Steph's Adventures in Addis: Hakuna Matata

Yabello in the distance

Red Soil that reminds me of PEI
minus the SUPER dry factor...

As a child, the lion king was one of my all-time favorite movies—perhaps not to the same extend of one of my good friend’s whose parents recount how she watched it on repeat waiting for her older sister to return home when she first started school!—nonetheless I knew every word to every song and always dreaded the scene when Mufasa was trampled to death! As a child I saw the ‘Lion Kingdom’ as a far off, distant, or imagined land. Last week myself and four coworkers made the TWELVE hour journey to Yabello in Southern Ethiopia( Aprx 200km from Kenya). I had never been to a similar area, with Acacia trees and termite towers, sparsely dispersed across the arid plains of red soil, cratered along the edges of the road as evidence of the rainy season which ended a month early, and the mountains in the distance. Yet, on the way to visit a community project just outside of the main town, there was one particular turn we took, where the narrow road hugged the corner of a mountain which overlooked the entire valley bellow and as CHEESY as it sounds I was brought back to my childhood and instantly thought of the famous scene where Mufasa sat looking over the rich land beyond him and Simba and said ‘Everywhere the light touches, this is our kingdom’. It was one of those moments where you have to ask yourself “Is this real life”? Or who am I to be so fortunate to experience such variety in life? This particular day I was tasked with interviewing two members of a Gum and Incense cooperative group. I was thrilled to be able to finally put a human face and personal stories to the program reports I had been reviewing in the office.

A termite creation...

Interviewing someone—asking open ended questions and trying to make someone feel comfortable enough to share the details of their reality— in ones native tongue is a challenge in and of itself, working with a translator added an extra layer of interesting to the process! But as the morning drew on, I gradually became more comfortable with the process and am hopeful that the case stories I will write from the material gained will to justice and adequately represent the work and learning’s of those I interviewed!

One of the coop-women asked if we
could take a picture!

Working with the translator was hardly my only encounter with language immersion. While I am doing my best to pick up the basics of Amharic (and can now hear many familiar words if I listen closely enough to conversations around me!) I would be lying if I didn’t say that I had NO IDEA what the plan was 85% of the time we were away. All of the co-workers I was with were Ethiopian and while they would do their best to include me in conversation, I found that people naturally return to their native language, especially when tired. My friend and I joke that experiences such as having no idea why the car is pulling over, or finding out that the reason you never received a menu at lunch was because you have been ordered a traditional meal already, will only serve to make us the most easy going people possible! While I still haven’t be able to let go completely of trying to figure out what’s happening, I try to limit the amount of questions I ask knowing that my coworkers have thus far only had my best interest in mind. I am also hopeful that if I keep practicing my Amharic, by the end of my stay I will know without having to ask that when we randomly pull over on the side of the highway its because someone wants to buy strawberries!

On another note, Yabello also extended my questioning of the relationship between Ethiopians and outsiders/ International organizations… what role do we play? The Borena Zone of Southern Ethiopia, where Yabello is located, is highly drought prone and as a result is one of the areas with a high density of AID organizations and NGOs. To paint the picture a little more, on the 7km drive from the main highway to the town center there are field offices for; UNFAO, World Vision, Save the Children, USAID and a few other less known organizations.

What is a group of camels
called? A herd?

The image which resonates in my mind and really hammered home this whole idea of a clash of worlds for me was a local man walking down the side of the road with his two camels who were carrying a What were the stipulations? As always many, many questions and very few answers was what I was left with. Needless to say I wont soon forget those two camels.

load (bear in mind that while on its own this is a new visual for me! it is typical of the area) but furthermore upon closer examination I noticed that the packs the camels were carrying were labeled USAID. A flurry of questions instantly flew threw my mind; how long has this man been receiving AID? What was in the pack? Would be starve without the assistance? Was it creating dependence?

Much love,

Steph x

As always if you have any comments or questions please feel free to e-mail me at:

steph.milo.mackinnon@gmail.com