The Great Ethiopian Run and Visiting Lalibela
on My VSO Ethiopian Adventures (Ethiopia), 08/Dec/2010 09:32, 34 days ago
I was lucky enough a couple of weeks ago to get a week off work to meet up with friend Linda from South Africa who stopped off in Addis Ababa for 6 days en route back to Johannesburg from a holiday with friend Marissa in Egypt. While Marissa was working in Addis helping local eligible hopefuls prepare research proposals for acceptance by UNISA for higher study programmes, Linda asked if I would like to visit Lalibela. It was a fortuitous opportunity, a) to have a friend to travel with and b) because by co-incidence I had already booked to be in the capital the weekend she arrived, as a VSO team was entering the 10km Ethiopian Great Run, for which there were a total of 35,000 entries.For the first time I travelled by coach from Dire Dawa to Addis and so was able to see the landscape as we covered 500kms in 10 hours. I wouldn’t like to do that journey too often, but from time to time it is interesting and the scenery is changeable and engaging for nearly all the journey. The first 4 hours is beautiful rolling mountainous scenery of the Chercher Mountains  and then here is the volcanic scenery of the Rift Valley, with great mounds of black soil and rock and lakes and classic volcanic mountains, which from some, the book says, molten sparks can be seen at night. Finally there is a steady climb up to 2400m to the capital, situated on the west side of the Rift Valley.The run has fun and I’m pleased to report that even without training and at that altitude I managed to run most of it, although the crowds prevent running at any speed, more a slow jog, hardly a personal best. It was good to meet up with some of the colleagues we arrived with in September again, now spread all over the country and we found most are feeling much the same about their experiences as Jenny and I – rather up and down at the moment. A colleague used the expression, ‘going through the curve’ and this sums it up, so I’m adopting that as a response now!Lalibela isAfrica’sPetrawith a series of monolithic stone churches hewn, mainly, vertically out of the rock face, so most are vertically situated below ground level and accessed by pathways leading from ground level down into the space that has been hewn from the rock. The roof of some of the churches forms the original rock surface at ground level. Google Lalibela for more. As with the pyramids, how, in the Dark Ages of the 13thcentury, did they do it? A lot of myth and legend surrounds the history of these churches so it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. For example, Bet Abba Libanos was supposed to be been completed in 24 hours by Lalibela’s wife who was assisted by a group of angels. There are 10 churches, or maybe 11 – the development is complex as they are interconnected by passageways and tunnels and one church maybe built inside another etc etc.It is fascinating, photogenic and incredibly atmospheric. The big difference between here and somewhere likePetrais thatPetrais purely a disused, historical site, now unfortunately overrun by just tourists. Lalibela churches nestle right in the small town and are a living part of the town and the lives of the people as a vibrant, active and very special site of worship and spiritual leadership and guidance. It is used daily for this purpose and of course at festival and special occasions it becomes overrun with Ethiopians from all over the country seeking spiritual objectives. It was built by King Lalibela as a symbolic substitute for theHoly Landso Ethiopians did not have to pilgrimage all the way to theHoly Land.Tourism is growing, aided by the opening of a small airport situated 23 kms away because of the mountainous terrain. The area is beautiful and as well as being guided professionally around each of the churches we spent half a day, helped by a mule in Linda’s case, walking up to one of the peaks (over 3000m) overlooking the town. With the flat topped mountains, we were both immediately reminded of the Drakensberg mountains. The birds were amazing and as we are both interested in this aspect, it was great to spend quality time with an old friend (yes, in both senses of the word now I’m afraid!) enjoying aspects of the natural environment.By default we also met quite a few of the local school children and nearly visited a school. Instead we met their teacher and in response to assertive and repetitive overtures about the need for books for their studies, I bought young 2 brothers (10 and 12) a dictionary/ encyclopedia which they wanted and would support their learning, albeit obviously simply rote learning. Their English was amazing and would knock spots off many of the adults in Dire Dawa, and they could tell you quite accurately what the capital of just about any country was– I think we all got stuck onMontenegro!  They were quite engaging and very genuine, like so many Ethiopians, in their passion for learning. Yet another example of how agonisingly disadvantaged these people are. Lalibela is a surprisingly poor town, despite rapidly growing tourism and the prices charged for entrance, guides and hotels. (does it go direct to the church, and to what extent does or can the church afford to support the local community?) The surrounding area is simply subsidence farming and it was evident people live in the poorest of conditions. So who can blame the obvious strategy of the local schools, of which I think there were 4– education is big in Ethiopia, it’s the quality, not the quantity that needs to be questioned – of teaching their students good English (which says a lot for the teachers) as quickly as possible, and getting them to get out there and talk to and engage as manyferengivisitors as possible!In her professional capacity Linda was also able to help the children. She noticed what she described as a parasitic growth on the faces and neck of the 2 brothers and thought she may have a cream to help. Under strict instructions for correct application, they obliged and already the next day we were amazed to see the improvement. Amazing what vaginal cream will do! We visited where they lived in the town with their grandmother, as their parents are farmers out in the countryside and we also met their older sister. I can not imagine the small one roomed rectangular mud hut will survive another rainy season, Linda thought the grandmother wouldn’t survive more than another month, and despite the boys’ obvious brightness, extravertism and education, the sister was shy, withdrawn, did not speak a word of English and clearly was uneducated!What an all round, varied and rich experience we had in 3 days!