A ‘school trip’ has the power to create great excitement amongst children, and a feeling of apprehension amongst organisers. A few days organisation and me and Tommy’s afternoon ‘off’ to see the Emperor Yohannis IV museum in Mekele had turned into a full scale outing for the children of Abba Gebremichael. There were no complaints on our part, but we were a little unsure of how exactly it would work out…
Luckily we had had another easy going morning, the under 14’s team had a fixture and there was yet again mass exodus down to the football ‘field’. This was at one of the training pitches that had been bulldozed just a few days before, and coupled with the rain, had produced a mud bath! The opposition team did not turn up and so we enjoyed the spectacle of around 40 youngsters tearing around for an hour and half sliding over and falling in puddles, half disappearing into trenches and all round general comedy. It was quite a scene walking back through the streets all caked in mud, but as always, smiling. It was back to the project for clothes washing, showers and a semi-naked parade by the boys who just wanted to be photographed whilst posing in their pants!
Emperor Yohannis IV ruled Ethiopia from 1872 until 1889 and came to power after beating Emperor Tekle Giyorgis at the battle of Asum on 11th July 1871. He had previously been a powerful lord, known as Kasa Mercha of Tigray; one of three that ruled over Ethiopia whilst the British still had presence in the country. After they left, Emperor Tekle Giyorgis claimed control over the whole country, but Kasa Mercha was not prepared to ignore his ambition for supremacy and was eventually crowned in Axum.
Given that both his original territory was in the north of the country and that the Italian and Egyptian empires were growing and becoming a threat in the north, Emperor Yohannis IV chose Mekele as one of his main bases, building a large castle on top of the hill in the middle of the city. It is this building which now houses the museum detailing the older history of Mekele.
It is a half hour walk from the project to the museum and the heat was blistering. As usual, Ethiopian’s still think that this is relatively cool weather, but Tommy and I were breaking a decent sweat! It was a pretty impressive procession as we walked down the middle of most roads, with the little taxis swerving to avoid us. It’s very common for many teenage boys and men to hold hands as they walk down the street; it is a strange sight at first and one that took a little getting used to. Whereas in Western culture it would only be couples holding hands, here it’s all the men! It’s worth noting that alongside text messages, and web blogs, homosexuality is illegal here too.
However, the boys were desperate to hold our hands whilst periodically stopping and insisting on wiping our sweaty palms on their jumpers. I tried to stop them, but they were having none of it. In the way that they always carry our bags, the way in which these children care us for is nothing short of amazing, and often very humbling; anything they can do for us, they will. Other examples of this include Aquello who used his bare hands to scrape the mud from my shoes after the football, or Ifram who today paid 50cent to buy me a couple of beles. You can try to stop them, but its hard to win!
Tommy ended up covered in mud as the boy he was walking with refused to let go of his hand as they went round a puddle and ended up falling in after attempting to mount the curb. It did look pretty funny, but I’m sure Tommy did not fully appreciate the humour of the situation until later on in the day! Gebreyesus wanted to spend 1Birr on some tissues to clean him up, but Tommy refused. This was yet another example of their kindness and generosity towards us, remember an average worker gets paid just 7 or 8Birr a day – these boys have no jobs, earn a few cents where they can, and still will give their last cent to us if we’d let them. They willingly share anything they have, and their only concern is with others. This is a boy who often sleeps on the street and considers himself lucky as a local hotel lets him eat their leftovers.
On an interesting side note, I also had my first proposition from an Ethiopian girl who, as we walked through the busy city centre, asked if she could hold my hand instead of the boys. The boys got very excited about this saying ‘habasha chick, habasha chick’ (local girlfriend) and she got very embarrassed. I was equally red faced, but it was a nice reminder that as well as humbling you, these boys will also set you up for a laugh!
For most of the children, this was their first visit to the museum. Government school visits to the museum are reserved for the top few students in each class, so again we were able to transport our children into a great-unknown world. However, it was one they embraced and appreciated more than I can put into words. They were so grateful and interested in every word the guide had to say, some even got out their notebooks making notes on their city’s history.
According to government rules, photographs are strictly forbidden in museums. However after our initial row with the guide (and his rifle carrying assistant), we agreed a reasonable entrance fee AND he encouraged our photos- even taking a group photo for us! The children listened to every word the guide had to say (in Tigrinyian and English), whilst insisting on being guides for Tommy and I, they insisted on having their photo taken in front of every single exhibit!
It was then the march back through the town that ended up being largely dominated by a conversation between Daniel and myself. He had refused to come into the museum, as we had had to pay for everyone to enter and he had not wanted us to ‘lose money’ on him. I explained to him that there were a lot of very generous people back in England who had given me money to spend on people just like him. I went on to say that they would only be pleased with me if I could say that I have treated the children of the project and taken them out and made sure they had a good time. He laughed and told me I was a good liar.
“Why would anyone in England want to give their money to us?”, he went on, “I don’t believe you Andy, you’re just going to end up losing all your money on us!”. I again tried to make him understand that I have a lot of very kind friends and family and that they wanted me to make a big difference in Mekele. I told him that everything that I am doing is actually partly a reflection of them and their hopes, and that there are lots of people reading my diary on the internet interested in everything that is going on. “Really?”, he asked and I could feel him starting to get it. There was then a period of silence and conversation with some of the younger boys went back on to the subject of finding the ‘habasha chick’ for me…
Later Daniel asked me if I was going to come back next year. I was honest and told him that I had no idea. He said, “All the volunteers always promise to come back. Cahal did, Anna did, but none of the others. I guess they can’t get the holiday.”. I have no idea who he is talking about really, but it is impossible to put a measure on how much these children value those who come out here and work with them. They really do never forget. Fr Michael is returning soon, and I know John, Tommy and myself all hope and pray that one day we’ll return here.
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The difficulties of life in Ethiopia, lest you forget for a minute, were brought home last night as went for dinner with all the sisters and Rory and John, before they returned to Addis and then Ireland.
A phone call from Daniel to my mobile – the boys have my number somehow – brought the bad news that Sr. Fisseha was already aware of. The mother of one of the boys at the project had passed away, leaving him orphaned.
The usual Saturday morning coffee ceremony was postponed as the children all rallied round their friend, attended the funeral and visited the house. They really do treat one another with the love of brothers and sisters, like one big family. It’s not going to be easy for Tesfa, but at least he has his friends and the project staff, I’d imagine there’s many more on the streets of the city who don’t.
Luckily we had had another easy going morning, the under 14’s team had a fixture and there was yet again mass exodus down to the football ‘field’. This was at one of the training pitches that had been bulldozed just a few days before, and coupled with the rain, had produced a mud bath! The opposition team did not turn up and so we enjoyed the spectacle of around 40 youngsters tearing around for an hour and half sliding over and falling in puddles, half disappearing into trenches and all round general comedy. It was quite a scene walking back through the streets all caked in mud, but as always, smiling. It was back to the project for clothes washing, showers and a semi-naked parade by the boys who just wanted to be photographed whilst posing in their pants!
Emperor Yohannis IV ruled Ethiopia from 1872 until 1889 and came to power after beating Emperor Tekle Giyorgis at the battle of Asum on 11th July 1871. He had previously been a powerful lord, known as Kasa Mercha of Tigray; one of three that ruled over Ethiopia whilst the British still had presence in the country. After they left, Emperor Tekle Giyorgis claimed control over the whole country, but Kasa Mercha was not prepared to ignore his ambition for supremacy and was eventually crowned in Axum.
Given that both his original territory was in the north of the country and that the Italian and Egyptian empires were growing and becoming a threat in the north, Emperor Yohannis IV chose Mekele as one of his main bases, building a large castle on top of the hill in the middle of the city. It is this building which now houses the museum detailing the older history of Mekele.
It is a half hour walk from the project to the museum and the heat was blistering. As usual, Ethiopian’s still think that this is relatively cool weather, but Tommy and I were breaking a decent sweat! It was a pretty impressive procession as we walked down the middle of most roads, with the little taxis swerving to avoid us. It’s very common for many teenage boys and men to hold hands as they walk down the street; it is a strange sight at first and one that took a little getting used to. Whereas in Western culture it would only be couples holding hands, here it’s all the men! It’s worth noting that alongside text messages, and web blogs, homosexuality is illegal here too.However, the boys were desperate to hold our hands whilst periodically stopping and insisting on wiping our sweaty palms on their jumpers. I tried to stop them, but they were having none of it. In the way that they always carry our bags, the way in which these children care us for is nothing short of amazing, and often very humbling; anything they can do for us, they will. Other examples of this include Aquello who used his bare hands to scrape the mud from my shoes after the football, or Ifram who today paid 50cent to buy me a couple of beles. You can try to stop them, but its hard to win!
Tommy ended up covered in mud as the boy he was walking with refused to let go of his hand as they went round a puddle and ended up falling in after attempting to mount the curb. It did look pretty funny, but I’m sure Tommy did not fully appreciate the humour of the situation until later on in the day! Gebreyesus wanted to spend 1Birr on some tissues to clean him up, but Tommy refused. This was yet another example of their kindness and generosity towards us, remember an average worker gets paid just 7 or 8Birr a day – these boys have no jobs, earn a few cents where they can, and still will give their last cent to us if we’d let them. They willingly share anything they have, and their only concern is with others. This is a boy who often sleeps on the street and considers himself lucky as a local hotel lets him eat their leftovers.
On an interesting side note, I also had my first proposition from an Ethiopian girl who, as we walked through the busy city centre, asked if she could hold my hand instead of the boys. The boys got very excited about this saying ‘habasha chick, habasha chick’ (local girlfriend) and she got very embarrassed. I was equally red faced, but it was a nice reminder that as well as humbling you, these boys will also set you up for a laugh!
For most of the children, this was their first visit to the museum. Government school visits to the museum are reserved for the top few students in each class, so again we were able to transport our children into a great-unknown world. However, it was one they embraced and appreciated more than I can put into words. They were so grateful and interested in every word the guide had to say, some even got out their notebooks making notes on their city’s history.
According to government rules, photographs are strictly forbidden in museums. However after our initial row with the guide (and his rifle carrying assistant), we agreed a reasonable entrance fee AND he encouraged our photos- even taking a group photo for us! The children listened to every word the guide had to say (in Tigrinyian and English), whilst insisting on being guides for Tommy and I, they insisted on having their photo taken in front of every single exhibit!
It was then the march back through the town that ended up being largely dominated by a conversation between Daniel and myself. He had refused to come into the museum, as we had had to pay for everyone to enter and he had not wanted us to ‘lose money’ on him. I explained to him that there were a lot of very generous people back in England who had given me money to spend on people just like him. I went on to say that they would only be pleased with me if I could say that I have treated the children of the project and taken them out and made sure they had a good time. He laughed and told me I was a good liar.
“Why would anyone in England want to give their money to us?”, he went on, “I don’t believe you Andy, you’re just going to end up losing all your money on us!”. I again tried to make him understand that I have a lot of very kind friends and family and that they wanted me to make a big difference in Mekele. I told him that everything that I am doing is actually partly a reflection of them and their hopes, and that there are lots of people reading my diary on the internet interested in everything that is going on. “Really?”, he asked and I could feel him starting to get it. There was then a period of silence and conversation with some of the younger boys went back on to the subject of finding the ‘habasha chick’ for me…
Later Daniel asked me if I was going to come back next year. I was honest and told him that I had no idea. He said, “All the volunteers always promise to come back. Cahal did, Anna did, but none of the others. I guess they can’t get the holiday.”. I have no idea who he is talking about really, but it is impossible to put a measure on how much these children value those who come out here and work with them. They really do never forget. Fr Michael is returning soon, and I know John, Tommy and myself all hope and pray that one day we’ll return here.
------------------------------------------------
The difficulties of life in Ethiopia, lest you forget for a minute, were brought home last night as went for dinner with all the sisters and Rory and John, before they returned to Addis and then Ireland.
A phone call from Daniel to my mobile – the boys have my number somehow – brought the bad news that Sr. Fisseha was already aware of. The mother of one of the boys at the project had passed away, leaving him orphaned.
The usual Saturday morning coffee ceremony was postponed as the children all rallied round their friend, attended the funeral and visited the house. They really do treat one another with the love of brothers and sisters, like one big family. It’s not going to be easy for Tesfa, but at least he has his friends and the project staff, I’d imagine there’s many more on the streets of the city who don’t.
3 comments:
I liked the bit about hand-holding. I think there should be more of it generally :)
Oh dear! I think Matt (my lovely husband) was still logged in! It's *me* who thinks there should be more handholding. He just thinks there should be more...pizza.
glad you seem to be feeling a bit better. Well done on keeping the blog going - it's really interesting reading. It's going to be really hard for you saying goodbye to these children!
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