One of my colleagues went to visit Yetemwork’s Mum only to find that she had given birth three hours previously. She had delivered the baby herself and he was wrapped in a scarf, but was quite cool and hadn’t fed. Advice was sought from a Dula (an Ethiopian lady taught basic maternity and post natal care), who was driven over from another project.
As we picked our way over the slippery sodden clay underfoot, we were aware of many white clad people standing around the orthodox church in front of us.
Shoehorned into economy class seats on an Ethiopian Airlines “Dreamliner” on our way back from Heathrow to Addis I discovered that you should only put one, not two, flimsy plastic cups into the cup holder on the back of the seat in front. Chris was sleeping peacefully with an empty cup in front of her and trying not to wake her I popped a fresh plastic cup of water into the empty one ready for when she awoke.
The most frequently asked question when I was back in the UK was “What do you miss the most when you are in Ethiopia?”. This was a hard one to answer because I try to get on with living here rather than dwell on how much easier day to day life is back home.
Ruth is my teaching assistant and she gave me permission to share her story.
Ruth is one of four children and when she lost both her parents she was also separated from her brothers and sister. She and her sister were taken in by an Ethiopian Orthodox man who had two wives. Ruth’s sister (to whom she was very close) was taken in by one wife and lived in Addis. Ruth meanwhile was taken in by the other wife who lived in a town outside the capital. She did not see her siblings while she was growing up.
Reflections on Elections
Some significant events in our lives have taken place at or around election time, not least Aaron’s birth, the 28th anniversary of which was celebrated last week. I had helped bring Mrs Thatcher to power in 1979 – something I had begun to regret by the time she was up for her third term on 11th June 1987. Having sat up until 3am watching the results I sullenly slid into bed knowing the “Iron Lady” was going to win again only to be woken up by Chris 30 minutes later to be told her waters had broken (Chris's, not Mrs Thatcher's). Later that day we had met Aaron for the first time and Mrs Thatcher was in power for the last time .
(I have permission from all the people involved in these cases to share their stories on my website.)
Fekadu
Several years ago Fekadu and his family had been living in very poor circumstances - until he was employed by SIM Ethiopia. Although the wages are low he has been able to support his wife and two children, doing a job that involves being on his feet all day.
The final session of Ytesfa Birhan has taken place.
At the start of each Tuesday Amharic lesson I am always asked the same question “What did you do over the weekend?”
This week at Ytesfa Birhan I received an update on several of the Ethiopians that I have blogged about in the past.