June 18th 2009

Kate and I are safely in Addis Ababa, adjusting to the time
difference and enjoying our new culture and surroundings. Our trip
started from the Dulles Airport, where we caught our first glimpse of
Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Airlines flight was about 90% Ethiopians, both
Ethiopian Americans and citizens. The flight began at 10:30am, and we
stopped for an hour pit stop in Rome while the crew changed and
cleaned the airplane. The flight then continued to Addis Ababa and we
arrived at 9:30am, 2:30am time back home. During the flight we were
able to see the sun rise over part of the Sahara desert in Libya,
which was amazing. As the sky began to lighten I thought for a minute
that we were flying over the moon. Not much light had filled the sky
yet, but I was able to make our large craters in the sand and sand
dunes. As the sun rose there was a breathtaking view of miles upon
miles of bare desert. The Nile River also came into view, and small
towns could be seen propped up along the riverside in the midst of the
dry desert. We then flew over Sudan, and Khartoum could be seen as a
massive extensive of tiny houses and small buildings in the desert.
As we approach Addis and made our descent, we could see patches of
farmland spread across the terrain and the mountains that back up to
the capital city.
After landing in Addis Ababa, we patiently waited in the visa line,
trying not to fall asleep, and headed out the airport to meet Milkyas
(Gaia Association’s Managing Director in Ethiopia) waiting for us. We
rode to the Guest House that Project Gaia owns, which is only 3
minutes away from the airport! Milkyas showed us around the guest
house, which is a very nice house and has 2 small bathrooms, 3
bedrooms, living room, and an indoor and outdoor kitchen (boasting
none other than the CleanCook stove, of course). The guest house is
in Bole, which is one of the nicest areas of Addis, but the widespread
poverty in Ethiopia is still very evident. Like many developing
countries, children sell gum on the street, and the Orthodox Christian
Church on the way to the office, which is a small village unto itself,
is lined with beggars and the homeless sitting against its walls.
After getting the house tour, Milkyas let us rest, and we showered
and slept for a bit before Hanna, PG’s other intern and Ethiopian
American, came to the Guest House and took us out for our first
Ethiopian coffee, which is great! We walked just down the road to a
new coffee shop and had our first macchiato (you can see obvious
evidence of Ethiopia’s Italian occupation in all the pizza, coffee
names, and pasta around Addis). Ethiopians love their coffee. It
comes in the morning, after lunch, and any other time you feel the
need. Needless to say, Kate has been drinking at least three cups a
day.
On Sunday, we got to try our first taste of Ethiopian food.
Ethiopian food, for those of you who haven’t tried it, is fantastic!
We ordered a variety of sauces to compliment the injera, and loved
them all, although we will probably stick to the spiciest. It has now
begun another fasting season, so meat and dairy products are not
suppose to be eaten, although we haven’t followed that rule so closely
yet. The two Fre’s, two of our new coworkers, met us for coffee;
they, along with everyone else at the office, are incredibly nice and
friendly, and we are really excited to work and hang out with them.
So far we have spent this week acclimating to the office and
discussing where we will be most useful in Gaia Association’s
projects. The Gaia projects with ethanol are currently at a
standstill due to the underproduction of ethanol by the government
producers. As Project Gaia is an implementing partner for the UNHCR,
we must continue to support the Somali refugees in the Kebribeyah and
Tefferi Ber camps because they no longer have any cooking fuel.
Without fuel, people cannot live, and women will again be forced to go
out of the camp to collect firewood in a deforested area. GA has been
asked to take over delivery of kerosene to the camps; while not the
cleanest or safest fuel, it is the best option at the moment that is
needed to help the refugees cook and survive. We are currently pushing
all of our efforts into choosing the best kerosene stove available, to
minimize pollution and increase safety, and distributing it, along
with kerosene, to the refugees in the camps.
The office is quite empty at the moment, however, as Fre Mengesha
left on Wednesday to work on a project in Madagascar until early July,
and Harry and Milkyas are presenting and attending a conference on
biofuels. Because of increasing urbanization, the electricity is cut
off about every other day, so we work from the guest house on the days
that the office has no electricity, which thankfully has electricity
on the opposite days as the office.
We will update everyone as the week goes on to let you know how work
and life in Ethiopia is going. The internet is incredibly slow on
days when we have electricity so please bear with us. We hope
everyone is doing well!