First Day back to work after being ill…
on New Adventures in Ethiopia (Ethiopia), 03/Mar/2009 09:22, 34 days ago
I went back to work today and I felt much much better. Everyone asked me how I was and seemed to be happy to have me back. Anyway, we got underway talking about work and I basically started discussing some organizational things with Gezahen and Rev. Jeremiah.Oh no…actually… before I went to the office I called them and told them Id be going late because I was going to stop off at the UN Food Program Branch office to ask for information. I went there - its right by my house. The UN doesn’t play around. They have a high gate with barbed wire and the works. I knocked on these HUGE gates and the guards opened up. I told them I’m a VSO volunteer and gave them my ID. They took my ID in and came out and told me to come in to the office of one Indian lady who I introduced myself to and explained that I was working with CISO and that I really needed information to write proposals and so forth. She said a lot of the UN information is confidential but that she would take my details and contact me if she had any pertinent information that she thought I could use.As I walked back, I noticed the office for Family Health International so I walked in. I again, introduced myself and they sent me upstairs. I saw a youngish looking guy sitting in quite a nice office and I started to introduce myself and he told me that we have met before and that he lives on my compound. Apparently, he was there on the night that my landlord cooked that poor sheep and because it was dark I didn’t recognize his face. Nonetheless, it turns out that he is the head person in Awassa and he was able to give me lots of current HIV/AIDS related statistical data.When I got back to the office, I found out that he’s actually a medical doctor and he is quite influential. Woops, and it turns out he’s my neighbor.Anyhow, the rest of the day was a regular day at work and I spent a good part of it clearing up the mess of files on the computers. At one point in the morning, we did walk over to the Action Aid office and met with its Director. He gave me a good rundown of their projects and current status. It was actually interesting. In the afternoon, the electricity went out by about 2:30 so we couldn’t get much work done. We just hung around the office and eventually had to go home.I spent the evening relaxing and cooked pasta with vegetables and ate it in the dark…no sorry…by candlelight. I was actually quite impressed with myself that I managed to cook a whole proper meal in total darkness and with the help of one candle. Bearing in mind I’m cooking on a kerosene stove…that’s not bad. I was determined not to let the lack of electricity be an obstacle. I basically crashed after that effort…Well…since I had slept so early the night before and didn’t have a chance to …well I cant call it showering…its more like bathing…since I didn’t get a chance to bathe, I woke up at 6am and the water was already hot because I left the boiler on so when the electricity came on in the middle ofthe night it would warm the water by morning. How’s that for forward planning?So I filled up my little tub and for the first time actually had a‘shower’ in the morning. It was good…I had time to get ready and tidy up and make my way to work. I came to work and David (the Kenyan volunteer) came over and we discussed the Strategic Plan we are working on. He came up with some good ideas but he is just a weird person. Very strange.The remainder of the day I spent working on my laptop at work, trying to find ways to redo this organizational document that is just a shambles if you ask me. The personnel here are limited to say the least. So the work they produce is sub standard unfortunately. They are all looking to me for solutions and to say I have a heavy workload is not even coming close to doing it justice. Having a heavy workload would be doing my workload a great disservice in expressing the monster it is.See…its one thing when people send you here for a role within an institution but it is not only that you have to fulfill this role but you have to confront the challenges of an African workplace. We take SO much for granted in the developed world. We EXPECT some rights as an employee, some structure,management, work ethic, basic resources etc. There are close to none of these here. Not only do I have to fundraise but I also have to instill structure and work ethic and organization and management and also be the English language liaison. Wow. I have my work cut out for me.I reorganized the Strategic Plan and instilled ideas that it should be reformed and explained why.I walked to my house with Fekadu again and it seems much better in the harassment department. The weather is getting very very hot here. I am told it will be crazy hot until May. In the office, the doors are open so there is a cool breeze. I was given my own office but I don’t ever go in my office because it’s dark and dingy and I prefer being in the light by the door where it’s cool.Anyway, tonight we had planned to have dinner. Gezahen had wanted to take me out for dinner as a welcome gesture and because of my illness it got postponed. So I popped home then at 6 met them at Hotel Pinna. We were supposed to meet David and then decide where to go but he didn’t show up. We waited for almost an hour then walked across the street to a restaurant I went to with Julius back in the first week. I thought Id play it safe and order something Ethiopian and they didn’t have anything. That’s a normal occurrence here. You’ll get a menu and you’ll order something and they’ll tell you they don’t have it. Then you’ll order something else and they’ll say we don’t have that either. And by the end of it they’ll have you eat what they want you to eat. So that’s what happened to me. I got this roast meat dish that was GROSS. I couldn’t eat it. I just ate a little and had a beer and then I was escorted home. Once I got home I suggested we go have a drink to Stella and I called Julius over to join us. We went to Sombreros and had a few beers and talked and then went home.Our landlord does not like men. He protects Stella and I like we’re his daughters. When Julius came to meet us he had to greet him in Amharic and shake his hand and show his face. We also realized that he waits up for us. It’s quite sweet but a little too much. The whole time we were out Stella was worried that Ayenu (the landlord) would be upset that we arecoming home late.So a bit tipsy on a Tuesday night and that was that.I’ve been thinking that I haven’t gone to the lake since I’ve been here and the lake is supposed to be THE major feature of Awassa. I need to be a tourist and go check it out. Anyway…Ill do that this weekend maybe if it’s not too hot.Also, one thing that should go with mention is the fact that a few days ago, seeing that there is some kind of construction being done, in true Flintstones style, the mass of breeze blocks were delivered on a donkey cart. I have never felt so sorry for an animal. This donkey had to carry this CRAZY weight on its back and had to stand there upholding this cart with seriously about 50 breeze-blocks loaded on and waiting for its owner to unload them one by one. The donkey stood there and just eased one of its hind legs because it was obviously in pain. Seeing that there is no reverse gear on a donkey, when the cart was empty, the owner just slapped the donkey’s face to go backwards. It was the saddest thing.Also, the next day, a cow entered our office compound. The way buildings are here are like houses with a gate and between the front door and the gate front door is like a porch type area. So the gate front door was left open and a cow came in. Now I told the people in my office that if I called home and told my friends or family that a cow wandered into my office, they would seriously think something had affected me. Then to add salt to the wound…when I went home… there were two cows standing outside the gate of my compound and I couldn’t get to the door. I could hear them chomping the random bits of grass on the side of the door and I had to tell the old man that was standing there to get rid of his cows so I can get inside me house.Hahaha! How random. Im dealing with cows nowadays.