Gooooood mooooorning Affrriiccaa!!!

Here are 20 things I learned about Ethiopia today….
1. There are thirteen months. 12 x 30 days and 1 x 5 days.
2. Their calendar started seven years after our Gregorian calendar did, so technically, today is the 12th day of the 2nd month, 2010.
3. Our times are different too. Their day starts at dawn being 0000. Sunrise is at 0600 and sunset at 1800 pretty much every day. So, with that logic 0700 is now 0100. 0800 is 0200 etc. Noon is 0600 and supper is 1200. There is much opportunity for time confusion as you can see.
4. The time change to MST is -9 hours and with daylight savings time ending next week it will be a ten hour difference.
5. Addis Ababa means new flower. The capitol city was moved many years ago to be on top of a mountain for greater security measures after the Italians tried to conquer the Ethiopians and colonize them. They were unsuccessful and ironically, now many people say “Ciao!” to each other. I am not sure if it is a thumb up the nose to the Italians or what, but I also find myself wanting to speak Spanish and that is quite strange to all involved.
6. The poverty line is $1.90 USD per day.
7. The two main religions are Ethiopian Christian Orthodox and Muslim. Call to prayer for the Muslims is broadcasted across loud speakers at 0500 our time, so you get to hear the chanting as your alarm clock!
8. Girls are married at 13 years old usually, polygamy is acceptable, and the number of children you have shows your wealth. Ergo the more kids you have the wealthier you are. Plus, so many kids die, you need to have extra for insurance purposes. I am not trying to be flippant, but that is their logic.
9. Women wear their wealth on their person, so if they are divorced or kicked out, what they have is what they get to walk away with. Things are slowly starting to change with divorce settlements, but not regularly.
10. Freedom of speech and the ability to take pictures is limited. If you are seen taking a picture of anything military or of high interest, you are subject to having your camera taken, being brought in for an investigation or jail time. Hence, probably not many pictures of these things from me.
11. Meat in the grocery store has a sticker on it, and it is labelled as “Normal meat”. What is this???? Goat? Sheep? Beef? Horse? Dog??? NO IDEA. I am considering a vegetarian diet….
12. There is no Fido petting here. Death by a rabid dog bite is a real concern.
13. People are not innocent until proven guilty here. It is guilty as accused until proven innocent. Street justice is encouraged.
14. The plastic bags feel about 5x thicker than our grocery store bags.
15. Coffee = Bunna. Tenadum = Sage. Put the two together and it is DELICIOUS.
16. Ishi=okay Ow = yes. Abakoh = please
17. Abakoh bunna sitoin = Please give me some coffee.
18. Grass on the stairs into the entrance of a home is laid down as a way to honor the guests coming in.
19. Popcorn sprinkled with sugar, not unlike kettle corn, is served in a coffee ceremony to honor guests. A focaccia type bread is also served with mashed Burberry spices was also delicious. Who knew it was more than a purse and fashion line from England?!?!?
20. Life expectancy is 63 years old which is a huge improvement from even ten years ago when it was 49.

We then went to the SSCM (Support Street Children & Mothers) training school Canadian Humanitarian sponsors. They are training students to learn how to be 1. Metal workers, 2. Wood workers, 3. Electricians or 4. Hairdressers.

You will have to wait to see the inspirational poster pictures taken. Loved them!

We then had lunch at the Lucy Restaurant that is right beside the Ethiopian History Museum. Lucy is the name of the first humanoid skeleton found here dating back 112 million years ago. The people here think they are where civilization started. There is also a lot of Jewish heritage here.

We then made our way to the Gulele centre yesterday for our first medical/dental sessions.

Canadian Humanitarian has ten centres around Addis and area as well as in the country of Malawi. We will be going there after our two weeks here. They are centres that the poorest kids (as identified by the government and community elders) that are at the most risk for either dying, being taken into the prostitution lifestyle due to lack of choices etc. These centres have kids that game in numbers between 22-70 in any given centre. They participate in being supported to go to school, after school care where they have access to cleaning their teeth every day (which almost never happens to kids here due to the lack of access to running water) as well as a meal every day, after school programming that includes art, drama, singing, crafts etc…. All the children are also either living with single parents or are doubly orphaned and have been taken in by a relative with no other family. Their guardians have access to some supports as well for things like health education. HIV/AIDS support with access to medications like AZT and the proper nutrition required to not have these drugs make them sicker, health and dental care for the kids in the program.

Some of the things we did there was to take pictures of all the kids, fill out intake and assessment forms, do medical assessments, dispense medications prn and make referrals for things/prescriptions needed that we didn’t have.

Some of the patients I saw yesterday were the following….
1. Mother of 7, her four youngest died over the space of one year, as well as her husband. It was attributed to TB, but something wasn’t quite right in the history of her life, but we couldn’t figure out what…until the dentist called us over to look at her youngest surviving son who had Mullbury Molars. It makes the teeth look like cauliflowers on the top, and it is a sign of congenital syphillis. It is likely what her husband and kids also died of.
2. A mother seven years ago in delivery had her bladder torn away and now it sits on top of her vagina and gives her challenges when urinating. I then demo’d keigel exercises on the floor to have her help strengthen her pelvic floor muscles, as surgery is not an option for her. She will have to live with this forever likely.
3. A 15 year old girl with chronic ear infections now has bilateral blown ear drums and needs tympanoplasty, which she will likely never receive and will eventually go deaf.
4. A 14 year old boy with staph infections on his legs with impetigo and open sores all over his ankles. Antibiotics given to save his legs.

I have learned the kids here have a very high pain tolerance and acceptance for their ailments without complaints.

Our day started at 0700 and finished at 2300! Good night everyone!

Day Five

Had I known that mosquitos were as skilled in their hunting of prey as they are, I may have found a way to capitalize on it. I awoke this morning with another six new bites on me to add to the collection of two dozen I already have. THIS IS ALL WHILE SLEEPING IN A MOSQUITO TENT WITH A CLOSED BEDROOM WINDOW AND DOOR!! Varmints, I tell you. I am personally pushing the envelope to get my money’s worth from my malaria pills!!

We were up at the crack of dawn to prepare for a drive we didn’t need to be on time for. Africa time is very similar to Mexico time. There is a lot of hurry up and wait for something that may or may not happen. More on that later….

On the drive to Gindo, we went back in time. Marty McFly had nothing on us. The roads were lined with round wooden huts with straw thatched roofs, and hundreds of herds of animals running down the road in al directions, sheparded by kids no more than 6. They all have their own whipping sticks and aren’t afraid to use them. There were oxen being used to pull plows and most places have no electricity and none have running water. Little yellow jugs are strapped to a wooden harness that mules carry and kids sheppard with their sticks to either a brown creek or an artesian well and pump.

The tree most people associate with Africa (Or at least I do, and since this is my blog, that will be the default reality) is the Acacia tree. It tends to grow diagonally out from the ground and have the branches and leaves thick and tangled in a triangle shape. These trees line the roads and dot the landscape. Eucalyptus trees are another abundant type of tree here. They used the long straight poles to build everything here it seems. It is a very demise wood and is hard for bugs to eat through.

All right, here is one of the funniest things that has happened to us so far. We were on our three and a half hour trek to Gindo, and we stopped in Waleesoh to pick up someone also coming with us to Gindo, and to have a macchiato and to powder our noses. Though multiple translations and charades we made our intentions clear and we three women were taken down a hallway, around a corner and then suddenly we were stopped and brought back the way we came, past all our menfolk and down a different hallway. It was as though our guide was not sure where to take us. Travelling down the hallway we passed a few urinals and I wondered where we were being taken. The man leading us gesticulated that we had arrived at our final destination and we could relieve ourselves in any number of squatting potties in front of us.

For those of you who are unaware of what a squatting potty is, picture a hole in the ground that may or may not have a small foot rest or indentation for your foot to stand in, and a large expectation that you have good aim. Men are only subjected to them 50% of the time for obvious reasons and women are often appreciating the squatting potties that have a handle of sorts somewhere to grab onto for stability purposes. Hearing the panic in someone’s voice is very real when they are losing their balance in a squatting potty.

I digress….we are standing in front of tomb like entrances and Kari, Alynne and I spread out down the hall of doors to select the potty that sings to us. BTW, the hallway was singing when we approached. Singing in smells abound. As the three of us are trying doors, some are locked but the one I chose, was not. I opened the door and was not expecting to see the flashing of white teeth and the shape of a man hunched down taking a crunch over the hole only inches from my face. The sight was so disturbing and frightening, I leapt back letting out a blood curdling scream as my fight or flight instinct kicked in full force. I made eye contact with the ladies as I bolted away from the door, and I am told that the look on my face inspired abject terror in them, and so thus, they too let out blood curdling screams that them made me scream again as I was running away. It then dawned on me that I had abandoned my comrades in their time of need, so I ran back the ten feet I had gone….simper fi and all…..

Our screams had drawn the attention of EVERYONE in this hotel coffee shop and people came running from all corners of the building; Staff and constabulary alike. Our three menfolk were somewhat disturbed as they recognized the shriek of the North American Woman, but when the staff came back quickly laughing, and then heard the loud eruptions from our hysterics, they were quickly assured we had not met certain doom. I couldn’t explain right away what it was that had happened as I was laughing so hard, but as soon as I started to laugh, Kari and Alynne also knew that while it must be funny, they were still in the dark, both literally and figuratively….until the man emerged from the stall and refused to make eye contact as he exited at warp speed past us all. It all then made sense and so our fear and the humour combined into peals of laughter.

The escort that brought us there, then returned and re-escorted us back to where we were originally going to regular white porcelain toilets. Maybe that is all you have to do here to get one is to scream….(but make sure you always have a personal supply of TP because it is not standard fare to be supplied.

In the room with the porcelain toilets, there was a sign for the hotel with the rules on it. I wish I had taken a picture of it, because it was evident of time warp thoughts. For example, no two people of the same sex could share a bed, you had to surrender all your valuables to the front desk if you left the hotel etc.

We finished our business and all rejoined in the restaurant for a coffee ceremony. Once our caffeine levels were reestablished we carried on in our journey to Gindo. The balance of the drive was largely the same as the first two thirds in terms of scenery, but we also saw a bridge being built with men carrying large boulders with cot like wooden structures. The pictures will explain it better. It was like being back in time though, or watching a Flintstone’s episode. The whole time people saw us, because many had never seen a white person before, we garnered A LOT of attention.

We arrived in front of the centre to be greeted by the kids and staff alike. Lee got to have his own special greeting from a donkey braying as he exited the van. The centre was built by Canadian Humanitarian last year and it had a main hall, a second smaller hall, several offices, a kitchen, bathrooms, sleeping quarters for quests like us, two classrooms and a library. There was a playground with a slide, swing set, merry go round and a teeter totter. The whole area was secured with a 9 foot barbed wire fence. We would come to find over the next three days not only did it help keep the children in and the hyenas out, it also served as a barricade that was respected by the locals to keep the paparazzi of villagers who wanted to look inside the human zoo and peer at all the white people. It was very unnerving. I have been a visible minority in the past, but we all shared the same feeling of being zoo animals for villagers to look at with no filter in their interest.

We saw a bee the size of a small hummingbird that was completely black and so fast we couldn’t get a picture of it. We also immediately we put to work helping break rocks to make cement so we could secure the playground equipment into the ground. Literally breaking large 10lb rocks with a sledgehammer into small gravel sized pieces to mix with the sand. I was relieved of my sledgehammer for some unknown reason and I wasn’t allowed to dig the holes. Cultural or sexual reasons, I don’t know….but Lee was worked into a later in the hot sun until he too was relieved of his tools.

Sensing quickly our assistance was not required, we went to speak with the girls near the swings who were watching. One girl was getting her hair braided, so I asked if I could do it for her also. Another girl quickly offered her hair, and so while I was braiding her hair, suddenly mine was also getting braided too. Far more quickly, and with much more expertise, as no sooner had I finished three corn rows in my client, my whole head was done, and I was relieved of my job there too. Apparently braiding hair in corn rows was not to be added to my African resume with any sense of expertise. Near the end of this, the man we lovingly named “The Henchman” who had been supervising the playground and the cement making, he grabbed his stick with a leaf switch at the end and started whipping the girls and shrieking at them. I was quite taken aback, as though we had done something wrong and why were these girls getting beaten with a stick?!?! The girls scattered save a few who were helping with hair. When I was finished, I took out my hand sanitizer to clean myself, and I was swarmed with kids who all also wanted some. The bottle was quickly empty. It was apparent their lack of things makes them grab out at every little possible thing that they can get their hands on, even if they don’t need it, or want it, or already had their turn.

We would come later to appreciate The Henchman’s techniques, and in fact employ some of them ourselves…..

As Kari, Alynne and I were not allowed to do the manual labour part, and the hair was braided, we decided to bring out some nail polishes and do the nails of all who wanted a mini-mani.

Enter nail polish gate here….

What started out as a nice gesture quickly turned into a swarming event where the three of us were descended upon like a herd of locusts. Fingers grabbing, nail polish flying, hands beating on the table…the three of us were quickly overwhelmed. Alynne’s eyes were bugging out as far as their sockets would allow without losing the eyes completely, Kari started to tear up and I was shocked at the lack of manners. To date, all the other children at the centres we had gone to were very mild mannered and polite. This was something we were not accustomed to at all. We put the children on one side of the table and us on another. We tried having them have to sit on the chairs before they could get their turn, and we also tried sitting there waiting quietly until they were quiet. Nothing worked, and so we stopped doing it. The one who were initially polite asked for a base Color and “ Tok Tok Tok” which meant polka dots. We retreated from the hoarders and left to cloister ourselves in our room for a short reprieve and to gather ourselves.

After our lunch of jam and bread sandwiches and water, we started our dental and medical assessments and treatments. Nearly every child that came through had nits, lice or even fleas jumping off them. For the most part though they were very healthy, which was a nice surprise.

When we had finished the ones scheduled for the day, we got to wander down to their garden they had where beets, jalapeños, teff (their main grown grain they use to make injera (a form of bread, but with the consistency and taste of sour, spongy crepes), mais (their form of corn on the cob but nothing like what we eat) and kale. On the way there we passed a field where cows and/or horses and/or donkeys etc must have gone to die, for it was littered with bones everywhere. There we about six boys playing with either hoops and wires or tires and sticks. Very simple looking game, but harder than it looked to get the hang of, but quite fun once you did. We watched the boys have a race we organized, and then is whiteys had our own race…..it was good fun.

Speaking of bird sized bees, tonight I was writing this blog and a bug started trying to dive bomb us in the room. Where it came from I do not know, however had Lee and Alynne not been shrouded with their mosquito tent, they would surely have been killed….or at least maimed. I named it the African killer carpenter mosquito pillar. It was about two inches long and an inch wide, but it looked like a worm with armour and wings of titanium with enough determination that it wanted to eat one of us for snack. I was the only one awake, and thus the responsibility for saving my peeps fell on me. Armed with my Birkenstock I steeled myself for the possibility that I might not be coming back to Canada if I lost this fight.

I tracked it into the corner of the room with all the boxes stacked up, and there it hid, lurking, lying in wait for my approach. Bravely I jiggled the boxes to stimulate it’s exit from the corner and into my trap. I was so successful in getting it to come out, it flew straight at me and I threw my shoe shrieking obscenities at it. Sadly I missed, and now I was down a shoe. It turned to make another pass at me and I had to act quickly. Rushing at it, the beast was caught off guard and face planted into the tool kit. Quickly I grabbed my other shoe and as I leaned over the tools, I could see it was dazed and my chance to strike was within my grasp. However, when I pressed my shoe onto what I thought would be a quick and easy kill, I was surprised by the strength of the armour this creature had; there were more than a dozen crunchy strikes I had to make that includes breaking it into chunks before it passed to the other side. I thought perhaps it was going to the light and crossing over, but then it realized the light was coming from my headlamp I was wearing to write by and not some insect heaven.

Exhausted I thought perhaps I should take my oils and retire for the night, so I open the lid box and dumped the pills in without looking. Immediately I started to shriek as I would have bet a pay check that I had another one of these beats in my mouth because when I closed my teeth and tongue around the pills, a sharp metal-like poking happened in my mouth. My mouth flew open wide and I spat all the contents of my mouth into my waiting palm convinced I had another to the death fight on my hands. I had to laugh when I discovered it wasn’t in fact an African killer carpenter mosquito pillar, but just a foil wrapped sleeping pill I had brought just in case I needed it. Phew.

I fell asleep to the sounds of the jungle shortly thereafter. Seriously. The crickets were supersized as were their songs. Add to that, later the songs of the hyenas began and I was extra grateful for the fence. We plan to ask tomorrow if we can go on a hyena hunt…let you know how that goes!

Sleep well!

Another malaria pill dream for you.

We have made a flight home, but on the way, Alynne worsens to the point of being unconscious. Lee and I find a diabetic on the plane with an insulin needle (clean of course) we can use to make IV access with a 30g needle. We are able to have the flight attendant boil some water, adding a pinch of salt to make 0.9%NaCl for our emergency IV. We fashion a bag and tubing out of an oxygen mask delivery device to be used in the event of cabin depressurization and pressure infuses her to save her from diagnosed botulism.

…..end dream sequence.

After being unable to slow the freight train of this sickness all night, we are well motivated to get our tickets changed. Each call we make to a phone number listed as an Ethiopian airlines customer service or agent number rings into customer service purgatory.

Looking at the clock, knowing this airline only flies out on Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 1:15pm, we again try and make ourselves presentable and pour ourselves into a cab and head to their main office downtown. They have moved. Good thing we took a page from a Hollywood script and asked the cab driver to wait for us and then say, “To the Golden Peacock Centre! And there is some extra Kwacha in it for you if you step on it!”

We putt putted through the traffic to arrive at the head office. In our observations of same, there wasn’t a single desk there with a telephone. Weird.

Either way, the lady at the desk is not only helpful, she was capable of handling the mission we presented to her. 20 minutes later, and $275 each, we were back in the cab hightailing it for the hotel. The clock is ticking! We went straight to the room, packed up what we had taken out the night before, threw the bags into his little Toyota and peeled out of the parking lot for the airport.

The amazing race contestants have nothing on us!! We arrived at the airport checkin with 8 minutes to spare.

We checked in with little fuss, grabbed a coke and began the return home leg.

Arriving in Addis airport, I have been able to make contact with my family dr and have been advised we should start the anti-parasitic medication I also put in my arsenal. She is from South Africa and well versed in the trials of travel here and my visit with her before coming has proved to be a smart one.

We only have about 40 minutes in the general area of the airport before needing to go through security, so there are many of you who will only be getting this blog as your souvenir. Sorry. Priorities.

I now enter the hell of security that is the Addis Airport. Again. Pacemaker Gate two. This one has a henchman that is unyielding when I have no papers to present to verify my need for alternate security measures because of my implant. He has two other security officers trying my case, but he thinks that the bully technique is the best one to try with me. Not a good choice my friend. Not a good choice.

I realize I am in a third world country where my rights are not the same as in Canada, and the possibility of jail is real if I don’t acquiesce and cause a scene…but when he says either go through, or don’t get on the plane something inside me snaps. Is it sheer self preservation? Is it due to fatigue and feeling unwell for many days? Is it watching too many TV shows and movies that seem to give me confidence in the law etc where I form the position that they legally cannot force me to if I request a manual pat down?!?!

I challenge the henchman in front of the crowd, because a) I want witnesses b) my choice is risk personal injury due to my device resetting or shocking me as a result of going through, or get left behind in a country that I must now find a way to leave without using this airport in a continent where other risks to my well being are real doesn’t seem like a good option either.

I ask what would happen if I had such paperwork from my Doctor? Would I get my manual pat down? No answer.

I say that if it is an issue of not having a female available, I would be happy to let a man do it. Not an option as he looks at me with disgust. That is not done here.

I show him my medic alert bracelet that identifies my device and condition. Stonewalled.

I resort to exposing my chest and showing him the scar and offering him a feel of it. You’d think I had lit his eyes on fire with a welding torch at the sight of my flesh. He recoiled and walked away. One of his henchmen came over and asked to see my bracelet and if I would be patient enough to wait. I said yes, and offered to show him my chest with a feel if he wanted to verify the device.
He blushed and said it would not be necessary.

On the other side, Lee and Alynne could only stand there watching and pleading with the henchman with offers of explanation.

Probably 20 minutes later, either the medic alert bracelet, my offer to strip in front of all the other passengers or the fact the law was in fact on my side, the henchman relented. He didn’t have the stones to come to me in person though, he sent over the blushing man to arrange for a manual pat down from a female officer and I was on my way. I debated quickly if I wanted to thank the henchman, suck up, or just walk away. In the interest if catching the flight that was being checked in as I spoke, I thought it was best to leave him with whatever misguided sense of power or masculinity he thought he had left with him, and instead thank the blushing man for his successful advocation. Best just to get the hell out. So I boarded and never looked back.

As I walked down the aisle of the plane, 16 rows in, a whole row of women’s faces lit up and shrieked …”It’s you!” I thought perhaps they were referring to Pacemaker Gate minutes before. When I looked quizzically at them, one shouted, “You were in Addis dancing with the band at the Yod Abyssinia Restaurant last week, weren’t you?” We all had a good laugh and the flight attendant remarked I had my fans with me on the flight! It was a nice moment of levity in a period of recent stress which was much needed. I didn’t have a solid plan C of how to handle my homecoming if the security situation had gone sour. It all worked out though, and I am sure while it would have added even more to the adventure, I could have handled that too. I just didn’t want to have to.

Here I sit typing now, 12 hours into a 16 hour flight of this leg of the journey. My companions are sleeping, my pants are open as I cannot close them comfortably due to the war going on in my belly, and I type.

I will say goodbye for now, and type my final thoughts on this trip on the leg from Toronto to Calgary, and potentially an epilogue in the days to follow once I am back home and sorted out.

Time for breakfast……oh goodie.