Thursday 8th July
Things are really into full swing now. Our two lessons this morning, the first in our new permanent classroom – apparently we were too noisy, despite being the only people in the school during the holidays! – went really well. This afternoon was also my first at the Kindu Trust. Today I helped with some of the accounts, a task that sounds boring, but takes on a new meaning when matching sponsor donations to the names of the children due to receive them. I even ended up helping the staff with how to use a database; who would have thought that GCSE IT would come in handy out here?
In the evening we had dinner with a salsa teacher who we later found out was a judge on Ethiopian Idol (it really does exist, we watched it in a café the other day!). Maybe this is our chance for a big break.
Tomorrow we head up to the Simien Mountains for 3 days, trekking through the famous landscape and sampling some incredible wildlife. We leave at dawn, and start with a three hour trip in a 4x4 to the Northern Highland town of Debark. I can’t wait.
Friday 9th July to Sunday 11th July (Simien Mountains)
At dawn then, me, Courtney, Megan and Sheree got into a 4x4 and headed for the road that takes us North. I had expected at least tarmac on the road, but the car was fortunately more than up the challenge of muddy, rocky and sometimes flooded roads on the 100km journey.
Three hours later in Debark we entered the National Park. In the office was a stuffed leopard, an animal we hadn’t realised could be found here. Our fears were confirmed when we were allocated a scout with an AK47 for our protection. He jumped into the back of the car with a cook and several other people who we neither knew who they were nor how they managed to fit into the 4x4.
The moment we got away from the town, and into the foothills, we saw our first animals. The Gelada Baboons, found only in Ethiopia, are beautiful creatures, with fiery red skin on their chests (like the ones in The Lion King), giving them the nickname ‘bleeding heart baboons’. We couldn’t get very close, but it was a sight nonetheless.
We trekked 14km on the first day, with a couple of amazing views across the volcanic landscape, but unfortunately most were obscured by low clouds. The spectacular scenery did, however, give us some walks along sheer cliff edges with unimaginably deep drops.
In the evening our cook prepared us food that was probably better than anything we had eaten back in Gondar, and we made friends with a couple of Israeli girls, a few Germans and a Chinese man. Huddled around a multicultural campfire sheltering from the cold and wet weather, various classics such as ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ and ‘Good Vibrations’ were given outstanding renditions. There was even some rap on show, but the less said about that the better.
Greeted by bread and nutella for breakfast (well not quite nutella, but it tasted like it) on our second day of trekking, we prepared ourselves for a 17km walk up to a peak. All morning we trudged uphill in dire weather until we reached the top at 4070m, but again the low cloud thwarted our chances of seeing the supposedly magnificent view. We settled for munching on fresh mangoes at what felt like the top of the world, staring into the misty abyss below.
A little disheartened having not seen a lot of animals or many views during the day, we arrived at our new camp. No sooner had we sat down to some coffee with the Israelis (as you do) than I saw a magnificent Walia Ibex on the hill a couple of hundred yards away. Armed with cameras, we snuck over to find a couple of the majestic beasts with enormous antlers grazing behind our campsite. We later discovered a herd of nine or ten of the critically endangered animals munching on the trees behind our tents.
As if that wasn’t enough, when the Ibex moved out, the baboons moved in. A whole group of about 50 came and picked at the grass right next to us. They seemed happy for us to be amongst them, and didn’t seem perturbed by me taking dozens of pictures of them as they walked all around me. They’re very human-like, even down to the noises they make – little mumblings almost. The clouds even lifted for us just long enough to see the spectacular views down the valleys, rounding off an amazing couple of hours.
Sunday began with more low clouds, but the hot breakfast more than made up for that and the chilly night spent in our tents. The plan was to go for a morning hike up to a viewpoint, so we headed off, this time with Patrick, a German guy about my age, coming with us so he could hitch a lift back to Gondar with us. When we had arrived in Debark on Friday we had been puzzled as to why so many locals carried umbrellas, when some didn’t even have shoes. Today we found out: having got to the viewpoint, unfortunately without the view, the journey back saw the heavens open. Soaked to the skin, the return journey would best be described as squelchy. We were relieved to be back and to have dry clothes again, but it had been an incredible weekend, in spectacular surroundings, with great company from humans and animals alike.
We rounded the day off, back in Gondar, watching the World Cup Final on a big screen by the castle with the locals. It’s a shame the game wasn’t more exciting, but the place went mad when Spain scored. I wonder what it would have been like had it been Ghana scoring in the final.
Monday 12th July
The start of my second week of teaching was also the beginning of a couple of other things. Firstly, the first time that I finally had a full weekly programme, encompassing teaching each morning and a couple of afternoons, and other volunteer work the rest of the time. And secondly, the moment when reality really hit home.
It was at the Mother Theresa project, where I’ll be working on Friday afternoons from now on. I went this afternoon to introduce myself and offer my help for a couple of hours a week, and I realise now it may be the most worthwhile thing I do here.
The project is essentially a shelter for children who have nowhere else to go: mentally ill, orphaned and disabled children. Wandering through the men’s section, the sheer range of disabilities and difficulties these people endure shocked me. At first I was stunned into silence, but soon realised that communication is something they crave. In the children’s section, where I will be helping, I was greeted by a child running to me and hugging me, with an expression of glee on his face. I couldn’t work out whether to feel sympathetic and sad for his plight, or inspired that he seemed so happy. I’m confused about the mixed emotions, but I’m absolutely certain that working there will be a mind-opening experience.
This evening I went with Sam to help at a local language school, which proved to be good fun, and we’ll no doubt return next week: the kids certainly will in droves, they don’t seem to have noticed that these are their summer holidays.
We had dinner at Belayneh’s house, because today marked the end of the Orthodox Christians’ fasting period, so meat was back on the menu for them. A whole lamb filled the fridge and there were noticeable fewer on sale in the street today than there were yesterday. The end of fasting brings the silence of the lambs, then.
Tuesday 13th July
What have the Romans ever done for us? Well apparently quite a lot, if you’re Ethiopian. I’d thought that there was little trace left of the Italians’ brief invasion in the 1930s, but today I discovered that that is most definitely not the case. Much of the paved streets were Italian-built, as were many of the prominent hotels and government buildings. Fente, who works for the Kindu Trust, even told me he wished that the Italians had stayed for 50 years, as we walked through the streets of Gondar.
We were on our way to visit Hailemariam, a five-year-old boy who is waiting for a new sponsor through the Kindu Trust, which is appearing to me to be more and more of a worthwhile organisation every time I go to work there. While I translated the interview, I realised the harsh reality of this child’s situation: he is HIV positive. His older sister looks after him, because both his parents have died, but she is ill and so can only work small amounts, and at nothing labour intensive. Another sister has learning difficulties. And yet while we were there he happily drew pictures with crayons, in order to send to a future sponsor. He couldn’t stop smiling, but I just don’t know how.
In other news, lessons are still going well – today we managed to get all the students acting out imaginary situations, some with near-flawless English. And myself, Sam and Courtney picked up a 6-pack of beer for the equivalent of £1.20, and relaxed back at our room with a guitar and some songs. It was a much-needed time for reflection on the day.
Wednesday 14th July
Today was something of a rest day, given how full-on the last week has been. Lessons went ahead as normal, despite some torrential rain, and our second class refused to leave because it was so wet outside. So we spent an extra hour playing various games and talking about England, even after the rain had stopped. It was a shame that it did clear up in the end, we could easily have carried on all day.
At lunchtime I came back to our room to find that Sam wasn’t there, as I’d expected him to be. In fact, he had befriended our Chinese neighbours upstairs, and I was promptly invited up to join them. The three guys, all 24 or younger, cooked us Chinese food for lunch – much better than our planned lunch would have been, we were heading to a street stall! They are working for a Chinese communications company that’s doing various projects in Gondar. In fact, the presence of Chinese businesses in Ethiopia is marked – on the way up to the Simiens we followed a road that is being built by the Chinese Government. A more relaxing afternoon followed, reading a book, going to the bank, and using the internet café (until there was a power cut).
After dinner in town, we showed up at the Chinese guys’ place with some beer, returning their earlier generosity – it looks like we’ve made some good contacts, and I’m sure we’ll see more of them, even if just for the luxury of home-cooked food!
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