Ben Abeba Restaurant

It could be argued that Lalibela represents the pinnacle of Ethiopia’s architectural tradition with the newly built Ben Abeba restaurant’s ‘space age’ design adding a distinctive contemporary dimension to the architectural landscape. Situated on the outskirts of the town, Ben Abeba is owned by a Scot named Susan and her Ethiopian business partner and attended by a project to train young Ethiopian men and women the skills of cooking and restaurant management. It is an ambitious project that is reflected in the post-modern design of the restaurant but there is every indication that it will be a success. The food is good, the ambience welcoming and the relationship between the management and staff is evidently one of mutual respect. Following the meal, we enjoyed a lively evening listening and dancing to traditional Ethiopian music with a few renditions of the ‘Gay Gordons’ thrown in for good measure; the Scottish influence coming to fore as the evening progressed. However, as memorable as our evening at Ben Abeba may have been, it was the churches that will live long in the memory. That’s not to say we won’t be recommending Ben Abeba as an excellent venue for food, entertainment and spectacular views.

The trip to the Danakil - January 2012 - Viv Nutt

Extraordinary scenery; heat in the 40s; no breeze until the evening; miles and miles of salt; miles and miles of sand; damp sand; dunes with scrub bushes; pebbles reaching into the horizon;  looks just like you are at the seaside but the tide never comes in.  This landscape was created by the red sea seeping into the depression and then the water evaporating many times; the salt is quite a big industry and it has spawned the most revolting and unsanitary of villages, where the military, local workers and phosphate companies are serviced by bars and prostitutes.  Unsanitary?  There is not one toilet here, and no attempt at organising any.  No pits, no long drops, no attempt to harvest the human waste.  You just go for a little walk on the vast flat lands, and find a flat pebble to cover up your poo.  You hope someone else hasn’t found that same pebble first.

The salt is removed from its layer of sand; cut into blocks and loaded onto the camels and donkeys that wait patiently.  At this point each salt block is sold for 10Birr; the Afar sell it cheap because they know that they can make a profit in other ways from the traders.  By the time the camel trains have carried the salt blocks (20 to a camel; trains of about 20 camels, each with their camel master; groups of 4 or 5 trains) up the mountains to the market in Mekele, each salt block sells for 50Birr.

We visited the volcano of Irte’ale(613m); it is one of the only permanent lava lakes on the planet.  Because of the heat the trek is done at night and on an evening with a full moon rising behind the summit, we started the 3 hour trek at 6pm. It was so worthwhile to be able to see the moving lava, hear that force of nature, experience the bubbling as a burst of molten rock is forced up into a splash and a burst against the sides of the crater, feel the heat, not only from the moving red lava but also from the very rock that we were standing on. This was a ‘wow’ moment; you couldn’t help but be over-awed by the sight.  I shall never forget it.  We camped that night on the crater’s edge and after a short sleep we trekked back down the volcano so that we were at base camp just as the sun was hitting our backs, but before the heat of the day. A lovely breakfast of pasta soup awaited us cooked by the 2 women that we had bought with us.  Thank goodness that we had 4x4s to take us the 6hour drive across sands and pebbles and rocks, back to Hamd’ula and our main camp.

Our other visit was towards the North to see the sulphur pools and oily lakes of Dallol; Here again you really experience the heat of the area; it’s unrelenting and at -116m is the lowest inhabited place on earth.  The colours of the sulphur lakes are best seen, so I’ll try and upload some pictures. Beautiful shapes and pools are produced and gasses can be seen escaping from the earth.  The chemical is harvested from time to time and there is an old Italian settlement on a nearby ridge, now only used by temporary workers.  The other lake bubbles incessantly too and here the hot spring brings with it underground oils.  Birds and insects are attracted to this lovely blue lake in the midst of the desert, but the polluted waters spell death, and there are several bodies lying around.  The Afar collect this oily water as a skin preparation.

This was an amazing adventure, and one that I am so glad I had the opportunity to make.  I don’t think that there will be any trips to the Danakil for a while, as seven days after we were there, five tourists were killed and four others taken hostage just in the camp at the base of the volcano.  I count myself lucky to have been there and lucky to have got out, and incredibly sorry for those people who didn’t make it back home.

Money

I’ve just got back to the home comforts of Aksum having spent a week in the chaos of Addis. A trip to the capital is not only an assault on your senses but a threat to your wallet. In fact, the percentage increase in prices from Aksum might make you wonder whether a trip is worth it at all. For a start, a return airfare with Ethiopian Airlines came in at a cool 2,400 Birr, which was followed by a 1,500 Birr 6 night stay at a ‘budget’ hotel. And it doesn’t end there.  A cup of tea at 6 Birr is considerably higher than I am normally used to paying while a 16 Birr haircut in Addis was 6 Birr more expensive. Transport also presents financial challenges. While Line Taxis (beaten up old Toyota mini-vans) in Addis are generally cheaper than a Bajaj in Aksum, the hiring of a taxi will really test your haggling skills. I was quoted 200 Birr for a trip from my hotel to the airport but eventually secured a lift for 80. My taxi ride from the airport at Aksum into the town was a mere 25 Birr.

However, one of the pleasures of a trip to Addis is that you can have restaurant dishes not normally available in the Aksum hotels; pizzas, grilled chicken, fish and tender meat dishes are readily available, but at a price. A pizza and a couple of glasses of very presentable wine set me back 92 Birr while a tasty grilled chicken dish with a glass of wine in a very well appointed restaurant cost me 84Birr. Prices in Aksum are a little more modest and dirt cheap if you know where to go. A meal at our local injera café recently cost Viv and I a modest 23 Birr and that included a drink of sprite!

We have become increasingly sensitive to the fluctuations in prices since our arrival; more so since we now try to ensure that we remain within the budget of our 2,750 Birr monthly income. Part of the challenge in Aksum is to ensure that we are charged at local ‘habesha’ rates and not the inflated ‘farenji’ prices so often quoted. One local hotel openly displays the fact that foreigners will be required to pay twice as much as Ethiopian visitors! Thankfully, our residency permits can come in useful. I guess that you know you have been in Ethiopia for a while when you stop converting prices from Birr to pounds but every once in a while it helps to take stock and to put things into perspective. 

27 Birr = £1.00

 As my American colleague might say, ‘I’ll leave you to do the Math” and draw your own conclusions about the cost of living in a developing nation. Maybe trips to Addis and other places in this wonderful country are worth the effort.

An Early Start

We were up at 5.00am on Saturday to go to the Aksum stadium.  By the time we arrived things were in full swing. We were there at the invitation of the University athletics squad. There are some very talented runners not least Berihu the current Ethiopian Universities 800m champion. We watched a very impressive training session on a track that could so easily have caused injury; athletes were required to negotiate some serious looking ruts that had been created during the rainy season. Alongside the University squad were local athletes including a blind runner preparing for the Ethiopian paralympic championships. In the centre of the stadium some junior football squads assembled and by 6.30am their coaching sessions were underway; all this before sunrise!

It was a terrific and rather humbling sight to see so many groups showing real dedication. Facilities were, as you might expect, rudimentary and the equipment basic. In many cases, footwear was no more than plastic sandals and there was only one football per group. I couldn’t help thinking that the addition of some footballs, training bibs and cones would have made the coach’s job so much easier. However, despite these shortcomings, the enthusiasm was impressive. There was no shortage of talent either.

A Day Trip to Adwa

After 7 weeks Viv finally persuaded me to stop my ‘planning and preparation’ for what turned out to be an eventful day trip to Adwa. Adwa has huge significance in Ethiopia as it was in the surrounding hills that Menelik II inflicted the biggest ever defeat on a colonial army in Africa (Italian troups) and saved Ethiopia from colonisation. 

At first sight, Adwa is an uninspiring town that is under heavy construction both in the development of new roads and commercial buildings. It’s fair to say that much of it resembles a building site.

After a gentle stroll where the highlight was watching birds enjoying a small but gently flowing stream we were ready to return to Aksum. However, as we were enjoying a cooling drink we became more and more aware of people walking past us laden with goods from a nearby market. What a contrast Old Adwa turned out to be. Like Aksum, it was an incredibly colourful and vibrant scene set against a backdrop of towering hills. Much of the produce was similar to the Aksum markets until Viv came upon a woman selling cherry tomatoes; what a treat is in store for us! I have added some photographs of some characters we met at the market.

However, the most memorable moment of the day? Getting my wallet lifted during the journey from Aksum. Crammed into a mini-bus with 20 others the guy to my right was able to take my wallet from a deep, zipped pocket. Genius! All rather embarrassing really particularly as I have always felt that I take all the necessary precautions to avoid such an incident. He was able to get away with 200birr in cash and 50birr’s worth of phone cards but thankfully nothing of greater significance. Thanks to a reminder from the VSO office in Addis, Viv had photocopied our VSO ID cards and our Residency Permits the day before so all he was left with was two photocopied mugshots of myself. I hope he enjoys spending the money but feels deeply ashamed to have robbed a habisha volunteer. Somehow, I doubt it. All in all, a sharp reminder about the care we need to take with our belongings.

University Reflections

Founded in 2006, Aksum University is one of a number of new Universities throughout Ethiopia.  Built 5k to the south of the town centre, the site houses 5 faculties and close to 10,000 students and bears testimony to the Ethiopian government’s commitment to Higher Education.  It has been an immense project of which senior mangers within the University are justifiably proud.  However, the rapid growth hasn’t come without some difficulties.  Much of the campus resembles a building site, while new trenches for threading cables of all sorts emerge daily.  Health and safety officers would be in their element here although, to my knowledge, no one has fallen down any of the holes yet!!  It seems to me that the rapid rate of building has exceeded the University’s capacity to provide essential resources.  Thus, some courses run without the advantages of purpose built facilities.  For example, there are no practical facilities for the current Sports Science students although a new gymnasium is currently being constructed, and purpose built sports performance labs still seem a long way off.

Internal communications also present challenges as there is no email system to speed up the exchange of messages.  This is left to the hand delivery of messages/letters that often involves long hikes across campus to locate your recipient.  However, progress on the IT front is being made under the leadership of Mike Hulme, another VSO volunteer.  He really is making a difference and only last week was able to celebrate the installation of a broadband connection.  There is still much to be done but progress is being made.  Developments are in good hands even if it will be a little while before access is available to all.

After what seems a very long period of preparation, I’m delighted to say that work on the Higher Diploma Programme has started.  At last, I am beginning to feel like a fully-fledged volunteer.  I am supported by Dr. Mariama Ross and Desalegn Alemu.  Mariama is an American teacher educator who has worked in a number of US universities before volunteering with IFESH (International Foundation for Education and Self Help).  For the last 5 years, she has been working at a University in Ghana but has come to Aksum to support the development of university wide Quality Assurance systems.  She has become a reassuring and calming influence as I wrestle with the ‘Ethiopian Way’ of doing things.  Desalegn is a member of the Psychology Department here at the University and has been seconded to work on the HDP for the year.  I have found his help and advice invaluable.  He is a charming man who like many others in Aksum is a long distance supporter of Manchester Utd.  He was very quiet when we attended the screening of the Manchester derby in the local cinema!!  During some of the earlier sessions with the candidates he would interject to merely repeat, almost word for word, what I had said.  It seemed unusual to say the least until he pointed out that he was translating my instructions from English to Amharic English; it seems to work!  I guess he’s lucky I’m not from Glasgow.  Its early days but I am optimistic of creating a hard working and responsive group; there are certainly some extremely capable candidates with very impressive CVs.

I’ve now been at the University for four weeks and it must be said that I have been met with considerable courtesy and a real desire to help me settle in. If an institution is to be judged by its people alone, this University has a promising future.  It is an aspirational institution that recognises the scale of the job in front of it.  The senior managers are keen to initiate change but appreciate that they are trying to make sweeping cultural changes with all the challenges that attend such a process.  The next two years will be critical as the completion of some key resources and facilities materialise.  And what is expected from me?  I hope I can make some sort of contribution to the strategic developments around teaching, learning and assessment.  I guess only time will tell.

SHOPPING IN AKSUM

12^th October 2011                                             1^st day of the second month 2004  - Ethiopian date.

It was always a plan, when we decided to seek a placement with VSO, that we would try to do without the indulgencies of western ‘civilisation’ and live a simpler life, but sometimes it’s really tough.  The main problem is refridgeration.  Of course we could always go out and buy a fridge, but that would defeat the object of the exercise. Food obviously doesn’t keep for more than a day in this heat.  Gone is the old home style of making a big pot of stew to last a few days. Everything has to be made fresh and then we must ensure there is no wastage caused by overproduction (Nutts never were good at throwing away food).

This job of feeding ourselves is compounded by the limited availability and variety of fresh goods.  Bananas and oranges are available in every other tiny street shop, and we eat them every day.  But if you want more variety then papaya and guavas are bought from the juice shop, and these are supplemented with grapefruit and limes from the Saturday market.  Vegetables are another difficulty; if you miss the Saturday market, then you’re restricted to red onions, avocados from the juice shop (60p per kilo), potatoes (only one variety), white cabbage and tomatoes(again only one variety);  sometimes one of the local roadside stalls will get a sack of lettuce – a loose leaf type sold on the root.  On that day we always have salad!  We try to get to the market on Saturday though (an experience in itself).  There we can find carrots, beetroot, leaf beet, and garlic.  That’s it; only one variety of each vegetable; no cherry toms, no watercress or mixed leaves or cos, no spinach, no apples, no plums, no olives, no cucumber, no ... variety.

Of course meat doesn’t appear in our kitchen, but beef and goat and, to a lesser extent, mutton is sold in small butchers’ shops, but naturally it isn’t hung to tenderize the meat in this climate, so it is killed and eaten immediately – either raw, in chunks eaten at the butcher’s or cut into tiny pieces and quick cooked; then it’s called ‘tibs’ and traditionally served with raw green chilli and onion and injera.  You buy chicken of course- it comes fresh - very fresh - and you take it home and kill it yourself!