, is that the city planners have followed his plan (not like in Addis) and the result is quite impressive. A beautiful downtown and a city that has both palm trees and trees of the highlands.

We found our friend, Berhan, and she invited us to her home where we enjoyed her hospitality. She is the founder of the ‘Anna Hofer orphan village’ which takes orphan children and places them in foster homes (sometimes with immediate family) and pays a stipend to the family to keep the children in food, clothing and school. The project is an MCC Winnipeg ‘Constituent Initiated Project’ (CIP) which means it was begun by constituents of MCC and MCC administers it.

We didn’t see the project, it was enough to get here and go to our hotel on Thursday. Friday morning we shall see the project offices and meet the children that benefit from this program. In the meantime we once again found ourselves quite ready for bed in the Milano Hotel. A nice hotel as you look at it from the outside, but with its own quirks. Our room smelled of sewage but the clerk assured us that the smell would go away when we opened the windows and doors. Ok, the smell did go. But then the loud live music downstairs began after dark and the EuroCup 2008 commentary was played on the loudspeakers down below as well so we closed the sliding glass balcony door. Bad idea. The smell returned. So we left it open all night and eventually everything quieted down. And that wasn’t all. All the doors had a crazy lock that needed one to exert much pressure to open. I had never seen such a lock before and I hope I never will again. To my embarrassment I had to ask the desk clerk to come and open our door at one point.

But the restaurant was the worst. Both supper and breakfast we had the same waiter who smiled and assured us that he would take our orders without pen and pad. He got the orders in English and Amharic (Mekonnen made the orders clear) but each time he screwed up royally. Forgetting some things, bringing the wrong dishes to the table, never delivering on certain requests. We were ready to forgive and forget the evening meal because it was busy with lots of people. But then in the morning we were the only guests for breakfast and he made even worse mistakes. Even Mekonnen, a man of patience, was finally fed up with him and berated him in Amharic (wish I could have understood). It didn’t seem to faze him. He didn’t get it up to the very end. *sigh*

So, Friday is half MCC orientation and half day travel. The wheels just keep rolling . . .

Travelogue: Day 5, M’kele to Axum

We woke up in another town today, M’kele. The excitement continues on our journey over northern Ethiopia. We stayed at the Milanos Hotel over night. As I said in the previous post, the Milanos hotel looks impressive from the outside but it will not be recommended to travelers, especially for the restaurant service.

OK, on to the happy part of the day. Berhan met us and we first went to her office. She had instructed all the families with children to meet us at her office. So they came from outlying areas, old grandmothers with their grandchildren mostly. One great uncle and grandnephew and one man who took in 3 children of his neighbors after the parents died adding to the 4 of his own. In cases like his, Berhan agreed to sponsor only one child not all three orphans and the family agreed to this. Even the modest stipend for one child (for which room and board and education costs were agreed to be covered) was worth it to the family.

This was happening in several family situations. So Wanda, myself and the girls were introduced by Mekonnen and Berhan and we asked for introductions of the families and to hear their stories. We offered words of praise to the guardians for what they had agreed to do and thanked them for their hard work. We encouraged the children to do well in school. These guardians responded by thanking us for coming all the way from Addis (and North America) to visit with them. Our presence made the monetary stipends more real to them. They knew in their head that the money was coming from somewhere but to actually see our ‘Ferenji’ faces made it real. We told them it was the good folks from near Winnipeg (from the Hutterite colony) that should be thanked and we would convey their gratitude. Yes, replied one, but just as they planted the seed for good growth, you have come to watch it grow and tend to the plants so we thank you too. We took pictures, said our good-byes and final thanks and departed.

We then went to see a home yet, with six children all being cared for by one woman. Although entitled to a piece of land, this woman had no means at all to develop it and had to live in a distant village. She was taking care of orphan children and with Berhan’s help she moved to her plot of land just outside of M’kele. The stipend from the AHOV program has helped her build a modest house, a nice courtyard, till her small plot of land to raise vegetables and some grain and even rent out the corral to a neighbor who has oxen. Three children go to school and 2 of the smallest don’t yet. One older child, a girl, is mentally handicapped and spends her days working in the compound. Berhan hopes to get the government to agree for some vocational training for her.

It was inspiring to see a woman like Berhan, trained as a nurse in Canada, coming back home and, thanks to the regular contributions of a family back in Canada, bringing hope in the small corner of her world. Many Ethiopians stay in North America where the opportunities are greater and the rewards are as well. So those who return against all odds, I applaud.

After getting gas, groceries and something to drink we said good-bye to Berhan and began our trip to Axum. On this day Mekonnen drove. I wasn’t feeling well and somehow managed to squeeze my body into the very back part of the vehicle to sleep for a while. That helped in spite of the fact that the a/c hardly reaches way back there (the girls had complained previously, now I understand). The road to Axum was paved part of the way but construction was happening from Adigrat to Besel and it was rather precarious dodging huge heavy machinery, oncoming traffic and the holes dug on the right side of the road (for a cement water drainage under the road) all the while keeping an eye on the left edge which always seemed too close. When I drive it feels safer to me in part because I am in control. Otherwise it is hard to watch. The Chinese foremen were everywhere leading the construction. There were long stretches of asphalt road in the mountain passes and that was nice. The temptation is to drive faster and not take into account the twists and turns (remember, no guard rails, so if you overshoot a turn that’s it).

It took us about 5 hours but it seemed longer than that. The girls’ attitude about the trip (especially the driving) is getting crankier by the day. Overall they are doing well. When they are out of the vehicle they are ‘crazy happy’ (loud, running everywhere, being silly at the table, etc.) but we understand, they need to get their ‘ya-yas’ out. Wanda and I are glad we are taking this trip but we won’t do it again, at least not exactly like this (as Sophia said, now we know why people fly).

We are staying at the Remhai hotel. It is a nice enough hotel. We had to move once from the old section to new section of the hotel so our girls had enough space to sleep. Both rooms have king-sized beds so 3 girls fit in one bed. We had a nice supper ‘al-fresco’ last night and the service was excellent (by comparison from the day before) and the food was good enough. On the way back to our rooms we stopped in front of a TV that had CNN on with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Unity, New Hampshire where they were giving a show of unity after a bruising primary. Many fine words were passed between them. I hope that those words hold up for the next 4 months. We agreed with both of them. The nation (and the world) needs a change of leadership and direction and the Republicans with John McCain are promising more of the same.

Tomorrow, we see Axum as our leadership orientation continues.

Travelogue: Day 6, Axum

We arrived at the Remhai hotel in Axum tired and worn from the day and each other. The hotel gave us two rooms but the girls’ room wasn’t going to work. Two single beds. So Wanda inquired about changing rooms. It turns out they put us in the old wing of small rooms. For a slightly higher price we moved to the new wing. Now both rooms were big and roomy with king-sized beds in each. Much better. We ate supper outside in the warmth of the evening and relaxed.

A note about food. Eating out at a restaurant has always been a special treat for our family. In North America we couldn’t afford to eat out as often as we saw other families do so our girls’ really enjoyed those experiences. Even here in Ethiopia, although we eat out after church every Sunday, it is still something they look forward to. But this trip may change all that. Almost every restaurant we’ve eaten at has had virtually the same menu. Yes, the menu is a problem, that sameness can be quite tedious. But the food, although acceptable yet bland, just doesn’t appeal to me after a while. The chicken is invariably tough because it’s not fattened chicken, it is ‘free range’ chicken (which means something a bit different here). The meat all tends not to be tender. The vegetables are all overcooked, boiled or whatever. That is probably good for us (kill the germs) but not appetizing. There is always pasta and usually that is OK. Salads are a toss-up (OK, pun intended), sometimes the balance of lettuce to veggies is one way (lots of lettuce, little veggies), another time the other way and the dressings also vary in quality. So to go day after day and find the same food meal after meal . . . There were some exceptions, it’s true. In the run-down hotel in Dessie the lettuce and vegetables came from their back yard and were washed and cleaned. That salad was good.

Saturday we went to a relaxed schedule and got up a bit later. We ate breakfast (almost always scrambled eggs, toasted bread, margarine and jam, juice or coffee) and went looking for the sites of Axum. We had to find the Tigray Tourism Commission Office in order to purchase our tickets for all the ‘secular’ sites for the day. Immediately a couple of young men saw us and offered to be our tour guides. We offered no promises but asked where the tourism office was and they told us. So naturally they raced behind our vehicle to the same office, eager to assist us. We got our tickets and again made no promises and went back to the large stelae field site (about 1 km away) and again they raced back to meet us there eager to ‘help.' One youth, Solomon, had offered a personalized hand carved black softstone necklace (he asked the names of the girls while Mekonnen and I were at the tourism office and Wanda wrote their names down for him) and of course sold them to the us for a nice price (for him) of 140 Birr. The other young man, Aferworki, was a licensed guide and pushed hard to get us to employ him.

But there was something about his attitude; an air of entitlement and arrogance. When I tried to barter with him he became defensive and almost hostile. We had just agreed on a price but he now acted annoyed and I asked what was the problem. He repeated, what was the problem? I said isn’t bartering normal? He didn’t seem to understand, but smirked and said everything was normal. At this point Mekonnen talked to him in Amharic and he didn’t respond well at all. So we three adults huddled and rescinded our offer and said we would go without a tour guide and Aferworki stalked off.

We had to say no to others as well as we walked in the stelae field but when we came out there was smiling Solomon. He had such a different attitude, always smiling. Yes, always inviting himself into our circle but willing to take no for an answer without being upset or defensive. For a young man of 17 he had a much better command of English than any of the others. Smart as a whip, you might say. He was a bit of a hustler, showing me some rare coinage from the Axum area (found by farmers in their fields when plowing) and an ancient looking palm sized ‘Bible’ or rare manuscript that his father had bought off of a churchman. These artifacts often show up at the local market he said and his father spots them and buys them off the locals. They then sell them to tourists (wonder how much of these valued artifacts leave Ethiopia this way). I’m not a collector and so I said no to both offers, he shrugged and put them away. No problem. He continued to smile and he offered to show us the sites as an unofficial tour guide (without the guide’s license he can’t get into the sites). So for about ¼ of the price, with much better English, he took us to what we wanted to see. He rode in our Land Cruiser, ate lunch with us and did a pretty good job of telling us about the historical sites and the city.

And we saw, as I said, the stelae fields of Axum, for which it is known. The stelae are obelisks which stand anywhere from 10 to 30 meters high (30-90 feet high) and are made of granite from a local quarry. Some are still in good shape in spite of the centuries, including one the Italians took in their short occupation time in the 30’s. They agreed to send it back around 1997 and it was returned in 2005. Now the Italians, with UNESCO, are helping to set it back up again. There is a huge scaffolding in place as they erect it and we saw the first piece in place (they had to cut it into 3 pieces to transport it, both in the 30’s and recently). The symbolism of the stelae to the Axumite kings are similar to the pyramids in Egypt to the ancient pharaohs. Powerful rulers always want to show their power and prestige and have a monument for generations to come. As the tombs were inside the pyramids, the tombs of the kings were in burial chambers below the stelae. The most impressive stelae belonged to the most powerful kings; King Ezbana and King Remhai of the ancient Axumite kingdoms in the 1100’s.

We did drive out of town to what is called ‘Donghai’ palace or also known as the palace of the Queen of Sheba. To the untrained eye it looks like a stone walled maze. The girls loved running through it exploring the ‘rooms’. A recent western media article reported that German archeologists have suggested that they may have found the palace of the Queen of Sheba in Axum so we assumed this was the one, although no evidence of archeological work was present. We also tried to visit the church where the Ethiopian Orthodox church says the Ark of the Covenant. Yes folks, they claim that they are the keepers of the true Israelite Ark of the Covenant read about in the Old Testament. Could it be true? Could be if you believe the author of The Sign and the Seal, a journalist named Graham Hancock, turned investigator into arcane mysteries of the world. But most ‘experts’ believe not. Solomon told us the priest that guards the Ark was an orphaned boy adopted by the church and raised inside the church, never again setting foot outside the church compound. He is 68 now and Solomon said he couldn’t even find his way around Axum much less know about the famous stelae in Axum (which are right across the street from the church). Well, they wanted 60 Birr per person and we would basically see nothing so we said, no thanks. So I decided just to snap a picture from about 20 meters (40 feet) away but they said, that will be 30 Birr. Forget it. So I didn’t get a photo of the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ church.

We had lunch at the Yehi Hotel, another government hotel which has the best view of the historical sites and the town of Axum. This has been our experience. The government run hotels have the prime real estate but the quality of the hotels varies widely. The Roha in Lalibela is actually quite nice while the Yehi and Goha hotels leave something to be desired. The same is true in the other government-run hotels down south as well. They have a slightly musty odor in some, the need for renovation is a constant theme. Only at the Roha did we see renovation happening. Anyways, the Yehi Hotel gave us a beautiful vista and Solomon conducted a portion of his tour there, simply pointing out sites and explaining their significance.

Finally the girls had had enough and we said good-bye to Solomon. He offered to find camels for the girls to ride (for a price of course) but after waffling back and forth we finally said no. So we went back to the Remhai hotel and rested for the evening, knowing that the next day would be one of the longest, and possibly the hardest, traveling day of the trip. We agreed to get up early and be ready to go at 6 a.m. in the vehicle. H-m-m-m, could we do it?