Teaching In Ethiopia
Well, John and I arrived safely in Addis Ababa and were picked up by someone from the Ethiopian Children’s Fund to bring us to Aleltu. We went around Addis first to pick up some groceries and to have lunch with our new friend. For those of you who know ethiopian food, you’ll know that they main dish is Injera (sp?). That’s what we had for lunch when we arrived… and for every meal since then! If I don’t lose weight here, I’m destined to be a lonely, porky woman for the rest of my life.
Anyway, we made our way out to Aleltu and pulled up to a large, gated compound that had “Ethiopian Childrens Fund” written across it. The compound is quite large with about a dozen small buildings on it. As we pulled up to the main office, children chased after the truck… and as we got out, we were literally swarmed by a group of children. The children here are very affectionate… wanting to hug you, kiss you, and just hold your hand. They are all very adorable. We got settled into our volunteer suite (which is actually a nice 3 room flate with a flushing toilet and running water!), and we went for a tour of the compound. There are currently 9 classrooms: 2 kindergarten classes and a classroom for each grade from 1-7. Currently, they only go up to grade 7 but the principal hopes to go up to grade 10 next year and then eventually the equivalent to grade 12. They have a big fundraiser coming up in January but unfortunately, we will not be here for that. However, after seeing this place, I think John and I will try to continue to contribute to this group in some form or another whenever we can. Oh, that reminds me: the soccer balls arrived here safely. Thanks to everyone who contributed a soccer ball! We get up at 6am to play with the children in the morning (unless we are dead tired). The principal does not want to pull out all the balls because he wants to make the last but they Are here… I will try and get a picture on here as soon as I can.
Thanks also to the Strathcona Wrestling Club for the 50 t-shirts that were donated. They are here as well… and I’m sure some of these kids could use a new shirt. Some of them have like a quarter of a shirt left on them… and their toes poke out the end of their shoes. They are very thankful for everything here… I wish I could share their hugs with you.
Anyway, for our first day here, we were thrown right into class! We thought we would be doing construction but they ran out of funds and materials for the building so we are now teaching english. It kind of caught us off guard but it has proven to be quite fun. The younger grades have no idea what we are saying.. they just say everything we say.. haha. The older kids though can carry out normal conversations and are very interested to hear about Canada and the other places we have been. It’s great how happy and optimistic everyone is… we drove through the town today and some of these kids are very very poor…. and some of them are orphans with no homes. Sigh… I wish there was more I could do! I guess I am doing what I can right now… and if any of you are feeling extra generous this Christmas season, I know of a place that can use any help it can get (www.ethiopianchildrensfund.org).
So, John and I have a few more weeks here… I don’t think we will be back to Addis before Christmas because we told the kids we would stay at the school next weekend… they are very eager to spend time with us and just play and practice their English. So, Merry Christmas to everyone! Thanks for reading the blog… I hope everyone has a delightful Christmas holiday. I think we will be back before new years so I will see you then. Please feel free to post comments even though we won’t be checking them until later. We love hearing from everyone! Take care!
Tags: Europe
cheng.ev
December 17th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Merry Christmas Ev & John!! 😉
December 17th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
Merry Xmas Evelyn and John and to everyone at the camp!!!
December 17th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Glad you’re doing well and keeping out of trouble. Keep up the good work and have a Merry Christmas!
December 27th, 2006 at 4:11 am
merrrrry christmas, ok so i’m a day late….
December 27th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New year!!!!
Hope all has been well! you missed out on a good dinner… i’ll freeze some for you… well, i’ll probably end up eating it but the though was there! Cheers
December 31st, 2006 at 11:55 pm
Hi Mui,
Have a Happy New Year and enjoy your climb. Uncle Ben and I are very happy to hear from you and thanks for updating us about your trip. This is an experience of a life time. It’s good that you can have the foresight to plan this trip and it sounds like it’s more like a life learning that just travelling. Your African safari really reinforce Uncle Ben’s desire to visit Africa upon his retirement. This is his dream for a long time after reading all of Wilbur Smith’s novels about that continent.
By the way, you take good pictures too, especially on the architectural one. You have a good eye.