Travelogue Egypt: Day 1 Addis to Cairo

We had plenty of time and still we felt uneasy. What was behind this feeling? Our bags were packed in plenty of time on this Sunday afternoon. Were we missing something? Both Wanda and I felt like we shouldn’t be going. What’s up with that? But, like being locked into a roller coaster car, once you start moving up the first big hill you are locked in, you can’t get out. The Sunday had been normal. We had gone to church then had lunch out with our friends which took us into the early afternoon. It had turned cool and rainy once again, maybe that dampened our spirits.

But by 8 p.m. we were on the road to the airport, all bags packed and kids ready to go. The flight was scheduled to leave at 10:35 (in reality it left at 11:30) and we were to arrive in Cairo around 3:30 a.m. We made it through the first x-ray machine inside the doors at Bole (although we saw a group of Chinese men who didn’t and wondered why they were pulled aside until we saw one man turn his bag upside down and hundreds of large ants fell out and were crawling on the airport floor everywhere). We made it past check-in, we filled out our departure cards and submitted them to the customs official. Then we went up to the next floor and waited.

The ‘red eye express’ may save money but it is hard on the body. We were in a smaller plane, still a jet but probably the smallest model. Everything was tight. The Ethiopian Air crew did the minimum of service. Still we were unable to get sleep, at least I wasn’t able to sleep. The cabin lights kept being turned off and on. Drinks were served, food was served. Yes, I was hungry but it also kept me awake. So when we landed in Cairo I had a ‘heavy head’ and was feeling that stay-up-all-night out of sorts. But the flight went well enough, a few rough patches. As we were landing we flew over Cairo and I saw the Nile, Zamalek island, the Citadel and a few other landmarks. In a small way it felt like I was coming home after 20 years.



We got our visas with no problems (so glad we didn’t try to get them in Addis where the Egyptian consulate said it would take up to 3 weeks!) and walked through customs to get our bags. Once our bags were on a luggage cart it was a matter of going out the front door. Would Mr. Mohamed be waiting for us? Would it all start out well? Right at the door where all the people gathered to greet friends and loved ones was a man with the sign ‘Doug Amstutz’ (he even spelled my name right). It was a relief and pleasure to meet Mohamed, who we had corresponded with over that past several months. He was young, a bit shorter, mustache, no beard. Mohamed greeted us warmly and welcomed us to Egypt, he beckoned the driver (Ashraf) to bring the vehicle up and we piled the luggage and ourselves in the Hyundai minivan (Key of Life transport company). The airport is on the far eastern edge of Cairo and we were heading to the far western edge of Cairo, in Giza, next to the Pyramids. But going through the city at 4:30 in the morning is quite easy to do. Yes there were people and cars out (reminding me of what I once knew, that Cairo never sleeps) but we flew through the streets past landmarks that Mohamed would point out that I recognized. It must have been a blur to the girls and Wanda, but it felt familiar to me.

We arrived at the Grand Pyramids hotel in the dark and Mohamed helpfully worked out the details at the reception counter. I could have done that but I was in a zombie like mode, tired yet my brain was still on. They put us in non-adjoining rooms which was not part of the agreement. We agreed to go because of the state we were in but Mohamed was not finished advocating for us. And that was an advantage of having a tour guide and host while in Egypt. Soon the management said that even though adjoining rooms weren’t available at the moment they would be in 24 hours. They would bump us up to the next level, for the same price, if we would be patient. We said that that would be okay. So we spent the first night in the non-adjoining rooms. Our girls said they preferred it that way and complained about our move but we were not deterred. Wanda and I knew that if we were to stay here for 6 nights we wanted our girls next door.

Everyone was tired but the girls were more wired to go swimming in the warm morning sun and beautiful pool. First we rested, closed our eyes and tried to stop the dizzying feeling in our heads. I chose 8 a.m. as a time to rouse everyone (2 hours nap) for breakfast. The cost included a breakfast so we might as well take advantage of it. The girls didn’t mind because we also agreed to go swimming after breakfast.

The breakfast spread was impressive but it was more designed for Europeans and Egyptians. Yes there was a small cereal bar with milk with three different kinds of cereals. But the deli meat and cheese bar, the salad bar and the sweet breads bar were much more substantial. They also had a wonderful Egyptian breakfast bar, fuul and Egyptian pita bread along with sweets like baklava. Egyptians love sweets dripping with honey and nuts between layers of phylo pastry. They also like pastry with honey dropped in hot oil, honey balls and the like. I had to be careful not to eat those to excess. There was a nice juice bar, either orange or pineapple and karkaday (hibiscus) juice. There was a chef who made a fresh omelet for the diners and there were eggs, scrambled or hard boiled as well as some egg casseroles. In the end there was enough to appeal to North Americans and Asians (a lot of Japanese and some Chinese) as well as the Europeans and Arabs.

And then came the pool. All the restraint the girls had to deal with (wait until we take a morning nap, wait until we eat breakfast) was gone, the rush for the pool was on. And even in the morning, at 9 a.m., the water was pleasant and warm. Of course on this day, June 21, the temperature would soar into the 40’s (90-100’s F) making it a perfect day to be in the water. If we had gone out touring that day, I think my family of females would have wilted early. As it was, everyone was quite happy by the pool. I wanted sleep and so did Wanda but we couldn’t leave the girls unattended at the pool.

After a morning of the girls swimming, we ate a late lunch at the Italian restaurant in the Grand Pyramids compound. The afternoon was more of the same, napping and swimming. We were trying to prepare ourselves for a night out on the town. Mohamed had arranged a Nile Dinner cruise and we were looking forward to it.

In the heat of the late afternoon/ early evening we headed out for the boat on the Nile, not knowing what to expect. I had never done this when I was an MCC’er in Egypt but I acquiesced to Mohamed’s suggestion. We were in for a surprise, a couple of surprises actually. The first surprise was that we were the only family on the boat! The boat was full of adult Japanese tourists and a smattering of Egyptian and western tourists. The buffet was good and our girls were given priority (although they didn’t eat very much) but it was the entertainment that caught us off guard. The biggest surprise was the belly dancer. With a band accompanying her, she came out and shook her booty. She also had a ‘full figure’ which, unbeknownst to me, was fake (see photo). At any rate, there was wide eyed wonder all around our table (including me) when she first came out. Ah well, se la vie. I was interested in hearing what my girls’ comments would be, would they be scandalized? They were, to some extent (they were watching Wanda and I closely) and commented on her skimpy dress and outrageous figure and the whole loud music thing as well. I wonder how the conversation would have been with 3 boys . . .

Next came the whirling dervish, a young man who started twirling in his colorful uniform (see photo). The most amazing thing is that he didn’t stop whirling for the 20 minutes he was on stage. When he stopped he didn’t show any signs at all of being dizzy. It was an astounding display of physical gyroscopic ability, his balance was unbelievable.

The boat traveled up and down the Nile between bridges for 3 hours. After the 2 performances we went up to the top deck. It was a warm, sultry night on the Nile. The warm winds welcoming us, inviting us to stay for the next 2 weeks. As tired as I was, I felt at peace. We were in Egypt, safe and sound, hopefully for the next 2 weeks.

Bring May Showers

It may seem odd to entitle this blog entry ‘Bring May Showers’. After all, the old saying is ‘April showers bring May flowers’. In Ethiopia there are generally few, if any, rain showers in April or May. The rainy season is to start in June and finish in September with occasional rains in February and March. But not this year. The rains never quite went away over the past 6 months. In April they became regular and harder. My last blog entry was in hopes of May turning into what we experienced over the previous 2 years; sunny days and warmer nights.


Instead the month of May has brought more showers. Now I shouldn’t complain because it has kept the temperature in the cool 70’s/ 20’s. We have seen more green than any year previous, both in the city and out in the country when we travel and that is good for the land. Also good has been the steady supply of water and of electricity. We have used our generator much less this year and have not had the water problems we did last year. Thanks be to God.



So our back yard is looking rather nice compared to other years. Green grass and flowers, all without the aid of special watering. The photos give you an idea of the flowers in the backyard. The sunflowers we imported, brought the seeds in and planted them. The flower bush is indigenous, feel free to let me know what kind of flower that is!


The last photo is one of our new ‘tukul’. Tukuls are Ethiopian housing in the countryside. The straw roofs are the same throughout the country but the walls are different from region to region. As foreigners some of us have adapted the style to make it into a gazebo of sorts. The idea of a tukul/ gazebo was a long time in coming. We wanted to start last summer. The artisan came in the fall, the materials were ordered over the winter and the tukul was finally built in February. Nothing comes easy here. We did wait a long time for the grass, which came from Meta Robi thanks to friends from our partner RDA. But as you can see, we have put it to good use, especially when we host the Mennogroup gathering.

May has given way to June. Right now there has been a break from the rain. But if the weather is not too wacky, we’ll see June showers in several weeks . . .

When April Showers

Remember the children’s ditty, rain, rain go away, come again some other day . . .? I must admit to saying that through the month of April. Yes, in North America and merry old England, April showers are expected and welcomed. But here in Ethiopia rain in April is unexpected. Not entirely unwelcome, mind you. The rains that come now keep the reservoirs full. That means two very important things; city water keeps flowing (coming in our compound every other day instead of once or twice a week) and the electricity should be more stable. Not that it has been. If all the hydro-electric dams would be up and running we wouldn’t even think about our electricity. But one is disabled (maybe more than one, but the government won’t tell us) and another is supposed to come on line by the end of the week (no one is holding their breath).

Rain turns Addis into a sea of mud. A heavy rain storm creates traffic jams that live in my nightmares. So I don’t like the rain in some ways. But when I think of the farmers across the country who are seeing rain, even in the off season, I am happy for them. MCC is happy for them. Rain means that crops have a chance. If crops have a chance then people have a chance. If people have a chance then we don’t have to provide emergency aid. The wheat, the maize, the sorghum, the barley, it all has a better shot at making it to maturity.

But how does our garden grow! Our compound guards have long stopped watering our gardens at night thanks to the almost daily rainfall. The backyard is green and lush, flowers bloom in spasms of reds, whites, yellows and blues. The thick growth of the grass reminds me of the fast, thick growth of youthful hair. Remember having to cut your hair so often and how your mother always commented on fast and thick your hair grew? (As opposed to now, for me anyways. Not fast, not thick and frankly thin on top. Come to think of it, sorta like our back yard last year without rain for 4 months).

April was also the month we spent a weekend camping down at Lake Langano. Now Wanda & I are not natural born campers. So when we can go with other families, we can handle camping. Camping is work. Between setting up and taking down tents, all the meals that need to be planned and executed, camping is a lot of work. Yet our girls love the lake. To go swimming, to have the beach to yourselves, that part is very relaxing. The church we go to, International Lutheran Church (ILC), has had a Pre-teen campout for several years now. Previously one family organized everyone but they are gone now. Was anyone going to organize this? Finally, yes, a German family did and in the end several couples plus about a dozen children went down. There was swimming, playing games and devotional times. I think memories from the weekend will last a lifetime.

So now we are at the end of the month. Once again it is raining, lightly today. But it’s ok, the lights are burning bright right now.

Remember the Poorest

Walking into the Remember the Poorest kindergarten is like walking into a beehive. Once you step out of your vehicle you are swarmed by 3-to-5-year-olds wanting to greet you, to touch you, to shake your hand, to touch your skin. The kindergarten is an MCC-sponsored school for some of the poorest children in Nazareth, a city an hour and a half southeast of Addis.

When my sister and my mom visited us from Canada we visited the kindergarten together. My sister is an early childhood educator in Ontario and I thought she would be interested to visit her counterparts in Ethiopia. The children were very excited to have us visit and they spent much of their recess singing songs and chanting for us. They seemed especially taken with my white-haired mother and once she gave one child a hug there were at least 50 others stepping up in line.

Remember the Poorest is a school for some of the most disadvantaged children in the city. Many of them are orphans and living with neighbours or relatives. They may attend the kindergarten for free and are supplied their school uniform and school supplies. At the school the children are given a loving environment to begin their early years of learning. As we visited each section the class presented us with a song or rhyme in English. They were very proud to display the English they knew.

The school is typical of Ethiopia — a lot of concrete and wooden benches and tables. There are few teaching aids so my sister brought with her a number of alphabet sets and other posters for the teachers to use in their teaching. The setting is very different from what we are accustomed to, as the concept of “learning through play” is not used or understood in the vast majority of kindergartens in Ethiopia. The students sit in their rows, often four to a bench, and learn by writing and memorizing. I continue to wish we could find more ways to influence the style of education here but the system is highly regulated by the government.

We’re happy that MCC can play a small part in helping the poorest children of this city. Through the Global Family sponsorship program MCC is supporting the school’s entire budget. The children, even though they are poor, can get a good start to their education that can influence their ability to succeed in the future. Many of them would be playing in the streets if it were not for this kindergarten program. Instead, their faces are bright and their goals for the future are high. If nothing else, the kindergarten offers a window into what life can be and offers hope for a better tomorrow.

I won’t soon forget the picture in my mind of my sister and mom in the middle of a sea of kindergartners. The children were lifting our spirits with their smiles and their gestures of friendship even as our presence offered them a bright spot in their day.

May God bless each one.

Christmas Weekend

Christmas week played itself out as usual. There were gifts to be wrapped, errands to be run and things to be done. Fortunately the MCC office work was slower than normal and we could focus on some of the holiday stuff.

The girls were out of school and very excited about Christmas. Abby was in her little girl mood and she, more than Amani or Sophia, spoke up often, saying she couldn’t wait until Christmas Day. Wanda spent Monday and Tuesday out with our driver Assefa most of the working day doing errands. There was a long grocery list but there were also some gifts to be bought yet. The girls took turns going with Wanda out to shop which I think they all enjoyed.

During the Advent season when we had a supper together as a family we would light advent candles and read the GC devotional and praying before eating. In this season we also watched all our ‘Christmas’ movies one by one on the weekend evenings. DVD’s such as Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Grinch (with Jim Carrey), It’s a Wonderful Life, The Christmas Story, Home Alone, etc. The final week before Christmas I began reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to the family and on Christmas Eve we watched the DVD starring Patrick Stewart.

Thursday night, Christmas Eve, finally arrived and we went to our church, International Lutheran Church (ILC). I had volunteered to put the service together and lead worship but many people volunteered to sing Christmas songs and carols from their home lands. It was a wonderful milieu of nations with carols in Dutch, Namibian, French, Canadian, German, American, Swahili, Congo, Ethiopian, Swedish, etc. Such diversity made it a very special night. The four purple advent candles were already lit when we lit the Christ candle in the center and later used it to start lighting candles in the congregation during Silent Night. We only expected about 50 people but we must have had closer to 70. A night to remember. Coming home I lit our huge 3 wick white pillar candle and set it on the kitchen table, a solitary light that would remain on for 36 hours. We also lit a fire in the fireplace before starting to watch A Christmas Carol. Wanda prepared hot chocolate for us. Lydette Assefa, our SALT’er who lives next door and who had joined us going to ILC stayed to watch the DVD.

Outside on the streets there was no hint that Christmas was to be celebrated, after all the Christians in this country celebrate January 7 as Christmas. So it was in our little enclaves, inside the churches and houses where the spirit of Christmas was made alive. When we finally went to bed on Christmas night it was after 10 p.m., late for our girls. Sophia and I couldn’t quite make it through the whole movie of A Christmas Carol, so there are some gaps in our memories of the movie. I resolved to sleep in late (that would be 7 a.m.) if I could.

But alas I woke up at 5:30 with a headache and even though I took something I couldn’t get back to sleep so I got up and started getting ready for the day. Last night’s dishes needed to be washed, the animals fed, the curtains opened and breakfast started. The girls were sitting on their pillows in front of the Christmas tree at 6 a.m. in the dark, watching the twinkling lights on it. They simply sat quietly together and I went back into the kitchen within a half an hour 3 voices were raised in song, singing Christmas carols together. I usually listen to the BBC or VOA when in the kitchen in the morning but I turned the radio off for this sweet sound. It reminded me that my daughters are growing in spirit and maturity, not harping on when to start the gift opening but patiently, quietly waiting. In fact when we were finally all in the room and ready to open presents it was our girls who asked if we could read from Luke 2, if we could sing a Christmas Carol, God bless them . . .

But that didn’t deter from the opening of gifts. We all took turns and watched each other open gifts. They were so excited about the various gifts. Three boxes came by post from the Amstutz side and one from our dear friends Jason & Mary Trego in addition to the gifts we gave each other. Soon the floor was littered with paper. I had started a fire in the morning once again and now we had paper to stoke that fire. We didn’t need the fire, it wasn’t particularly cold, but it added an ambience to our little Christmas celebration.

Late morning the MCC young women service workers joined us; Megan, Krista, Lydette and later Tamara. We enjoyed Wanda’s cinnamon rolls with maple icing on top. They were truly delectable, probably her best batch since coming here (baking at 7,600 feet can be a bit tricky). Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee and cinnamon rolls, yum. I made some bacon, an egg and cheese soufflé and pancakes but the meal all were looking forward to was the early afternoon dinner. Wanda had been working on two chickens over 2 days, roasting one each day. She boiled and mashed the potatoes and baked the squash we found at the local market. I made a green bean casserole. It all turned out quite good and all ate to their hearts’ content. We were mindful of the fact that we see extreme poverty and hunger every day in our work, sobering us somewhat in our prayers and celebration. Still, it was good to ‘take a break’ from our lives and work for 24 hours.

It was evening and our MCC’ers had gone home (except Lydette, being local and not having to take a cab across town in the dark) when we watched one of the new DVD’s the girls got for Christmas, Tuck Everlasting. The twins had read the book in school and really looked forward to seeing the movie. Naturally the movie was different in some key areas from the book, so Amani and Abby said, but it was entertaining and even thought provoking nonetheless. Lydette had taken a call from the states during that time and it was a good connection, apparently. Wanda had tried to call her parents, Skype to land line but it was not a success. The line broke up often, the voices were electronic and the delay was very confusing. After the movie, as we were getting ready for bed, a Skype call popped up. It was my brother Lon. I wasn’t very optimistic given the recent track record but for some reason it our Skype computer-to-computer call was crystal clear, no echo, no delay. Amazing! So those of you who have Skype and a DSL connection, we can talk (although I would say some times are better than others).

Today, the 26th, has been a very laid back day. A real day of rest for Wanda and I. Just what we need. I hope you will all get the rest you need after a busy holiday season.

Greetings from Ethiopia!

There is no snow, no decorated malls, no Christmas lights blinking in the night and yet, somehow, as December approaches we still feel the stirrings in our hearts that bring us to the excitement and joy of the season. I was comforted by that this year. Perhaps there is more to Christmas than tinsel, packages and bows as the Grinch discovers by the end of “The Grinch who Stole Christmas.”

In our small corner of Ethiopia the small, artificial “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree is up, the angel brought from home is on the top, our “Grandma Anna” stockings are hung by the fireplace, the carols play from ITunes and even some Christmas cookies will be baked and frosted. The International Lutheran Church (ILC) we attend has the advent wreath and Advent services. Yes, Christmas is coming!

This past year was a good year for our family. Our work with MCC has had its ups and downs but it is always rewarding when we can visit where the real action is and meet the people that are being helped through our partners. Most of our days are spent in the office working on administration “stuff” so it’s always a highlight for us to visit the projects we support. We also have 7 service workers and will add another in January. Working at building a team and providing support for our volunteers is a part of the job that we enjoy. We also spend a lot of time hosting guests from North America, both MCC and other, who arrive for various reasons.

The girls spend their time at school and playing with their animals. We’ve had two litters of kittens and puppies over the past year. It’s been fun for all of us to watch over them as they grow. We’ve got a very cute batch of puppies right now that will soon go to their new homes.

Abigail and Amani entered middle school this year when they began grade 6. They’ve been enjoying the new schedule with a different teacher for each subject and the social events that are planned. They have grown and matured and are becoming beautiful young women on the inside and out.
Amani was baptized this summer in a family service at the lake. We were proud of her decision and it is just one indicator of growing maturity.

Sophia began grade 5 this year and has a teacher she loves. They share the same sense of humour which helps make school more “fun” for Sophia. Sophia still enjoys playing school in her room, enjoys her dolls and her dog, Peanut. They all also enjoy playing on their Nintendos and watching videos. We still try to have a Friday family night where we eat pizza and watch a movie together.

This summer we had some much needed rest and relaxation during our home leave. We spent two months traveling between the United States and Canada visiting family and friends. We really appreciated everyone’s hospitality as we roamed “homeless” for the summer.

We are now more than half way through our term. Ethiopia has become home in many ways and we have a very good community that has grown up around us. When we arrived the local “Mennogroup” gathering of Mennonite and Mennonite related people was about 12 people including our family of five. A couple of weeks ago we celebrated American Thanksgiving together and we had a group of about 45. We feel blessed to be here during a time when there are several families serving with the U.S. Embassy that we know as well as others from various NGO’s that happen to be Mennonites who are here at the same time we are. Of course we have “non-Mennonite” friends as well. We feel especially blessed by many connections we have made here.

Living in this land has helped us all not to take things for granted— basics like electricity and water. I have heard the girls say at various times “we didn’t know how good we had it.” I think that’s true for all of us. Even as we strive to make life even a little bit better for those around us, we recognize that even here, we live “the good life.”

May you all have a blessed Christmas Season and a challenging and rewarding New Year.

Love,
Wanda, Doug
Amani, Abigail and Sophia

Visit to a Partner

November is a good time of year to visit Debre Markos in the Amhara region, north of Addis Ababa. Warm sunny days traveling on a 2 lane ribbon of relatively good highway through farmland and into the Grand Canyonesque Blue Nile River Gorge. The road winds down for several kilometers with many switchbacks before coming to the bottom of the gorge. Our Toyota Land Cruiser shows the outside temperature in the cabin and I noted the temp at the top was 18° C and by the time we got to the bottom of the gorge it was 28° C. A huge new span bridge awaited us. Constructed by the Japanese government for Ethiopia, it replaced an old Italian-made bridge that was obviously making its last stand. The last time we traveled this way only one vehicle could cross at a time.

Four of us traveled to Debre Markos; Mekonnen Dessalegne, our program manager, Solomon Teferi, our assistant program manager, Krista Allen, an MCC’er and myself. Our objective was to visit our partner Migibare Senaye Children and Family Support Organization (MSCFSO) in Debre Markos. Over a year ago we visited this place to look at a watershed that had been devastated by erosion. This organization was asking for assistance to restore the watershed and stop the erosion. We agreed to provide funding. Now, over a year later we were back in Debre Markos to see the progress made.

After arriving at midday, we checked into the local hotel. It is basically the one and only hotel of decent quality in DM, where one sees other ‘ferenjis’ (foreigners), like us. There is a restaurant inside where we had lunch. After lunch, we went out to visit the field, which was north of town.

There were 4 parts to our Tuesday afternoon visit:
Enerata School compound – we visited the compound where school director, Mr. Aznaka, greeted us. We saw two types of trees planted for income generation. One type is an indigenous tree, Kosso in Amharic, that is good for the environment, although slow growing. The other is eucalyptus trees. The school has 6 hectares that they have planted 2 different seasons of eucalyptus trees. The school uses this land to raise funding for such necessary things as books, supplies and any upkeep of the grounds. Previously they grew crops on the land but saw the tree nursery as a larger fundraiser. This will help the community. The farmers have previously been asked to contribute monies for the school operation but with the tree nursery, the community expects to be freed from this obligation. Of course they need to wait 5 seasons before the trees are ready but they expect a large payout. The tree seedlings looked closely planted together in one nursery and I asked about the standard. There was some discussion in Amharic but finally someone acknowledged that the close planting may have been because children were used as volunteers to plant. Even though the instructions were to plant the seedlings 50 cm apart many are less than 25 cm apart (even 50 cm seemed to close together to me). I also asked about if there was any discussion regarding the environmental impact of eucalyptus trees on the soil and in general. It seems that economic trumped environmental concerns. We also visited a small nursery of 6 apple tree seedlings where the school is hoping to harvest apples in a couple of years and to model the mini orchard for the farmers in the area. The saplings were leafless but they assured me that the budding would be happening in the next month.

Dejel watershed-Melit micro-catchment – This was the main reason we came, to view the catchment. There was certainly a change from the last time we visited. This time the land was mostly used to grow crops; wheat, an oats variety, a type of pea plant called Gibto in Amharic, flax, teff. There are now soil bunds, check dams and planting of grasses to hold the soil in the badly eroded areas. The result of the work is that the soil has stabilized and farmers have been been able to grow their crops. One farmer, where the erosion was the worst, agreed not to farm there but to fence it off and let it lay fallow. Significant siltation has occurred as a result. He was paid to build check dams and plant grasses to prevent further erosion. Other farmers we met as we walked through the catchment were equally enthusiastic about the changes. It was a good time to visit, when the grain was still in the field and obviously successful. We were told that the local officials were so impressed with this project that they have used it as a model for other eroded areas in the region.

Tree nursery – We walked from our vehicle to the tree nursery on the far end of the catchment, about 3 kilometers. The nursery was about 1.6 hectares in size and located near the local stream that runs out of the catchment. The workers can use the stream to water the seedlings. The nursery was successful last year, not only supplying the farmers and the project objectives but also the local officials as they asked for tree seedlings. Because MSCFSO lacks a truck to transport seedlings from the nursery, the local officials and the project managers reached an agreement; the officials agreed to provide trucks and the project managers agreed to provide them seedlings. This ended up working well.

Farming God’s Way demonstration plots – At the end of the day we went across the road to a small housing settlement where two compounds were. Both of the compounds had a fenced off area that were small plots where the owners were ‘Farming God’s Way’ (FGW). FGW is an agricultural approach developed by a South African Christian that is environmentally friendly and uses Biblical Scriptures to justify his farming techniques. It has been successful in other parts of Africa where it was introduced. Canadian Foodgrains Bank sponsored a workshop in Addis in September for all their partners (of which MCC shares several partners with CFGB).

The garden was covered in a straw blanket and the openings were evenly spaced where the corn was planted. Growing in each opening were 2-4 shoots of corn. The plot was constructed just as was taught in the workshop. Those who initiated the idea were very excited and proud of what the plots looked like. The farmers will be watching this. If it is successful there may be a whole lot of FGW patches all over East Gojam region.

We arrived back at the hotel around dusk and, after freshening up a bit, had supper together in the restaurant. The menu was a combination of Habesha (Ethiopian) cuisine and Ferenji (Western) cuisine. The food was nothing to write home about but it sufficed. Spaghetti and sauce, deep fried flat pieces of fish or chicken, the injera and wat were, naturally, the best of the lot. We were joined for supper by several Meserete Kristos Church gentlemen who had been conducting a workshop that day on conflict resolution for regional government officials. They excitedly told us how the officials embraced their training and how they planned to train subordinates in their locales when they went back home. We were energized just by hearing this. After supper there wasn’t much to do but go up to our rooms to bed. Fortunately the bed sheets were clean, with running water, electricity and a TV that worked. That’s all one really needs, right? Unfortunately the hotel is right next to a truck stop with semis starting up through the night and men shouting at all hours. But for one night it was tolerable.

On Wednesday morning, after breakfast, we visited the following offices:
Local Zonal office – Our MCC team plus Mr. Yehennu and Mr. Miheratu had a short meeting with the official who is the zonal administrator, in charge of the whole zonal area of East Gojam. After a slow beginning the official had warm words for MSCFSO and, by extension, MCC. The watershed project was well received by the local community and the officials well noted its success. He talked about cooperation between the two with the use of vehicles and offering of tree seedlings for government projects. He encouraged MCC to consider funding an even bigger project to the north which would help an area where 4 Woredas come together, a main area of tributaries to the Blue Nile basin. It was an honor for us to be offered this project but by the sound of it, it would be a huge undertaking, a grander scale than we have ever done. It sounded more like a project for the UN or USAID. So we smiled and thanked the official for his kind words and departed.

MSCFSO office – Finally we met together at our partner’s office to have a short time of discussion. We wanted to extend our compliments to the group for their hard work, Mekonnen exhorted the leaders to submit timely reporting but noted that they do a good job overall of that. Yehennu asked to be heard on two subjects; one is timely funding. They feel like the funding part lags behind the reporting that they give. The other is the problem of transportation. MSCFSO purchased a motorcycle as part of the project plan and this has been helpful but there is a serious problem in transporting materials, particularly seedlings from the nursery to various locations. On top of that is the rainy season. A motorcycle can go through the mud but the rider ends up quite muddy. It would make sense to have a truck for the rainy season and to transport materials. Both concerns were duly noted and recorded. We will look into them.

We headed out around 11 a.m. for Addis Ababa. Our thought was that we would stop somewhere along the way to eat since it would be a 4-5 hour drive. But as we drove back for some reason the Landcruiser never stopped along the way, it just kept going . . . and we arrived in Addis around 3:30 p.m. All were happy we arrived, especially Solomon who was feeling ill the previous 24 hours. I was exhausted and I couldn’t figure out why. Yes, I had driven the whole way but that couldn’t be the reason. I soon found out. I became violently ill and was laid out for the next 48 hours. Solomon and Mekonnen fell ill too at the same time. Must have been something we ate, we figured. I remained very grateful that I felt fine while we were there and on the way home. No one likes to be sick far from home.