The Boy with the Baby Tongue (1/8)

We are pretty much a week in now and settling into Mekele life. The routines are familiar and the sights, sounds and smells of Ethiopia are now nothing new. However, I find the more I talk to the people and get to know exactly how they live their lives, the harder I find it is to accept certain things. Even witnessing everything first hand, it is still difficult to comprehend certain things about life in Mekele.

We sat in the sun, talking to Sammy the trainee accountant. He told us about life in Tigray for the average Ethiopian. Most people earn around 7 or 8 Birr per day, which equals around 35-45p. However, there are many more who earn less than this. Even those educated with a Masters degree can only expect to earn around 2000Birr a month (£110), and this after it costs around 14,000Birr to study for a Masters (£780). Apparently the market is open for investment and any foreign country is allowed to invest in Ethiopia. As Sammy reminded us, the government does not have much more funding for industrial investment after it has tried to cater for the basic needs of the population. I do wonder about the possibilities if over the next few years businesses invest in Ethiopia. It is certainly a country on the up, but one that is still suffering from extreme poverty and massive problems. Speaking to people like Sammy, Ethiopians seem confident that their country will emerge into the international markets and be a successful and prosperous nation. Only time will tell, but seeing the optimism of the people fills me with confidence that maybe all these things will be possible. These people certainly deserve more than their current deal.

We are quickly learning other things about Ethiopian culture; firstly that Ethiopians do not have surnames! There are two Sr. Medhins at St Vincent’s and we asked how we could differentiate between them. We were told that we had to work out our own way… However it does seem that they do have a second name, Sr. Medhin Tesfaye and Sr. Medhin Abrhamas. Their second name is very simply, their mothers’ first name. Interestingly, as we talking at dinner last night, it seems towards Alitena everyone is related to everyone (particularly Sr. Desta’s family!) and it is a good job they do not have surnames or they would all be the same! This is the area that most of the sisters come from, by the Eritrean border, and houses a large Catholic community. Most of the sisters are travelling to Alitena tomorrow for the Bishop’s father’s funeral. He died today, but in Ethiopian you are buried very quickly. Catholic funerals generally take place the next day; whilst Orthodox funerals are generally the same day as death. I guess there are practical as well as cultural reasons for this.

Tommy and I are also getting to know the staff around St Vincent’s even better. The guards are always incredibly friendly, and I am most impressed with blind guard. His hearing and mind must be incredibly sharp as he hears coming from a long way off, I think he is also recognising our knock on the gates! We have also sussed out how to get our washing done, although socks and pants we have to do ourselves. I am already past the stage where I need to have all clothes freshly washed each day... Another person we have got to know is Sahi is a woman who lives in the guardhouse and helps out around the compound. She speaks very little English but has been at St Vincent’s for around 10 years. She suffers from some form of dementia and the sisters tell us that she is ‘very harmless but not of sound mind’. However, she calls me ‘the boy with the baby tongue’ as I do not speak any Tigrinyian to her!