It is hard to believe that it has been two months (to the day) since Andy and I left San Francisco. So much has happened (much of which we couldn’t blog about). We’ll send out a version with the more juicy details via email when we get home.
So, we are now back in Addis Ababa resting after a very rewarding trip to Gambella. I think we last left you wondering about how the workshop was going. Let me just say, “It went great!”
The students really took to Premiere and finally understood what they were actually doing once they started working in the software. We had waited so long for the computers to arrive that we were afraid the students might start losing interest. But, when life is about taking things slowly and enjoying every moment, people tend to worry less and just accept their situation. I know I have slowed WAY down on this trip and am happy to report that my stress-induced eczema, my furrowed brow, and my constant need to be moving have abated to the point of near non-existence.
Continuing…Akway came in the next morning and I filmed her dragging herself across the ground to her chair in the classroom. She smiled the entire time. When I showed her the footage back, she was laughing hysterically. Honestly, she couldn’t stop. She had never seen what she looked like as she attempted to maneuver about. Her reaction was confusing, but SOOO Akway! When she finished her film, I helped her with the sub-title translations. As we went on and on, I started to get goose-bumps. Just WAIT until you see her movie. I’ve asked Ben to post it at the top of this blog entry. Hope you can see it!
Now I have to digress for just a second (speaking of Ben). Yesterday, we had a big ole ceremony in Gambella with the President of Gambella Region and several others. It was quite something. He is a very powerful man. He said some amazing things (like the fact that he thinks all NGOs in the area should follow the Pearson Foundation’s lead if they really want to help the region…wow). One gentleman asked the students to stand and clap for all of the people they couldn’t see, but who have been tirelessly helping Andy and Erik to bring this wonderful program to them. I loved that. So, they gave a big shout out to Wendy who has been there for Andy and me at every turn. She has responded immediately to all of our needs and we love you! The kids in Gambella love you, too.
Mark, the kids would not have been able to learn as much as they did if were not for your tireless efforts to keep me and Andy awash in funds when the system worked against us. Thanks.
Finally, we could not have been as technically successful had we not had Ben. Ben is Andy’s brother. He works for us at the Foundation. He is a wonderful human being, and also about as technically savvy as one can get. He has saved our butts a thousand times on this trip. Ben, I hope you know that I feel like you were actually with us on this trip the entire time. Words simply can’t express how much we love you. Also, the kids in Gambella asked about you, and Andy was quick to tell them what you’ve been up to.
Back to our departure. We had a lovely afternoon sitting at Opara’s house chewing chat and talking about politics, hut-building, stupid-white-men, etc. We sat under the eave of the house on the ground and chewed, ate peanuts, got merkana (slightly buzzed), and drank Coka. Our friend and student Ojud was there with us. Andy and I gave him a ton of clothing and all of our medical supplies. I gave him my fingernail clippers and then we started on a riff about a new business in Gambella called, “Ojud Cut”…he will cut five fingernails (in his hut) for 500 Birr ($50…an exorbitant and ludicrous idea) or ten fingers for a 1,000. For 2,000 Birr you also get a chicken from the hen-hut not four feet from his bed. We laughed and laughed. Every so often I would look at him and say, “Ojud Cut!” He would reply, “5 for 500, 10 for 1,000. Chicken for 2,000”. Andy and I are going to really miss Ojud. We gave him enough money to pay for three more semesters of school. He so loves his education.
We finished with the kids on Thursday morning, then the President of the region Omud Obang came in and gave a wonderful speech. I spoke, Andy spoke, (a few other spoke), and then the President handed out the certificates to the kids. I can’t tell you how important this was for them. It would be like having a major U.S. Senator show up in the most rural town in America. The kids were thrilled. Also, these certificates that I designed in Microsoft Word are like gold to the kids. They will use them to try and get into schools and get jobs.
We said goodbye, handed out the stipends for their lunch, then packed up the computers to send to Openo TVET. This is the technical vocational training college that is setting up a Pearson Foundation media lab. They have 1,000 students who will now have access to computers…many for the first time. Our students from the past two weeks will be the mentors who will now train others. Talk about legacy and building capacity!
Yesterday afternoon we had our last chat chewing party at Opara’s. It was wonderful. I’m really going to miss that yard with the chickens, the playing children, the maize drying on the ground, and the most intelligent conversation with the most calm and wise men I’ve ever met.
I took my friend Muluken back to town to help him get an injection for malaria and then to visit his Grandmother, Welkenis Bedi. She is about 100 years old. She loves seeing me when I show up in her compound. She praises Allah (she is Muslim, Muluken is Christian) and hugs me hard! She can barely get up off of her chair, but makes a point to greet me, her favorite ferrengie (white dude). We told her that my name is Ojullu (second born) Agwa (father died when I was young) Jur Mar Qwar (spelling wrong, but means white man with red tinge). She loved it. I took her some mango juice and some chocolate cookies and she acted like I’d given her a million bucks. I told her that Muluken’s movie was very good and very moving. It really is. He talked about how hard it is to stay in school when you have to work carrying sacks for $2/day. He used the Flip camera to videotape himself carrying the most massive bag of onions. His movie really is good, and very moving. He passionately pleads for people to come help kids in Gambella continue their education. Ojud’s movie is also really good. We will post all of them on the Pearson Foundation site so that you can watch them. Anyway, Welkenis Bedi told me that Muluken had already begun building his shop in her yard, right on the street. She thanked me and Andy for the $60 we gave him to start up. I was so happy to see that it was already under way!
About four men then showed up, all with the Yellow Eye disease. Welkenis is known for her herbal remedies and people come from 300 miles to be treated. As I sat on the dirt with Muluken, he explained what Welkenis was doing. First, the patient brings a branch and 5 Birr (fifty cents) to Welkenis. She blesses him with the branch, then goes into her hut. I followed. She had some clay pots with the FOULEST smelling broth. Apparently, she has a friend take her by donkey cart into the woods where she digs up the root from a specific tree. She brews it then adds God knows what else. She pours a small amount out, then does a detailed and lengthy ceremony with the patient, all the while lightly spitting on the man. Finally, she gives instructions, and the man goes away. He is to drink the mixture, then lie down for five hours. In five hours he will throw up violently. Then, he is to drink two cups of water and throw up again. Then, two cups of coffee, and throw up. Finally, he is to wash his body, eat food, and lie down. When he wakes up, he will be fine. I asked around, and I heard that it actually works. The local clinic sends people with many maladies to Welkenis. I felt honored to be sitting with her. I said goodbye and she begged me to promise to come back.
Andy and I went to bed early last night and got up to sit for four hours waiting for a ride to the airstrip. We said some very sad goodbyes to our great friends, and now we sit in Addis reflecting on a life-changing trip. From the orphans in Botswana, to the girls in Joburg, to the chimpanzees in Gombe, to the trafficked children in Ghana, to our amazing students in Gambella, we have been blessed to have met them all. As glib as it sounds, Andy and I have gotten so much more from this trip than we could have ever given. As I sit here writing that sentence, I am starting to tear up (oh, now I’m starting to cry) just thinking about how much they’ve given us and how much I’m going to miss them. I think I’ll sign off and go sit quietly and just let the tears come…they are joyful, mind you, with just a hint of sadness. We’re going to miss Africa.
Erik
Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Gambella Computer Training
Andy and I have never seen faces light up as brightly as those of our Gambella students when they walked in the room and saw the laptops sitting on their desks ready to be used. We had a fair amount of mouse-training to accomplish first, but they quickly understood and were practicing in Premiere in no time. Everyone at the hotel (and many people from town) came in to see the miracle of 30 students from Gambella working on laptops that will be available to them for many years to come. So cool.
We’ve given the students cameras to take home so that they can include personal images to illustrate their stories. We finally had to explain that music videos of their friends singing hip-hop songs do not fit into this category. We’re hoping they come back this morning with more relevant offerings.
So, the students are training, Andy and I are exhausted, and the sun is unrelenting. I love the heat, but the ½ walk to town (I make it a few times a day) on the dusty streets makes for an interesting and kind of disgusting shower the next morning. All manner of bugs, dirt, and who knows what else falls off of my body. Hard to believe I sleep with this detritus on me. But, I have it easy compared to my new friends like Muluken.
He was asleep one night and forgot to wash a piece of meat juice off of his right hand. He woke up in his hut to find a rat attached to his hand. He has a nasty scar. I am so glad I was an avid boy scout because living here is a lot like camping. You smell like smoke from the campfire, you are constantly dirty and hot, and you have to find natural remedies to all kinds of daily problems from laundry to hanging a sheet with twine to use as a screen for teaching movie making.
I think my favorite new friend is Ojud. He is the hardest worker you’ll ever meet. He is about 6’3”, 20 years old, and still trying to finish school. He has really taken to the computer and Premiere. He wants to be a teacher. He lives simply in the round hut he made for himself last year, and does everything for himself, from washing his clothes (and his body) in the river to finding ways to make a few Birr here and there. Andy and I spend a lot of time with him and will leave him most of our clothes and extra Birr when we leave.
Finally, we come to Akway. She is the young woman who is paralyzed. It is quite something to see her drag herself across the concrete and stones. At first, you think, “How can she do that (she doesn’t wear shoes) without ripping a layer of skin off?” She then saunters up to you with a big smile and shakes your hand vigorously. She has the best outlook on life. Yesterday, I was sitting with her and her movie partner Cham. Cham works at Pact. We were discussing the images they could use to illustrate the points they are making in their films. All of the films follow the same story-arch. Basically, the problems you had trying to get an education (my mother died in the fighting time, my father made me fish instead of go to school, etc.), how you overcame this barrier, and your hopes for the future. Akway was wondering how she could show here disability without people pitying her. So, I suggested we film her dragging herself across the ground, up the stairs, and through the door to the computer lab. People will be thinking, “Oh, how sad…look at that poor girl.” Then, we’ll show her pulling herself up into the chair and then pan to her using the computer to make her movie. “YES!” screamed Akway. “This is perfect! I am a strong woman who uses computers now so don’t think you know everything from just watching me try to get from here to there!” I was so happy I could have cried. She left the building in high-spirits ready to tackle another night and then get up to make her important movie. Doesn’t get better than this.
More (when we can),
E
We’ve given the students cameras to take home so that they can include personal images to illustrate their stories. We finally had to explain that music videos of their friends singing hip-hop songs do not fit into this category. We’re hoping they come back this morning with more relevant offerings.
So, the students are training, Andy and I are exhausted, and the sun is unrelenting. I love the heat, but the ½ walk to town (I make it a few times a day) on the dusty streets makes for an interesting and kind of disgusting shower the next morning. All manner of bugs, dirt, and who knows what else falls off of my body. Hard to believe I sleep with this detritus on me. But, I have it easy compared to my new friends like Muluken.
He was asleep one night and forgot to wash a piece of meat juice off of his right hand. He woke up in his hut to find a rat attached to his hand. He has a nasty scar. I am so glad I was an avid boy scout because living here is a lot like camping. You smell like smoke from the campfire, you are constantly dirty and hot, and you have to find natural remedies to all kinds of daily problems from laundry to hanging a sheet with twine to use as a screen for teaching movie making.
I think my favorite new friend is Ojud. He is the hardest worker you’ll ever meet. He is about 6’3”, 20 years old, and still trying to finish school. He has really taken to the computer and Premiere. He wants to be a teacher. He lives simply in the round hut he made for himself last year, and does everything for himself, from washing his clothes (and his body) in the river to finding ways to make a few Birr here and there. Andy and I spend a lot of time with him and will leave him most of our clothes and extra Birr when we leave.
Finally, we come to Akway. She is the young woman who is paralyzed. It is quite something to see her drag herself across the concrete and stones. At first, you think, “How can she do that (she doesn’t wear shoes) without ripping a layer of skin off?” She then saunters up to you with a big smile and shakes your hand vigorously. She has the best outlook on life. Yesterday, I was sitting with her and her movie partner Cham. Cham works at Pact. We were discussing the images they could use to illustrate the points they are making in their films. All of the films follow the same story-arch. Basically, the problems you had trying to get an education (my mother died in the fighting time, my father made me fish instead of go to school, etc.), how you overcame this barrier, and your hopes for the future. Akway was wondering how she could show here disability without people pitying her. So, I suggested we film her dragging herself across the ground, up the stairs, and through the door to the computer lab. People will be thinking, “Oh, how sad…look at that poor girl.” Then, we’ll show her pulling herself up into the chair and then pan to her using the computer to make her movie. “YES!” screamed Akway. “This is perfect! I am a strong woman who uses computers now so don’t think you know everything from just watching me try to get from here to there!” I was so happy I could have cried. She left the building in high-spirits ready to tackle another night and then get up to make her important movie. Doesn’t get better than this.
More (when we can),
E
Monday, November 5, 2007
Real Need
Andy and I can pretty much predict the exact moment when one of our students will quietly pull us aside to ask if we “have moment”. It usually happens about three days into a program. That is the point that the students become comfortable with us and feel compelled to take the opportunity to help an aunt, brother, or grandparent in need. Because the need is so great in Africa, we’ve become accustomed to telling them that they should write down what they need so that we can try our best to get their request into the hands of an organization or person-of-means who might be able to help.
Two days ago, Muluken pulled me aside to ask if we could help his sister. She has malaria and needs an injection. He is a bright, funny, and diligent 19-year-old student. He changed it up, however, when he said that he would do any work we needed him to do in order to get this money for his sister. He needed 100 Birr ($12) for the injection. I told him that he could come in ½ early every day to help us set up so that we could sleep in a bit. He agreed.
Yesterday, we finished the paintings the students have been working on for their films and then walked over to the Pact offices to check email (if possible) and have a Coka (one doesn’t say Coka Cola here because Cola sounds just a bit too much like the slang word for the part of a male that makes him a male). We had just heard that our computers were actually out of customs and in the hands of our contact in Addis. I know I should be more excited here, but until those computers make the 16-hour trip down the dusty and bandit-ridden road from Addis to Gambella, I’m holding my breath. They are supposed to be here Saturday so that we can clean the old files off and have them ready for the students on Monday. (Most of our students are out of school, by the way, because of hardships at home that keep them working and out of the education system.) So, Andy and I walked into a small café and ordered a Coka. I turned around to see Muluken walking by. I yelled Salam to him and he lit up. “You are in my village area! I am so happy to see you! Come meet my Grandmother!” He put his arm around me and proudly showed me off (his professor) as we walked down the dusty road. We came upon a bamboo fence that housed a long wood-and-mud structure and a small, round mud hut. There were two goats, about 25 chickens, three old women, five young women, and two babies. The kitchen was a small dugout in the ground with a pan for making injera and a few broken clay pots scattered about.
Muluken introduced me to his family and showed me around. I had a digital camera on me, so he had great fun taking pictures of everyone and showing them the results. I don’t think any of them had ever seen themselves in a picture before. His grandmother laughed and laughed. He told me she was about 110, but because people don’t often know when they were born, that was as good a guess as any. She is probably around 90 and is a true matriarch. She sits in one spot all day, smoking a gourd pipe and earning about 10 Birr a day ($1) touching people where they ache. She eats bread soaked in water and directs her offspring in everything from child rearing to boiling potatoes.
Muluken shares a small, dark hut with six other people. He has two pairs of clothing. He earns a living by carrying heavy sacks of rice and maize on and off of trucks. His brother will come running and tell him that a truck is going to Obobo. They need help. They run to the truck to fight their way through the other young men who jump onto the truck and push others off. Once they get on, they drive to another city then they make 2 Birr (25 cents) per bag. On a good day, Muluken can carry six bags to make 12 Birr. He brings the money to his grandmother who then decides how to spend the money. Some days they eat, others they buy home necessities. She uses Muluken’s money to keep about 15 people alive.
Muluken wants to go to school. He is a great runner and has tried to get a scholarship. The problem is that he doesn’t eat enough to take in the required calories for running. He is basically stuck. He is doing our program in hopes that he will learn enough computer skills to get into school on that alone. For reasons like Muluken’s dilema, we are quite anxious for the computers to arrive. We have 30 students, all with similar stories, who have come to learn how to use the software. We have five days left. We now spend every day in silent contemplation, willing the computers to get here on time.
Muluken took some amazing video footage of his family this morning. He also took some pictures…if the Internet cooperates with me today, I will post his pictures. One sequence shows his grandmother praying by her bed. He then pans to his young cousins playing in the yard, then to his sister roasting coffee beans on an open fire. Finally, his brother shows up with a huge piece of fish (I think they used some of the money Andy and I gave his grandmother yesterday) to cook for breakfast. It is a beautiful morning ritual.
The students are filming their narratives today. They all cheered when we told them the computers were on the way. I just hope that they actually get here.
Andy and I will take the weekend off to fish with our friend Agwa on the Openo (Baro) River. We’re really hoping that we spend Sunday getting the computers ready for the kids to use on Monday. I know you all will be hoping for the same.
More tomorrow.
Erik
Two days ago, Muluken pulled me aside to ask if we could help his sister. She has malaria and needs an injection. He is a bright, funny, and diligent 19-year-old student. He changed it up, however, when he said that he would do any work we needed him to do in order to get this money for his sister. He needed 100 Birr ($12) for the injection. I told him that he could come in ½ early every day to help us set up so that we could sleep in a bit. He agreed.
Yesterday, we finished the paintings the students have been working on for their films and then walked over to the Pact offices to check email (if possible) and have a Coka (one doesn’t say Coka Cola here because Cola sounds just a bit too much like the slang word for the part of a male that makes him a male). We had just heard that our computers were actually out of customs and in the hands of our contact in Addis. I know I should be more excited here, but until those computers make the 16-hour trip down the dusty and bandit-ridden road from Addis to Gambella, I’m holding my breath. They are supposed to be here Saturday so that we can clean the old files off and have them ready for the students on Monday. (Most of our students are out of school, by the way, because of hardships at home that keep them working and out of the education system.) So, Andy and I walked into a small café and ordered a Coka. I turned around to see Muluken walking by. I yelled Salam to him and he lit up. “You are in my village area! I am so happy to see you! Come meet my Grandmother!” He put his arm around me and proudly showed me off (his professor) as we walked down the dusty road. We came upon a bamboo fence that housed a long wood-and-mud structure and a small, round mud hut. There were two goats, about 25 chickens, three old women, five young women, and two babies. The kitchen was a small dugout in the ground with a pan for making injera and a few broken clay pots scattered about.
Muluken introduced me to his family and showed me around. I had a digital camera on me, so he had great fun taking pictures of everyone and showing them the results. I don’t think any of them had ever seen themselves in a picture before. His grandmother laughed and laughed. He told me she was about 110, but because people don’t often know when they were born, that was as good a guess as any. She is probably around 90 and is a true matriarch. She sits in one spot all day, smoking a gourd pipe and earning about 10 Birr a day ($1) touching people where they ache. She eats bread soaked in water and directs her offspring in everything from child rearing to boiling potatoes.
Muluken shares a small, dark hut with six other people. He has two pairs of clothing. He earns a living by carrying heavy sacks of rice and maize on and off of trucks. His brother will come running and tell him that a truck is going to Obobo. They need help. They run to the truck to fight their way through the other young men who jump onto the truck and push others off. Once they get on, they drive to another city then they make 2 Birr (25 cents) per bag. On a good day, Muluken can carry six bags to make 12 Birr. He brings the money to his grandmother who then decides how to spend the money. Some days they eat, others they buy home necessities. She uses Muluken’s money to keep about 15 people alive.
Muluken wants to go to school. He is a great runner and has tried to get a scholarship. The problem is that he doesn’t eat enough to take in the required calories for running. He is basically stuck. He is doing our program in hopes that he will learn enough computer skills to get into school on that alone. For reasons like Muluken’s dilema, we are quite anxious for the computers to arrive. We have 30 students, all with similar stories, who have come to learn how to use the software. We have five days left. We now spend every day in silent contemplation, willing the computers to get here on time.
Muluken took some amazing video footage of his family this morning. He also took some pictures…if the Internet cooperates with me today, I will post his pictures. One sequence shows his grandmother praying by her bed. He then pans to his young cousins playing in the yard, then to his sister roasting coffee beans on an open fire. Finally, his brother shows up with a huge piece of fish (I think they used some of the money Andy and I gave his grandmother yesterday) to cook for breakfast. It is a beautiful morning ritual.
The students are filming their narratives today. They all cheered when we told them the computers were on the way. I just hope that they actually get here.
Andy and I will take the weekend off to fish with our friend Agwa on the Openo (Baro) River. We’re really hoping that we spend Sunday getting the computers ready for the kids to use on Monday. I know you all will be hoping for the same.
More tomorrow.
Erik
Gambella Chillin’
The drumming and singing today (Saturday) is so cool. As I sit here typing, I can hear about 10 men creating a booty-bumpin’ beat as the villagers sing their hearts out. It made for a motivating soundtrack to my afternoon of clothes washing. I have worked through all of my clothing, so Saturday became wash day. I grabbed all of my soiled belongings and used the new bar of Popular Soap to scrub, scrub, scrub. I turned on the shower and dumped everything out, then, for two hours, I worked hard to get rid of all of the dirt, sweat, and bugs from the fabric. Then I spent ½ hour rinsing. I took the roll of first-aid tape I brought along and made a linen line in my room. I took great pride in hanging everything out and adjusting everything just-so in order to assure the fastest drying and the fewest wrinkles. I sat for 20 minutes just looking and admiring my handywork. Very satisfying afternoon.
Yesterday, after our program with the kids, Andy and I headed over to our favorite hang-out in town to chew chat with friends and talk about what needs to be done in Gambella to assure the abatement of conflict. My new good friend (and one of Andy’s best friends from his time here last year), Sinai (spelling wrong) talked about the need to build community and offer education to everyone. We came up with some good ideas for how to best assist this beautiful place. Sinai is about 30 and is a lawyer for the government. He wants to go to school to further his education, but can’t afford the $800 it would take to go on. Two of our students, Ojud and Omod were with us. Ojud has year to go until he finishes secondary school, but he doesn’t have the money. Same story…tons of potential, but no money. The only barrier to education both of these extremely bright people is money.
After our chill afternoon, we headed to Pact to meet Marc and his team of male and female dancers. He is a musician. His band has a CD already (home) made, but they wanted a music video to go with it. So, of course, Andy and Jody hatched a plan to help him out. We showed up at 5pm and got to work. I helped choreograph as Andy filmed. The dancers were amazing. We had a boom-box out so that Marc could sing along and the dancers could move to the beat. We came up with some great shots. I think this video is going to be bitchin’.
We went out to a bar for a beer after our filming. I took the opportunity to continue my Anuak language lesson. When you’re sitting and not participating, someone will say, “Kwagi” (spelling wrong). This means, “play”…or “come on you wet-noodle, participate in the conversation!” I love that saying.
We went to bed early and I lay awake thinking about this life-changing trip and how hard it is going to be to acclimate myself to the abundance of life at home. Ojud (about 20) took me to his house yesterday. Again, he is one of our students. He is so incredibly smart, but can’t finish school. He built himself a small (10 X 10) round hut last year. It is beautiful. I sat on his mat on the floor and he showed me his treasures. He has a book about economics, a book that Andy gave him last year, and also a Time magazine from last year that Andy also left. The hut has no water or electricity. The ceiling is low and the floor is earth that has been planed flat and hard. I told him that Andy and I would stay with him in his hut when we came back. He was SOOO proud after hearing this. Talk about distilling everything down to the very basics. All you need is a roof, a bowl, a spoon, one set of clothing, and a great attitude. I love, love, love hanging out with Ojud. He is so calm. He loves to learn English and laughs out loud every minute or so. I love his lifestyle. If only he could further his education…
We awoke to a thundering rain this morning. As we walked with Ojud to Pact after the rain had stopped, we became covered in red mud. The NGO trucks speed past and splash you with mud from head to foot. We tried again, at Pact, to use the Internet, but it wasn’t cooperating (hence the three new Blog entries today). We were hoping to see our computers, but the rain has slowed down the progress from Addis. Maybe tomorrow (Sunday)! We bought some Coka, water, and clothes washing soap and headed back to the hotel.
My friend from the blog entry below, Muluken, showed up to show me the footage he had taken of his father’s village last night (using a Flip). Muluken has become one of my best friends here, and I am going to miss him terribly when we go. He has a good plan for his life. We gave him $60 the other day to help his grandmother feed the family. She refused the money because she wanted him to save it for school. Last night, he went to his father’s village to film for his movie and ran in to his brother. He told his brother about the $60 we had given him. His brother told him that this was a good sign. He said that Muluken should not be carrying heavy sacks on his back because he would ruin his health. He gave Muluken enough Birr to add to my $60 so that he could buy a shop to sell potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers.
So, Muluken and I sat watching the footage of his father’s village (great stuff) and then he told me about the shop. He said that he had just gone to the ministry to register for a small hut on an alleyway and that his brother had ordered him enough inventory to start. He will open his shop next weekend after Andy and I leave. He is so excited. He told me that he knew he was going to succeed because he is “not lazy like so many other people. I work hard and will go to school in the morning before the shop opens. My sister (the sister he saved from malaria the other day with our $12 worth of Birr) will stay in the shop when I am at school. I will save money, save my back, and maybe get to run the 100 meter dash in Addis some day.” He walked off smiling and waving and I then sat on the bed and cried. I was so happy that he was going to make such a profound life change…all from $60…but I knew that the odds were stacked against him. That said, if anyone can make it happen, he can.
Andy and I are going to finally go fishing with Agwa on the Openo (Baro) River tomorrow. We also have to edit the students’ narratives and place them on the (we hope!) computers. Then, I am going to go to Muluken’s house to meet his sister and have a meal with the entire family. They want to thank me for helping Muluken open a business. It seems so odd that you can change the outlook for an entire clan with just a small amount of money, but it can be done. Muluken promised to make movies about his experiences and post them for us to view after we leave.
More later,
Erik
Yesterday, after our program with the kids, Andy and I headed over to our favorite hang-out in town to chew chat with friends and talk about what needs to be done in Gambella to assure the abatement of conflict. My new good friend (and one of Andy’s best friends from his time here last year), Sinai (spelling wrong) talked about the need to build community and offer education to everyone. We came up with some good ideas for how to best assist this beautiful place. Sinai is about 30 and is a lawyer for the government. He wants to go to school to further his education, but can’t afford the $800 it would take to go on. Two of our students, Ojud and Omod were with us. Ojud has year to go until he finishes secondary school, but he doesn’t have the money. Same story…tons of potential, but no money. The only barrier to education both of these extremely bright people is money.
After our chill afternoon, we headed to Pact to meet Marc and his team of male and female dancers. He is a musician. His band has a CD already (home) made, but they wanted a music video to go with it. So, of course, Andy and Jody hatched a plan to help him out. We showed up at 5pm and got to work. I helped choreograph as Andy filmed. The dancers were amazing. We had a boom-box out so that Marc could sing along and the dancers could move to the beat. We came up with some great shots. I think this video is going to be bitchin’.
We went out to a bar for a beer after our filming. I took the opportunity to continue my Anuak language lesson. When you’re sitting and not participating, someone will say, “Kwagi” (spelling wrong). This means, “play”…or “come on you wet-noodle, participate in the conversation!” I love that saying.
We went to bed early and I lay awake thinking about this life-changing trip and how hard it is going to be to acclimate myself to the abundance of life at home. Ojud (about 20) took me to his house yesterday. Again, he is one of our students. He is so incredibly smart, but can’t finish school. He built himself a small (10 X 10) round hut last year. It is beautiful. I sat on his mat on the floor and he showed me his treasures. He has a book about economics, a book that Andy gave him last year, and also a Time magazine from last year that Andy also left. The hut has no water or electricity. The ceiling is low and the floor is earth that has been planed flat and hard. I told him that Andy and I would stay with him in his hut when we came back. He was SOOO proud after hearing this. Talk about distilling everything down to the very basics. All you need is a roof, a bowl, a spoon, one set of clothing, and a great attitude. I love, love, love hanging out with Ojud. He is so calm. He loves to learn English and laughs out loud every minute or so. I love his lifestyle. If only he could further his education…
We awoke to a thundering rain this morning. As we walked with Ojud to Pact after the rain had stopped, we became covered in red mud. The NGO trucks speed past and splash you with mud from head to foot. We tried again, at Pact, to use the Internet, but it wasn’t cooperating (hence the three new Blog entries today). We were hoping to see our computers, but the rain has slowed down the progress from Addis. Maybe tomorrow (Sunday)! We bought some Coka, water, and clothes washing soap and headed back to the hotel.
My friend from the blog entry below, Muluken, showed up to show me the footage he had taken of his father’s village last night (using a Flip). Muluken has become one of my best friends here, and I am going to miss him terribly when we go. He has a good plan for his life. We gave him $60 the other day to help his grandmother feed the family. She refused the money because she wanted him to save it for school. Last night, he went to his father’s village to film for his movie and ran in to his brother. He told his brother about the $60 we had given him. His brother told him that this was a good sign. He said that Muluken should not be carrying heavy sacks on his back because he would ruin his health. He gave Muluken enough Birr to add to my $60 so that he could buy a shop to sell potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers.
So, Muluken and I sat watching the footage of his father’s village (great stuff) and then he told me about the shop. He said that he had just gone to the ministry to register for a small hut on an alleyway and that his brother had ordered him enough inventory to start. He will open his shop next weekend after Andy and I leave. He is so excited. He told me that he knew he was going to succeed because he is “not lazy like so many other people. I work hard and will go to school in the morning before the shop opens. My sister (the sister he saved from malaria the other day with our $12 worth of Birr) will stay in the shop when I am at school. I will save money, save my back, and maybe get to run the 100 meter dash in Addis some day.” He walked off smiling and waving and I then sat on the bed and cried. I was so happy that he was going to make such a profound life change…all from $60…but I knew that the odds were stacked against him. That said, if anyone can make it happen, he can.
Andy and I are going to finally go fishing with Agwa on the Openo (Baro) River tomorrow. We also have to edit the students’ narratives and place them on the (we hope!) computers. Then, I am going to go to Muluken’s house to meet his sister and have a meal with the entire family. They want to thank me for helping Muluken open a business. It seems so odd that you can change the outlook for an entire clan with just a small amount of money, but it can be done. Muluken promised to make movies about his experiences and post them for us to view after we leave.
More later,
Erik
This is Andy
We have good news for you. The computers were released from customs yesterday (Thursday), and are now supposed to be on their way to Gambella. Two weeks and thirteen trees worth of paperwork later… Once again, disaster has almost been avoided. We will let you know when we see the computers in front of the kids. That will be a great day!
Erik has been telling you about our experiences in Gambella. It’s amazing how much I missed being here. The smells, the mix of people, the river and the heat are all so great. I might consider taking a job with the tourism bureau here. I missed sitting in the afternoons with my friends, drinking coffee and chewing chat (mira). The program has been going well. Zerihun is a brilliant teacher, and the students have made some incredible art as a result. I know we have raved about every program, but since Gambella is my second home, I think these will be some of the best videos yet. The kids we are working with are from a wide variety of backgrounds, so it will provide for a very diverse mix of stories.
Yesterday, Erik went to visit one student’s house. He met the entire family, including the 110 year old grandmother. She is still eating and praying every day, even at 110. I couldn’t believe it. This student has an incredible story about his work, his dreams, and his reality. He wants to become a runner for Ethiopia, but he has to work carrying maize to earn enough money for the family’s food. By the time he finishes work, he hasn’t eaten enough calories to be able to practice running. He said that he tried running on an empty stomach for a while, but he became too weak. He is in this training with hopes that he will get a new skill for a new job.
Before we arrived in Gambella, both Erik and I were wiped out. We had been traveling so fast, that we hadn’t had time to catch up with ourselves. This trip to Gambella has been great because it is a good mix of brilliant work, and some rest. I love it. Some of you may remember the orphanage that I worked at this year for 8 months. It was the orphanage that Erik visited last year in November when we both came to Gambella for the first time. I have gone to visit the kids a couple times. They are growing very tall! I miss working with them… a lot.
Jody is leaving Gambella today for work. It will be a sad day. It has been really great to have Erik meet all the people that I have talked about for the last year. I talked about Jody a lot when I went back to the States. I’m sure he was getting tired of the subject, but now that he has met her, I’m sure all of you will hear about her for the next year from both of us. I wish you could all experience the intense beauty that Gambella has. It is sure hot, but it’s my type of weather, so I’m happy.
Until next time,
A.
Erik has been telling you about our experiences in Gambella. It’s amazing how much I missed being here. The smells, the mix of people, the river and the heat are all so great. I might consider taking a job with the tourism bureau here. I missed sitting in the afternoons with my friends, drinking coffee and chewing chat (mira). The program has been going well. Zerihun is a brilliant teacher, and the students have made some incredible art as a result. I know we have raved about every program, but since Gambella is my second home, I think these will be some of the best videos yet. The kids we are working with are from a wide variety of backgrounds, so it will provide for a very diverse mix of stories.
Yesterday, Erik went to visit one student’s house. He met the entire family, including the 110 year old grandmother. She is still eating and praying every day, even at 110. I couldn’t believe it. This student has an incredible story about his work, his dreams, and his reality. He wants to become a runner for Ethiopia, but he has to work carrying maize to earn enough money for the family’s food. By the time he finishes work, he hasn’t eaten enough calories to be able to practice running. He said that he tried running on an empty stomach for a while, but he became too weak. He is in this training with hopes that he will get a new skill for a new job.
Before we arrived in Gambella, both Erik and I were wiped out. We had been traveling so fast, that we hadn’t had time to catch up with ourselves. This trip to Gambella has been great because it is a good mix of brilliant work, and some rest. I love it. Some of you may remember the orphanage that I worked at this year for 8 months. It was the orphanage that Erik visited last year in November when we both came to Gambella for the first time. I have gone to visit the kids a couple times. They are growing very tall! I miss working with them… a lot.
Jody is leaving Gambella today for work. It will be a sad day. It has been really great to have Erik meet all the people that I have talked about for the last year. I talked about Jody a lot when I went back to the States. I’m sure he was getting tired of the subject, but now that he has met her, I’m sure all of you will hear about her for the next year from both of us. I wish you could all experience the intense beauty that Gambella has. It is sure hot, but it’s my type of weather, so I’m happy.
Until next time,
A.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Gambella Leafy Greens
One of my favorite shows is called “Going Tribal”. This intrepid Aussie guy travels the globe in search of people who have not yet encountered much of Western civilization. He spends a fair amount of time just lying low, taking in his surroundings, and understanding the culture. Eventually (and inevitably) he is accepted into the community. He does some pretty out-there things in his attempts to become integrated. He drinks coagulated cow blood stew, joins the hunters on 20-day treks for meat, and participates in all of their rituals, including the use of hallucinogens to search for his spirit animal.
Andy and I have our version of this show going on in Gambella. Granted, our adventures pale in comparison to the Aussie guy’s experiences, but we’re having a grand time.
When I was here last year, dropping Andy off for his eight-month stay, we were in a very protective and isolated setting. We were warned repeatedly not to travel into town due to the conflict. In my five days in Gambella last year, we made one trip into town, in a big group. We also crossed the Openo River once to visit with a widow who had the grave of her husband in her yard. After I left, Andy ventured out more and more, eventually becoming one of the most loved and famous white dudes in the area.
So, here I am in Gambella getting the insider’s tour of the town. Everyone knows Andy and has fond memories of him. We walk from our hotel, in the humid and very hot weather, down the dusty streets into town a few times a day. There is a big road-paving project going on, but the streets are still just dirt and ruts. Every so often, an NGO truck (UN, WFP, IOM, etc.) zooms by to put a big pile of red dust in your mouth. There are goats, donkeys, and people carrying heavy loads everywhere. The buildings range from well-built professional building to ramshackle huts with corrugated tin huts selling slabs of meat, maize, and onions.
Andy has taken me to a few local haunts at night to grab a few beers. We eat fried fish at the hotel, and injera and stewed chicken at local cafes. Little children follow us yelling, “Hey Ferrengie (spelling wrong, but a term for a white person…originated with the French who first came here…Frenchy turned into Ferrengie) how are you?” We walk to the Pact offices down a crowded street in the market pungent with roasting coffee beans, cow dung, burning trash, and tons of people smells. I love it! There is loud music coming out of every other shack. You wander down the alleyways past compounds of round mud huts teaming with chickens, goats, and laughing children clad only in ill-fitting underpants. They so love to follow us around.
Not exactly Going Tribal, but our hotel loses power about every other hour. When you shower, you have to time the cold trickle correctly. Just about the time you get some shampoo on your head, the water stops. So, you crouch down on the VERY human smelling floor and wait for the water to get a little more pressure. Shaving can take 20 minutes. I washed my pants in the shower with me yesterday and hung them up with dental floss in the doorway. My pants made good company with the myriad cawing birds, huge lizards, and the most beautiful black and white monkeys. They’re about two-feet tall and have long white tails that bush out in a vibrant plume of fir at the end. They make a terrifying baritone grunting sequence. Their favorite time seems to be between 1am and 3am when they swing through the trees behind my room on their way to the chickens in the mud-hut compound not 15 feet from my back door. You first hear the dogs barking, and then the monkey grunts get louder and louder. Then the chickens start screaming. Finally, the men frantically emerge from their slumber to whack the monkeys away. This goes on every night.
I wake up and have a deep, rich coffee with toast (if power) and runny marmalade. We meet the kids at 8am. We still don’t have computers (maybe tomorrow…) so our resident artist, Zerihun has been working on art with them. We’ve also had them write their narratives and practice filming with the Flip cameras. They’ve all been through so much and it is coming through loud and clear in their narratives. Many of them have faced challenges the rest of us would never have even thought existed. Can't wait to show you their films, as well as the rest of the kids from this trip. Oh, Zerihun is fantastic. He is an amazing artist (check out www.zerihun.com) and so great with the students. They are going to create some kick-butt pieces of art. Zerihun is also one of the coolest people you'll ever meet...he's one of those guys you wish you were more like. Oh, and Jody continues to amaze and become a better friend every day. She manages some very noteworthy and worthwhile projects for Pact. I'm going to have her blog tomorrow so that you can find out more. I know you'll love her as much as Andy and I do.
So, we’re dirty, smelly, and filled with carbohydrates. There are no fresh vegetables in the diet here (except during “fasting” season), so I’ve been eating fried fish, roasted potatoes, bread, maize, and injera (sour flat bread made with tef). I’ve gone from no carbs to all carbs in five days! Before yesterday, I was in dire need of some “greens”.
So, because I needed some chlorophyll, Andy decided that it was time for me to see the real Gambella. We made our way through the maze of winding alleyways past hundreds of mud hut compounds. Finally, we ended up at one of his friend’s compounds. There were about 10 men from Gambella and us (Andy, Erik, Keith, Zerihun). On the way, we’d stopped to purchase our own offering of chat. Chat stems are covered with what look like cocoa leaves. They have a caffeine-like effect when chewed.
We sat down on the ground and I got a primer course in chat chewing. You pull the leaves off (the younger, red, softer leaves are the best) and pack them into your back teeth on one side. You then grab a couple of peanuts (the leaves are really sour) and start masticating…and masticating…and masticating. Ojud is about 21 and is the go-get-it guy for an afternoon of chat chewing. He went to get Cokes, more chat, and more peanuts about five times during our afternoon. As I chewed, and chewed, and chewed, I started to feel cooler (it was the hottest day yet, yesterday). I got used to the sour taste quickly. Then, I started to feel really focused and the conversation really began. The longer you chew, the more coffee-buzz you feel, but you don’t feel anxious or jittery. It’s more like a hyper-focus coupled with a sense of well-being. I had a four-hour Anuyak language lesson and learned a TON. We talked politics, and learned about the tribal elder system of justice that still exists in Gambella. Andy and I agreed that it was a much better system than our non community-based system at home. I think I chewed through about 10 pounds of leaves (“elephant food” one of Andy’s friends poo-poos when he sees chat). As I sat there with these amazing people, I totally understood how Andy could live here for so long. There was a beautiful glow from the vermilion sunset, I was feeling slightly buzzed but calm at the same time, and I was having great conversation at the most leisurely pace. It made me feel like my life is just way too harried and complex. I wanted to sit there for two more weeks.
Finally, a driver showed up to pick us up…Jody was waiting for us at the hotel and was only too familiar with how a bunch of men could get caught up in chat-versation, so she sent a car. We went back to the hotel, still feeling the chat and still feeling Ya Met (“I feel good from the core of my liver…”). We sauntered down town and had a beer with some of Andy’s friends (well, my friends now, too). I slept really well and felt refreshed and relaxed today with the kids. I love this place.
The kids are drawing pictures for their movies and I’m sitting here typing. Andy just got back from yet another call with customs about our books and computers. They have been “released” and a car is supposed to pick them up today and take them to the town where one of our drivers will meet them tomorrow. The kids are so anxious to get on those machines! It will happen!
The Internet connection here is so slow that I can’t upload photos to Shutterfly. Also, I am lucky to get one email off to Ben (I have to try for about 20 minutes) with these updates. Andy and I will be in Addis for two days at the end of the trip and I’ll upload some photos of our amazing students then.
So, a relaxed, patient (can you believe it?), and un-hurried Erik signs off. Andy has promised to blog tomorrow.
E
Andy and I have our version of this show going on in Gambella. Granted, our adventures pale in comparison to the Aussie guy’s experiences, but we’re having a grand time.
When I was here last year, dropping Andy off for his eight-month stay, we were in a very protective and isolated setting. We were warned repeatedly not to travel into town due to the conflict. In my five days in Gambella last year, we made one trip into town, in a big group. We also crossed the Openo River once to visit with a widow who had the grave of her husband in her yard. After I left, Andy ventured out more and more, eventually becoming one of the most loved and famous white dudes in the area.
So, here I am in Gambella getting the insider’s tour of the town. Everyone knows Andy and has fond memories of him. We walk from our hotel, in the humid and very hot weather, down the dusty streets into town a few times a day. There is a big road-paving project going on, but the streets are still just dirt and ruts. Every so often, an NGO truck (UN, WFP, IOM, etc.) zooms by to put a big pile of red dust in your mouth. There are goats, donkeys, and people carrying heavy loads everywhere. The buildings range from well-built professional building to ramshackle huts with corrugated tin huts selling slabs of meat, maize, and onions.
Andy has taken me to a few local haunts at night to grab a few beers. We eat fried fish at the hotel, and injera and stewed chicken at local cafes. Little children follow us yelling, “Hey Ferrengie (spelling wrong, but a term for a white person…originated with the French who first came here…Frenchy turned into Ferrengie) how are you?” We walk to the Pact offices down a crowded street in the market pungent with roasting coffee beans, cow dung, burning trash, and tons of people smells. I love it! There is loud music coming out of every other shack. You wander down the alleyways past compounds of round mud huts teaming with chickens, goats, and laughing children clad only in ill-fitting underpants. They so love to follow us around.
Not exactly Going Tribal, but our hotel loses power about every other hour. When you shower, you have to time the cold trickle correctly. Just about the time you get some shampoo on your head, the water stops. So, you crouch down on the VERY human smelling floor and wait for the water to get a little more pressure. Shaving can take 20 minutes. I washed my pants in the shower with me yesterday and hung them up with dental floss in the doorway. My pants made good company with the myriad cawing birds, huge lizards, and the most beautiful black and white monkeys. They’re about two-feet tall and have long white tails that bush out in a vibrant plume of fir at the end. They make a terrifying baritone grunting sequence. Their favorite time seems to be between 1am and 3am when they swing through the trees behind my room on their way to the chickens in the mud-hut compound not 15 feet from my back door. You first hear the dogs barking, and then the monkey grunts get louder and louder. Then the chickens start screaming. Finally, the men frantically emerge from their slumber to whack the monkeys away. This goes on every night.
I wake up and have a deep, rich coffee with toast (if power) and runny marmalade. We meet the kids at 8am. We still don’t have computers (maybe tomorrow…) so our resident artist, Zerihun has been working on art with them. We’ve also had them write their narratives and practice filming with the Flip cameras. They’ve all been through so much and it is coming through loud and clear in their narratives. Many of them have faced challenges the rest of us would never have even thought existed. Can't wait to show you their films, as well as the rest of the kids from this trip. Oh, Zerihun is fantastic. He is an amazing artist (check out www.zerihun.com) and so great with the students. They are going to create some kick-butt pieces of art. Zerihun is also one of the coolest people you'll ever meet...he's one of those guys you wish you were more like. Oh, and Jody continues to amaze and become a better friend every day. She manages some very noteworthy and worthwhile projects for Pact. I'm going to have her blog tomorrow so that you can find out more. I know you'll love her as much as Andy and I do.
So, we’re dirty, smelly, and filled with carbohydrates. There are no fresh vegetables in the diet here (except during “fasting” season), so I’ve been eating fried fish, roasted potatoes, bread, maize, and injera (sour flat bread made with tef). I’ve gone from no carbs to all carbs in five days! Before yesterday, I was in dire need of some “greens”.
So, because I needed some chlorophyll, Andy decided that it was time for me to see the real Gambella. We made our way through the maze of winding alleyways past hundreds of mud hut compounds. Finally, we ended up at one of his friend’s compounds. There were about 10 men from Gambella and us (Andy, Erik, Keith, Zerihun). On the way, we’d stopped to purchase our own offering of chat. Chat stems are covered with what look like cocoa leaves. They have a caffeine-like effect when chewed.
We sat down on the ground and I got a primer course in chat chewing. You pull the leaves off (the younger, red, softer leaves are the best) and pack them into your back teeth on one side. You then grab a couple of peanuts (the leaves are really sour) and start masticating…and masticating…and masticating. Ojud is about 21 and is the go-get-it guy for an afternoon of chat chewing. He went to get Cokes, more chat, and more peanuts about five times during our afternoon. As I chewed, and chewed, and chewed, I started to feel cooler (it was the hottest day yet, yesterday). I got used to the sour taste quickly. Then, I started to feel really focused and the conversation really began. The longer you chew, the more coffee-buzz you feel, but you don’t feel anxious or jittery. It’s more like a hyper-focus coupled with a sense of well-being. I had a four-hour Anuyak language lesson and learned a TON. We talked politics, and learned about the tribal elder system of justice that still exists in Gambella. Andy and I agreed that it was a much better system than our non community-based system at home. I think I chewed through about 10 pounds of leaves (“elephant food” one of Andy’s friends poo-poos when he sees chat). As I sat there with these amazing people, I totally understood how Andy could live here for so long. There was a beautiful glow from the vermilion sunset, I was feeling slightly buzzed but calm at the same time, and I was having great conversation at the most leisurely pace. It made me feel like my life is just way too harried and complex. I wanted to sit there for two more weeks.
Finally, a driver showed up to pick us up…Jody was waiting for us at the hotel and was only too familiar with how a bunch of men could get caught up in chat-versation, so she sent a car. We went back to the hotel, still feeling the chat and still feeling Ya Met (“I feel good from the core of my liver…”). We sauntered down town and had a beer with some of Andy’s friends (well, my friends now, too). I slept really well and felt refreshed and relaxed today with the kids. I love this place.
The kids are drawing pictures for their movies and I’m sitting here typing. Andy just got back from yet another call with customs about our books and computers. They have been “released” and a car is supposed to pick them up today and take them to the town where one of our drivers will meet them tomorrow. The kids are so anxious to get on those machines! It will happen!
The Internet connection here is so slow that I can’t upload photos to Shutterfly. Also, I am lucky to get one email off to Ben (I have to try for about 20 minutes) with these updates. Andy and I will be in Addis for two days at the end of the trip and I’ll upload some photos of our amazing students then.
So, a relaxed, patient (can you believe it?), and un-hurried Erik signs off. Andy has promised to blog tomorrow.
E
Monday, October 29, 2007
1/16th of a Roll of Toilet Paper
Apparently, the average human need only employ 1/16th of a roll of toilet paper per day. Actually, we’re lucky to have any at all. I just got back to my room to type this up (after meeting the students) to find one small bar of apple soap and my daily supply of T.P. Sure makes you careful about not wasting it.
So, I sent y’all the blog entry yesterday then we went to an outdoor eating hut to watch the locals drink of a Sunday afternoon. We walked through the HOT streets of Gambella and had to stop a couple of times. It is HOT…did I mention that? Actually, it is humid so it is quite fine. After the chilly evenings in Addis, this is quite welcome.
After that we came to the hotel for some fried Nile perch and potatoes. We met a Pact consultant named Eloise who is quite spectacular and funny. We showed her and our newly arrived cohort Zerihune (I know I botched that spelling) some of the student movies. Zerihune is a quite famous artist so he is working with the kids on original art until our computers arrive. Still no word on that front, and I’m fatigued by even thinking about writing about it, so, no computers yet.
We then headed over in a Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) SUV to Chol’s house for the birthday party. Chol now works for the Girls’ Empowerment Project, and has a very nice mud and brick home. She had prepared a great meal of chicken, spaghetti, and sauce, as well as popcorn and cake. We drank Fanta and showed the many children how to make movies on the camera. They LOVED it and laughed for hours at seeing themselves dance and cavort.
There was thatched-roof hut village next to Chol’s home, and many of the neighborhood kids stared through the stick fence in wonderment. There were four of us white people at Chol’s party so it must have been a wonderful diversion for the neighborhood.
Chol’s daughter Juliet was turning seven, her son one, and she is, I believe, 26. There was much music and dancing, and even more sitting. Those of you who know me know how hard it is for me to sit. I’m doing it! I can sit for hours here, as it is culturally inappropriate to go all American on them and flit around like everything that happens has to happen NOW. I’ve calmed down considerably after these past several weeks.
Andy went out with friends last night and I put up my mosquito net and drifted off at 8pm, only to wake up with a start at 7:15am the next morning (today). I turned on the shower, nothing. Yesterday I had the faintest of cold trickles coming out…drip…drip…drip…but it was enough to wash my face and hair. Today I had to shave, so I used the bottled water. I was so excited to shave because Jody had cut my hair yesterday on the porch and I was looking normal again! She had never done it before, but she did a great job! She worked so hard that she started sweating like a marathon runner. We laughed as she dripped sweat off of her nose onto my head. I’m sure she’s still covered in Erik hair.
Our kids arrived at 7:30am this morning. As Andy and the hotel crew fashioned a screen out of a sheet and some string, I showed them how to take photos. They did great. I’m hoping you can see some of them on Shutterfly if I’m able to upload them.
We have about 14 boys and six girls. Many of the girls were profiled in the same document as Chol. One of the girls is paralyzed. A man carried her in. She has an amazing smile and attitude. I showed her the flip and she did a great job interviewing everyone who passed by her. I don’t remember how she became paralyzed, but I’m sure we’ll find out from her movie. She is very proud and doesn’t like to be carried. As odd as it sounds, it is uplifting to see her dragging herself along the dirt path, up the concrete steps, and into a chair at the desk. She can do it on her own! And, man, is she going to.
Andy introduced the project to the kids, and it became clear that we needed translation. So, everyone is taking turns speaking in one of the three languages represented in the room. Zerihune is a great help. We started showing some example movies, but the power went out, so we moved on. Then, the power came back on, but went out immediately. Eventually, Andy was able to get through them.
We introduced the idea of storyboarding to them. Andy explained that we want movies about their barriers to education and employement, but (more importantly) we want to focus on how they overcame them and also their dreams for the future. We’re setting them up as not only the storytellers, but also the mentors who will teach others how to use the computers we’re leaving at the Technical Vocational Training school, Openo.
I just looked at one of the storyboards. This boy is going to make a movie about how he had to fish as a boy and how hard it was to be carrying his fish home as he passed by other boys with books. He eventually went to school on his own, and is a testament to tenacity and perseverance. I think these will be some very moving films.
Jody showed them all the ONE Sara book we have (our other books are sharing company and space with the computers in customs). Many of the girls will make movies that incorporate Sara into the narrative.
I better head back and help Andy and Zerihune out. We just had tea and now I need to give the kids their lunch money so that they can eat before they walk home.
We’re off to the Pact offices in an hour to try and send this blog and upload some photos.
More tomorrow.
E
P.S. I’m also going to buy some toilet paper on the way home.
So, I sent y’all the blog entry yesterday then we went to an outdoor eating hut to watch the locals drink of a Sunday afternoon. We walked through the HOT streets of Gambella and had to stop a couple of times. It is HOT…did I mention that? Actually, it is humid so it is quite fine. After the chilly evenings in Addis, this is quite welcome.
After that we came to the hotel for some fried Nile perch and potatoes. We met a Pact consultant named Eloise who is quite spectacular and funny. We showed her and our newly arrived cohort Zerihune (I know I botched that spelling) some of the student movies. Zerihune is a quite famous artist so he is working with the kids on original art until our computers arrive. Still no word on that front, and I’m fatigued by even thinking about writing about it, so, no computers yet.
We then headed over in a Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) SUV to Chol’s house for the birthday party. Chol now works for the Girls’ Empowerment Project, and has a very nice mud and brick home. She had prepared a great meal of chicken, spaghetti, and sauce, as well as popcorn and cake. We drank Fanta and showed the many children how to make movies on the camera. They LOVED it and laughed for hours at seeing themselves dance and cavort.
There was thatched-roof hut village next to Chol’s home, and many of the neighborhood kids stared through the stick fence in wonderment. There were four of us white people at Chol’s party so it must have been a wonderful diversion for the neighborhood.
Chol’s daughter Juliet was turning seven, her son one, and she is, I believe, 26. There was much music and dancing, and even more sitting. Those of you who know me know how hard it is for me to sit. I’m doing it! I can sit for hours here, as it is culturally inappropriate to go all American on them and flit around like everything that happens has to happen NOW. I’ve calmed down considerably after these past several weeks.
Andy went out with friends last night and I put up my mosquito net and drifted off at 8pm, only to wake up with a start at 7:15am the next morning (today). I turned on the shower, nothing. Yesterday I had the faintest of cold trickles coming out…drip…drip…drip…but it was enough to wash my face and hair. Today I had to shave, so I used the bottled water. I was so excited to shave because Jody had cut my hair yesterday on the porch and I was looking normal again! She had never done it before, but she did a great job! She worked so hard that she started sweating like a marathon runner. We laughed as she dripped sweat off of her nose onto my head. I’m sure she’s still covered in Erik hair.
Our kids arrived at 7:30am this morning. As Andy and the hotel crew fashioned a screen out of a sheet and some string, I showed them how to take photos. They did great. I’m hoping you can see some of them on Shutterfly if I’m able to upload them.
We have about 14 boys and six girls. Many of the girls were profiled in the same document as Chol. One of the girls is paralyzed. A man carried her in. She has an amazing smile and attitude. I showed her the flip and she did a great job interviewing everyone who passed by her. I don’t remember how she became paralyzed, but I’m sure we’ll find out from her movie. She is very proud and doesn’t like to be carried. As odd as it sounds, it is uplifting to see her dragging herself along the dirt path, up the concrete steps, and into a chair at the desk. She can do it on her own! And, man, is she going to.
Andy introduced the project to the kids, and it became clear that we needed translation. So, everyone is taking turns speaking in one of the three languages represented in the room. Zerihune is a great help. We started showing some example movies, but the power went out, so we moved on. Then, the power came back on, but went out immediately. Eventually, Andy was able to get through them.
We introduced the idea of storyboarding to them. Andy explained that we want movies about their barriers to education and employement, but (more importantly) we want to focus on how they overcame them and also their dreams for the future. We’re setting them up as not only the storytellers, but also the mentors who will teach others how to use the computers we’re leaving at the Technical Vocational Training school, Openo.
I just looked at one of the storyboards. This boy is going to make a movie about how he had to fish as a boy and how hard it was to be carrying his fish home as he passed by other boys with books. He eventually went to school on his own, and is a testament to tenacity and perseverance. I think these will be some very moving films.
Jody showed them all the ONE Sara book we have (our other books are sharing company and space with the computers in customs). Many of the girls will make movies that incorporate Sara into the narrative.
I better head back and help Andy and Zerihune out. We just had tea and now I need to give the kids their lunch money so that they can eat before they walk home.
We’re off to the Pact offices in an hour to try and send this blog and upload some photos.
More tomorrow.
E
P.S. I’m also going to buy some toilet paper on the way home.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Greetings from Gambella!
No power for toast! I’m sitting at the Baro River hotel. It was called the Ethiopian Hotel until someone bought it two years ago. Everyone still calls it that. I’m sitting outside, under the thick foliage listening to the drumming and chanting that will go on all day (it’s Sunday, after all.) There was a very loud African drama coming out of the television in the bar…think Days of Our Lives with the lowest of production values…when the power went out…again. “No power for toast,” the server tells me. “No problem,” says I. So now I have a Coke and some locally made fresh bread with the most watery, yet delicious, orange marmalade, and about 300 new little buzzing fly friends looking to enjoy my repast.
We left Addis at 7:30 yesterday morning. Yigzaw from the International School picked us up at the hotel. We made our way to Bole Airport in record time. Andy and Yigzaw were planning to meet the official who had promised to give us our computers and books from Pearson today. We all paid $1 to visit the International Terminal and pressed through security with the shoving crowd. I bought a Fanta and they went off to get our stuff. I didn’t want to go with them because I was afraid I might just add confusion. “Who is this new guy? What is he doing here?”
We had to be at the domestic terminal by 9:00am to catch our flight to Gambella. I sat outside, leaning on Yigzaw’s truck. About 50 taxi drivers came up to me asking if I need transport. I finally just sat in the truck figuring that would send the right message that I did not, indeed, need a ride. About 45 minutes later, Andy and Yigzaw slowly emerged from the terminal. I gave the thumbs-up sign in question, and Andy gave me the wrong response…thumbs-down. The guy was “on his way” at 8:00, but still hadn’t shown up. We had to go to the domestic terminal to make sure we weren’t pushed off of our flight. Yigzaw promised to come back Monday and get the job done. Shoot.
Turns out they wouldn’t let us in the terminal until 9:30, so we sat and had a coffee and discussed what we would do. We finally got in line and made our way to the check in kiosk. Luggage was fine and put through to Gambella. Our boarding passes printed and we were ready to get on the flight. “Wait,” says the ticket guy. Your tickets have been exchanged. “Yes, we called our travel agent in New Orleans yesterday and changed the return date to a week later, but we’re still flying out today.” “No, your ticket has been exchanged. I need to see your new tickets.” We had done the change over the phone. No ticket. So, we had to buy a NEW ticket and hope for a refund when we got home. We had to let everyone in line (a full plane) go through before he could issue us new tickets. We had been hording money all week (I can get $300/day from the ATM here…whew) and had JUST enough Birr to get us through two weeks of training the 30 students and adults in Gambella. Now, we had to take a quarter of our cash and buy plane tickets. So, (hey Mark and Wendy!), we’ll have to have our colleagues in California wire us money again this week in Gambella. (Hey, the power just came back on! My soap is blaring again.)
My seat belt was broken and kept coming off the pin at the base of the seat. So, I took the wire from the top of the vomit bag and jerry-rigged the seat belt back together. We stopped in Jimma (coffee export capital of Ethiopia) and got off the plane to stand on the tarmac while they refueled the plane.
Andy and I were so excited to look out of the plane and see the Baro River, the compounds of thatched-roof huts, and the farmers stopping their work to watch the plane land. We were met by the Pact driver, Leo. We have Keith from the International School with us. He decided to buy a ticket and come with us after our residency with his students last week. He wants to see how Andy and I bring digital arts to rural areas. We got to the hotel and had a lunch of fried fish and rice with spicy pepper sauce.
Our great friend from Pact and wonderful person, Jody, came to meet us and talk about the next two weeks. We’ll have many students from the Girls’ Empowerment program with us this week…including Chol! We’ll have some adults as well. They’ll learn how to facilitate our program. The plan is to have Yigzaw get the computers and books on Monday and immediately put them on a truck to Jimma. Leo will drive from Gambella to Jimma on Monday as well and meet the driver. They’ll spend the night, then Leo will bring our loot to us. We’re doing our residency at our hotel. We hope the dust and jarring drive don’t damage the equipment.
We showed the team many of the movies from our past several weeks and they were all very enthusiastic. We’ll spend the first few days teaching the students how to use the cameras, how to write a narrative, and how to create original art for their movies. It is all going to work out great…I know it!
Andy, Keith, and I left Jody (she wasn’t feeling well) in Andy’s room watching the DVDs of Sex in the City Andy brought. No, there is no T.V. in the room, but Andy had battery power on his computer (power was out again), so she was in heaven.
It is hot, hot, hot here, so we went to buy water, toilet paper (none in my room), and Coke. We saw our friend Agwa at a small hut/shop. He was with us last year when we came to open the orphanage.
We had a light dinner, then Jody thought she might vomit, so she took off. Jody is one of those people who just lights up a room. She’s the type of person you just LOVE having around…so open-hearted and funny! I hated to see her turning green. She’s been ALL over the world and goes to some extremely rural areas. I know she’ll be fine.
Andy and I went out last night and had a couple of beers in some local haunts. When I was here last year, it was all so new and exotic. I was a bit hesitant to walk down the road because we’d heard of ongoing ethnic strife. The “conflict” is still palpable, but I’ve seen enough of Africa now to know when to feel nervous and when to just enjoy myself. I saw only one other white person all night…had a great time.
I fell asleep under my mosquito net. The hotel is the nicest in Gambella, but still VERY rustic and just the kind of place I love. Mind you, I don’t mind a bit of pampering now and again, but I much prefer how ALIVE this place feels.
At 5:00am today, the “rondo” of sounds began. Sounded like this:
Monkey scream
Monkey scream
Drum, Drum, Drum
Chant oo ahh
Chant oo ahh
Baby scream LOUD
Ceiling fan
Ceiling fan
Drum, Drum, Drum
Monkey scream
Baby scream
Gutteral grunt grunt
I’m so excited about today. We’re off to the technical vocational training school that will house the donated Pearson Foundation media lab and library. Then (can’t wait!) we’re off to Chol’s house for her birthday party! I can’t wait to meet her and tell her that I’ve told all of you about her.
More once our program begins tomorrow. We’re SOOOO happy to be back in Gambella and thrilled to bring technical training these amazing people. I know their movies are going to be incredible.
More tomorrow!
E
We left Addis at 7:30 yesterday morning. Yigzaw from the International School picked us up at the hotel. We made our way to Bole Airport in record time. Andy and Yigzaw were planning to meet the official who had promised to give us our computers and books from Pearson today. We all paid $1 to visit the International Terminal and pressed through security with the shoving crowd. I bought a Fanta and they went off to get our stuff. I didn’t want to go with them because I was afraid I might just add confusion. “Who is this new guy? What is he doing here?”
We had to be at the domestic terminal by 9:00am to catch our flight to Gambella. I sat outside, leaning on Yigzaw’s truck. About 50 taxi drivers came up to me asking if I need transport. I finally just sat in the truck figuring that would send the right message that I did not, indeed, need a ride. About 45 minutes later, Andy and Yigzaw slowly emerged from the terminal. I gave the thumbs-up sign in question, and Andy gave me the wrong response…thumbs-down. The guy was “on his way” at 8:00, but still hadn’t shown up. We had to go to the domestic terminal to make sure we weren’t pushed off of our flight. Yigzaw promised to come back Monday and get the job done. Shoot.
Turns out they wouldn’t let us in the terminal until 9:30, so we sat and had a coffee and discussed what we would do. We finally got in line and made our way to the check in kiosk. Luggage was fine and put through to Gambella. Our boarding passes printed and we were ready to get on the flight. “Wait,” says the ticket guy. Your tickets have been exchanged. “Yes, we called our travel agent in New Orleans yesterday and changed the return date to a week later, but we’re still flying out today.” “No, your ticket has been exchanged. I need to see your new tickets.” We had done the change over the phone. No ticket. So, we had to buy a NEW ticket and hope for a refund when we got home. We had to let everyone in line (a full plane) go through before he could issue us new tickets. We had been hording money all week (I can get $300/day from the ATM here…whew) and had JUST enough Birr to get us through two weeks of training the 30 students and adults in Gambella. Now, we had to take a quarter of our cash and buy plane tickets. So, (hey Mark and Wendy!), we’ll have to have our colleagues in California wire us money again this week in Gambella. (Hey, the power just came back on! My soap is blaring again.)
My seat belt was broken and kept coming off the pin at the base of the seat. So, I took the wire from the top of the vomit bag and jerry-rigged the seat belt back together. We stopped in Jimma (coffee export capital of Ethiopia) and got off the plane to stand on the tarmac while they refueled the plane.
Andy and I were so excited to look out of the plane and see the Baro River, the compounds of thatched-roof huts, and the farmers stopping their work to watch the plane land. We were met by the Pact driver, Leo. We have Keith from the International School with us. He decided to buy a ticket and come with us after our residency with his students last week. He wants to see how Andy and I bring digital arts to rural areas. We got to the hotel and had a lunch of fried fish and rice with spicy pepper sauce.
Our great friend from Pact and wonderful person, Jody, came to meet us and talk about the next two weeks. We’ll have many students from the Girls’ Empowerment program with us this week…including Chol! We’ll have some adults as well. They’ll learn how to facilitate our program. The plan is to have Yigzaw get the computers and books on Monday and immediately put them on a truck to Jimma. Leo will drive from Gambella to Jimma on Monday as well and meet the driver. They’ll spend the night, then Leo will bring our loot to us. We’re doing our residency at our hotel. We hope the dust and jarring drive don’t damage the equipment.
We showed the team many of the movies from our past several weeks and they were all very enthusiastic. We’ll spend the first few days teaching the students how to use the cameras, how to write a narrative, and how to create original art for their movies. It is all going to work out great…I know it!
Andy, Keith, and I left Jody (she wasn’t feeling well) in Andy’s room watching the DVDs of Sex in the City Andy brought. No, there is no T.V. in the room, but Andy had battery power on his computer (power was out again), so she was in heaven.
It is hot, hot, hot here, so we went to buy water, toilet paper (none in my room), and Coke. We saw our friend Agwa at a small hut/shop. He was with us last year when we came to open the orphanage.
We had a light dinner, then Jody thought she might vomit, so she took off. Jody is one of those people who just lights up a room. She’s the type of person you just LOVE having around…so open-hearted and funny! I hated to see her turning green. She’s been ALL over the world and goes to some extremely rural areas. I know she’ll be fine.
Andy and I went out last night and had a couple of beers in some local haunts. When I was here last year, it was all so new and exotic. I was a bit hesitant to walk down the road because we’d heard of ongoing ethnic strife. The “conflict” is still palpable, but I’ve seen enough of Africa now to know when to feel nervous and when to just enjoy myself. I saw only one other white person all night…had a great time.
I fell asleep under my mosquito net. The hotel is the nicest in Gambella, but still VERY rustic and just the kind of place I love. Mind you, I don’t mind a bit of pampering now and again, but I much prefer how ALIVE this place feels.
At 5:00am today, the “rondo” of sounds began. Sounded like this:
Monkey scream
Monkey scream
Drum, Drum, Drum
Chant oo ahh
Chant oo ahh
Baby scream LOUD
Ceiling fan
Ceiling fan
Drum, Drum, Drum
Monkey scream
Baby scream
Gutteral grunt grunt
I’m so excited about today. We’re off to the technical vocational training school that will house the donated Pearson Foundation media lab and library. Then (can’t wait!) we’re off to Chol’s house for her birthday party! I can’t wait to meet her and tell her that I’ve told all of you about her.
More once our program begins tomorrow. We’re SOOOO happy to be back in Gambella and thrilled to bring technical training these amazing people. I know their movies are going to be incredible.
More tomorrow!
E
Friday, October 26, 2007
On Our Way to Gambella!
Wow. It's been a year since I was in Gambella with Andy. He stayed for many months, and I just had four days there. I get to stay two weeks now! Andy and I now arrive home on the 13th.
We finished with the kids today. (Andy got ten minutes with them between meetings to get our computers out...more on that in a bit.) It went great. The parents arrived at 3:30 for "bites", coffee, and movie viewing. I told them all about our trip through Africa. They were curious as to why we were at ICS. I told them that I was hoping they could help me make sure that their sons and daughters paid it forward. The fact that they were already exposed to technology meant that I could take them further. I asked that they take their new knowledge and help kids in undeserved schools in Addis. They all enthusiastically agreed. We had our kids from the underserved schools there, and you could tell that the parents were happy to have their kids exposed to the idea of helping other who have fewer resources.
Andy spent the day, again, trying to get our computers out of hock at the airport. He was ten seconds away from a "yes" when someone found a signature "issue". We've been told we can get them tomorrow. Man, this could be so nerve-wracking but we've decided to be philosophical about it and just go with the flow.
So, we get up early tomorrow morning (Saturday) and pack, check out of the hotel, and meet our friend Yigzaw from the international school at 7:30am. We'll head to the airport, and hopefully get our computers out at 8:00am when the "right man" shows up. We have to check in to our Gambella flight by 9:00am. Hope we have enough time to do all of this. That said, one can never really be sure that a) the flight will go, b) one will get on the flight, even if one has confirmed one's seat, and c) the flight will actually stop in Gambella as printed on one's ticket...given the whim of the pilot and his choice of landing spots for the day.
We have many friends from Pact joining us in Gambella to help with the two week program. If we get our computers tomorrow, they will go on a slow truck to Gambella on Monday, arriving Wednesday. We'll spend Mon/Tues/Wed with the Gambella kids writing their narratives for their movies, teaching them to use the Flip video cameras and still cameras, and gathering assets for their films. When the computers arrive, we'll start by teaching them how to use the mouse! We love that part. I can't wait to get back to Gambella and to work with these kids, many of whom are orphans.
Now, I remember from last year that both power and Internet are intermittent in Gambella, and Andy spent hours trying to just send me two pictures one day. So, we promise to blog (we love doing it...well, I love doing it!), but don't get concerned if you don't hear from us for a few days here and there.
SO looking forward to tomorrow!
Best,
E
We finished with the kids today. (Andy got ten minutes with them between meetings to get our computers out...more on that in a bit.) It went great. The parents arrived at 3:30 for "bites", coffee, and movie viewing. I told them all about our trip through Africa. They were curious as to why we were at ICS. I told them that I was hoping they could help me make sure that their sons and daughters paid it forward. The fact that they were already exposed to technology meant that I could take them further. I asked that they take their new knowledge and help kids in undeserved schools in Addis. They all enthusiastically agreed. We had our kids from the underserved schools there, and you could tell that the parents were happy to have their kids exposed to the idea of helping other who have fewer resources.
Andy spent the day, again, trying to get our computers out of hock at the airport. He was ten seconds away from a "yes" when someone found a signature "issue". We've been told we can get them tomorrow. Man, this could be so nerve-wracking but we've decided to be philosophical about it and just go with the flow.
So, we get up early tomorrow morning (Saturday) and pack, check out of the hotel, and meet our friend Yigzaw from the international school at 7:30am. We'll head to the airport, and hopefully get our computers out at 8:00am when the "right man" shows up. We have to check in to our Gambella flight by 9:00am. Hope we have enough time to do all of this. That said, one can never really be sure that a) the flight will go, b) one will get on the flight, even if one has confirmed one's seat, and c) the flight will actually stop in Gambella as printed on one's ticket...given the whim of the pilot and his choice of landing spots for the day.
We have many friends from Pact joining us in Gambella to help with the two week program. If we get our computers tomorrow, they will go on a slow truck to Gambella on Monday, arriving Wednesday. We'll spend Mon/Tues/Wed with the Gambella kids writing their narratives for their movies, teaching them to use the Flip video cameras and still cameras, and gathering assets for their films. When the computers arrive, we'll start by teaching them how to use the mouse! We love that part. I can't wait to get back to Gambella and to work with these kids, many of whom are orphans.
Now, I remember from last year that both power and Internet are intermittent in Gambella, and Andy spent hours trying to just send me two pictures one day. So, we promise to blog (we love doing it...well, I love doing it!), but don't get concerned if you don't hear from us for a few days here and there.
SO looking forward to tomorrow!
Best,
E
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Update from the town we’re in!
Things are going well with the students. They’ve learned quickly, and have done a wonderful job of integrating our students from the underserved schools. No problems or hiccups there at all. Smooth sailing.
On other fronts, Andy is still frantically attempting his, well, attempts. So much is happening. I’ll wait until later to update you on that front.
We leave on Saturday for Gambella. We’re really excited to get there. We’ve decided to stay an extra week. We found that in both Kigoma and Accra, we really could have used an extra week to make the students truly self-sufficient on the computers. Given that they come from no knowledge to working knowledge in five days, we realized that we could really create mentors to spread the wealth if we stayed longer. Also, it could be that we show up with just our two laptops, so we’ll work with the students in groups of six (three on each computer) in one-hour shifts throughout the day. If that happens, we’ll adapt and make it work!
We’re working with Pact Ethiopia on the Gambella project. They are amazing. Both Leslie and Jody from Pact have been so supportive in our “attempts” this week. They do incredible work in the country we’re in, and we are thrilled to be working with them.
They have a program called The Girls’ Empowerment and Management (GEM) Project. Many of the students we’ll work with will be in the same situation as some of the girls from GEM. Leslie and Jody sent us a brochure about GEM, so I thought I’d write down one of the success stories here, so that you’ll get an idea about what we’ll do next week. Since September, 2006, GEM has been implemented by Pact Ethiopia, in collaboration with the Forum on Street Children, and Action for Development.
The document Leslie and Jody gave us is called, “Stories from the Lives of Participants in the Girls’ Empowerment & Management Project.” It was authored by Katy Anis, Pact, April 2007.
This story is titled, “Chol Survives, Thrives, and Becomes a Role Model for Gambella Girls.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Chol Gatkek is an empowerment worker with the Girls’ Empowerment and Management Project. Starting out as a refugee in a camp, she has now graduated with a diploma and works to inspire girls to achieve their goals.
She recounts the story of how she got to where she is now. “I was born in Akobo, but when there was fighting, my father had an interest in being a soldier, so we moved to Sudan right after I was born. However, when there was fighting on the Sudan side of the border, we came back here. Later, I spent four years in the refugee camp in Itang until the change of government. Then, all the refugees ran back to Sudan again. This time, I stayed in Sudan only one year because there was no good school there. Here, the border is not such a big deal. People don’t see it as something so far away – they easily go back and forth.
When I was a child, in grade school, I lived with the wife of my uncle. I had to fight with this woman a lot for her to allow me to go to school. She would tell me, “The children have urinated in their clothes. You can’t go to school. You have to stay and wash their clothes.” I would tell her, “No, I must go to school. Even if you were my own mother I would tell you I have to go to school.” Every day was a struggle in that house.
Her hut was very far from the school. If I woke up at 6:00am, I would reach the school by 9:00 or 10:00 and miss all of my morning classes. So, I had to wake up at 4:00 before it was light in order to start walking and reach the school on time.
I did not have any watch in those days. One day I woke up and the sky was bright and I thought, “I am late. I must hurry to school.” As I was walking in the middle of the jungle, the moon suddenly disappeared. I realized it was midnight and I was in the middle of the jungle. It was dark and I could see nothing. I thought to myself, “Maybe this night, I will die.” But I just started moving.
As I was walking through the forest in the dark, I suddenly ran into a group of men. I could not see them and they could not see me. They thought I was an animal and they came to attack me with spears. I cried out, “Wait. Don’t kill me! I am a human being.”
When they realized I was a human, they put down their spears. They reprimanded me, saying, “What are you doing out here in the middle of the jungle?” I told them my story and they said, “You come this distance at this time for education?” Some of them began to cry. Some of them knew my father and so they sat and took counsel. They decided to split the group and some of the men went on, while the other group took me back to my living place.
When I got back, I knocked on the door and my aunt was afraid. She cried out, “Who are you? Who are you?”
“Auntie, it’s me! The moon cheated me.”
“You were supposed to die this night! Don’t you know there are animals that eat children like you?”
I was very afraid that night, but I tried to go back to sleep. But then the sky became brighter and I got up again at 4:00am to make the trek back to school.
And in this way, I made it through school.
I wanted to continue on to Grade 7 and 8, but they required me to know Amharic and I did not know it at that time. I wrote to my father telling him, “Father, I am jobless. I must come to where you are.
He wrote me a letter saying, “Stay there. I will bring your mother to you.” He sold all of his cattle to pay for the journey and the food, and he brought my mother to me. She then took me to a refugee camp. My father was later killed. When we got to the refugee camp, we had a chance to improve our economic situation because we got free food and school.
Then my fate changed.
When I was in Grade 8, I was employed by Save the Children Sweden as a Girls’ Education Mobilizer. There were many children who were living alone as heads of household there. Save the Children would look after these children. So they came to visit me and brought jerry cans and saucepans. After they spoke with me, they said, “We want you to work with us.” So they employed me.
They found that there was a high dropout rate in the schools and they wanted to know why. So I conducted home visits. We found that people did not get food. We also found that menstruating girls did not have any kind of sanitary materials. They had only one pair of underwear and after five minutes it would become full and they would change it with another sheet or some cloth, while they tried to wash the first one. The girls would stay five days in their house without going to school and would deceive people saying they were sick. So after this, we distributed eight pieces of cloth and four pairs of underwear to each girl. We also tried to reduce their workload. And then we would do follow up with them.
During that time, I was working, going to school, and taking care of a household. Just before my Grade 8 exams, my boss came and told me, “If you feel like working, fine. But take this time to study for the exams. You choose your own schedule.” I studied very hard and when exam time came, I was the first girl to get a score of 95 out of 100! My boss was surprised and told me, “I knew you would do well, but I was never expecting this!” After that, because of my results, I was awarded a scholarship to study from Grade 9 to 12.
I enjoyed working for Girls’ Empowerment. Even after I left, I would come back on school breaks and work for the project. I would also go back work as a translator doing interviews with refugees going to America for resettlement. If they paid me $10 a day, I could earn $70 in one week. That helped my economic situation.
Chol speaks Nuer, Anyuwak, English, Amharic, and Arabic fluently and goes back and forth between these languages constantly, even in one conversation. She says, “I can also understand Ndinka, but I respond in Arabic. I learned all of these languages while I was a child in the refugee camp. There were many different tribes learning together. I interacted with all of them.”
After I finished Grade 12, I was not able to get a scholarship to continue my education. So I became married and had a child. Three years later, I succeeded in getting a scholarship to pursue a diploma in the area of Community Development and Leadership at the Adventist College in Shashemene. It was so difficult to get that diploma! My child was in the care of a relative and he was always getting sick. When you hear your child is in the hospital, you do not feel good. I was always asking the dean if I could visit my child and he would refuse. But then I would cry each week, and he would find a way to allow me to go.
I was one of only two indigenous girls in the program to receive scholarship and I was the only mother. I asked the dean to consider my case, provide me a room in the school compound and allow me to manage the scholarship money myself, rather than having the money going through the school. And in that way, I supported myself to complete my diploma. Now my goal is to go to university.
I have always enjoyed working with Girls’ Empowerment. “She is my product,” Chol points to Nyobong, the intern at her side. Nyobong was in Grade 3 when Chol first began mentoring her as an 8th grader. Nyobong has now moved on to completing her own diploma. Part of Nyobong’s practicum is to work as an intern where she shadows Chol’s empowerment work, helping to distribute scholarships, conduct field visits, and translate and computerize text.
As Chol sits in front of a group of 9th grade Anyuwak and Nuer girls, she tells the story of how she survived war, the death of her parents, and getting a diploma while caring for her child. The girls sit with eyes locked, in wrapped attention. When Chol gets to the intense moments in her pursuit of education, the girls spontaneously break into clapping!
Later, when one of these girls speaks of a vision of her future, she says, “When I think of my future vision, I imagine myself like the staff in this program, standing in front of other people, talking to them and advising them what to do and how to plan their futures.” Chol continues to work as a strong and capable indigenous woman, serving as a role model and making a path for other girls like her to rise to success.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
More from Gambella next week…where we are going to meet many more girls like Chol!
Erik
On other fronts, Andy is still frantically attempting his, well, attempts. So much is happening. I’ll wait until later to update you on that front.
We leave on Saturday for Gambella. We’re really excited to get there. We’ve decided to stay an extra week. We found that in both Kigoma and Accra, we really could have used an extra week to make the students truly self-sufficient on the computers. Given that they come from no knowledge to working knowledge in five days, we realized that we could really create mentors to spread the wealth if we stayed longer. Also, it could be that we show up with just our two laptops, so we’ll work with the students in groups of six (three on each computer) in one-hour shifts throughout the day. If that happens, we’ll adapt and make it work!
We’re working with Pact Ethiopia on the Gambella project. They are amazing. Both Leslie and Jody from Pact have been so supportive in our “attempts” this week. They do incredible work in the country we’re in, and we are thrilled to be working with them.
They have a program called The Girls’ Empowerment and Management (GEM) Project. Many of the students we’ll work with will be in the same situation as some of the girls from GEM. Leslie and Jody sent us a brochure about GEM, so I thought I’d write down one of the success stories here, so that you’ll get an idea about what we’ll do next week. Since September, 2006, GEM has been implemented by Pact Ethiopia, in collaboration with the Forum on Street Children, and Action for Development.
The document Leslie and Jody gave us is called, “Stories from the Lives of Participants in the Girls’ Empowerment & Management Project.” It was authored by Katy Anis, Pact, April 2007.
This story is titled, “Chol Survives, Thrives, and Becomes a Role Model for Gambella Girls.”
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Chol Gatkek is an empowerment worker with the Girls’ Empowerment and Management Project. Starting out as a refugee in a camp, she has now graduated with a diploma and works to inspire girls to achieve their goals.
She recounts the story of how she got to where she is now. “I was born in Akobo, but when there was fighting, my father had an interest in being a soldier, so we moved to Sudan right after I was born. However, when there was fighting on the Sudan side of the border, we came back here. Later, I spent four years in the refugee camp in Itang until the change of government. Then, all the refugees ran back to Sudan again. This time, I stayed in Sudan only one year because there was no good school there. Here, the border is not such a big deal. People don’t see it as something so far away – they easily go back and forth.
When I was a child, in grade school, I lived with the wife of my uncle. I had to fight with this woman a lot for her to allow me to go to school. She would tell me, “The children have urinated in their clothes. You can’t go to school. You have to stay and wash their clothes.” I would tell her, “No, I must go to school. Even if you were my own mother I would tell you I have to go to school.” Every day was a struggle in that house.
Her hut was very far from the school. If I woke up at 6:00am, I would reach the school by 9:00 or 10:00 and miss all of my morning classes. So, I had to wake up at 4:00 before it was light in order to start walking and reach the school on time.
I did not have any watch in those days. One day I woke up and the sky was bright and I thought, “I am late. I must hurry to school.” As I was walking in the middle of the jungle, the moon suddenly disappeared. I realized it was midnight and I was in the middle of the jungle. It was dark and I could see nothing. I thought to myself, “Maybe this night, I will die.” But I just started moving.
As I was walking through the forest in the dark, I suddenly ran into a group of men. I could not see them and they could not see me. They thought I was an animal and they came to attack me with spears. I cried out, “Wait. Don’t kill me! I am a human being.”
When they realized I was a human, they put down their spears. They reprimanded me, saying, “What are you doing out here in the middle of the jungle?” I told them my story and they said, “You come this distance at this time for education?” Some of them began to cry. Some of them knew my father and so they sat and took counsel. They decided to split the group and some of the men went on, while the other group took me back to my living place.
When I got back, I knocked on the door and my aunt was afraid. She cried out, “Who are you? Who are you?”
“Auntie, it’s me! The moon cheated me.”
“You were supposed to die this night! Don’t you know there are animals that eat children like you?”
I was very afraid that night, but I tried to go back to sleep. But then the sky became brighter and I got up again at 4:00am to make the trek back to school.
And in this way, I made it through school.
I wanted to continue on to Grade 7 and 8, but they required me to know Amharic and I did not know it at that time. I wrote to my father telling him, “Father, I am jobless. I must come to where you are.
He wrote me a letter saying, “Stay there. I will bring your mother to you.” He sold all of his cattle to pay for the journey and the food, and he brought my mother to me. She then took me to a refugee camp. My father was later killed. When we got to the refugee camp, we had a chance to improve our economic situation because we got free food and school.
Then my fate changed.
When I was in Grade 8, I was employed by Save the Children Sweden as a Girls’ Education Mobilizer. There were many children who were living alone as heads of household there. Save the Children would look after these children. So they came to visit me and brought jerry cans and saucepans. After they spoke with me, they said, “We want you to work with us.” So they employed me.
They found that there was a high dropout rate in the schools and they wanted to know why. So I conducted home visits. We found that people did not get food. We also found that menstruating girls did not have any kind of sanitary materials. They had only one pair of underwear and after five minutes it would become full and they would change it with another sheet or some cloth, while they tried to wash the first one. The girls would stay five days in their house without going to school and would deceive people saying they were sick. So after this, we distributed eight pieces of cloth and four pairs of underwear to each girl. We also tried to reduce their workload. And then we would do follow up with them.
During that time, I was working, going to school, and taking care of a household. Just before my Grade 8 exams, my boss came and told me, “If you feel like working, fine. But take this time to study for the exams. You choose your own schedule.” I studied very hard and when exam time came, I was the first girl to get a score of 95 out of 100! My boss was surprised and told me, “I knew you would do well, but I was never expecting this!” After that, because of my results, I was awarded a scholarship to study from Grade 9 to 12.
I enjoyed working for Girls’ Empowerment. Even after I left, I would come back on school breaks and work for the project. I would also go back work as a translator doing interviews with refugees going to America for resettlement. If they paid me $10 a day, I could earn $70 in one week. That helped my economic situation.
Chol speaks Nuer, Anyuwak, English, Amharic, and Arabic fluently and goes back and forth between these languages constantly, even in one conversation. She says, “I can also understand Ndinka, but I respond in Arabic. I learned all of these languages while I was a child in the refugee camp. There were many different tribes learning together. I interacted with all of them.”
After I finished Grade 12, I was not able to get a scholarship to continue my education. So I became married and had a child. Three years later, I succeeded in getting a scholarship to pursue a diploma in the area of Community Development and Leadership at the Adventist College in Shashemene. It was so difficult to get that diploma! My child was in the care of a relative and he was always getting sick. When you hear your child is in the hospital, you do not feel good. I was always asking the dean if I could visit my child and he would refuse. But then I would cry each week, and he would find a way to allow me to go.
I was one of only two indigenous girls in the program to receive scholarship and I was the only mother. I asked the dean to consider my case, provide me a room in the school compound and allow me to manage the scholarship money myself, rather than having the money going through the school. And in that way, I supported myself to complete my diploma. Now my goal is to go to university.
I have always enjoyed working with Girls’ Empowerment. “She is my product,” Chol points to Nyobong, the intern at her side. Nyobong was in Grade 3 when Chol first began mentoring her as an 8th grader. Nyobong has now moved on to completing her own diploma. Part of Nyobong’s practicum is to work as an intern where she shadows Chol’s empowerment work, helping to distribute scholarships, conduct field visits, and translate and computerize text.
As Chol sits in front of a group of 9th grade Anyuwak and Nuer girls, she tells the story of how she survived war, the death of her parents, and getting a diploma while caring for her child. The girls sit with eyes locked, in wrapped attention. When Chol gets to the intense moments in her pursuit of education, the girls spontaneously break into clapping!
Later, when one of these girls speaks of a vision of her future, she says, “When I think of my future vision, I imagine myself like the staff in this program, standing in front of other people, talking to them and advising them what to do and how to plan their futures.” Chol continues to work as a strong and capable indigenous woman, serving as a role model and making a path for other girls like her to rise to success.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
More from Gambella next week…where we are going to meet many more girls like Chol!
Erik
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Frustrating and Fulfilling Day in This Country
Again, apologies for how vague this blog entry will seem. I just have to be careful. Turns out I can upload photos to Shutterfly, but this country won't allow me to share them any more. So, Ben is taking over and adding the Shutterfly links, too. Thanks Ben. An anonymous friend from an anonymous NGO told me about a website you can sign up for that allows you to surf the net anomalously in this country, but I was also blocked from that. So, I become more and more isolated here in this country. Still love it here, just slightly frustrated.
Speaking of frustration, Andy has spent all of his time here still trying to get our computers and the 3,000 books our company donated to this country out of customs. I have had to write certificates of donation, and Andy has stood in endless lines at myriad ministry offices. He was about 10 minutes away from finally getting everything out of hock when the last person he spoke to decided it wasn't going to happen. All we want to do is donate 15 laptops to a technical school in a rural area. Frustrating indeed. We're trying again tomorrow. All we can do is try. I'd tell you more about it, but I can't.
Seems Andy and I have switched roles this week. Last week, I spent every morning going to ATMs in Accra looking for cash as Andy was in the classroom. This week, Andy is in line at the ministry as I teach. I spent all last night editing the kids' narratives. I woke up early to keep going, but I didn't finish in time. So, imagine this...I took my computer out in the back of the taxi and went to work. Just picture me using my new Mac to edit video as we made the 45-minute drive through the smoggy, vibrant, and people-heavy streets of this town. Every time we stopped at a light, about 15 people would knock on the window looking for handouts and food from this firrengie (sp?), or white person, working on his computer. Weird.
We had ten indigenous kids from a local, marginalized school join us today. They looked a bit bewildered when they arrived, but Dawn, Keith (our host teachers), and I had a talk with our International kids about inclusion. We brought six of the International kids who spoke Amharic welcome our new students. I'm sure the surroundings were quite foreign to our new friends. All went well, however, as the International kids starting teaching our local kids how to use Premiere, how to use the Flip cameras, and how to write narratives. All in all, it was great to see! You can see the indiginous students and the International School students working together on the Shutterfly link Ben will post. The local kids are in red.
I am hesitant to say much more. I fear out blogs are less than satisfying to you, but I just don't want to rock the boat. It will be harder from the remote town we're going to next as the power there is so intermittent, and the Internet is all dial-up. Rest-assured, we'll do our best to keep you informed. I will be more forthcoming with information once we get our computers and books out of customs.
More later. (I hope!)
E
Speaking of frustration, Andy has spent all of his time here still trying to get our computers and the 3,000 books our company donated to this country out of customs. I have had to write certificates of donation, and Andy has stood in endless lines at myriad ministry offices. He was about 10 minutes away from finally getting everything out of hock when the last person he spoke to decided it wasn't going to happen. All we want to do is donate 15 laptops to a technical school in a rural area. Frustrating indeed. We're trying again tomorrow. All we can do is try. I'd tell you more about it, but I can't.
Seems Andy and I have switched roles this week. Last week, I spent every morning going to ATMs in Accra looking for cash as Andy was in the classroom. This week, Andy is in line at the ministry as I teach. I spent all last night editing the kids' narratives. I woke up early to keep going, but I didn't finish in time. So, imagine this...I took my computer out in the back of the taxi and went to work. Just picture me using my new Mac to edit video as we made the 45-minute drive through the smoggy, vibrant, and people-heavy streets of this town. Every time we stopped at a light, about 15 people would knock on the window looking for handouts and food from this firrengie (sp?), or white person, working on his computer. Weird.
We had ten indigenous kids from a local, marginalized school join us today. They looked a bit bewildered when they arrived, but Dawn, Keith (our host teachers), and I had a talk with our International kids about inclusion. We brought six of the International kids who spoke Amharic welcome our new students. I'm sure the surroundings were quite foreign to our new friends. All went well, however, as the International kids starting teaching our local kids how to use Premiere, how to use the Flip cameras, and how to write narratives. All in all, it was great to see! You can see the indiginous students and the International School students working together on the Shutterfly link Ben will post. The local kids are in red.
I am hesitant to say much more. I fear out blogs are less than satisfying to you, but I just don't want to rock the boat. It will be harder from the remote town we're going to next as the power there is so intermittent, and the Internet is all dial-up. Rest-assured, we'll do our best to keep you informed. I will be more forthcoming with information once we get our computers and books out of customs.
More later. (I hope!)
E
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Takin' It Slow in Addis
Hey there!
We had a very successful day in Addis. We got up at 5am, did some Shutterfly work, then went to ICS (an International School) to set up at 7am. We still don't have our laptop computers (more on that in a bit), but we were able to use the media lab at ICS and load software. These kids are quick, quick, quick. It is a good lesson in socio-economic disparity for us. These kids come from money, and so have access to better education. It just punctuates, for me, the need to head out to remote areas and bring technology. I just know that kids like Never, Isack, and Saada are going to go to college, and I'm betting that their time learning digital arts will be a key factor in this.
The kids here are making PSAs about environmental issues. There are many good things about being here. First, these kids are so accustomed to using computers that we can go really fast. This will mean that they can quickly become mentors. They go on outings to villages once a year, so our kids here will be positioned to do our digital arts program with marginalized kids by the end of this week. Second, it is a bit of a break from all of the emotions for Andy and me. There have been so many tough moments over the past six weeks (and there are SURE to be some more in Gambella next week), that it is good for us to take a moment to partake in some slow breathing.
Tomorrow, we have 10 kids coming from some of the poorest schools in Addis to join our International kids. We had a long talk today about inclusion. It will probably be some of the more affluent kids' first encounters with under-served members of Addis society. I can't wait for the cross-cultural mixing to begin.
I have to be vague in my attempts to tell you that I have to be vague. Andy spent much of the day trying to finagle our computers out of customs. We worked for hours last night trying to figure it out, and Andy spent many more hours today. We are going to donate the computers to a tech school in Gambella that has 500 students and just a few, very outdated computers. When we told the school that we were doing this, you could hear the screams and shouts for miles. More on Gambella toward the end of the week. It looks like we might get our computers today, but I can't say more than that right now.
Andy and I are going to edit the kids' narratives tonight and continue to do post-production on the movies from our other countries. No days off, but we wouldn't have it any other way. This trip has been life-changing. Oh, and we got in a small car accident on the crazy streets of Addis today. Our wonderful taxi driver is a master at weaving in and out. Lanes? Who needs 'em! (Jaime, you'd love driving here.) A big, dented bus carrying tons of people pulled right into us (honestly, Andy and I have been waiting for this as it seems like we should have been in at least ten fender benders by now). We watched the haggling, then our driver sped off. We were hoping for some kind of tussle, but it just ended with no drama.
Andy is off now buying ear-buds and splitters so that the kids can hear their narratives tomorrow. I am editing their films and sending this blog to Ben so that he can upload it. Thanks Ben.
More tomorrow.
E
We had a very successful day in Addis. We got up at 5am, did some Shutterfly work, then went to ICS (an International School) to set up at 7am. We still don't have our laptop computers (more on that in a bit), but we were able to use the media lab at ICS and load software. These kids are quick, quick, quick. It is a good lesson in socio-economic disparity for us. These kids come from money, and so have access to better education. It just punctuates, for me, the need to head out to remote areas and bring technology. I just know that kids like Never, Isack, and Saada are going to go to college, and I'm betting that their time learning digital arts will be a key factor in this.
The kids here are making PSAs about environmental issues. There are many good things about being here. First, these kids are so accustomed to using computers that we can go really fast. This will mean that they can quickly become mentors. They go on outings to villages once a year, so our kids here will be positioned to do our digital arts program with marginalized kids by the end of this week. Second, it is a bit of a break from all of the emotions for Andy and me. There have been so many tough moments over the past six weeks (and there are SURE to be some more in Gambella next week), that it is good for us to take a moment to partake in some slow breathing.
Tomorrow, we have 10 kids coming from some of the poorest schools in Addis to join our International kids. We had a long talk today about inclusion. It will probably be some of the more affluent kids' first encounters with under-served members of Addis society. I can't wait for the cross-cultural mixing to begin.
I have to be vague in my attempts to tell you that I have to be vague. Andy spent much of the day trying to finagle our computers out of customs. We worked for hours last night trying to figure it out, and Andy spent many more hours today. We are going to donate the computers to a tech school in Gambella that has 500 students and just a few, very outdated computers. When we told the school that we were doing this, you could hear the screams and shouts for miles. More on Gambella toward the end of the week. It looks like we might get our computers today, but I can't say more than that right now.
Andy and I are going to edit the kids' narratives tonight and continue to do post-production on the movies from our other countries. No days off, but we wouldn't have it any other way. This trip has been life-changing. Oh, and we got in a small car accident on the crazy streets of Addis today. Our wonderful taxi driver is a master at weaving in and out. Lanes? Who needs 'em! (Jaime, you'd love driving here.) A big, dented bus carrying tons of people pulled right into us (honestly, Andy and I have been waiting for this as it seems like we should have been in at least ten fender benders by now). We watched the haggling, then our driver sped off. We were hoping for some kind of tussle, but it just ended with no drama.
Andy is off now buying ear-buds and splitters so that the kids can hear their narratives tomorrow. I am editing their films and sending this blog to Ben so that he can upload it. Thanks Ben.
More tomorrow.
E
Kelly and Mitch Love Botswana!
Hey, Erik here. Kelly and Mitch have finally found enough free moments to blog about Botswana, so here it is!
It wasn't my first time to Botswana, but I learned so much more about
this lovely country the second time around and have come to
appreciate it even further. We were lucky enough to be around for
the 44th anniversary of their independence. We didn't get to stay
for all of the fireworks but we did get to see the pride the
Botswanans have in their country. And rightfully so! Only 44 years
ago Botswana was a poor country suffering many of the same problems
that exist throughout Africa, however, Botswana was lucky enough to
find diamonds within their boarders and, thanks to a government that
was not corrupt and cared for it's people, it's now a fast growing,
thriving country and a shining example to other African countries.
There are malls and universities, but they have still managed to keep
a huge portion of their land reserved for the wildlife. In Botswana
you won't see as many tourists on your game drives as other
countries. Botswana has adopted a policy of high quality, low volume
tourism, keeping the reserves less damaged and untouched.
It is, however, the people that make Botswana a wonderful place.
Unlike so many other countries in Africa, you don't have to worry
about getting pick pocketed or cheated out of your money or about
your safety. The people of Botswana are not violent and do not like
confrontation. Granted, you can't always get exactly what you want
all the time there (fast internet, for one thing) but the people are
very generous and accommodating.
Working with some of the orphans at the media arts camp put on by the
Pearson Foundation was one of the highlights of my trip. In this
camp, run by Erik and Andy, they were taught how to use computers,
take still photos and use digital video cameras. I'm sure none of
them had ever touched a computer or video camera before. The wonders
of a digital camera where you could immediately see the results was
so amusing to them they constantly erupted in fits of laughter seeing
the photos of themselves on the camera monitor.
They were able to take the cameras back to the orphanage to shoot as
much footage as the camera could hold, and the results were amazing.
We were able to see them completely uninhibited. They and their
fellow orphans felt right at home when one of their own was behind
the camera and they hammed it up.
I also had the opportunity to interview them and the results were
amazing. They told me how they came to their orphanage. Some lost
their parents to AIDS, some had parents that were just too poor to
take care of them. Listening to their stories brought tears to my
eyes more than once, but being able to see their faces when they saw
pictures of themselves and hearing them laugh out loud made me so
proud to be able to be a part of this event.
Thank you Erik and Andy for all of your hard work and thank you
Pearson Foundation for making it all happen.
pula!
Kelly Hu
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hello From Addis
Andy and I made it safely to Addis after a 7-hour flight (stopped in Lagos). There was nobody on the plane for the 42 minute flight from Accra to Lagos, so we stretched out. Then, the plane filled up in Lagos, so we had to sleep all crunched up. All good. It meant we could spend another day with the kids in Accra, so we didn't mind a bit.
Ben is posting this for us because we can't blog from here. I really can't say anything more than that, sorry. Need to be a bit vague about that.
We'll send Ben a new blog entry tomorrow after we start with our kids. We're making PSAs about environmental issues with students from an International school. We're also inviting students from several underserved schools in Addis. It will be interesting to see how they mix.
Our computers are stuck in customs because they want an exhorbitant amount of money to get them out. We're working on a fix, but it has been an extremely frustrating day today trying to get in touch with people who can help us. We have a computer lab at the International school, so we loaded Premiere on those machines today. We're good to go this week. The problem is that we are donating the laptops to a school in Gambella, and they could REALLY use them. But, we can't get our computers out of customs. Cross your fingers for us.
More tomorrow,
Erik
Ben is posting this for us because we can't blog from here. I really can't say anything more than that, sorry. Need to be a bit vague about that.
We'll send Ben a new blog entry tomorrow after we start with our kids. We're making PSAs about environmental issues with students from an International school. We're also inviting students from several underserved schools in Addis. It will be interesting to see how they mix.
Our computers are stuck in customs because they want an exhorbitant amount of money to get them out. We're working on a fix, but it has been an extremely frustrating day today trying to get in touch with people who can help us. We have a computer lab at the International school, so we loaded Premiere on those machines today. We're good to go this week. The problem is that we are donating the laptops to a school in Gambella, and they could REALLY use them. But, we can't get our computers out of customs. Cross your fingers for us.
More tomorrow,
Erik
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Last Day In Accra
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Last Day in Accra
Wow. What a day. But before I talk about today, a few more items from the video pen pal program yesterday.
Lori and Claire Dillon did an amazing job setting it up in Chicago, and Peggy Blanchard did the same in Lake Charles. The kids on both sides had a blast. Here are some comments Lori sent through from some of her teachers.
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Lori,
My students were so impressed with the telecast; far more than I thoughtthey would be. I will show my other classes the video I taped during thetelecast and the video clips. I discussed fund raising possibilities withall four classes, and they are all ready to go. Their homework (dueTuesday), is to come up with a(n) idea(s) regarding how we can best raisethe necessary money to rescue a child. Each class period would like toplan their own activity(ies), and they are up for a competition betweenthe three 6th grade teams (Carol Lynne suggested a thermometer in the mainhallway to monitor growth). Raffle idea is great, too! They particularlyliked the idea of another telecast in which they all can see their giftbeing handed to Eric (or whomever) and the children accepting it. Theyare thinking of having all this done so you could, perhaps, hand deliveran installment. Perhaps this is too lofty a goal and they understand theremay be a conflict with the Association House. I will talk to StudentServices (will see Sue H. tomorrow). I have already had a parent email meregarding a donation. If we could only bottle their energy and generousspirits, we could rescue them all! Thank you, Lori, for all your work incoordinating this.
Taylor Monroe
Lori,Thanks so much for coming and having the video-conferencing with us. That was awesome! I know it wasn't easy with all the technical difficulties and all. Thanks for your patience. My other class was so disappointed they couldn't do the video conferencing. If there are other opportunities to video-conference, I vote we do it again :)I'm all for the fund raising idea too. Yes, whatever we can do to rescue more children. Let us know how we can help with that.I showed the video clip that you sent us to the class that didn't get to video conf. and they loved even that short clip. Thanks for sending us all the links.My students are very anxious to begin this pen pal project. It's so neat to see how excited they all are about this.Susie OhLori-
WOW! It's about all can say.... WOW! The students who were fortunate enough to be in the teleconference- both classes- will never quite be the same- What a fantastic, compassionate, educational experience this was for all. We can't wait to receive our pen pals, to build a relationship with these amazing kids, and to help in any way we can-Thank you very much-
Katie Schiyer
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My favorite memories of the day…
Because there was a slight delay, we taught all the kids to say, “over” when they finished talking, then to wait for a few seconds. It worked great. The rest of the day, the kids would be talking to each other like this: “How was your lunch, over.” Just fine, over.”
One of our kids asked the a student in Chicago, “How big is your village?” The look on the Chicago student’s face was priceless, “Uh (looking around for guidance in complete bewilderment), 19 million?”
One of our kids was telling the kids in Chicago about being trapped in the nets and beaten mercilessly by his master. He ended his very poignant story by demonstrating the master beating him with a paddle, “I have dent in my head from it.” When he did this, all of his friends on the Ghana side started laughing hysterically because he had missed his head with the ersatz paddle. The kids in Chicago just stared at the screen, not sure whether to smile along or what. They all started laughing together, and it was a truly priceless moment.
We had just finished when Lori said, “Erik! One more group, can we? They really want to talk.” So, we did. Alfred (Ghana) told the story of his time with his master, and then begged the Chicago students to help. They said they would do everything they could. Then, they talked sports. When the kids asked if the Ghana students knew of the Chicago Bears, they (of course) did not. But, our astute students all said back, “We hope your team wins!” There was an immediate uproar in Chicago. Both groups sang songs to each other, and then we ended with a riotous bit of waving and signing off. Awesome.
Andy and I finished with each group today, and then sent the others to go play football (not American football) and take pictures. You can see some of their stunning photos on Shutterfly. Give me a couple of hours to upload the photos as the Internet seems to be really slow today.
When we finished, the girls all decided that it was time for Andy to have some corn-rows in his hair. So, the porch-side beauty salon went into action. Totally fun.
I sang the kids’ new favorite repeating and clapping song, “I said A Boom Chicka Boom!” (Thanks to my first-grade teacher Mom for supplying me with endless activities to keep the kids occupied.)
Here is what you do:
Start a clap then hit your knees with the flat of your hand, and then clap, knees, clap, repeat. On the beat, sing, “I said a Boom Chicka Boom.” The kids immediately repeat on the beat. Again, “I said a Boom Chicka Boom.” Then, “I said a Boom Chicka Rocka Chicka Rocka Chicka Boom!” “Oh, yeah.” “Uh, huh.” “One more time now…” Then, change the speed, do it quiet, do it loud, do is sad, do it crazy. The kids and I did this for HOURS this week. Every time they walked by me outside they said, “I said a Boom Chicka Boom!”
We took some silly photos, and then the kids went off to bathe. I walked through the teaming and humid streets of Accra and bought them some treats for the movie night extravaganza. I bought Andy a beer and a little bottle of very sweet (oh well) wine for myself. We really needed to wind down after a marathon week of digital arts with our lovely, recently trafficked children. Honestly, we are wiped out, as Andy stated, but in the best way. We come home at night and do post-production on the movies from the last six weeks as everyone is so anxious to have their films. It is kind of fun to re-visit our time in Kigoma, etc.
Paul Koyah from Pearson Longman, Ghana showed up with some of the Sara books and other Longman offerings to give to the kids. Andy, Jenny Raymond, and Mark from the Foundation have worked tirelessly to get books to these kids. They don’t own any books in most of their villages. Thanks to Fathima, Mary-Clare, and Sandra from Pearson Longman in South Africa for making this happen. Paul handed us the books and we put them aside for distribution after the movie premiere. We showed all of the kids’ movies and Joe (head of the IOM office here) was astounded, as was Eric. These are kids they rescued with their own hands. These are kids who were so defeated by life when they picked them up from Yeji, the fishing village where they were sent. Now, they were thriving and had learned how to not only use computers for the first time, but master some difficult software. Their movies are, well, incredible.
I had taken about 100 photos from the week and made bound booklets for each of the kids to take home. We handed those out, along with the Longman, MML and UNICEF books. The kids were ecstatic. They clutched those books like it was Christmas morning in America. They all wrote their names in the books, and then we went out for a group photo.
We said goodbye for the night. It was really tough not to start crying and blubbering. I gave some of my clothing to Never to take to his dad and a bunch of cleaning supplies and medicines to take to his mom (I can always buy more of that!). Never asked me how all of the supplies and medicines worked. He was so gracious and thankful. I’m going to really, really, really miss Never. He was so happy to find out that we are going to leave a laptop in his village (New Bakpe is the name…you saw photos of us filming the other day…that took place in New Bakpe.) He promised to keep learning and send us movies that he makes this year.
We are going to go pick up the kids now (it is Saturday), and take them to the airport. No, not to get on planes, but to watch them. They have long drives home today to their villages and all they wanted to do was go somewhere where they could watch some planes land and take off as they have never seen it and can’t imagine how it works. So, off we go! I’m going to go to the store and buy each of them a huge sack of rice to take home to their villages. Hunger is a big problem, so I want to do something from the Pearson Foundation to help out.
Andy and I will then spend the day with Eric in his home and, undoubtedly, have another wonderful meal. Then we’ll walk around this crazy and bustling city before we head to the airport at 7pm for our red-eye flight to Addis. We get to Ethiopia at 7am tomorrow. We start immediately with a day of professional development with teachers from all over Ethiopia, and then work with kids starting Tuesday.
More from our whirlwind tour when we get to our next, and last, country.
E
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Worn Out
Three blog entries in three days. The world is ending. Andy is here.
We had another brilliant day. I have to be honest though; we are exhausted. It gets to be pretty overwhelming to have so many intense and incredible experiences with no pause in between. Today was no exception. We started the day with the kids working on their movies. The electricity went out, so the kids started drawing more pictures to add to their movies. At eleven o' clock this morning, twelve kids and I drove over to the IOM offices in Accra. Erik stayed with the remaining kids at the center.
We had our video pen-pal day scheduled today with three groups. Two were with Lori and Claire in the Chicago area, and the other was with Peggy and Ronald's class from Lake Charles Louisiana. We started off a bit rough with the Internet, but once we established a good connection we had a ton of fun. The kids from both Ghana and America seemed in awe that they were actually talking to each other in live-time. The conversation usually started with names and ages, eventually moving into school, sports and food. The most confusing subject is the difference between "football" and "American football." I don't know why America calls football soccer. It really makes more sense to call American football "rugby version 2..." but I digress.
The kids from America then began to ask the kids here about what it was like to be trafficked. I was impressed with how open both groups of kids were. They talked back and forth (when the Internet allowed), and really got into some serious conversations. My hope is that this experience sparked a realization in both groups of kids that the world is pretty small, and no matter where you are from, you have a lot in common. It ended with the kids from America asking the kids here if they can become friends, and the response from here was a huge YES.
Whew. So after that kind of day, Erik and I came back to the hotel to realize that we have about 10 hours of work to do before tomorrow. Man... I am going to sleep for a month when I get back. As tired as I am, I only have one thing to complain about. Tonight at dinner, a group of about 15 loud and obnoxious American dudes showed up at the restaurant bar. We sat and watched as they took booze from behind the bar when the bartender wasn't looking, insulted every patron of the restaurant, and continued on to make every social and cultural mistake that is humanly possible. Luckily, it was the first group of stereotypical loud Americans that we have encountered, but they were sure a disgrace to the country. Erik and I were ashamed. If you know me, you know how much I love it when Americans are like that. Anyway... enough of them.
It seems weird to think that we are almost done with this blitz trip! Only one more country (Ethiopia). So until we write again, I will say adios.
Medawasee (Thank you in Twi - one of the languages here in Accra).
A.dog
We had another brilliant day. I have to be honest though; we are exhausted. It gets to be pretty overwhelming to have so many intense and incredible experiences with no pause in between. Today was no exception. We started the day with the kids working on their movies. The electricity went out, so the kids started drawing more pictures to add to their movies. At eleven o' clock this morning, twelve kids and I drove over to the IOM offices in Accra. Erik stayed with the remaining kids at the center.
We had our video pen-pal day scheduled today with three groups. Two were with Lori and Claire in the Chicago area, and the other was with Peggy and Ronald's class from Lake Charles Louisiana. We started off a bit rough with the Internet, but once we established a good connection we had a ton of fun. The kids from both Ghana and America seemed in awe that they were actually talking to each other in live-time. The conversation usually started with names and ages, eventually moving into school, sports and food. The most confusing subject is the difference between "football" and "American football." I don't know why America calls football soccer. It really makes more sense to call American football "rugby version 2..." but I digress.
The kids from America then began to ask the kids here about what it was like to be trafficked. I was impressed with how open both groups of kids were. They talked back and forth (when the Internet allowed), and really got into some serious conversations. My hope is that this experience sparked a realization in both groups of kids that the world is pretty small, and no matter where you are from, you have a lot in common. It ended with the kids from America asking the kids here if they can become friends, and the response from here was a huge YES.
Whew. So after that kind of day, Erik and I came back to the hotel to realize that we have about 10 hours of work to do before tomorrow. Man... I am going to sleep for a month when I get back. As tired as I am, I only have one thing to complain about. Tonight at dinner, a group of about 15 loud and obnoxious American dudes showed up at the restaurant bar. We sat and watched as they took booze from behind the bar when the bartender wasn't looking, insulted every patron of the restaurant, and continued on to make every social and cultural mistake that is humanly possible. Luckily, it was the first group of stereotypical loud Americans that we have encountered, but they were sure a disgrace to the country. Erik and I were ashamed. If you know me, you know how much I love it when Americans are like that. Anyway... enough of them.
It seems weird to think that we are almost done with this blitz trip! Only one more country (Ethiopia). So until we write again, I will say adios.
Medawasee (Thank you in Twi - one of the languages here in Accra).
A.dog
Happy Birthday Beth!
In the tradition of saying happy birthday on the blog: Happy birthday to my little sister Beth!
This blog will be short, more later.
Andy
This blog will be short, more later.
Andy
Accra Art Day
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(First, go to the blog entry below if you want to see the Ghana student welcome messages. I didn't realize I had to paste the direct URL for each video.)
Andy started the day with a lesson on using transitions (not too many!) in Premiere. I, of course, got in an IOM SUV and searched ATMs that might spit out a paltry few Ghana Cedis on our way to Western Union. Finally, some success. I got 100 Cedis (about $100) and also got the Western Union money Mark had sent. Hooray. We were able to pay the food lady and the transportation dude, and Andy and I have $50 each to whoop it up on Friday. We leave here Saturday at 9pm and arrive in Addis at 7am the next day.
We had another lunch of maize balls (taste good, like raw, sour, bread dough). We had fish and okra stew along with it. I was able to eat it all up the other day, but any of you who know about my "issue" with phlegmy, glutinous food know that it took all of my fortitude to get it down. Yesterday, as I watched the gooey mass go from bowl to mouth as our very hungry students slurped and gurgled, I hit a food wall. Imagine a broth made of the okra juice, and you know what I mean. Nothing against the food at all! It is all about my issue. I tried, but just couldn't do it!
In the afternoon, we had a conversation about using artwork for the beginnings of their films when they describe the deplorable conditions at the fishing village. They all came up with some great ideas for pictures they were going to draw. The boys all decided to draw the canoes, nets, kids getting caught in them, the masters beating them, and the Ghana flag (to put in their films when they introduce themselves). The girls decided to draw the mats for drying and smoking fish, the kitchens, the mistresses beating them, etc. I walked out of the compound and down the dirt road lined with hundreds of tiny tin huts that sell everything from 1970s televisions to laptop computers to fish heads to motor oil. I found a little hut that had paper and crayons. I also bought 35 lollipops ($1.05 for all). The kids were THRILLED to start drawing and they came up with some great stuff. Andy and I played some pumping house dance music as loud as we could, and we all danced, drew, and laughed all afternoon. At one point, I had to stop and take it all in. Here were kids drawing pictures of the scariest moments of their lives, and now they were all fed, thriving, and making movies that they hoped would help serve to free some of their friends still in the village.
We went to the IOM office to upload the welcome messages on YouTube and take pictures of their drawings to add to their films. Then, we headed over to Eric Peasah's house for a great meal of succulent spicy chicken, coconut cabbage (yummy), basmati rice, diced fried plantain, carrots and peas, and the most incredible and spicy corned beef in tomato sauce. We stuffed ourselves as this was the best meal we've had in six weeks. We played with his adorable sons Wasi and Fifi (nicknames), rolling around on the floor, doing gymnastics, and looking at wedding photos of mama and papa. Eric's wife had obviously worked all day to make this incredible meal, so we thanked her profusely and then headed to the hotel to sleep off our extreme fatigue.
Today, we go to the IOM office with the kids so that they can meet their new friends in America on Skype. We told Lori in Chicago and Peggy in Lake Charles not to have the American students pull any punches when they ask about what it was like to be trafficked. These Ghana students are very willing to talk. Their hope is that by talking to kids in the States, more people will help IOM save their friends who live the most frightening lives you can imagine.
More tomorrow. Shutterfly photos to the right.
E
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
REDUX Student Introductions from Ghana and the U.S.
As you might know, we are working with Lori and Claire Dillon in Chicago and Peggy Blanchard in Lake Charles, Louisiana tomorrow on a Video Pen Pal program. We're all set, and the kids couldn't be more excited! You can get a preview now by viewing some of the welcome messages the kids filmed today.
(Next morning: Sorry! Didn't realize I had to post the exact URLs. Here goes:)
Videos from Ghana
Never: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6TnNUu5Yks
Our other amazing Ghana kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkxNFtqpQI0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XNJZrjcK9A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1sL7gIzGl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQP6kUyBMc0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAz3np5eIRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50cXCWLFA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qqhrmhAbtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZP2ESh5vLk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60AccPklY0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4G4VBFv6X0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeULaDZTnEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd4IRu0p68Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnQ9LZSDlZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH3805__clo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuimUZA9QfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcTDCy8PgK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghqwzmx8G9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nYbzEUjiZE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY_CF-FtRBA
Videos from Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgrXugOBQu4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvN5tC69s8
Will blog about our great day...tomorrow. Andy and I are WIPED OUT!
E
(Next morning: Sorry! Didn't realize I had to post the exact URLs. Here goes:)
Videos from Ghana
Never: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6TnNUu5Yks
Our other amazing Ghana kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkxNFtqpQI0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XNJZrjcK9A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1sL7gIzGl8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQP6kUyBMc0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAz3np5eIRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50cXCWLFA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qqhrmhAbtk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZP2ESh5vLk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60AccPklY0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4G4VBFv6X0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeULaDZTnEk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd4IRu0p68Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnQ9LZSDlZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH3805__clo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuimUZA9QfI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcTDCy8PgK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghqwzmx8G9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nYbzEUjiZE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY_CF-FtRBA
Videos from Chicago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgrXugOBQu4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvN5tC69s8
Will blog about our great day...tomorrow. Andy and I are WIPED OUT!
E
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
From 0 - 60 in three days
Shhh... don't tell Erik, but I am blogging now (this is Andy). I think if he knew that I was blogging, he might stop breathing, and we wouldn't want that.
Today was just too cool to not blog about. We had a "computer" day today. While it might not be as exciting to those of us who live on computers, it was a brilliant day for the thirty-four kids that are now confident computer users. We started the day with Erik leaving on another mission to attempt to get some money for the cooks. Apparently the money gods have put a curse on Erik Gregory's ability to get money. He couldn't get any money from the 300 Western Unions in Ghana. Luckily, Mark (the main guy at the Foundation) was able to stand in line at Safeway long enough to wire us some money directly.
While Erik was on his adventure, the kids and I were having our own adventure with Microsoft Paint. We discovered that the best way to get kids good at using the mouse is to get them into the Paint program. They mix art with coordination, and BAM! they are pros at the computer. Seriously. Once they figure out how to use the mouse, I taught them the movie-making program in about two hours. I have never seen a group of kids go from 0-60 so quickly. I told the older kids that it was their responsibility to look after the younger kids, and even the 8 yr. olds were editing movies.
We ended the day by reviewing all the pictures from the previous days. The kids screamed when they like a picture, and booed when they didn't like a picture. We are going to print out a booklet of pictures for each of the kids to take with them when we leave. Brilliant. It was just fun. Lots of dancing, screaming, and laughing with the kids. It's astounding when I think about what they have been through, compared to the unabashed happiness I see now. There's nothing better than bustin' out a dance in the middle of class, and having 34 kids start dancing with you.
Tomorrow we are going to have the kids start editing their own movies. It should be good.
One more story before I retire my blogging for another spell. When we first got to Ghana (4 days ago), Erik and I had slept for about 2 hours after the late night/early flight from Tanzania. We both got to the hotel and said "peace out" to each other (we both needed a nap). Right when I was about to fall asleep, I heard a massive crowd singing something. I thought there was a parade or a rally happening outside, so I walked out onto my porch/balcony to see what it was. It was silent outside. I opened my door into the hallway, and heard a HUGE wall of singing/chanting/stomping coming down the hall. I was so confused having almost been asleep. It turns out that the South African soccer team was staying in the same hall as us. They played Ghana on Sunday. Ghana won 3-1. The South African team was silent on Sunday night. It was pretty funny, but it was cool to meet the team.
Anyway... I think I might start into a seizure if I blog much more, so I will sign off.
Talk to you later.
A.
P.S. Ghana and Tanzania are two of my new favorite countries. They are just cool.
Today was just too cool to not blog about. We had a "computer" day today. While it might not be as exciting to those of us who live on computers, it was a brilliant day for the thirty-four kids that are now confident computer users. We started the day with Erik leaving on another mission to attempt to get some money for the cooks. Apparently the money gods have put a curse on Erik Gregory's ability to get money. He couldn't get any money from the 300 Western Unions in Ghana. Luckily, Mark (the main guy at the Foundation) was able to stand in line at Safeway long enough to wire us some money directly.
While Erik was on his adventure, the kids and I were having our own adventure with Microsoft Paint. We discovered that the best way to get kids good at using the mouse is to get them into the Paint program. They mix art with coordination, and BAM! they are pros at the computer. Seriously. Once they figure out how to use the mouse, I taught them the movie-making program in about two hours. I have never seen a group of kids go from 0-60 so quickly. I told the older kids that it was their responsibility to look after the younger kids, and even the 8 yr. olds were editing movies.
We ended the day by reviewing all the pictures from the previous days. The kids screamed when they like a picture, and booed when they didn't like a picture. We are going to print out a booklet of pictures for each of the kids to take with them when we leave. Brilliant. It was just fun. Lots of dancing, screaming, and laughing with the kids. It's astounding when I think about what they have been through, compared to the unabashed happiness I see now. There's nothing better than bustin' out a dance in the middle of class, and having 34 kids start dancing with you.
Tomorrow we are going to have the kids start editing their own movies. It should be good.
One more story before I retire my blogging for another spell. When we first got to Ghana (4 days ago), Erik and I had slept for about 2 hours after the late night/early flight from Tanzania. We both got to the hotel and said "peace out" to each other (we both needed a nap). Right when I was about to fall asleep, I heard a massive crowd singing something. I thought there was a parade or a rally happening outside, so I walked out onto my porch/balcony to see what it was. It was silent outside. I opened my door into the hallway, and heard a HUGE wall of singing/chanting/stomping coming down the hall. I was so confused having almost been asleep. It turns out that the South African soccer team was staying in the same hall as us. They played Ghana on Sunday. Ghana won 3-1. The South African team was silent on Sunday night. It was pretty funny, but it was cool to meet the team.
Anyway... I think I might start into a seizure if I blog much more, so I will sign off.
Talk to you later.
A.
P.S. Ghana and Tanzania are two of my new favorite countries. They are just cool.
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