Ethiopian Culture

Here are just a few observations I have made that are new or changed from last year.
Ethiopian coffee ceremony is a highlight of life and hospitality here. We experienced Ethiopian coffee ceremony in a private home of one of the teachers today. We were all invited to test the aroma of the fresh roasted beans by wafting the steam near our noses.
We enjoyed a lovely meal of many dishes made in our honor which were mildly seasoned. The lentils were especially good. We had stuffed hot peppers as a side dish which were intense but tasty. Hot peppers are just very much what you eat here and of course injera.
Yesterday we visited Addis Ababa for shopping. The name means new flower. I don't find Addis that fresh or new looking and I don't see it as a beautiful city. We visited a shop which is somewhat a fair trade shop and a market where you can barter and there are lots of store like shops. There are beggars around. Miss Sherrie says don't make eye contact. It's a sad thing that there are people who will disfigure children to make more money begging. As in America it is most often best to work through a knowledgeable charity.
On the road we saw small tef farms. The tef is always the neatest looking stack even in the most minimal looking households and everyone has a fence. Some are wire, some are corrugated metal and some are sticks and thorn shrubs. I have read of fences like this in fiction but not observed before. They seem pretty effective in appearance to me.
We learned some food customs here as well. We as guests as well as the head of household, teachers father were served first. The men get to eat and the children, the women wait and eat what is left. Teacher Zemen's husband fed her large bites of his food. She said this is customary among couple who love each other very much.
It is common for couples to live apart large amounts of the time. Zemen's husband mostly lives in Addis. He is the head consultant for Prison ministry in this nation. He told us a bit about the prison system. I was pleased to hear that is not common for there to be long unjust imprisonment in this county. Despite living apart at times people here value family and children. I don't think I would find a child here unattended and decide to sit on my lap for a long time. Someone would be watching closer.
We have also been able to see examples of cultural dances. Each tribal group has their own style. Some move the hips, some the shoulders, some have different fluttering hand motions. The PP3 children did a song with bits of cultural dance in it for recitation. It was very very cute.
One more passing observation that is not so much cultural as it is observation of the people. I find the Ethiopian people to be very very attractive. They have I believe what is called a patrician nose and high foreheads. Their skin color varies from very dark to almost a darker tan color but the nose and forehead seem to be a strong trait of the people.

That looks like the angel of God

Both here in Ethiopia and while in Uganda I have noticed how natural it is for the children to speak of God.
Last night after supper I was walking with one of the P.2 or second grade boys. There was a hole in the cloud cover with sunbeams shining through. It was quite striking and beautiful. My companion told me it looked like an Angel of God. He talked on about how it was moving with us. Than told me he thought that was something Noah might have seen after the flood had dried, along with a rainbow of course. He than went on to talking about football which is always a hot topic and more so because they have a pretty new playing field with real goals and one of the male teachers does a weekly organized practice with them.

When I visited Eden Cottage the boys sang for me. 3 verses of Holy Holy Holy from memory. It was last weeks hymn of the week so was sung at morning assembly daily. They obviously absorbed a lot.

I am struck too here by how much the same in stature and appearance many of the children look a whole year since I have seen them. Working with a few one on one and seeing how they behave in school and at play appearance is not everything. They have gained so much ability in reading, and phonics and sharing and taking turns.

Today at lunch the 3 kindergarten girls all wanted to sit by me. Segen ended up the one who was one seat off and there was no pouting or discussion. I told her she should come sit on my lap for a bit when the meal was over because I was so impressed that she had not fussed about where to sit. I am also happy that she is not one of the Kg kids who needs tutoring. Her phonics are coming nicely and she has greatly improved English language skills. The first graders this year are sailing along in reading and the second graders have made great improvements. This is no small thing because they also learn Amharic letters, sound and spelling etc. and some Oromo. I think they are amazing.

So to me it seems like God's angels and spirit spend a lot of time here showering many blessings.
Feeling blessed myself to see them first hand.

Blessings all around me

So felt blessed and thankful for things accomplished and friendships founded in Uganda. It was hard to say good bye to some. I will continue to pray for my little friend Nisha. She is in a less than ideal family situation. Yesterday I went to talk to Patty Lafage and she assured me again that Ethiopian Air is wonderful and no one would confiscate my dreadfully overweight luggage. She was right.
I was supposed to be allowed one checked bag at 20 kilograms and on carry on at 10. The carryon was close to what was allowed by checked bag was probably 60 lbs, which is way over 20 kilograms which is about 44. They checked and didn't say anything about the weight so I didn't either. I had worried about security flying an African Airline. Security was tight. My carry on's were x-ray screened twice. I am pretty sure that is the most rigorous I have ever seen security.
I got on the plane feeling peaceful. Than an hour later we landed in Kenya. Not a place I wanted to be in light of recent terrorism there. I guess I was not the only one who didn't hear this was a planned stop to add passengers because there was a lot of confusion. However we did get underway to Addis after a while and the snack that we got was really a very adequate supper with well seasoned poached chicken breast, cold slaw a bun, and tomato and cucumber slices. Such American sort of food. I and my stomach were thankful. I am a little worn out on beans, or peas and rice.
Arrived safely in Addis, tired but confident having been through Bole airport before. Got quickly through and transported and settled at the Jupiter Hotel where they took very good care of me. I even got to upload some pictures from Uganda this morning after eating to much breakfast including croissants. YUM
Got here to Rafiki Village about noon and unpacked a little while watching for the residents to come from church. Guess what? They really do remember me and wanted to hug me and for me to read with them and sing songs I taught them last summer. Even little Adonay who was just 2 last summer remembered me and had to have 2 hugs. Miss Elisabeth for whom I refrained from chopping off my hair for this summer says it is beautiful. How can I not love that.
I am mostly unpacked and eager to play some now. Have looked over my work schedule and it is wonderful. I have lovely students to tutor, Books to read and process, Children to read to and play with. Counting my blessings more than twice today!

Monkeys and Girls

So there are many things we do daily. I tape and reinforce bindings on books, lead discussions on preschool art, tutor reading, and correct Early childhood Development worksheets. Of those things reading tutoring is the most fun!
Thought tonight I would write about some of the very fun things though.
I have spoken of the monkeys here that seem to be black faced vervets. They seem to mostly think they own this village. You see them in the gazebos, in trees around and just sitting on the sidewalk or wandering on a verandah. They scoot pretty quick when they see people so it surprises me they around so much because there are probably around 250 people here on weekdays but you catch them lurking here and there.
It has been a great desire of mine to photograph them. Sunday I was out and about before church and Carolyn Enis said there had been many around and they hadn't let Jack, the jack Russell terrier that is here specifically to control the monkeys, out yet. So I trotted back toward the brush and snuck around a corner and was able to get a number of photos of large and baby monkeys playing and sunning themselves. I was pleased and than Jack got to go and chase them.
We get out for church on Sundays and also got to do a little seeing of sights and shopping at the craft markets. This was a nice treat.
The highlight of being here though seems to be girls. Saturday we played cards with 5th grade girls. Anytime you have a chance to introduce the game of Old Maid to a new group of players there is a lot of fun to be had.
I also spent time with some of the Teen girls in the library. They helped with taping and mending books and talked about books and dreams and giggled. How fun that made an otherwise dreary task. Monday I had the chance to go up and teach all 20 of the older girls some origami. They really loved and did very well. They have cleaver fingers. I left more paper and instructions and Mama Anna reports that she had a hard time getting the girls to put their paper away and go to be Monday night. She hadn't been home for the lesson and would like me to teach her as well.
Tonight the girls we have spent the most time with presented me with multi colored woven palm book marks. So sweet. I have watched them weaving and weaving and weaving. It's a time consuming process.
2 more full days with these sweet young ones and than we have to pack and leave on Saturday. 3 weeks have flown by and I feel I am just getting the hang and flow of things and becoming more useful. I sure need to make the most of these last 2 days.

One Saturday

Today is Saturday. We will be in Uganda just 7 more days. I am starting to know the routines amd recognise more of the faces and feeling like it soon time to leave. As today is Saturday its  more relaxed day. This morning the children were out doing chores. They have a nice place to live here and they are taught to care for it. Even the little little boys scrub the gazebo and their front porch.
They  had finished the gazebo and were waiting for their mama when I walked by. We did a round of this little piggy with each and sang the butterfly song and than I figured I better move on so I took myself to the storage cottage and worked on sewing.
Lunch today was pumpkin, beans, cabbage and chappati. Have heardmuch of these which seem like a thicker doughier flour tortilla. They are something you can by from street vendors in town I gather.
This afternoon I garnered the company of 5 teen girls and we taped spines andcorners on paper back books for a couple of hours. Makes the work go faster and a lot more fun. We talked about books they like and I am eager to find a way to get some of them here.
The we headed over to mama Grace'scottage as I had been acosted by a few girls this morning in thenicest way andasked about playing cards. SoonTed and Ieach had a circle of girls playing memory, crazy 8s, old maid and uno.eventually both circles got to all 4 games. It amazes me how much fun old maid canbethefirst time you ever play it.
The girls and some of the boys as well weave palms. Theygater palm fronds which have fallen, dry them in the sun, dye some bright colors, then they hand weave or braid them in strips up to about 3 inches wide. Laterthe strips are sewn together to make mats. I see girlsas young as 6 or 7 working on some of this weaving. Gloria who is p4 was teaching me about it today. She had a length of ftat braid about 2 inches wide and 10 or twelve feet long woven with 18 strands of palm natural color with a bright pink accent. They keep addin strands every pass back and forth accross the braid. Somehow as the go along their are no ends left sticking out. My clutzy figers didn't do too well at this.
Today was another day inthis area which seems quite like a tropical paradise. So fun to spend time with these delightful children who here are being given many opportunities that would beso very far beynd them without the ministry of Rafiki. These are children growing up in a wonderful home who migbt otherwise not even be aliveand for sure would not have much to look forward to in life.

Guava and other things

If I were to describe Uganda in one word it would probably be tropical.
I don't think they get enough rain here for it to be considered an actual rain forest but it looks a lot like one.
Here in the village I have been listening to sounds thoroughly convinced I am hearing monkeys when in actuality I am hearing birds which are large and dark and sport a colored beak. The children call them the guava eaters. The bird book while I am not positive I think indicated they are Ross's Turaco or a close relative. They are quite obnoxious sounding. I have now seen 3 monkeys. The kids and the staff tell me that I am wrong in hoping to see more monkeys in the village because they are pests and eat the plantations.
The older boys and girls here live in dormitories and they have plantations. That is their word for garden. Tonight we had radishes from the boys plantation with our supper. They were a bit overgrown and hot but okay overall. They grow ground nuts, sugar cane, maize and an assortment of peas, beans and greens from what I can tell and pineapple which is growing it's second crop of fruit. The soil here is very deep red in color and seems to grow things well.
I have seen two types of bananas growing. Some that look more like ours and many of the small ones that look much like that baby bananas you see in groceries at home. They are a little citrusy and not as sweet as the dole bananas most common in the states and are maybe 4 inches long and chubby.
There are many colorful and plain butterflies here. I see wasps and bees around and there are large colonies of ants some of which the girls say are friendly and some I gather quite vicious and apt to take actual bites out of your flesh. I have resolved to avoid all ants.
Saw a tree frog in the grass walking on Saturday. He was green and white and small in size. I asked if they have poisonous frogs here and Mama Grace said no but she went on to indicate you will get a rash from touching them or having the touch you. So I would say mildly toxic.
Yesterday on the way to church we saw a large group of Maribou storks. I am imagining their are some lovely storks somewhere but these are large and ugly. Church and the ride here from the airport are the only times we have been outside the rafiki village. The traffic is daunting but I have seen worse. There are a lot of agricultural animals around but here most are closely tended or staked. I did see three or four cows on a paved portion of median near a round about yesterday which cause me to wonder a bit. They certainly weren't eating and we were pretty deep into Kampala.
The contrast of poverty and wealth is strong here. You see shacks and huts along the road and beautiful homes up on the hills. That seems typical of African nations which I have seen. There are poor and those well to do and little in between.
I gather from some other shortterm people here that the true poverty is further out in "the bush" I am not feeling sad to not see that. Near this village the people have structured small buildings with neither water or electricity. They are very poor by American standards but they have shelter, clothing and probably some food to eat, though it is probably very basic.
I realize that I am blessed in many more ways than I usually notice.

God is Good Everywhere

In the movie "God's not Dead" the pastor and his missionary friend repeat "God is good, all the time" "All the time God is good" frequently and it turns out they are placed in the right place at the right time near the movies end which makes the phrase ring true.
Well I am convinced that Good is good everywhere today. Yesterday I had moments of discouragement, that inevitably happens in new places when really not that much is familiar or comfortable.
I took myself back to the guest house around 9:50 after spending a couple of hours repairing books in the primary library. I wondered what I was doing here doing such mundane, routine tasks that anyone could do. I started my bible app on my kindle and lo and behold the reading was from Micah. Did not feel inspired by that thought but I read and God is here. Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.
Feeling refreshed I took myself back up to school to work with the first of my assigned reading partners. This is a job I love and today when I am in the library taping books I will remember my job here is to walk humbly.
On an added note I had an email from Emily last evening saying she was praying specifically that we would be humble and willing servants here. While some would say oh a coincidence I would say God is good. All the time and everywhere. Everywhere and all the time God is good. 

Rafiki Life

So after 2 full days here I have some ideas about how Rafiki Uganda works.
Everything is structured except playtime when the kids let loose a bit.
The children here all seem to have a well developed sense of humor that I feel we will see more of within a few days. This was our second night in the girls dorm reading and visiting. They were much more relaxed tonight and asked many questions. They make me smile because they smile with their whole faces.
I am impressed with the level of education/behavior sophistication I see in these kids at this point. Many are getting music lesson either in piano or a band or orchestra instrument. They seem to enjoy this. I heard a lot of piano practice today as I worked in the library.
We eat with the children in the evening. With ourselves and other volunteers and such at lunch. Noon meal is traditional Ugandan fair. So far that has been two lunches of beans and rice. Tasty food but not at all spicy. Ted has been pleased with the mildness. Evening meals have been Sunday chicken dinner which was the noon meal, fish with sauce and rice, pineapple (fresh picked and amazing) and avocado salad, and tonight liver with a sauce, boiled potatoes, cooked split peas, and fresh papaya.
I am assuming I will enjoy evening meals more than noon. Some of the other starches here are coming up and I will see how I like these unfamiliar items.
Lots to keep up busy. I am working on preschool art, some library stuff and grading papers on child development for RICE, the teacher education component of Rafiki. Ted has been messing with the computer lab. He found a fix for something today so he is pleased about that.
Now I am waiting to see the monkeys I hear pretty regularly, and to get acquainted with more of the children.

First Impressions

So this is Africa. I am surprised by the variation fromone African country to another and by the sameness. Uganda feels a bit more exotic and more tropical than Ethopia. I am told there are monkeys right here in the village and that they are very naughty and steal garde produce. They have acquired a dog named Jack, because it is a Jack Russel terrier. I am eager to meet the dog and the monkeys and to see some crested cranes. They are the mational bird here.
The traffic in town was pretty horrendous. There are open markets. Spotted what seemed like a father and plucking a chicken next to the road with a kettle over an open fire. Cattle and chickens appear more plentiful than goats here and the cattle are pretty good looking. The area around the village appears less impoverished than some place. Homes were made of bricks and mortar. Not much for windows and doors but looked sturdy.
There are 102 resident children here plus 115 day students. Can't even imagine getting that manynames and faces together. Met two cottages of girls tonight. They mostly have somewhat Englishsounding names. We met 2 Flavia's, a Gloria, a Jen and an Ida. I am not sure about the others. These girls were grades 1 to 5. Very polite proper and well mannered. I expect that to be the norm but the depth and freindliness of conversation will change. They did ask about cold and snow which are pretty foriegn ideas to them.
The village grounds here are so gorgeous and with this many students there are mant buildings. Wow. The sidewalks have a stamped pattern and some spaces have names engraved. You can tell kids lives here.
After supperplaytime saw kids playing jumprope, netball, football aka soccer and basketball.
Tomorrow we will get a work schedule and play and meet more kids. Its a school holiday so a good time to get acquainted.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning bright and early my time we will head to Africa again. My husband Ted will join me visiting Uganda for three weeks. Pictures lead me to believe this is a very beautiful country within the African continent. I am still a little sketchy on what all we will be doing the three weeks we are there but with 103 residents and over 100 day students I am sure Rafiki Village Uganda will have things for us to do. I have been checking the weather and it looks like it will be lovely.
After Uganda Ted will travel home and I will go on to Ethiopia. YEAH! I am eager to see those kids again.
Right now it's time to pack and pack and pack and unpack and repack etc. for a few more hours than hopefully sleep. Long plane rides are scary and draining.