The Great Ethiopian Run is a 10km race, which started with an idea from the team that set up The Great North Run in the UK, and was supported by the British Ambassador to Ethiopia at that time, HE Myles Wickstead.
Registered as an NGO, it uses the event to promote running in Ethiopia and health and social issues such as education for girls and safe sex. With so many young people taking part in one event, it's an ideal time to raise awareness and promote these issues.
It also hopes to raise the profile of Ethiopia and remind everyone that there is so much more to the country than famine and Aids.
All kinds of people get involved – people who have never run before in their lives take part, and there were quite a few people running in jeans.
But after all, this is land of long distance runners, and as far as I can tell, Ethiopians barely need to train to be better at running than us.
Read the full article.(published on 1 December 2008)
15 January 2009
The Great Ethiopian Run
01 January 2009
Happy New Year! - And an Ethiopia retrospective
As noted yesterday, it was Button’s Family Day. Some of you faithful readers may remember that way back last year, in Ethiopia, and after our return to Canada, I promised to add pictures to my Ethiopia adoption travel blog posts eventually. I am happy to report that "eventually" has arrived. It only took a year. How about that.
To go back over my travel blog posts and see the beautiful pictures, all you need to do is to follow the links below. (Each post also has a link to the next post, in sequence, so you can just go from one to the next if you wish, rather than returning to this page. But if you want to jump to a particular post, they’re all here.)
2007
14–16 Dec: Hello from Addis Ababa!
17 Dec: Bahir Dar – Blue Nile Falls
18 Dec: Bahir Dar – Lake Tana
19 Dec: Gondar
20 Dec: Lalibela – churches galore
21 Dec: Lalibela – A relaxing day
22 Dec: Back to Addis (sorry, no pix with this one)
23 Dec: Christmas Party in Addis
24 Dec: A little boy on Christmas Eve (lots of pictures with this one!)
25 Dec: Unto the least of these
26 Dec: Awassa
27 Dec: A hot and dusty, rattly day
28 Dec: Arba Minch – A good day after all
29 Dec: Wondo Genet – A hilltop paradise
30 Dec: Back to Addis again
31 Dec: Family Day!!!
2008
1 Jan: A new year for a new family
2 Jan: Swimming in January
3 Jan: Transit Visa
4 Jan: Around and about Addis (**new)
5 Jan: Meserete Kristos College
6 Jan: Meserete Kristos Church
7 Jan: Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday - A challenging day
8 Jan: Museum Day 1
9 Jan: Museum Day 2
10 Jan: Orphanage (**new)
11 – 15 Jan: The last few days (**new)
16 Jan (and beyond): Home!!!
Around and about Addis
Our friend JN picked us up after breakfast and we headed out, all six of us piled into her little red car (only in Ethiopia - or at least never in Canada!). She had a free day and wanted to take us to see some of the NGOs and humanitarian projects she's worked on in Addis. Her husband is an employee with the UN and while he's about his official work, she finds things to do - paid or volunteer, or a combination of both, I'm not sure - with whatever NGOs are in need and that she has a skill to work with.
Our first stop was a pottery studio, located (as were most of today's visitations) in one of the poorer areas of Addis. The potters are all women, and I believe many of them are either HIV+ or have husbands or family who have died of AIDS.
The studio was very dark. We met two women hard at work building some wares and watched them work in the dim light. Another woman was examining the finished products for workmanship.
We examined some of the unfinished pieces, then went into the sales room and picked out a half dozen items or so to buy. It is not hard-baked, so still rather fragile, but I've managed to bring even brittler stuff home from Mexico without incident, so I think with proper packing these should survive too.
Our next stop was just at the top of the same hill - a small weaving studio. Here the weavers were men. Again, we examined the wares and bought several shawls, scarves, and a tablecloth, all at a very good price for very fine workmanship.
From there we proceeded to another, larger, weavers studio: a spacious room with twenty or so looms set up in rows, both men and women operating them, making cloth for traditional clothing.
We stopped in a nearby shop to look at some of the outfits, and I bought a traditional dress for Giggles and outfit for Poppet. These will be reserved for special occasions, as the cloth is so fine any rough wear at all will wear right through it.
Next we visited an artist JN had gotten to know, in his studio. He is a very well-known artist whose paintings sell for quite a bit. He didn't have any work available at the moment (and I'm not sure whether we'd have been able to purchase any if he did!) but we looked around his small space at the samples on the walls. He was currently working on a bust of a young woman who had died; her family had requested the piece in her memory.
After that it was lunch time. JN took us up Mount Entoto to a hilltop restaurant where we enjoyed the view over the city as well as a fine meal. The restaurant had a garden with a playground, so while the grownups talked, Giggles and Poppet went and played. There was even a person to watch over the children!
After lunch we went to a rug-weaving studio. This place employs handicapped people to weave woolen rugs. Some of them were blind, even! Imagine weaving a patterned rug without vision! But they managed to do so, with some assitance. Others were missing limbs or had other disabilities that made them hard to employ otherwise. Here, I bought one small and one fairly large rug, while Laolao and Laoye purchased a medium-sized one. These will be a bit of a challenge to cart home, but seeing as we are down seven suitcases it should be manageable!!
Our final stop of the day was Selam Children's Village, where there is a school, a restaurant where older children and their parents can learn baking and cooking, a greenhouse (I think) and a few other things that help to provide both employment and education. Unfortunately it was mostly closed, but we stopped in and bought some ice cream and a few buns or sweets at the restaruant.
From there JN took us home, tired but very pleased with our day's excursion and all that we had seen (and purchased!). Frankly, I'd rather buy things from places like this, where you know it is going to support very needy people, than at the touristy shops.
(Continue to 5 January: Meserete Kristos College)
Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday - A challenging day
We started off the day by having the kids check out their Christmas stockings we'd set out the night before, in honour of Ethiopian Christmas. Not that Ethiopians do stockings, but I'd promised Giggles three Christmases this year (before leaving home, western Christmas, and Ethiopian Christmas). Plus I'd wanted to have some sort of a Christmas celebration with Poppet, not that he knows what it's all about yet. Anyhow, I'd brought along a few little gifts for the kids, and Laolao had picked up a small bubble-blowing kit for each child the day before, as well as a few balloons.
Giggles, of course, knew what was up, and pulled Poppet into the living room to open his bag. Poppet was quite taken with his elephant stuffy and the bubble-maker, and especially the balloon. He also seemed interested in the music CD I'd brought along to give him, perhaps taking it for a computer CD. But one of the best prezzies was a little bag, meant perhaps to be a lunch bag, that Giggles had bought at home to be her Christmas present to him. It is special because it has become his little treasure box, where he puts all his own prized possessions. He very carefully tucked elephant into it, as well as a few other little things he's collected, and stashed it in the closet. (He's since accessed it many times to take things out for playing, but is generally careful to put them back in once he's done.)
Right after breakfast, the kids went out back to see the sheep, now headless, before the slaughter was complete.
Despite it's being Christmas (again), Giggles still had schoolwork to do, so she and I spent the morning slogging while Poppet went out with Laolao and Laoye. They came back to report that many of the stores were open, whereas we'd been told that most things would be closed for the holiday. The small shops were all closed, but the larger stores were open, including the pastry shop where we'd taken care to purchase our cake the day before, to be sure to have one. The maid even showed up, though she left early. We gave her a Christmas present of 50 birr.
Lunch was simple, but topped off with a birthday cake (inscribed "Merry Christmas"!) and a candle, for my birthday. (Not sure what Poppet made of the fact that it was clearly me the Happy Birthday song was sung for, but he and Giggles who got the presents in the morning - whether he even associates presents with birthdays...)
We had a fairly lazy afternoon. The kids played with their bubble-makers, their balloons, and the ball. We took a stroll down the road and stopped for our usual ice cream.
All in all, it was a fairly relaxing day, except that Poppet had some trying times. It actually started last night. The kids had been watching some television before brushing teeth and going to bed. Then, for some reason, Poppet started crying, refusing to go to bed and not wanting me to sit with him. (Bedtime has so far been the one time he's most open to receiving and giving affection with me.) With little language, he couldn't explain what was bothering him and we couldn't figure it out. I ended up calling Laoye in, hoping that might help as he usually responds to Laoye, but it made little difference. We finally got him settled, after at least half an hour. I really have no idea what triggered it, except perhaps that he's starting to get over the novelty of everything and missing his caregivers and friends.
Today, then, he had several periods of sulking and tears. One came when his balloon popped. He had been playing with Laoye on the porch when it popped, and Laoye sat down and pretended to cry. That set him off. (Ooops.) A couple more times during the day, when he didn't get what he wanted, he would go off to cry or sulk. In the afternoon, when we went off for ice cream, at first he didn't want to go, so Laolao and Giggles and I set off, leaving him with Laoye. After a second short crying jag, Laoye got fed up and told him to stop - and he did. At which point they came and joined us at the ice cream shop.
In the meantime, Giggles has been experiencing some jealousy over sharing me. She wants special time with Mommy, time just for her and Mommy. (Of course, the fact that she spends half the day just with Mommy doing schoolwork doesn't seem to factor into her equation!) We'd talked beforehand about the need to share Mommy, but the reality of it is not easy. At least not today.
It's hard knowing how to handle some of this. I want to comfort Poppet, but he resists comfort - from me or from anyone else, when he's sulking. I wish I knew how much was sulking at not getting his own way, and how much of the tears are from loneliness or missing friends. One wants to give him a bit of leeway, as his whole world has been turned upside down, but at the same time one can't give in to every whim or want. Especially with another child in the picture, some sort of "fairness" must be maintained We can explain to Giggles, but she is still a child, too, and her world has also changed, though not as drastically. At times she is generous and willing to share and give him extra things, or let him have what he wants. (At those times I tell her she is being a good big sister.) Other times she just wishes him gone.
It has also been a time for Giggles to reflect on how it was when we went to China to adopt her. She remembers little of that, but she has asked a couple of times "Did I do that?" or "What did you do when...?" and I've been able to relay some of her story back to her and relate it to how Poppet is now behaving. Sometimes it helps her to behave generously and with compassion, but it's easy for her to forget, too.
And so we continue.
Museum Day 1
This morning was the usual - breakfast, a bit of play time, then schoolwork with Giggles. Poppet sat with us for a bit, drawing, until he started being too much of a distraction. So Laolao and Laoye took him off for a walk and some shopping.
We figured that it was high time we visited some of the museums and sights of Addis, beyond just the few blocks around our house. So Giggles worked hard to get everything done by shortly after noon, then we ate a quick lunch and headed off.
The taxi driver we found didn’t know where the National Museum was. Thankfully, Laoye had figured it out and was following along on the map in the guide book. So when the fellow stopped at the Addis Ababa museum, we said no and directed him to the correct place. (According to the book, the Addis Ababa museum is the scruffiest of all and mostly filled with portraits of important historical figures. We figured we could pass on it.)
The National Museum ended up being worth a visit, but easily accomplished in an hour or two. It is located in a four-storey building, but each level is small with not much to see. The lowest level is the one people will be most interested in, and the one with the most interesting exhibits. This documents the paleontological discoveries in Ethiopia, including that of Lucy (here known as Dinkanesh), the first and earliest humanoid, found in the Afar region in northeastern Ethiopia. It contains other fossils and bones, too, making for a relatively interesting display.
As Laolao and Laoye were interested in reading the information (presented in both Amharic and English), I herded the kids. They zoomed through the bottom floor, exclaiming over some of the skeletons and pictures, but were quickly done with it and up to the main floor. All I recall of that floor is that it featured a four-sided TV/video screen showing a short film on the evolution of humans and highlighting Africa as the birthplace of humankind. That held the kids’ attention for a while. Then it was up to the second floor, home to many paintings depicting religious and historical scenes; and the third floor, an interesting one, with displays of tools and clothing from traditional Ethiopian life. All in all, we spent a little over an hour in the museum, and Laolao and Laoye managed to read most of the displays in that time.
Seeing as the afternoon was yet young, we decided we’d hit another museum. The Ethnological Museum was about a kilometre up King George VI street, so we walked. It is located on the grounds of Addis Ababa University, within the Institute of Ethnological Studies.
This museum is definitely worth a visit. Its displays are much more extensive than those of the National Museum, and if one has the time and inclination to read all the information, one would come away with a fairly good understanding of traditional life among some of the many ethnic groups that comprise modern Ethiopia. The information is laid out according to the life stages, beginning with childhood, progressing through various aspects of adulthood (such as marriage, religion, traditional medicines, housing, and so on), and ending with death (funeral practices, grave markers and beliefs related to death and what happens after death).
We had about two hours at the museum and saw perhaps half, if that. Here, I was quite interested in the displays, so Laolao and Laoye shared kid duty. Giggles was interested in some of the information, so we all took turns reading to her from various panels, until she got bored.
The museum closed at five, so we caught a taxi home. Poppet fell asleep on the way home. We had wanted to try out Aladdin’s, one of the restaurants at the end of our road that had been recommended to us, so we had the taxi drop us off there. It turned out that Aladdin’s didn’t open until 7:00 and there was no way the kids were going to last until then - Giggles was hungry! - so we found a different restaurant right next door and ate there.
After eating, I left with the kids while Laolao and Laoye settled the bill. Walking in the dark, Poppet was quite happy to hold Mommy’s hand, though he’s refused it otherwise when we’re out walking. Once home, it was the usual bedtime routine. And that was Tuesday!
(Continue to 9 January: Museum Day 2)
Museum Day 2
Today was very similar to yesterday. Schoolwork in the morning, museum in the afternoon.
We’d thought last week that we might head out to visit the orphanage yesterday or today, but it turned out that several families have court dates tomorrow and Germatchew, the KL driver, was busy collecting birth families to ensure they would show up. This was an indication to us of how much effort goes into ensuring the success of the court hearings the first time around. Germatchew popped in to tell us this himself (he lives close by, apparently). He said that, since it is the Christmas season (and despite this not appearing to be a big deal, at least not here in Addis), some of the families he needed to find might not be at home. Most of the birth families live in or near Adama (also known as Nazaret), a 100 km drive SE of Addis. Germatchew said some of them might be visiting relatives in Debre Zeit or other places, and if he could find out where they were and it was not too far away, he would go to those places to track them down and bring them to Addis. (So all you KL families, rest assured that everything possible is being done to see that you get through court successfully the first time!)
So we weren’t expecting to get to visit the orphanage or Poppet’s birth family today or tomorrow, but I called Solomon to discuss our options, and he worked it out that they will hire a van and driver and take us and another family out tomorrow.
Today, then, we were on our own again, which is fine. We’re used to getting around and doing things that way! After lunch we hopped a cab to the Natural History Museum. This one, while small, is well worth a visit, especially if you have children over about four years of age who like animals. Giggles most certainly does, so she was very interested in visiting this museum. She even asked in advance if Laolao could read some of the information to her while I watched Poppet.
The displays begin with some information about natural history, the importance of observing and documenting wildlife, and the various types of habitats in Ethiopia. From there, you move into several rooms filled with stuffed and preserved creatures. Many amphibians and small reptiles are preserved in jars of formaldehyde, while other creatures are represented by skins hanging on walls. But the fourth room from the beginning has several impressive, if small, dioramas, displaying a variety of animals in their natural habitats. Many of the species on display are endemic to Ethiopia - i.e., they are not found anywhere else in Africa or in the world. Past the dioramas is a hallway with a stuffed leopard, a lion skin, and the mounted heads of a variety of deer and antelope. Off to the other side of the hall is the bird display. This features one diorama-type display and six or so glass cases with mounted birds. Over 400 birds are on display, about half the 800+ species found in the country.
We spent about an hour and a half at the museum and got a fairly good view of all the displays. As we went through, a museum curator followed us and responded to questions. He was obviously very knowledgeable about Ethiopian animals and the specimens in the collection. He identified the v-tailed bird we frequently see in the skies as the black kite.
(I’d recommend, to anyone interested in doing museums, to combine the National Museum and the Natural History Museum in one half-day excursion, and to give a half-day or even a full day to the Ethnological Museum on its own.)
We were done by 3:00 and decided to stroll down King George VI back in the direction we’d come from, just to pass the time and see some sights, perhaps stopping for tea or ice cream at a suitable establishment. So off we went.
This section of town had some small shops lining some of the streets, but other sections of road were devoid of such establishments. We kept on going, turning on Menelik II Avenue when we reached it, and heading down towards Meskel Square. By the time we got to the square we were tired and no eateries seemed to be in the vicintiy, so we found a taxi to take us to our favourite haunt on Bole Road close to home.
After ice cream, Laolao and Giggles went to buy some eggs at Fantu’s, while Laoye and Poppet and I headed home. As usual, Poppet refused to hold my hand, so I decided to force the issue and made him. He was not at all happy about that and cried most of the way home. Once home, seeing as he had yet to stop crying, I took him into the bedroom and shut the door. I figured he needs to understand that (a) I am not poisonous and touching me will not hurt him and (b) Mommy is the most important grown-up in his life, not Laoye or even Laolao. It took a while, and some even more vigourous crying, but in the end we seemed to have reached some sort of an understanding. It remains to be seen how it will weather over the coming days. When we emerged from the bedroom the rest of the family had about finished eating supper and discreetly disappeared for an evening walk, so he had to deal with me some more. At first he refused to come eat, but when I gave him some “decision room” he did come, though he ate sparingly.
After supper I was going to read stories to him, but he indicated that he wanted to play on the computer, which I was willing to do. He was quite content to sit on my lap and explore some of the CDs I brought along. He started to cry again when the computer was turned off, but just then the others returned, providing some distraction, and he went off to bed willingly enough with Giggles.
It is starting to feel like high time we got home to Canada and into our normal routines. While being at the house here is comfortable and almost like home, it is not quite normal (for one thing, at home I won’t be sitting with Giggles half the day doing schoolwork). Once we wake up tomorrow, we will have only five more sleeps to go. Then comes a long trip, after which the real adjustment can begin.
(Continue to 10 January: Orphanage)
Orphanage
This was a day full of emotions; a day I'd been anticipating for some time. We were going to visit the orphanage where Poppet had spent the first four years of his life and meet his birthmother.
This involved a drive out to Nazaret (Adama), about two hours down the main highway towards Djibouti. We piled into the van with Solomon, Germatchew, Meseret (the head nurse) and another couple who had just picked up their baby girl.
The drive was long and slow, as usual, but we finally arrived in Adama. First we stopped along the side of the road where Solomon got out and spoke to some people waiting there. They were birthfamily contacts of the other adoptive family. They got out and went with Solomon while we continued on with Meseret.
We drove directly to the orphanage school grounds, where the workers called two young boys out of class. These were Poppet's brothers, 5 and 9 years old. The five-year-old looked enough like him to be his twin (though on even ground he was a little bit taller than Poppet.)
We stayed there about ten minutes, then Meseret and the worker at the school sent the boys off to fetch their mother. We couldn't go with the car and they didn't want us walking over the rough ground, so called her to come meet us at one of the orphanage buildings.
While they were off, we drove to another building where we were able to see some of the older children (not sure why they weren't in school, or whether they went to the afternoon session, or what...) These were mostly older children, the youngest being maybe two or three; the oldest likely ten or eleven (or more). They showed us the bare-bones rooms where they slept - apparently, prior to the adoption agency's involvement, they slep on the floor; now they had bunkbeds to sleep in.
Another fifteen or twenty minutes later we were called to go across the road to another building. Here a woman of indeterminate age was waiting for us - Poppet's birthmother. We talked for about half an hour, with Meseret acting as translator. I asked her some questions then told her I promised to love Poppet and care for him well, making sure he received a good education and plenty of opportunities. I gave her some pictures of Poppet with me and Giggles so she could remember him and his new mother. I also gave her my e-mail address, though seeing as she is illiterate and very poor, it's unlikely she will be able to use it to contact me. It was emotional but rewarding to meet her.
Then, seeing as the other family was still busy with Solomon and their birthfamily, Meseret invited us to have lunch at her house. She lives in Adama and "commutes" on a weekly basis to Addis to work at the Transition House. She, too, had a very nice house with nice furniture and a maid who cooked for the family. Her husband is a lawyer and they have two adopted children.
She gave us some papayas from the tree in her garden, which we will enjoy. And then it was back into the van for the drive home. That excursion took the better part of the day; by the time we got home it was late and we were tired. A quick supper, some TV and bed.
(Continue to 11-15 January: The last few days)
The last few days
Sunday 13 January
Today we went out for a walk about the neighbourhood , a bit further afield than before. We walked up Bole Road, turned left on one of the (major) side-streets, stopped for an ice cream cone (not at our usual haunt), and leisurely walked back.
We passed a bridge that we'd hardly noticed before, where Bole Road crosses some mostly dried up river. The gorge was fairly deep and very rocky, and heaps of garbage were scattered along the slopes. In fact, as we were looking down into the gulley, a man walked past and heaved a sheep's head - or some such piece of carcass - over the edge. Giggles was not impressed. (Neither were the rest of us.)
Tuesday 15 January
Departure day! We leave late tonight - our flight takes off at about 11:00 pm, and we need to be at the airport by about 8:00.
This afternoon we went back to the Hilton pool for another swim. Unfortunately, all the pools had been drained for maintenance. The grown-up pool was being refilled, and was not yet so deep as to be beyond the kids' depth, so we stayed and played there for an hour or two. It wasn't as hot (so not as nice!!) as the kids' pool, but we still enjoyed it.
While we were there some dark clouds formed in the sky, there was distant thunder, and it actually rained for about five minutes - the only rain we've had since the middle of December!!!
We had arranged to meet K&M (from out west) with little K at the complex. They weren't there initially, so I wondered if they'd forgotten or not been able to make it out with little K, but after a while they appeared and we sat together for ice cream and some chatting.
And then it was time to head home, finish packing the last few things, have a bite, and head off to the airport to begin the long trek home...
(Continue to 21 January: Home!!!!)
07 March 2008
More Ethiopia pix
Bole road streetscape.
Lunch at the home of a Meserete Kristos Church pastor.
A volcanic lake near Debre Zayit.
We had to climb a ways to get to the top of the crater.
Giggles and Poppet at the playground of a restaurant
near the summit of Mount Entoto.
A disabled weaver. Our friend J took us to this workshop, where we purchased several lovely woolen rugs for a very good price. I bought a rug appx 1.5 x 2 metres for just $45.
The inside of an Ethiopian kitchen. This was an "institutional" kitchen, at the Meserete Kristos College, so larger than most, but similarly equipped.
(3 pictures)
19 February 2008
Pictures, pictures, pictures
The Christmas sheep.
Poppet, Poppet's birthmother, and me.
Views of Addis - from the street by our house; a busy road; some poor houses (3 pix).
