Ethiopia

Click here to see my pictures from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, where the oldest remains of a human were found (Lucy) and cultural remnants date back to 1000 BC, is referred to as the cradle of humankind. As the oldest independent country in Africa, Ethiopia has retained such a distinct culture and rooted sense of history and identity. It feels very different from most of the countries I travel in that were colonized.

I arrived in Addis Ababa on the morning of the Ethiopian Orthodox Easter. Yes, Easter - their calendar is different than ours due to the way they calculate the dates of various biblical events. They just celebrated the millennium last year, and they still tell time differently (never quite figured it out - I think they start at 1 at sunrise and go through 12 at sunset and then start back at 1 -12 again). From the dates and time to the art and decorations, the influence of the Ethiopian Orthodox religion can be felt everywhere. My boss is Jewish and he was having such a difficult time finding gifts to bring back home - everything has a cross or Jesus' face on it!

Another central part of the culture is the food. One of the best parts of the trip was just wandering through the city and happening upon little restaurants and coffee shops with menus only in Amharic, baskets for tables, and young men performing traditional music on drums and some type of string instrument. We ate at people's homes two nights, with amazing huge spreads of food. The raw meat was a bit much (!) but actually really tasty, except that one of the women I was traveling with got quite ill. They serve the food on huge table sized pieces of injera, a type of spongy bread used to eat the food with instead of utensils, and ladle portions of goat meat, cabbage, bean puree in front of each person. It's all incredibly spicy and delicious. And oddly, they bring big bowls of popcorn after every meal as dessert.

And best of all - the coffee. Oh lovely country where I wasn't served Nescafe instant coffee every morning! Coffee is 60% of country's exports and by far their most important industry. It is incredibly good. I attended a traditional coffee brewing ceremony, where the raw coffee beans are brought in and roasted right here in front of you, giving off an amazing smell, and then filtered with water and spices.

Addis is definitely one of the few cities that I've visited overseas that I could live in. I pictured it as being dry and dusty given the famine and drought issues, but it is incredibly green and lush and surrounded by hills. Apparently the rest of the country is exactly as I had pictured, however; it becomes incredibly dry and dusty about 10 miles outside of Addis. Not quite sure why I liked the city, though - there aren't any street names or addresses, there's no center to the city, and it's big and sprawling. But it somehow manages to have a lot of charm. Everyone I met was really friendly and engaging, I was not once approached on the street for money or stared at, and it's safe to walk everywhere, even late at night.

I was working like crazy for most of the trip, so didn't get to do any sightseeing outside of Addis. I will definitely make time for it the next time I go - northern Ethiopia is a fascinating mix of half Muslim, half Christian, dotted with religious monuments and ancient kingdoms dating back to medieval times. Even though I spent most most of my time in the head office in Addis, I did spend a lot of time working with the Ethiopian staff and discussing development issues in the country.

Ethiopia ranks 169 (out of 177) out of all the countries in the world in regard to poverty and level of development. It is plagued by constant drought and famine, causing major issues for a population of primarily rural farmers and herders. Women are some of the most marginalized people in society, and CARE focuses on working to empower them in various ways. For example, tradition holds that a bride price must be provided in order for a marriage to occur. The groom’s family pays a high price to the bride’s family and an even higher price for the wedding. This practice is causing a major issue that CARE is working to reduce: bride abduction. Men who can’t afford the bride price abduct young women and rape them, rendering them unmarriageable to anyone else and helpless to do anything about it. Ethiopian law was finally amended in 2004 to penalize abduction, but the law is largely ignored by law enforcement and the judicial system. A shocking 69% of marriages in Ethiopia result from abduction, with young women forced into marriages based on violence that exposes them to HIV infection, much less psychological trauma.

CARE does some very innovative work fighting against this practice, with their interventions based on the success they’ve had in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa to reduce the harmful traditional practice of female genital cutting. I had heard a lot about the work with genital cutting and some of the successful changes made in communities, but wasn't as aware of the extent to which bride abduction is an issue in Africa - I had only heard about it in Central Asia.

So after a whirlwind of a trip mainly spent eating and working, I flew down from Addis to Lilongwe, Malawi for another week.