Dire Dawa
on My VSO Ethiopian Adventures (Ethiopia), 11/Oct/2010 10:24, 34 days ago
As the plane descended fromAddis Ababaon the morning of 22ndSeptember a very different scene unfolded before our eyes. The land was flat, dry and sandy with a savannah type vegetation carpeting the otherwise desert landscape with a sea of green flat topped acacia trees and associated species.  As we emerged from the small regional airport into a new heat, camels were evident amongst the landscape of low trees, many of which were on blossom. It had a distinctly exotic feel to it, including the temperature! The town is spread out and spacious with wide streets, mainly tree lined and many are dual carriageways. The scene is one of linked single storied settlements and communities and on the outskirts of town there was evidence of basic stone built dwellings with a mud coating and compound architecture so common inAfricaand theMiddle East. Architecturally attractive in many areas, with large ornate double doors hiding the dwellings inside the compounds. Nearer the centre there are more substantive colonial type architecture harking back to the early 20thcentury when the French built the one and only national railway line fromAddis Ababato the sea atDjiboutithrough Dire Dawa. All this is in disrepair now and the line no longer runs from AA but starts at Dire Dawa and carries goods toEthiopia’s one outlet to theRed Seasince Eritrian independence. Eriterian independence has been a growth stimulus to this town, now the second town of the country, because of the railway line. The old station in the centre of town is no longer used and like most of the buildings in the centre is in a state of disrepair. Along with the rest of the country, Dire Dawa does not support wealth to any extent and people are evident plying their basic wares on road sides or in small markets. The only higher rise buildings are the few more western style hotels and one or 2 Government buildings. Everything is very small scale and spread out, but there is a good network of roads and much of the town is pleasing to the eye. Economically the town is a trading point and is at a junction for several different tribes who come into town to try to make a living. It has a cement works and a Coca Cola bottling plant and with the airport is a gateway to the tourst attraction of Harar, an old Arab walled town an hour away up into the hills. One of the biggest employers in the town now must surely be the rapidly developing university. Dire Dawa is the location for one of the currently 22 regional universities being planned by the Ethiopian Government, and it is rapidly expanding. This year, in a week’s time 7000 students will enrol on what still looks like one enormous building site in the semi desert. The institution has been in existence for 3-4 years now, but its development is strengthening. The management is very stretched at the present time as in addition to the usual pressures of a new academic year and the arrival of a large number of students, they are also managing, or at least having to live with a massive building project, and their academic or administrative duties have to co-exist with and take account of, the inconvenience of unfinished buildings, no roads and few facilities. All this is taking place on a hot and dusty plain where the sun beats down relentlessly and goats wander around – some seen trying to get into one of the new lecture rooms yesterday. The odd camel train is also in evidence around the ‘campus’.