Peter, Daniel and Paul arrived two weeks ago to share these tasks and days have been full of travel, meetings with people, opening bank accounts, figuring out public transport etc. And eating lots of Ethiopian food and drinking lots of great coffee along the way.

Now things are (mostly) in place. We have a truly wonderful group of host families ready to welcome these students into their homes. And Jan has managed to arrange an absolutely first-class group of lecturers and some excellent language instructors for their first six weeks. An exciting and diverse selection of service assignments and host families for their second six weeks is coming together nicely.

Today we are doing some last minute running around and preparations, but we are all looking forward to seeing the students arrive this evening about 7pm. A bus will pick them all up at the airport and take them to a mission guesthouse for the night. Tomorrow morning (Friday) we will meet them there after breakfast to talk to them for a bit, then their host families will arrive about 11am to take them to their new homes. Friday is Ethiopian Christmas so that should be an excellent time for families and students to get to know each other. Saturday morning we will all get together for a tour of the city.

We will take some photos tonight when the students arrive and tomorrow morning when the host families pick them up and get some of them posted here as soon as connections allow. Updates will most likely be done early mornings here (late night your time!) and as often as schedules allow and there is something interesting to say or show :) Here are a few images from our trip to Dese to get started.

Jan and Peter Shetler – faculty leaders.

All of the students arrived safely at the Addis Ababa airport this evening. The same can't be said for many of the bags. Four of the students got their baggage, the rest will arrive Sunday night! They all seemed to take this in stride however and were happy to finally be here in Ethiopia.

We took them all to the SIM guesthouse, gave them some snacks and sent them to their beds. I think after all the excitement, anticipation and travel, they won't have trouble sleeping tonight despite the time change.

Tomorrow they have breakfast at 7:30 (!) , we will have an hour or so of orientation, and then their host families will take them home. BTW, the photos so far are all taken by Paul.

After breakfast at the guesthouse we had a meeting to go over some orientation materials, let them know what is ahead in the next few days, and collect their passports, tickets, and money for safekeeping.

And then the host families started to arrive. As this is Ethiopian Christmas many arrived dressed in their finest and it was fun to match up students with their new families. Lots of hugging and kissing! Everyone was headed home to Christmas celebrations, plenty of food, and working at communicating in a grand mix of Amharic and English.

Here are pictures of the students with the folks that came to pick them up. And a few pictures of Christmas at our house -- including cutting the special Christmas bread and, of course, coffee roasting.

Peter

This morning we had all the students come to our house at 8:30. They seemed glad to see each other and there was much chatter about what their homes and families were like, and what they did for Christmas. It was good to see them smiling and laughing together.

A bus picked us up here at 9:00 so that we could give them an orientation tour of the city so that they can start to figure out the major landmarks, where to get taxis, and what the different areas of the city look like and are called. Addis is a BIG city of almost 5 million people, and they all seemed to be on the street today for market day! The Markato is the largest open-air market in the world (so they say) and the spice market there is so heady you can hardly breathe! This time around everyone is in a bus, but the students will have ample opportunity to explore in the coming weeks.

After a welcome from the church, Negash Kebede gave them a good introduction to some of the cultural differences they will experience with their families. Then Jan provided an introduction to the syllabus and the schedule we all loaded into a couple of mini-vans and went downtown for an orientation on foot.\

The students were split into groups of four and each group had a set of buildings to find by asking people on the street and learning how to get around. Unfortunately exchanging money at the Bank took a large part of their time and some had little time for lunch.

We got back to the church in time for the first Amharic language classes with two first rate teachers. They got into dialogues and conversation right away so the students felt good about what they could do already.

But the best news of all is that Peter and Girma managed to get all of the suitcases from the airport this morning and bring them back to our house. After work the host parents came and picked them up, so the students are happily enjoying clean clothes and their own things again. The host families were kind and lent them things to use so they didn't suffer too much but it is a relief to have everything finally here.

The students seemed quite happy today and full of curiosity and energy! We are proud of them all. I have posted the syllabus (MS-Word) on the site so that you can see what they will be doing each day. Here are a few pictures from a gathering at our house yesterday to welcome (especially) Ashe.

Jan

Yesterday morning the group set off first for the US Embassy where we got a briefing on US-Ethiopian relations and checked in. Then we got a tour of the UN and Africa Hall with Ato Shibru, father of Goshen College student Jonathon Shibru. Both were impressive experiences.

From the beginning of the day however we always seemed to be late, the vans arrived late because the road was blocked and the traffic was heavy. So we had to call the Embassy and call Ato Shibru to let them know when we would arrive. Even after we left Africa Hall one van had a flat tire and the vans were pulled over for hauling too many people!

We ate at a restaurant close to the church where we have classes but still were 1/2 hour late for Amharic class! The teachers were kind and forgiving but this is the kind of day that we just sigh and say, "Africa wins again!" The students took it all in stride even as I was trying to keep things moving faster. The students stayed after class for a game of frisbee after clearing rocks off the field for 15 minutes. I think they all went home tired that night.

Today we actually got off on time in vans with the right number of people and visited a slum rehabilitation project in one of the poorest areas of Addis Ababa. The project has been there for at least 15 years and has impressive results to show. The students noticed that the people had a pride in their achievements and that no one begged from them.

After the tour we went back to the Unit House, where we live, to eat a lovely meal together that Mismake has prepared for us. The pictures show the relaxed and fun time we had together as well as taking care of some business and announcements. The students led in singing (Ashi), worship (Becca and Kristi) and discussion (Paul). We are so impressed with the level of thoughtful engagement that the students have already invested in their first week here. Although a few students have felt a bit sick, mostly from the rich Christmas food, they are amazingly resiliant and adaptable. This is a wonderful group and we are so proud of them all.

Jan

Today was really the first day of what should become a routine for the students. At 9:00 AM we gather from various corners of Addis by foot or taxi or car to the Meserete Kristos Church where we have our classrooms. In the mornings the students have a lecture and discussion time for an hour or so. This morning’s lecture was given by Dr. Ulrich Brauckhamper from Goettingen University (Germany) about his 35+ years of research on traditional religions that are rapidly disappearing from Ethiopia. He had much more to offer of course than could be communicated in an hour, but this was a fascinating start to several lectures on religion which plays such an important part of Ethiopian culture and history.

From 10:30 (more-or-less) to 2:00 we turn the students loose on the town to explore various sights, landmarks, museums, churches etc. that we want them to get to while they are here. They also find themselves lunch someplace and, with a little luck (!), get themselves back to the church by 2:00 for two hours of Amharic language instruction. Afterwards many stay around the church to play Frisbee, or perhaps visit each other’s homes, before returning to their host family for supper and the evening.

We also have collected their journals for the first time (and now we have to read them!). Keeping a regular journal of their observations and reflections is an important part of their experience here, and thus another part of their routine.

In the next week or so we will want to firm up the service assignments for the second half of the SST term, and to this end the students have indicated to us initial preferences. We are in the fortunate position of having more interesting assignments than students.

Here are some pictures of students getting themselves to the church, on the church grounds themselves, and in the classrooms. Enjoy!

Peter

This was a weekend for settling in with families and feeling more at home. Various groups of students did get together with assorted brothers and sisters to visit each other or eat out together. A mighty fine meal can be had for the equivalent of a couple of dollars – this place has McDonalds beat for sure.

Here are a few pictures from our archive, and following are a few anonymous quotes from the first journal entries that give you a flavor of what the students are experiencing…

*****************

“It seems I have developed an altered mindset since coming to Ethiopia. Instead of seeing this beautiful country as a foreign place I have realized that the true foreigner is me. And without developing a new viewpoint or a new way of seeing things my travels here will be wasted. Thus, I open myself to this experience and to these people by having new eyes.”

“This is worth the discomfort, the loneliness, whatever. At home language barriers terrified me, cultural barriers too, because I am so afraid of insulting anyone, or saying something to make them uncomfortable. But I realized today that knowing about a culture and knowing it by living in it are two totally different things. I thought I knew lots about the world outside the US, but I have so much to learn… For me, I think that the struggle with fully embracing this experience has come with my aversion to feeling uncomfortable and my instinct to close up and long for a safe 'home'... Yet when I intentionally dwell on things that I am thankful for or that are beautiful here, my perspective shifts and as time passes it gets easier to be here.

“I was feeling a bit homesick for the first time just now, sitting on my bed wrapped in a gabi, and in comes my little sister shaking the coffee beans she was roasting in a metal ladle so I could smell them. Her beaming face cheered my up of course, as well as the smell of coffee, but it was something else about her visit that really changed my mood. I think she reminded me that I am not nearly so alone as I begin to imagine, that I am among human beings who care about me and so really very close to home. The kindness of my family is wonderful and humbling. I have always hated being in debt to anyone, and now I am forced to receive not only material things but love that I cannot deserve or hope to repay... How can I tell them that their hospitality and love make me want to be a better person?”

“Well, today I got my suitcase and ... well... quite honestly I think I was having a better time without it. Suddenly I don’t feel like a student coming to learn and be part of the people but instead like a rich farenge setting up camp in a poorer home (that seemed not-at-all poor without my stuff here)... Nothing has really changed and yet everything has changed as I’ve begun placing my stuff in the corners of this room... Shoot, it seemed like so little when I was at home packing only a week ago...”

“My prayer tonight (first night with host families) is that each of the others in our group is feeling as welcome as I am, that we can find comfort and things that remind us of home when everything seems different, that we would have confidence in our abilities to rise to this occasion, and that we may tangibly feel God’s hand guiding us here.”

***************

We have a really wonderful group of students here. They seem able to both bond as a group -- helping and supporting each other, and open themselves to relationships with their Ethiopian families and friends. Their journals give us a glimpse of the many things they are observing and reflecting on.

Tomorrow we have a really special lecturer, Bahru Zewdie, Professor of History at Addis Ababa University, who has published several books on the History of Ethiopia. We are all looking forward to hearing from him.

Peter

Today is the Ethiopian Orthodox holiday of Timket – variously explained to us as Epiphany or John’s Baptism of Jesus or by what happens, which is that the Tabot or the replicas of the Arc of the Covenant come out of the various churches in procession to an open field where the priests and others stay for the night in tents and then come back in procession to the churches on the morning of Timket after sprinkling the people with water.

Lots of people come out for the procession and join in the clapping, singing and dancing to celebrate the Tabot. The priests are dressed in impressive ceremonial garb. Most traffic stops during this time as the streets are full of people.

Students enjoyed Timket eve and Timket day celebrations with their parents and then came to the Unit House for our usual Wednesday lunch and afternoon time together in singing, worship, reflection and discussion. It was a nice day and, as you will see, some of the students were dressed for the occasion in Ethiopian white.

Tomorrow is a Muslim holiday but we are going to have class as usual. Most students have now gotten over the stomach problems that come with the initial adjustment and are much more comfortable on the streets and in getting out Amharic phrases.

After Amharic class in the afternoon, some of the students have begun playing soccer on one of the local fields. This has quickly expanded to include designated teams, large crowds of spectators, and even a children's cheering section! This is great fun for all concerned. Enjoy the pics!

Peter

After a steep and sunny three-hour long hike over rocks, past cacti and many kinds of trees, and a farming community near the mountain’s peak, we reached a 900-year old monastery. The Father of the monastery gave us a tour of the crater, explaining that the monks value the lake as holy water, believing in its power to heal.

The cool and moist environment at the mountain’s peak supports a rich forest that contrasts with the dry land on the mountainside. While walking under these trees we noticed several particularly interesting plants and animals including a group of calibus monkeys.

As we began our trip home, we reached a washed-out point over a gully in the rocky road where the bus got stuck. The pictures show students contemplating the situation with Mt. Ziquala in the background. With the help of several local Ethiopians, we managed to free the bus and continued on our way, exhausted, rosy from the sun, and pleased with the day.

~Katie

The end of this week means that the students are already half-way through their time with host families here in Addis. We are finalizing the student’s service assignments now and they also need to be thinking about the project they will be working on for the remainder of their time in Ethiopia and presenting to the group at the retreat before they return home.

Here are a few pics from our trip to Metarobi – a service assignment for two of our students. The location where the students would be living is on the edge of a gorge, with the actual projects over the edge at the bottom. The Meserete Kristos Church has been involved in building and staffing schools for what is called Non-Formal Basic Education in the communities at the bottom, as well as building roads (you can see one of their roads in the pictures), building terraces and checkdams for soil and water conservation, cleaning and protecting springs, and operating a seed bank for farmers. So these students will have lots of activities to choose from.

There is also one pic showing students having entirely too much fun at our house for our Wednesday afternoon time together. Tom Meyers, Director of the SST Program for Goshen College, arrived to be with us for a week and was able to spend some time with our students yesterday as well.

Peter

We flew to and from Lalibela, staying overnight in hotels there. Here are a few pics to start to give you a feel for the place. I’m sure there will be more as we took a lot of photos there!

Peter

BTW -- the sad-puppy picture of the women was because there was one church that women are simply never allowed to enter. We men assured them, of course, that THAT church was the most spectacular of all :) Peter

Jan

Daniel, Negash (a long-time friend of ours and one of the SST-program advisors), and I made the 9-hour trip to the capital of the Regional State of Afar North East of Addis. The Afar are a pastoralist people whose domain today is much smaller than in the past.

Pastoralism is a way of life threatened in many areas of the world but perhaps especially in Eastern Africa. In some areas competition for land puts pastoralists in conflict with others who want to use the land for settled agriculture or industrial uses. Governments are often unwilling -- or perhaps simply not creative enough -- to provide services like education and health care to a population that is always moving. And of course often children choose to pursue other lifestyles in the cities and villages.

In addition to these pressures, the Afar in the area we were visiting are suffering from the effects of an extended drought. It hasn't really rained for two years, and hasn't rained at all for over a year. (I wonder what Indiana would look like if it didn't rain for two years!)

The Afar Pastoralist Development Association is an organization developed by Afar people to mitigate some of these pressures. Funding is provided by quite a number of organizations, including MCC. They provide over 300 teachers, and many community health workers and animal health workers, that live with -- and travel with -- groups of Afar people. They are developing markets for the animals produced in the area. In addition they dig wells and, where wells are not possible, dig cisterns and provide tankers to fill them during this drought. The pictures are around one of these cisterns. You can see that these cisterns are designed to catch rainwater if/when it *does* rain. Water is often carried in goatskins or in plastic containers on camels or donkeys to villages away from the source. You can see in the background that things look pretty barren now, but when it rains that area is green with grass, the animals grow sleek, and meat, milk and butter are plentiful.

At least two student will be placed with the Afar Development Association on a service assignment.

Oh! And of course the big news of the day here is beginning of the HUGE month-long Bob Marley 60th B-day celebration here in Addis. Preparations have been going on for more than a month and there is an enormous open-air free concert from noon today and into the night. Hope to get some pics if I have the nerve to take a camera along. I assume this is in the news back home but, if not, take a look here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4239747.stm

Peter

Most Ethiopians appeared either somewhat bemused by Rastafarian 'theology' (if they understood English) or clueless (if they did not), but everyone was there for a good time and to enjoy the music.

As a side benefit you get to see some of the Addis Ababa skyline and the effect of the many new lights installed on the square for the occasion.

Peter

In these pictures -- in addition to our lovely students! -- you may notice the difference between the two sides of the valley. The side nearest the camera was terraced and check-dammed and trees were planted. Note that the erosion is much less severe than the other side of the river where we were not able to work at that time. We were pleased to see this was so even though in the intervening years and various changes in government the area has not been protected as it should have been. (Many trees have been cut and animals have been allowed to graze in the area.)

We all liked the chance to get out of the city and enjoy the breeze and wide-open spaces.

It is getting to be much warmer here now -- one might even say hot. Not to rub it in or anything... :)

Peter

Charcoal is started, raw coffee beans are washed, roasted, pounded to powder and poured into the clay coffee pot heating on the coals. After the grounds have settled the coffee is carefully poured and elagantly served.

There is no hurrying this process. No throwing coffee out of a can into a filter and flipping the coffee-maker switch. At least not if you want decent coffee. The whole thing might take an hour, leaving lots of time for conversation and laughter that (along with with frankincense of course) go together perfectly with good coffee.

Peter

We had all day Saturday to explore the old walled city of Harar. This city is at least 900 years old and was once one of the most important trading centers in the Muslim world. Harar is still a vibrant and active urban center with bustling markets and a huge variety of merchandise and food.

In the morning and early afternoon we had a guide to help show us through the narrow winding streets, take us to see a few museums and historic houses, explain some of the history of what we were seeing, and introduce us to various areas of the markets. In the late afternoon we were free to explore this amazing place on our own, which everyone enjoyed.

In the evening when it was full dark we went to see one of the two remaining "Hyena men" feeding the hyenas. Although this is certainly a spectacle for us, this is not something developed for tourists but has been a tradition for many, many years. During a drought long ago, one of the prophets from the area had a vision that feeding the hyenas would be a way of keeping hunger at bay. The Hyena Men feed the hyenas every night whether tourists are present or not. But allowing us to feed them as well was a great chance to see these still-wild animals close up.

After the hyenas we went out to eat together, finally getting back to our hotel about 10PM, happy, full, and very tired from walking about in the sun all day.

All in all this was a wonderful visit. The most often-heard comment was, "I wish we had another day to spend here. I love this city!"

Today (Monday) we started the student's last week here in Addis. Along with the lectures, field trips and Amharic classes we are all working to make sure all is ready for travel to their various service assignments next Saturday, and the beginning the next six-week adventures.

Peter

Yesterday (Friday) the students wrote an essay synthesizing some of the things they have learned in lectures and also took their Amharic test officially ending the first half of their SST experience. Jan and I had some final remarks to the group and then met with students from each assignment location with money for their first few weeks and to remind them of their travel arrangements. Many of their host families had a special send-off for them in the evening.

Today many of the groups have left for their locations. This morning at 4:30 AM (!) Ashenafi and Brett got the bus to Dessie; around 6AM Le and Hope left for Awassa; followed by Rebecca, Hannah, Jesse J. and David H. to Bahir Dar; Joe and Kim left for Debra Berhan; Katie, Adrienne and Daniel to Boricha (near Awassa); and, finally, Alicia, Melissa and Laurel to Nazareth. (Most have already arrived as I write this.)

Early tomorrow morning, Kirsten and Kristi will leave for Nekempt. On Monday, David G. and Andrew will leave for Metarobi, and Jesse S. will leave for Dessie. And Tuesday Travis and Glenn will catch a vehicle to Afar.

We will be visiting all of these locations starting about 2 weeks from now and hope to have pictures and reports from all of them to share.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures to share from the Harar trip and this last week. One really nice part of this SST experience is that Ashe gets a chance to reunite with some of his extended family in Harar and here in Addis.

Peter

We should also remind y'all that internet and phone locations might be hard to come by in some of the service locations so folks shouldn't be too surprised if communication from the students slows down some for awhile.

Peter

We have heard from many of the students over the last week. All seem to be doing well although, as expected, not all of the assignments turn out to be as advertised! Being adaptive and creative is part of the experience here and most everyone has found fulfilling ways to be of use wherever they find themselves.

Today we had a chance to visit Nazareth town which is where Alicia, Melissa and Laurel are working. So you will find here some pics of them at Laurel's home and some of Laurel's host family. We also were able to arrange a good location for Jesse S. so he will be joining them in Nazareth shortly.

There are some assorted pics gleaned from the archives, as well as some from a party here at Mismake and Girma's home (which is also our home) to celebrate with the families of some recent newlyweds. You can see how it is possible to make a LOT of "tibs" (tender, fried, spicy pieces of lamb) for a lot of people at once. That is a whole sheep's worth over the fire, and Paul pronounced them the best he has ever had. And that's saying something!

Tomorrow we will start our official round of visiting each of the students on their service assignments. Since they are rather far-flung we will be travelling much of the next two weeks, being gone 1 to 7 days at a time. But each time we return to Addis we should have a lot of interesting pictures to post for you.

We are grateful that the students are safe, and well, and happy. We rather miss them though (!) and look forward to seeing each of them again soon.

Peter

Hope and Le find themselves more-or-less continuously surrounded by many children and can usually be found with one or more holding their hands. The SOS Children's Village is a home for orphans. Each student lives in a home with 10 children, both boys and girls, from 2 or 3 years old to about 15 years old. Each home has a house mother that takes care of the cooking and oversees the household. The children have to be pretty independent and cooperative -- from getting up about 6am to help sweep and mop the house and clean up their rooms, to helping with meals and dishes, to doing their homework together in the evenings, to helping get the youngest children bathed and tucked in for the night. There is no lack of activity in these houses and there are 16 of them!

SOS also operates a K-12 school for the orphans as well as others in the community. Le and Hope are working at the school, teaching English (mostly) to the younger grades. They admit to being, well, terrified at first but seem to have things well in hand now.

Katie and Adrienne have found that they have to be pretty creative in their assignment. The rural development project is in between funding cycles and so do not have much field work going on. But they are busy learning so much right now about the environment and cultural dynamics around the project areas, making lots of new relationships, and learning new greeting in 'Sidaminya', the language most folks there speak. The Meserete Kristos Church project has just finished a three year project including erosion control measures (terracing, check-damming and tree planting), improving water sources, and doing some community health work. Adrienne and Katie have been visiting many of these projects as well as some of the new areas proposed for the next three-year phase.

Daniel is working on a physics internship studying and evaluating water engineering components of three development projects. He just finished these two weeks in Boricha. Next week he will be going to Metarobi (David G. and Andrew), then to Afar (Glen and Travis).

So... here are a BUNCH of pictures from Daniel's collection and ours from this trip. Enjoy!

Peter

Here are a few pics from the day.

Peter

Andrew and David are mostly involved with interviewing people who have been participating in the development projects and helping to write reports and stories about those folks' experiences. They also have the opportunity to travel to some of the villages where the project has established community schools, stay there for a few days and do some teaching of English. Although they feel that they have *plenty* of free time, we think they are being pretty productive. They are in an Oromo area now so, again, they are learning some greetings all over again in a new language.

Many of these are David's pics over the last couple of weeks. As good students should, they did butcher a goat for the arrival of "their professors" today! :)

Peter

We have just returned from a some 1,700 km cross-country trip around Ethiopia to visit four of the service sites in a week. We found all of the students well and happy. They are on their last stretch now and will be back in Addis in two week’s time – in time for our retreat beginning on March 31. So here is a run-down of the trip and lots of pictures that you can try to connect with the text…

Wednesday, March 9: We left in the morning with our son Paul and Kimberly, who had been recovering from illness at our home, for Debra Birhan, about three hours north of Addis Ababa. Kimberly and Joe are working at the government Teacher’s Training Institute and Vocational School there. Soon after arrival we met with the Dean to hear glowing reports about our students, had a tour of the school and were able to observe Joe teach a computer class on Word applications. He did a great job with students who have not grown up with computers. We had lunch at Kimberly’s home where she lives with an American volunteer and discussed the Role Model project that she is involved in, trying to put together a manuscript from student interviews. Later in the afternoon we met Joe’s host family, a British couple working for VSO.

Thursday, March 10: We left early again to travel the seven hours north to Dessie where Ashenafi and Brett work and live at the HOPE school for orphans and poor children. We found them fully engaged with lots of children surrounding them at all times and watched Ashenafi teach an English class and Brett assist with a volleyball game during PE. They also had glowing reports from their supervising teachers and students. After school Brett was involved in a volleyball game and Ashenafi in coaching the soccer team. They live in the guesthouse right on campus and so are always in the middle of lots of activity but seem to be thriving. Dessie is a mountain town that provides the most incredible view from the school grounds. What a place to wake up in every morning!

Sunday-Monday, March 13-14: Today we drove to Nekempt, about 8 hours south of Bahir Dar on another gravel road that took us across the Blue Nile gorge bridge. There we found Kirstin and Kristine who are working with the Mekane Yesus Church (Lutheran) in various teaching activities. In the morning they are teaching 1st-3rd grade English at a private school and in the evenings high school students supported in a church hostel or wives and children of Theological College students. Because their names are so similar Kristine is now known as Miss Anna! They live with a wonderful host family down over a hill with lots of trees and even the occasional monkey! They have done a wonderful job of rising to the challenge of teaching and forming relationships in lots of different settings. A Swedish mission family provides a get away for them when they need a break.

On Tuesday we drove back to Addis Ababa, stopping at the Metarobi MKC project to drop off some things for David G. and Andrew and picking up our son Daniel. We are exhausted but happy to have seen so much of the country and found everyone thriving in their diverse settings. We will visit Nazareth tomorrow and Afar on Friday and Saturday before we finish the rounds. Enjoy the photos.

-- Jan