We arose on Thursday morning again before 6. I’m sure I heard the first priest that morning chanting....then the next, then the next......can you tell it began to get old? Des was bathed and off to read his magazine and have breakfast. I got up and worked through my morning routine, and then sat down with my computer to try to record notes for the blogs. My memory these days is not so good, so I make notes while I can!
I finished up some notes and decided it was time to join the others on the terrace for breakfast. I went up and sat with a few of our group and ordered my usual breakfast: mixed papaya and orange juice, scrambled eggs, toast with butter and apricot jam, and of course, buna with milk! Good stuff!
After breakfast, I had a little time to go back to my room and work before gathering with the others for the day’s outing. This was to be our day to visit the embassies. Our van driver dropped us off first at the US Embassy, where Jason Martin, the Cultural Attache met us outside the main entrance. We were escorted into security, where, sadly, the guards there demanded our cameras, bags, etc. We were not to be allowed to take any cameras into the embassy. This was even more disappointing later when we were shown some incredible art work inside. Anyway, they took our cameras, bags, etc. and gave us a numbered tag and a temporary visitor’s ID. We progressed on into the next courtyard and waited for Jason, our escort. He then took us into the main building, and into a small board room, where chairs had been set up, presumably for us. There were also bottles of water for us, which we gladly took. In the front of the room was a table where, when they arrived, the Deputy Chief of Mission, Dr. Tulinabo Mushingi and the Regional Environment Office, Kirsten Bauman, joined Jason as a sort of panel. We then began a very interesting dialog, first with our explanation of our group and how we came to be in Addis Ababa, and then explanations by each of our hosts as to their jobs and duties, where the country of Ethiopia is currently, and where it is headed. We learned more about the economy, industry partnerships with other countries, and environmental and health issues facing the country. Jason also took pride in showing off the beautiful artwork that was displayed around the room. He and his department had recently hosted an art competition for local Ethiopian artists to portray one of the “four freedoms,’ marking the 70th anniversary of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Four Freedoms” speech on January 6, 1941, to the U.S. Congress, and of course inspired by Norman Rockwell’s FOUR FREEDOMS series, originally created for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. I was quite taken by the art work. It was continued in another room, the reference library and computer lab, so we were able to view all the paintings. (Take a look at the following site to see the images of the paintings! http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/galleries.html
An interesting turn in the morning was when Kirsten’s admin assistant popped in to introduce herself and tell us that she had met one of Shenandoah’s GCP groups a few years back in Bolivia, one of her previous posts, and that when she and her colleagues had been back in Washington, DC, they managed a trip out to the Shenandoah campus, and were completely taken with the university and its surroundings.
We were escorted back to security to retrieve our respective bags and cameras, and said our goodbyes and made our way back to the van.
We had the van driver take us to a little out-of-the-way cafe/sandwich shop where Des and friends used to hang out for lunch. We all found tables outside and ordered food, which turned out to be very good! While we were there, I noticed several of the teachers from the nearby Sandford International School stopping by for lunch as well. While we waited for food, we made plans for the mid-afternoon. We had some time to fill before our visit to the British Embassy. Des had already made plans to visit his old friends and have lunch with some of the folks from the school. He had the van driver go ahead and drop him off, and then return to pick the rest of us up. Half of our group decided to go to the zoo to see the ‘Lions of Judah’, and they planned to visit the university which was just across the road from the zoo. The other half decided to go visit the Sheraton Hotel. I decided to go to the Sheraton for two reasons: my new friend, the art teacher at the Sandford School, had a painting hanging there that I wanted to see, and my feet were still suffering, and I knew that the Sheraton visit would allow me to sit for a while and rest my feet. It was all timed very well....the van driver dropped off the zoo group first, then the rest of us at the Sheraton. At a previously decided time, he returned in the same order...first to pick up the folks at the university, and then to pick us up at the Sheraton. Everyone, luckily, was where they needed to be, and we were on time for our afternoon visit to the British Embassy.
At the British Embassy, we were greeted by our friend, Mesfin, of course, since he works there. He had everything ready for us when we arrived. We had to leave our cameras, etc. with Security at the gate this time. They gave each of us a numbered badge in return. Mesfin met us and led us into the main building. We went upstairs to a nicely appointed board room, where they had set out tea, coffee, and a nice assortment of cakes and cookies for us! As we got our refreshments and made our way to our seats, we were joined by the Howard Taylor, head of the British Aid program in Ethiopia. Taylor explained that he had been there in Addis for about two years. He gave us time, as in our earlier embassy visit, to tell him about our group, and why we were there in Addis. He then told us of the British Embassy’s mission and goals in Ethiopia, and again about the economy, and about the partnerships of many other countries with Ethiopia in major efforts to help boost her economy and provide jobs for her citizens. It was a very warm and relaxed dialog, and I, for one, learned so much!
After our time at the embassy, we went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit, and then out to Castelli’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant, for dinner. We had reservations, which Mesfin had seen to, and he met us there, of course. We had great Italian fare, and some great conversation about our day. We had been seated at a large grouping of tables in a small banquet room, opposite another group of about 10 or so people. Des noticed one older woman with the group that he remembered having met years ago. She had been a friend of one of his colleagues at the Sandford School. Mesfin also recognized her. Jean, who was one of our group, suddenly said, “I know that woman! She was on Oprah just this afternoon!” I asked her what the show had been about, and she related the story of this woman, a well-known doctor, who had started a special clinic in Ethiopia for treating a specific condition, fistulae, in young women. I remembered seeing this some time ago! Her name is Dr. Catherine Hamlin, and she and her husband, Reginald, are the founders of the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals. Mesfin and Des got the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with Dr. Hamlin before she left the restaurant, and she was genuinely happy to see them! If you want to know more about Dr. Hamlin, see the following website:
http://www.fistulafoundation.org/wherewehelp/ethiopia/hospital.html
After dinner, we went back to the hotel. On the way, one of the young men in our group, Kyle, mentioned that he wanted to visit an orphanage while we were there. Since we had time on Friday morning that had not been planned as yet, he was planning to ask Mesfin for help in identifying an orphanage he could visit. Of course, he invited anyone who wanted to accompany him, and all of us decided we wanted to go too. So, Kyle made all the arrangements with Mesfin himself. I was very proud of him, and of everyone for choosing to go along!
I finished up some notes and decided it was time to join the others on the terrace for breakfast. I went up and sat with a few of our group and ordered my usual breakfast: mixed papaya and orange juice, scrambled eggs, toast with butter and apricot jam, and of course, buna with milk! Good stuff!
After breakfast, I had a little time to go back to my room and work before gathering with the others for the day’s outing. This was to be our day to visit the embassies. Our van driver dropped us off first at the US Embassy, where Jason Martin, the Cultural Attache met us outside the main entrance. We were escorted into security, where, sadly, the guards there demanded our cameras, bags, etc. We were not to be allowed to take any cameras into the embassy. This was even more disappointing later when we were shown some incredible art work inside. Anyway, they took our cameras, bags, etc. and gave us a numbered tag and a temporary visitor’s ID. We progressed on into the next courtyard and waited for Jason, our escort. He then took us into the main building, and into a small board room, where chairs had been set up, presumably for us. There were also bottles of water for us, which we gladly took. In the front of the room was a table where, when they arrived, the Deputy Chief of Mission, Dr. Tulinabo Mushingi and the Regional Environment Office, Kirsten Bauman, joined Jason as a sort of panel. We then began a very interesting dialog, first with our explanation of our group and how we came to be in Addis Ababa, and then explanations by each of our hosts as to their jobs and duties, where the country of Ethiopia is currently, and where it is headed. We learned more about the economy, industry partnerships with other countries, and environmental and health issues facing the country. Jason also took pride in showing off the beautiful artwork that was displayed around the room. He and his department had recently hosted an art competition for local Ethiopian artists to portray one of the “four freedoms,’ marking the 70th anniversary of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Four Freedoms” speech on January 6, 1941, to the U.S. Congress, and of course inspired by Norman Rockwell’s FOUR FREEDOMS series, originally created for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. I was quite taken by the art work. It was continued in another room, the reference library and computer lab, so we were able to view all the paintings. (Take a look at the following site to see the images of the paintings! http://ethiopia.usembassy.gov/galleries.html
An interesting turn in the morning was when Kirsten’s admin assistant popped in to introduce herself and tell us that she had met one of Shenandoah’s GCP groups a few years back in Bolivia, one of her previous posts, and that when she and her colleagues had been back in Washington, DC, they managed a trip out to the Shenandoah campus, and were completely taken with the university and its surroundings.
We were escorted back to security to retrieve our respective bags and cameras, and said our goodbyes and made our way back to the van.
At the British Embassy, we were greeted by our friend, Mesfin, of course, since he works there. He had everything ready for us when we arrived. We had to leave our cameras, etc. with Security at the gate this time. They gave each of us a numbered badge in return. Mesfin met us and led us into the main building. We went upstairs to a nicely appointed board room, where they had set out tea, coffee, and a nice assortment of cakes and cookies for us! As we got our refreshments and made our way to our seats, we were joined by the Howard Taylor, head of the British Aid program in Ethiopia. Taylor explained that he had been there in Addis for about two years. He gave us time, as in our earlier embassy visit, to tell him about our group, and why we were there in Addis. He then told us of the British Embassy’s mission and goals in Ethiopia, and again about the economy, and about the partnerships of many other countries with Ethiopia in major efforts to help boost her economy and provide jobs for her citizens. It was a very warm and relaxed dialog, and I, for one, learned so much!
After our time at the embassy, we went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit, and then out to Castelli’s, a wonderful Italian restaurant, for dinner. We had reservations, which Mesfin had seen to, and he met us there, of course. We had great Italian fare, and some great conversation about our day. We had been seated at a large grouping of tables in a small banquet room, opposite another group of about 10 or so people. Des noticed one older woman with the group that he remembered having met years ago. She had been a friend of one of his colleagues at the Sandford School. Mesfin also recognized her. Jean, who was one of our group, suddenly said, “I know that woman! She was on Oprah just this afternoon!” I asked her what the show had been about, and she related the story of this woman, a well-known doctor, who had started a special clinic in Ethiopia for treating a specific condition, fistulae, in young women. I remembered seeing this some time ago! Her name is Dr. Catherine Hamlin, and she and her husband, Reginald, are the founders of the Hamlin Fistula Hospitals. Mesfin and Des got the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with Dr. Hamlin before she left the restaurant, and she was genuinely happy to see them! If you want to know more about Dr. Hamlin, see the following website:
http://www.fistulafoundation.org/wherewehelp/ethiopia/hospital.html
After dinner, we went back to the hotel. On the way, one of the young men in our group, Kyle, mentioned that he wanted to visit an orphanage while we were there. Since we had time on Friday morning that had not been planned as yet, he was planning to ask Mesfin for help in identifying an orphanage he could visit. Of course, he invited anyone who wanted to accompany him, and all of us decided we wanted to go too. So, Kyle made all the arrangements with Mesfin himself. I was very proud of him, and of everyone for choosing to go along!
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