Hello all

So I had mentioned before that I would give a “day in the life update…”…stay tuned for that post, but until then, let me talk about language first…

When a visitor arrives in Addis Ababa, they are greeted by people speaking English, but also a myriad of other languages, as well…the main language here in the city is Amharic (Ahm-har-ick), which is a semitic language more similar to Arabic and Hebrew than other Western languages (English/Spanish/French, etc).

While Amharic is the main language, it is not the first language for many people here in Addis. Amharic language is the main dialect for those from the Amhara region of Ethiopia, and other ethnic groups in Ethiopia have their own languages (Oromo, Tigre, Gurage, and others)….In addition, Addis hosts a tremendous number of foreigners from around the world, so it is not uncommon to hear French, German, Chinese, Korean, Swahili, and other languages…

In our project, however, the main language spoken is Amharic. Many of our staff can freely converse in some of the others as well, which makes for an interesting experience when they switch from English to Amharic to Orominya to Tigrinya and then back to English, depending on the person’s main tongue. This allows our staff to talk to people in their mother tongues, making them more comfortable…

What does that mean for a foreigner (a “ferenj” in Amharic) like me? Most people do not expect foreigners to speak Amharic here, or to speak more than a few phrases….words like “Ishi” (which quadruples as ok, sounds good, I understand, thats right), “Ciao”(goodbye), “Dehna neh or dehna nesh” (how are you?) are the staples here, and it is always a good idea to try and speak a bit of Amharic, because Ethiopians will generally be very appreciative of this.

For those who are here for longer than a week or so (like myself), I think it is a good idea to try and learn some of the language….so that is what I have been doing. From a one month language school program last year to twice weekly tutoring one-on-one with a friend of mine, I still think of myself as a beginning student, who knows enough Amharic to be dangerous here….

The difficulty in the Amharic language is the way sentences are structured, as well as the alphabet (fidel), which has over 200 characters that look nothing like the Roman alphabet.

For example, a sentence such as:

Yesterday the boy went to the zoo.

would be said as:

yesterday the boy the zoo he went

A typical greeting, in the states,  would look like this:

Good morning, how are you?

I am fine thank you, and you?

I am well thanks.

(DONE)

In Amharic, greetings are much longer, and have much more meaning….here is an example of two people meeting in the AM, (in English):

Good morning, how did you spend the night? Are you well?

Yes, may God be praised, I am well. And you, how are you? Did you spend the night well?

Yes, may God be praised, I am well. And your family, how are they? Are they well?

Yes, they are well, may God be praised. And your family? How are they? How is your wife and kids?

They are all well, may God be praised.

May God be praised.

Are you peaceful? Are things going well?

Yes, may God be praised, things are peaceful. Are you peaceful?

Yes, may God be praised, I am well, and things are peaceful.

May God be praised.

Ok.

Ok.

***********

That was just an example of greetings (sometimes they are longer)…this coincides with a hug, pecks on the cheeks, or, if you are really close to someone, a very big hug and lots of kisses on the cheeks. Many times my conversations have been only greetings, and after we finish, we go on our way…notice how in every situtation, the name of God is invoked….may He be praised! This shows the deep reverence that religion has in people here…what a difference than back in the states!

More to come on language later….

On the road in Addis (and practicing my Amharic all the time)

-Derek (which can mean “dry” or “stubborn”, depending on which letters you use to spell my name…somewhat appropriate, huh?)

Friends,

I sit here in my house on this wet and cold Saturday AM, realizing that I am definitely in the throngs of the rainy season, at least it’s beginnings….hopefully the sun will show itself later today…

I have been here 16 days, has it really been that long? Kinda crazy…seems like I just arrived yesterday, and stepped off the plane back into my other home here…

Things have been consistent recently….prices are still $$, power/water are still out 2-3x a week, construction is still on schedule in many areas, creating some ugly traffic jams…

Such is life in Addis…

So I have been having conversations with people both here and at home about one topic that has been on my mind a lot recently….poverty

Here it is impossible to escape it…as many people here are living in horrific conditions that I see on a daily basis. Walking on the roads here in Addis, I see many sights that pull on my heartstrings, from woman/children begging on the streets to those in tattered secondhand clothing stumbling on the streets, having just spend most of their last $ on chat (a plant with narcotic qualities) or booze…

Unless you stay walled up in a compound, never to leave, these sights are present every day, and force people to figure out how to respond. Thus the manifestation of poverty is a visual one, and to go even further, we see the consequences of sin rear its ugly head right before our very eyes.

But what about home, in the states? Surely you have to go to certain places to see outward poverty, and it is easy to forget that situations like those here in Addis even exist, save for TV/internet….but even those mediums can be turned off.

However poverty in the states is just as common, but it manifests itself in a different, inward way….what about those with broken hearts, empty souls, or inner turmoil that just won’t go away? These exist everywhere, yet the old “I am ok, you are ok” mentality still sometimes reigns…

So what to do with this? How to we as Christians respond to the needs around us? I am definitely generalizing, because all sorts of emptiness exist in both cultures/societies, but I feel that some are more prevalent than others…

I have been pondering these thoughts recently, and would love any ideas that you all have on this, too…

*****

On another note, things here RE: the food/famine crisis have not gotten better. I was at dinner last night with a few friends, one of whom works for a group outside of Addis, and she said that though the rains are here now, people are still dealing with the impact of depleted grain supplies from little/no rain a few months ago. Here in Addis, we are still somewhat insulated from this, but still, things have been tight in the project as we try to supply for over 1000 people! Please continue to pray for us, and for this situation!

Take a look at this link:

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=42908

A team from Dallas just arrived last night, and another team comes early next week…we will be busy!

Next up: I am thinking of backtracking, and telling a little about daily life here….complete with pics/video(this may be wishful thinking, we shall see…)

Thank you all for your faithful support!

On the road in Addis,

-Derek

So,

First things first…it is Monday evening, 1040pm, and I am sitting in my house that has now regained power at about 9pm, after being off completely for the entire day (starting at 730am)…one of my favorite sayings last year in Amharic was “There is no light (electricity), therefore there is no work….Mebrat yellum, selahzie sira yellum”. However jovial that was, it does not hold true now….for work does indeed continue, even in the dark…Between the electricity being off, and the water being shut off, it has been interesting, to say the least….(Not sure why this is happening, but rumors of power being sold to Sudan for fuel, and the late rainy season have all been thought of as the reasons…but hey, it is saving on costs, which is the only bright part about it (no pun intended…really))

What have I done in my 5 days here thus far? Well, I have:

-Gone on home visits for two days with Alemu, to see some new beneficiaries, some that are pretty sick people (Endela and Sintayehu, two men who are new in the project…Endale has some sort of atrophy in the brain brought about by ??? that makes him pretty weak. Sintayehu is a TB case, with probable drug resistance…yet both men are smiling and greeting us as we enter their houses, asking how we are, and saying that they “are fine, May God Be Praised…!”)..I saw them the day after I arrived here…

-Hugged and kissed and greeted so many people, it has been fun to catch up with my friends in the project, and see how they are doing.

-Taught our adherence class today(Monday)…we have so many new beneficiaries…

-Realized that my Amharic is rusty….but what can you expect from being in the states for 6 months? Some is coming back to me, but I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, and doing some language instruction, too…

-Eaten DELICIOUS Tibs (meat)/Shiro(ground chickpeas in sauce)/Kai Wot (spicy sauce)/Atokilt(Vegetables) (Eat your heart out, Sara) and drank too many macchiatos(the coffee drinks, remember?) and chai (tea) to count….

-Ridden in my trusty old minibuses, and realized that traffic is still crazy, and construction is being done everywhere…

-Seen and heard and smelled things that remind me that I am truly back in Addis…I will leave some of this to your imagination, but only in Addis will I be walking down the street and someone yells “Hey you, China” to me….

I am definitely back…

Not all has been great though….as I mentioned at the beginning, there has been water shortage, as well as power outages all over the city. Things are not as bad here, though, as they are outside of Addis….take a look at the link below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7444753.stm

While these conditions are not currently present in Addis, the prices of food and basic commodities has sky-rocketed, and has forced many to cut back on their already meager living situations…even in the project, increasing prices has made some things more difficult to buy. Keep an eye on this situation, because it will not be going away soon….for latest news, check out BBC World, and also AllAfrica.com, another great news source for things on this continent…

Would you continue to pray with me for the country of Ethiopia, and its people? That God would continue to provide just what we need? For me, please continue to lift up my re-entry back into life here in Addis…while much is familiar, there are things that still are difficult to cope with.

Thank you as always for your partnership in this ministry!

More to come…as  long as there is an internet connection!

On the road in Addis,

-Derek

Greetings from Addis! I arrived back here on Wednesday night…having been back in the country for 48 hours now, I am trying to get re-acquainted with my prior life here, as well as cope with all of the changes….kinda crazy, and I am tired now…so I will write more later…

BUT, I wanted to pass on these links from my Google Reader (which is awesome and everyone should subscribe to this, it is much better than surfing the website for news stories…go to http://www.google.com/reader for more details)

http://www.economist.com/daily/chartgallery/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11506632&fsrc=RSS

The latest from the magazine The Economist about HIV drug recipients…

http://ethiopolitics.com/news_1/20080605483.html

The US election is a very popular subject to discuss here….

On the road in Addis,

-Derek

Hi everyone,

As I write this, I am preparing to return to Addis, leaving DC today
at 516pm! I can’t believe how quickly time has flown, and also can’t
believe how much stuff I am taking back, too….

But I am really writing to bid adieu to this google group, for this
will be my last post here….for those of you who are continuing to
follow my travels and work in Addis, remember to go to my new website:

www.ontheroadinaddis.com

You can subscribe there to receive updates, just like here, too!

Please pray for all aspects of travel today and tomorrow…I arrive in
Addis tomorrow (Wed) night…

On the road and going to Ethiopia!
-Derek