11 08 07
on J and M in Assosa (Ethiopia), 12/Aug/2007 10:16, 34 days ago
11 08 07 blogThis week our own training given by our own graduates started with a course on‘Project Planning’. So far 2 of our graduates have participated and the comment from both of them after the first day was that they were exhausted! Welcome to the world of training. I think it was a shock to them exactly how exhausted they were as other trainers can appear to be so relaxed and make it look easy.I advised more group work as this is so important in training and also gives the trainer a break. However they seemed to have survived so far and have found it challenging and rewarding.Our problems at home were that we woke up to no electricity on Tuesday am. It took us until about lunch time to realise that this was an isolated problem and none of our neighbours were affected. In the pm we visited the Electric Bureau to be told they knew there was a problem in our area. Wednesday am phoned again and they implied the problem was ours and we must get it sorted privately. By Wednesday lunch time we were still without electricity but by now so were our neighbours. An electrician from the MI came to check our house, said there was no problem with it but that the local transformer was dead. I visited the Bureau Head and was told the problem was with an underground cable and was the responsibility of Urban Development. I visited that Bureau Head who knew nothing about the problem and promised action tomorrow. I was sceptical as if it was an underground cable it would be a major job. Thursday phoned Urban Dev who said it was being sorted and we came home at lunch time to electricity– we were absolutely astounded but also extremely pleased. Two days and two nights of no power is enough.The other highlight of the week was the visit of Mark Goldring, CEO of VSO global as part of VSO in Ethiopia’s 10 year celebration.He arrived in Assosa about 4 pm on Thursday the flight having taken a detour to Arba Minch to deliver a parcel! This was completely the other direction but it seemed to be acceptable to all. I think everyone was so relieved that the flight actually arrived at all they did not mind the detour. It rained heavily during the night but Thursday itself was a beautiful sunny warm day. Mark visited the Education Bureau in late afternoon and then everyone (11 in total) came to our house for a meal. This was a relaxed affair and we were pleased to be able to do it as that morning without electricity it looked as if we would have to go to a local café.Friday am saw the presentation of VSO’s work over the last 10 years in the BG Region. Although it was late starting and people arrived gradually by the finish there must have been about 40 people there including the Vice President. Mark made a speech as did the Head of Capacity Building and VSO staff, then Jeremy facilitated a discussion with group presentations. It all seemed to be well received.In the pm Mark visited Sherkole Refugee camp which is run by the UN as 2 VSO volunteers have been training teachers in the camp over the last 4 weeks.On the way back he visited the MI at 5 pm by which time on a Friday pm most of the staff had left or were about to board the bus home. However our Manager returned and we were able to show Mark the MI, the training which was taking place and then he had a chat with the Manager. He certainly got an idea of the challenges we have had over the last 18 months. In the evening we attended a dinner in the Bamboo Paradise Hotel( the local Hilton!!!) and were extremely impressed by the fact that both the President and the Vice President attended with a large number of Bureau Heads. It was a pleasant evening and Mark was presented with a clay water container which is a traditional object used to keep water cool here. He was also given a traditional long white‘dress’ which men wear here to relax. Not sure it will be useful in Putney but it was a very thoughtful touch from some of the Bureau Heads.VSO have now raised expectations in the Region and it will be interesting to see how they follow this through.Saturday Mark joined us for breakfast and came with us round the market which he seemed to enjoy. We then met Ato Anazier who invited us to join him for coffee. The flight left at 2 30 pm and hopefully the fact that he had successful travel arrangements will dispel the myths in Addis that Assosa is difficult to get to. He is on the flight to London at 7 30 am on Sunday so there was not a lot of scope for delays. It was a pleasure to meet him and he restored our faith in VSO. He is an astute man who can quickly grasp a situation and listens to and acknowledges problems and is able to offer sensible practical advice. He was a VSO volunteer in Indonesia about 30 years ago.Having seen some of the photos from the events in Addis which he attended I think the whole week will be viewed as a successful 10 year celebration by VSOE.