So, Assosa is where?
Just in case you were equally geographically challenged about Ethiopia as I was; here is approximately where you will find where I am working in Ethiopia. Please note that Assosa is sometimes spelled with three 'S' in total and sometimes with only two.
Our weather
The week started out overcast and light rain. Clouds disappeared leaving bright warm sunshine for the rest of the day. Temperature was about 26; most days the temperature is in the mid 20's. We are likely to have some form of rain every day. For example, we had another spectacular thunderstorm on Saturday. Pouring rain that you would want to avoid being caught in. Buckets of water coming straight down.
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| Watch the rain pour down |
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| More rain; with rainy season yet to come |
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| Amount of rain falling |
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go...
We started our 'work' on Monday afternoon. Hooray! We completed introductions and received some high level background information on the Health Bureau. Also completed a short tour of the departments Nancy and I will be working in. I'll be working the the Planning Sub-Process team providing support within this sub group and working across the four main departments (Health Promotion/Prevention; Curative - relates to health care infrastructure like hospitals; Regulatory and HIV)/five support teams (Finance, Planning, Internal Audit, HR & Public Relations).
Work is a five minute walk from where I live. This is, by far, the shortest commute in my life. Imagine that I traveled half way around the world to cut my commute time to work!
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| Live about 200 meters walk down this road (on the right). Very messy when it rains |
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| Walking to work takes on a whole new meaning! |
Work hours are from 8:30 - 12:30; 12:30 - 13:30 for lunch; 13:30 - 17:30 and the work day is over. Will need to figure out what I am going to do with all this free time that I now have given these hours.
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| Where I work - Benishangul-Gumuz Regional Health Bureau |
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| Building I work in - 1st building on right |
The Bureau staff seem very keen to collaborate with us to take advantage of our experience and expertise - that's their words. Most of the team working in the Bureau are very young - educated and many are looking to gain practical experience. Incredibly hospitable and friendly. Promises to be fascinating. Also learned today, the Bureau has real challenges historically in implementing change effectively. Feels good to have something to do; something to get my hands on and puzzle through.
Wow! What a feeling to have my first day at 'work'. Showed up at 8:30 as instructed; learning the start time is somewhat flexible. Unfortunately no one on my team had seen the placement description that outlined the work I was supposed to do with them. They were all excited to discover that I had a project management background. There was one person on the team that had a year's PM experience - whatever that meant. Appears project management is missing in the country overall; not just this specific region. Coincidentally, there is a David that works on the team I'll be supporting - local David and Cuso David. Brought quite the smiles to the team - total of six men including the boss.
They decided the best course of action was to read through the placement description and then regroup with me about the next steps. In the meantime, they shared a number of health strategy documents from the federal ministry of health that provide the direction and measures of the health system. Fortunately they were in English. Spent the rest of the day reviewing them. While what the government outlines is very detailed, I'm getting an early sense how difficult it may be to execute against the federal plans.
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| Office I work in - that's my desk with the fax machine |
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| Office I work in - Boss' office is at the far end. |
No work on Wednesday. Invited by one of my work colleagues, Nura, to join a meeting celebrating the 26th anniversary of the overthrow of the Derg; a communist regime that wrecked havoc on the country for many years. I had to get special dispensation to join the meeting as I was a foreigner. The speaker, head of the regional administration (would be the most senior administrator in a provincial government in Canada), could speak passionately non-stop. Didn't understand a thing; Nura was kind enough to do some translation. Basically, it appeared the government was trying to remind their people of what the constitution meant for them, the benefits of the current government and how well the country has been doing economically.
A few discoveries at work on Friday. We stop work at 11:30 and resume at 2:00 pm on Fridays to give our Muslim colleagues time for prayer. Also a colleague, Ibrahim, commited to giving me a tour through the 20 districts (called woredas) in our region - Benishangul-Gumuz Region. This is a significant commitment as traveling in this region is not for the faint of heart. Learned the team is out of the office next week completing their planning for the upcoming fiscal year that starts on July 1st. It's been suggested that I may be joining one of the planning meetings sometime during the week.
Someone is flying to Addis tomorrow to try to get the paperwork completed for my work and residence permit. I was issued another one month work visa. I'm now good to stay in the country to June 22. Work is underway to have a one year work permit and my residence permit completed.
Frisbee meets Assosa
Brought two Frisbees thinking it would be fun to play some day. Found a few friends to give a Frisbee to. Talk about quick studies in the fine art of throwing.
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| New Frisbee masters |
Fine dining - Assosa style
Meals and meal preparation has really worked well so far between the three of us. Everyone contributes in some way to each meal either through the food preparation, cooking or cleaning up afterwards. Proud David moment for dinner last week. Led the creation of soup that includes lentils, onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots. Nancy and Agatha were very impressed with the soup. I have also introduced gluten free banana pancakes (many thanks to Deb D'Antonio for the recipe); you mix two eggs with one medium sized mashed banana and fry up like you would a normal pancake.
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| Tuesday night we hosted Henok for dinner He is a Cuso employee visiting from Addis Ababa |
Pleasant surprise for dinner on Friday night. Were invited to the landlord's place for dinner unexpectedly. Was a beautiful meal with many of the local dishes.
Met the landlord, Gimra, for the first time on Saturday afternoon. He has a great grasp of English which makes communicating so much easier. Terrific man. Came back later to replace the two light bulbs in my room. Yippee! Finally have a main light in the bathroom. And double the light in the bedroom itself. How light makes such a difference in increasing how much I enjoy my living space. Lots of unexpected learning happening about things I value and take for granted. He also arranged to have someone come by and clean out our bedrooms, kitchen and dining area.
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| Meet Alicia and Gimra - our new family (Own our compound) |
Gimra came by about 9 pm Saturday night and invited to go for a walk to learn about the neighborhood. What he actually meant was we were walking to a local place that serves beer. Ended up meeting a police inspector who happens to live just behind us. Learning that we are just one big happy family living in this part of the city. Safety factor just went up. Gimra works for UNICEF in Gambella, a city th
at is south of where we are at. It is a no-go area for us given its proximity to South Sudan and the ongoing conflict that crosses the border into Ethiopia in the region. Tribal warfare at its best. Three beers later I had learned a lot about him. He was trained as a nurse and moved to the Assosa area to work in the hospital. He also worked in the Health Bureau where I am currently placed as immunization officer. In fact, he helped train the man currently the Bureau head. He talked about traveling by donkey, and then advancing to using a bicycle, to visit rural areas to immunize people. Back in those days, about 20 years ago, they used to reuse needles after boiling them. They stopped the practice after they learned that boiling water was insufficient to kill HIV. The introduction of disposal needles made the difference. He also spoke about how he was responsible for us as we got familiar living in Ethiopia. He mentioned in his job he was totally reliant on others to support him so there was a sense of parity in the world. He encouraged me to approach his wife or children for anything I/we might need. Was disarming to listen to him speak about being supportive. We commonly hear these words of support in Canada only to find the words are hollow and empty. The sincerity and genuineness was so reassuring.
Spent Sunday morning with Gimra, to watching him prepare a live goat for the celebration meal his family has planned for Agatha, our fellow volunteer, for Sunday evening. The master plan is for him to apprentice under him to acquire the same skills as he has over the next year. Have to say, after watching him work, he really knows what he is doing. Took him about an hour to complete the task of taking a live goat to having goat meat ready for final preparation for our Sunday night meal. Nothing is wasted.
We enjoyed roasted goat and bread for lunch afterwards. A couple of friends, along with Mahari (our Cuso program manager), joined us for lunch. They also ate raw meat, a real treat, as part of their lunch. I graciously declined their invitation to partake. Something about me wanting to stay safe and positive while I am here. The mind wanders with what might happen by eating raw meat in Ethiopia!
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| Alicia and Luka - her youngest Preparing for the coffee ceremony |
What's this?
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| This, my friends, is a butcher shop. The red cross confused me initially. Was wondering they were so many Red Cross stations on the street |
Well, that's it for this week. So much more to share. Conscious each of you may have an upper tolerance on how much reading you are willing to do... See ya next week!
