I'm gradually getting into the habit of working, although I don't start leading any sessions until Monday. Today started badly when I accidentally fried our voltage surge protector at home. It's a box which regulates the voltage of the somewhat erratically "regulated" mains supply. I stupidly plugged the iron into it forgetting about how much current this would draw. After a few seconds of thinking "some idiot is burning plastic outside" I realised that the idiot was the one holding the iron connected to the now-smoking surge protector. I was momentarily annoyed that the fuse in the surge box didn't blow. Me and my high expectations. A quick look around some shops tonight has revealed a cheapest price of 200 birr for a new one. That's a lot (we can eat out in a restaurant very well for 20 birr each), and is probably a Ferenji price. I will now have to ask Fasil (our landlord) for help only two days after he helped me get my bike sorted out.

On the plus side, we had our first mail delivery in Awassa. Two packages arrived successfully in the college PO box; one from Amazon (only £14 p&p for two small books!) and one from a friend, Sue. Her package included a selection of fruit teabags (unavailable here), blu tack (completely unknown in Ethiopia) and a bar of Green & Blacks chocolate. Decent chocolate simply doesn't exist here, although we can get half-decent Snickers. Quite cleverly Sue didn't declare the chocolate on the customs notification. We know from other people that chocolate and other goodies are often knicked. The most bizarre was somebody who was sent a package of six toblerone and on arrival, one was missing! Todays delivery was eyewateringly delicious. The post office notified the college about our Amazon package today while claiming it actually arrived on the 15th. We therefore had to pay a "storage charge" of 5 birr for the 15 days they had to "look after it for us". Hmmmm...

My official welcome-to-Debub-Ethiopia-College meal in Pinna Hotel this evening


My first week as a HDL. I was taken to visit two schools this morning by Mesfin, a teacher educator and the college timetabler. Both were government schools which teach 1st and 2nd cycle (Grades 1 – 4 and 5 – 8). The first school had 2600 pupils and the second more than 3000, both on sites that would easily fit onto part of the school playing field in my previous school. The classrooms looked to me as if they had been bombed. Most of the windows contained broken glass, the rooms were filthy and the walls were completely bare. The smallest class had 71 pupils in a room that was actually smaller than the lab at taught in at Rickmansworth School. Each school had a “pedagogical resources” centre where staff and pupils who make resources store them for others to use. Both rooms contained an amazing collection of handmade models of equipment the pupils (and staff) will never see, such as a microscope made out of cardboard. There were English language posters of human anatomy which were pre-second world war and still in use. One of the schools had managed to find some money six years ago to buy a map of Europe and the Middle East, but they could probably only afford it because the map itself dated from the 1950s! In the first school, the kids uniform was what we at home would call pale blue pajamas. Most were barefoot and some of them had to share a chair. The library in one of the schools had fewer books than I have on a shelf in my house at home. Poverty just screamed out everywhere I went, and yet pupils and teachers take education so seriously

On the way back to Debub College, Mesfin told me his school experience. He came from a rural area and went to a 1st cycle school where they had no shoes, all sat on the floor and there were over 100 pupils in a class. His parents died when he was a child and he then lived with his uncle. His uncle sent him to a private school in Addis Ababa so he had a chance of a decent education. Once he finished school he became responsible for looking after his two sisters. He got a degree (in English) and now teaches in the college while also studying for an M.A. in the Psychology of Special Educational Needs. He is still responsible for his sisters, who live with him, and he divides his salary between them. I feel humbled and full of respect for the many people I’ve met here who work so hard to get an education, which is their only chance of a decent life. Despite the difficulties and obligations of looking after family members, everyone here seems to have a cheerful acceptance of their lot.

When I think of schools at home, one image that pops into my head is textbooks and resources with graffiti on them or other vandalism. I would feel absolutely ashamed and embarrassed for my Ethiopian colleagues to see such things in a UK school. Having spent time in the education system of a country which is so poor and yet where education is taken so seriously, there is something particularly disgusting and morally repugnant about the waste and abuse of resources by pupils at home.

Fasil (our landlord) training me to make coffee the Ethiopian way.

Routine activities such as shopping are never dull here. There’s a particular vegetable shop we go to near the centre of town. Fruit and veg shopping is done the old fashioned way. You tell whoever runs the stall how many kilos you want and they measure it out on old mechanical scales. The staples are tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, green beans and cabbage. A kilo each of tomatoes, bananas, onions and carrots costs about 8 birr (approx 50p). Afterwards, as we approached one of the main streets there was a large crowd hanging around with lots of police watching. Our first reaction was to be very wary and nervous, expecting trouble. It turned out to be a bicycle race! There were separate races for women and men who were doing circuits of the main street. The police approach to crowd control here is to hit people with long sticks if they appear to be doing the wrong thing. Watching a curious onlooker being thumped several times with a stick because he was standing in the wrong place was a bit much. At the same time I was stopped by a street beggar who shook my hand (completely standard) and then kissed it (definitely not standard) before asking for money. Having my hand kissed disgusted me, not so much because of hygiene but being treated with such over the top respect and subservience. I know that compared to most Ethiopians I am rich, but being targetted by beggars because they associate Ferenji with money is annoying and guilt-inducing. Although I'm receiving an allowance equivalent to a local salary, I am better off than most people I meet. I have to hold on to the fact that the time and effort I spend here sharing some of my skills and experience is more valuable than any money I might directly donate.

Completed my first piece of work as the second Higher Diploma Leader at Debub Ethiopia College on Friday; I printed a sign with my name on it to go on my office door. I should say “our” office door as I’ll be sharing Gill’s office.

In my now official role as an employee of the college, I attended the third and last of a series of Saturday morning workshops at the college by a visiting education expert from Debub University. The workshops were supposed to be on active learning and continuous assessment. He actively droned on continuously but achieved little else. I was drifting off into daydreams of snow and cycling along English country lanes, when he introduced how to grade students for continuous assessment purposes. There followed the most arcane, inaccessible and mind-numbingly dull description of calculating grades using “grade point averages” and standard deviations. He used American research which was thirty years out of date. I felt enraged at how inappropriate this all seemed to be. None of this was about how to do continuous assessment in practice, and I’m dying to know if the teaching staff being subjected to this morning of crapness felt the same way or just accept this as how things are normally done. The Higher Diploma to me now has an even more important part to play in exposing the candidates to practical ways of engagaing students.

Fortunately sitting by the lake during the afternoon drinking coffee improved my mood.

I actually did something useful today! I did the “icebreaker” for the start of Gill’s HD session this afternoon. Now that I officially work for Debub College I have to get my head around work again. Participating in Gill’s session provided enough stimulation and adrenalin to get me motivated and active. The sooner I start with my own group the better. Today’s session was on learning styles and how they can adapt their teaching to take account of the learning preferences of their students (VAK, Gardner, etc). The longer I spend here delving into Ethiopian education the more I reflect on my teaching at home. There’s a lot of improvement I could make to my own practice!

Observed a physics lesson this morning. A 2^nd year diploma class were being taught SHM and wave motion. Just as I experienced yesterday, I enjoyed the mental stimulation while also being interested in how the lesson was conducted. The teacher was very good and didn’t just talk at his students, despite having a class of 56 in a room not much bigger than my previous classroom at home. As usual the resources were blackboard and white chalk. There are no wall displays anywhere in the college. I suggested to the Dean that they use the outside walls of some of the buildings for murals. I’ve seen a school where they have a giant periodic table, a map of the solar system and a map of Africa painted on the outside walls.

My digestive system is starting to behave itself again after several days of sounding like a central heating system with an airlock in it. The diarrhoea has stopped. Just waiting for normal service to resume.

I have a placement at last! VSO confirmed this afternoon that the Ministry of Education had agreed to a second vol being posted to Debub College. Bless their bureaucratic souls! So I will now offically be a Higher Diploma Leader starting asap. The college are pleased and everyone is happy. VSO have taken a slight financial hit but since they are ultimately responsible for the fiasco in the first place, that's too bad. The important thing is that I will be doing a worthwhile placement at an institution that has a real need. Mentally gearing back up to work mode will be difficult, but I could be training teacher educators as soon as next week so the demand and injection of adrenalin will be welcome.

I also feel better today. Perhaps my own veggie curry on Sunday was to blame (surely not MY cooking...).

I love the rain so much. After a suffocatingly hot and humid morning and afternoon, the now daily gathering of black clouds on the Eastern horizon is such a relief. When the daily storm arrives (always between 3 and 4pm) it does so swiftly and violently. The thunder and lightening is stunning and prolonged. The rain is very very heavy. It's been raining now for the last four hours and the drop in temperature that comes with it is refreshing and mood-transforming.

I'm definitely ill with some unidentified bug. My insides are churning, I feel a bit nauseous at times and I have no energy. I helped out with Gill's HD session this afternoon and felt knackered afterwards. Whatever it is, the heat makes me feel worse. I think I'm designed for cold climates.

Perhaps today I’m suffering from prolonged understimulation. My energy level is low, I feel a bit down and completely unmotivated. I’ve managed better than I would have expected, with effectively being unemployed for four weeks now. At home when I’m teaching, what often keeps me going is adrenalin topped up by caffeine. Here I’ve had no demands made of me and I’m as un-adrenalised as I’ve been in a long time. Too much stress in response to a perceived over-demand is not good, but not enough demand is no better. I spent most of today at Debub College (Gill’s college) trying to involve myself in Gill’s work. My minimal contribution required a lot of mental energy, and I gave up and went home during the afternoon. Fiona (another VSO vol) called and suggested my salt intake is too low. I never add salt to my food, which might explain my tiredness and lack of energy. I’ve tested the theory with an extra-salty bowl of noodles with lots of soy sauce. Kill or cure.

The humidity has been high today, which hasn’t helped. This evening, we’re experiencing an incredible thunderstorm and torrential rain. The lightening is amazing.

More news from Debub College this morning. As well as the two children killed at the PIN school on Friday, a teenager was shot dead by police at a high school on the same day. How can a government even try and describe itself as democratic when its police respond to protests by shooting people?!

A lazy and decadent weekend. Saturday consisted of chips by the lake at Wabe Shebele No. 2 ( a government-owned hotel) with Margaret and a evening at home. Apparently yesterdays incident at the PIN school resulted in the police shooting dead two children. They had apparently sneaked into the school dressed as pupils and started protesting. Needless to say, PIN will be taking this further. If the police want to avoid trouble then shooting people in a school run by a European NGO is not clever.

Today has consisted of an early morning run, juice at Pinna Café and cooking veggie curry. All this must give a strange impression of living in Ethiopia! VSO told me yesterday that it is likely I’ll end up working at Gill’s college soon (good) and we are also on Yellow Alert, following yesterdays shootings. Yellow Alert means not going out after dark, staying away from large public gatherings and keeping our eyes & ears open. There’s absolutely no hint of any trouble in Awassa itself, but I suppose it’s better to be cautious.

Yesterday was a very revealing day. I observed Teydin’s HD session at Awassa College. The two Ethiopian leaders were running the session while Teydin did paperwork. There’s no doubt three leaders is more than enough for one group, as Teydin confirmed. She also confirmed that the leaders heard in September that a VSO HDL was being requested by the college and realised that they would not be needed. Afterwards, I met the Head of Physics to ask to see the facilities, only to discover that the Dean had told him that I would be working with them as a physics teacher. They certainly have a need for another teacher. A previous VSO vol had taught there and had produced some good materials for them, but after she left no further progress appears to have been made. This is not unusual. I’ve come across lots of situations were a VSO vol has done lots of good stuff which has been very much appreciated, but after they left the Ethiopian colleagues have not continued to develop resources on their own. Teaching at the college would be interesting and I could produce some useful resources, but it would have to be done in conjunction with Ethiopian staff, otherwise there would be no sustainability.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I observed Gill’s HD session in the afternoon. The Ethiopian candidates are so enthusiastic. I want to be training on this course!

At the end of the session we were invited by the Dean to accompany them to offer condolences to a staff member whose brother had died a few days ago. There is a ritual for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians where three days or so after the funeral friends, family, colleagues, etc gather in the family house and sit. Bread and coffee are served and you are expected to sit for approx an hour to show your respect. It is OK to talk quietly and it did seem a bit odd to me at first to be chatting and laughing (quietly!). The idea is that simply going and sitting is to show your respect. After an hour, we greeted the dead mans brother and left. Apparently there is an informal grouping called an “idder” which people pay a small amount of money into. The grouping could be a workplace or a group of houses in a local community. If somebody dies in that group (or a close relative) then the money “deposited” in the idder is given to the bereaved family. It’s a sort-of benevolent fund but without the bureaucracy, and is thought of as an important social institution. To not pay into it, or to not attend the bereaved household, can be a serious social insult.

From a death ritual we proceeded to a birth ritual! It’s not often you celebrate both ends of life in one day! Petra (of PIN) had organised a surprise birthday party for Yuri. Lots of Czech food was available and the beer, wine and Black Label whisky flowed. My snobbish attitude to drinking blended whisky dissolved in several measures of Black Label. We ended up being invited to a circus and a party at the ICRC (Red Cross) compound tomorrow night. It’s a tough life.

As for today, well a lazy morning was ended at lunchtime with a phone call from Margaret. The Federal Police had entered a primary school run by PIN, outside of Awassa, and proceeded to beat up several staff and children. PIN took Margaret (who is based at Awassa College) home and told her to stay there. Federal Police are guarding Gill’s college and there are reports of protests, shouting, etc at various government sites. Awassa government schools were closed this morning. The staff at Gill’s college seemed blasé about it all. This sort of thing is not unusual and is connected with Sidamo groups wanting their own region. I was advised to cancel my plan to go to Awassa College this afternoon, as it is a prominent government institution. While cycling home with that advice in mind the skies opened, and the locals were treated to the sight of a Ferenji wearing just a shirt and trousers cycling along muddy streets in a torrential downpour with a broad smile on his face. Getting soaked in warm rain is sooooo nice! My mud-splattered, soaked-to-the-skin appearance caused no end of amusement. I was happy and they were entertained. Marvellous!

So, no partying tonight. We heard later this afternoon fromMargaret that one person was shot and killed by the police at the PIN school, which is only 1km outside of Awassa. VSO advised us to not go out tonight. Frustrating but probably sensible. It's hard to know how serious any of this is. VSO will understandably be cautious but there probably nothing to worry about in Awassa itself.

Spent all day observing what PIN do. PIN are a Czech NGO who have set up a course for 1^st and 2^nd cycle primary teachers to come into a purpose-built centre on the campus of Awassa College, for training in the use of active learning and pupil-centred teaching techniques. I spent the day watching Petra (one of the Czech staff) working with a group of 17 teachers. Fascinating. She got the teachers playing games (basically Brain Gym stuff) and practicing planning units of work. In the afternoon she played them some of “River Vltava” from the “My Country” suite by Smetana, and then the teachers had to paint a picture representing the images they thought of during the music. Two people painted the flag ceremony, where every morning the kids in their school sing the national anthem while the Ethiopian flag is raised. I would love to be a trainer on their course. Working directly with Ethiopian teachers is so interesting. One of the physics teachers I met today has four Grade 8 classes. His smallest class has 104 pupils!

If my day with PIN could be compared to a satisfying meal, then my subsequent meeting with the college Dean was the crap cup of coffee which leaves a bitter aftertaste. Teydin, the IFESH vol, had told me in the morning that he wanted to see me. My expectation that he might have something concrete to discuss with me was snuffed out as soon as the meeting started. He still wants me to do Higher Diploma impact assessment (which VSO agree is a non-starter) and is continuing to suggest I teach physics, even though no need has been identified. A half hour phone conversation with my programme manager achieved little, other than her realising how angry and frustrated I can feel. She’s off to see the Ministry of Education again tomorrow for another fruitless meeting. I’ll observe Teydin’s HD session in the morning and Gill’s in the afternoon. It’s good for the soul to observe other people doing the job you’re supposed to be doing.

Up at 0530 for a run and then off to the college for Workshop, day 2. Sessions run considerably better than yesterday. Talked about my lack of placement with Haileyesus, one of the Ethiopian HDLs. He and the college are trying to work something out. The plan will be revealed by the end of the week. I'm not holding my breath...

Blobbed in front of the laptop watching Apollo 13 on DVD. For two hours we felt like we were at home. Even a crap DVD would have had the same effect. Being able to mentally escape for a short time is precious. Our movie evening was interrupted with a phone call from Fiona, a fellow Awassa VSO vol. The British embassy had tried to contact all Awassa vols yesterday (but managed to miss us) to see if anyone had information about reported "disturbances" in Awassa. Apparently a couple of schools had been stoned. Yuri and Petra, the two Czech vols with PIN (People In Need, a Czech NGO) were in one of the schools when it was stoned. During yesterday morning I saw a truckload of federal police (the "no mercies" encountered in Addis) brandishing AK47s cruising around Awassa College. This morning we heard a large group of people chanting and shouting. It seems some people belonging to the Sidamo ethnic group want to break away from the SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region) and form their own region. Ethiopia is a federal state along broadly ethnic lines. The SNNPR, of which Awassa is the capital, is made up of a large number of different groups. There is a VSO plan in the event of trouble. Margaret's house (a VSO vol working for PIN) is the designated safe house where we would all shelter until further instructed. She lives next to the PIN compound where they have satellite TV and a fridge, so there would be compensations! The government are a bit jittery with the trials of the oppostion leaders taking place in Addis at the moment. "Disturbances" are not uncommon and usually amount to nothing.

We have water again!!!! We now know that water is only supplied to Awassa every three days. This compound has a water tank, so our supply has appeared to us to be continuous. With our weekend of frenzied cleaning we managed to empty the tank. Our wasteful Ferenji attitude to water has now rapidly changed. We keep waste water in a bucket to flush the toilet with and from now on we "shower" with a couple of jugfulls of water. My habit in the UK of relaxing in a long hot shower, is a distant memory.

Tomorrow I'll be hanging out with Margaret and Petra at PIN, observing what they do with teachers. Should be interesting.

Oh dear. Not an easy day. We still have no water and we spent the day at a Higher Diploma workshop at Awassa College. Our unexpected guest last night was one of the VSO HD leaders attending the workshop. The aim was to moderate candidate’s work and discuss issues arising from this year. After the Dean opened the morning session with a speech (mercifully short and appropriately crap), the workshop proceeded as a living example of how not to run a workshop. The two Ethiopian moderators had good intentions, but delivery was poor. I was reminded of a slide shown at an INSET course at home which summarised four stages people pass through as they develop their skills “unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and finally unconscious competence”. These people were somewhere in the transition zone between conscious incompetence and conscious competence.

My already bad mood due to the water issue was made worse by realising during the day that the Higher Diploma Programme (HDP) is trying to solve a big problem in the wrong order. Ethiopian education is crippled by out-of-date teaching, large class sizes (can be 100 or more), low motivation and very poor status. Remember, 1^st cycle primary teachers (Grades 1 to 4) are people who achieved the least at school and leave after Grade 10. 2^nd cycle primary teachers (Grades 5 to 8) come next. People who do well in Grade 10 go on to do Grades 11 &12, and then do a degree and become secondary teachers (Grades 9 to 12). You do not choose to be a teacher here – you are assigned. Nobody wants to be a 1^st cycle teacher and primary teachers are looked down upon compared to secondary. The need then (as I see it) is for a programme on modern teaching methods aimed at teachers rather than teacher trainers. The HDP benefits none of the current teachers in Ethiopia. A Czech NGO called People In Need (PIN) have a set up a programme to do this, based in a separate building at Awassa College. I know the two Czech’s running it and they might be looking for another VSO vol (they already have one VSO vol)…

I’ve spent a lot of today feeling angry, frustrated and a bit despairing at the state of things here. Low motivation and obstructive bureaucracy are everywhere. The badly run workshop, which actually failed in its key aim of agreeing standardised ways of assessing candidates work, and a growing feeling that this programme is fighting the wrong problem have left me feeling cynical and pessimistic. All this and I’m participating in a workshop about a course I officially have no role in due to a combined college & VSO screw-up! The second half of the workshop follows tomorrow. Highlight of the day will undoubtedly be free lunch at Pinna Hotel.

Up at 0530 for a morning run. Felt like a 50 year old heavy smoker at the start and started to feel like a fit runner by the end. Another orgy of cleaning. This time the living room. Stuffed ourselves over lunch at Fiona's (another Awassa VSO vol). Just as the cleaning finished, a VSO vol from Arba Minch arrived to stay. She's here for a workshop at Awassa College and the room she was supposed to have at Pinna Hotel was no longer available. After Bruno left we were looking forward to some space to settle in. Having somebody dropped on us at the last moment was awkward and tested my tolerance, but had a nice evening improvising candle holders out of plastic bottles (prompted by a brief blackout). Oh yes, there has been no water from mid-afternoon. Some people have to live without running water all the time. Perhaps a taste of life without water on demand is good for us. Hmmm.

Who would have thought that a day spent wearing rubber gloves and getting sweaty could be so satisfying? Now that our house-mate Bruno has returned home to Belgium we have the house to ourselves. While Gill was at her college this morning at a lecture, I scrubbed the kitchen. There were fewer cockroaches than expected although plenty of droppings. Removing the layer of grease from the walls that has obviously accumulated over many months was particularly satisfying.

Even more exciting than spending the day splashing disinfectant around, was being taught by our landlord, Fasil, and his sisters how to make proper coffee the Ethiopian way. The process starts with washing raw coffee beans, roasting them in a clay pan over a charcoal fire, grinding them in a special pestle and mortar and then boiling up the ground beans in a clay coffee pot called a jubuna. The resulting brew, even though it had been made by a Ferenji amateur, was coffee far superior to ANYTHING you can get at home. The quality of the beans is important of course (Ethiopian coffee is probably the nest in the world) but making a drink by hand, starting with the raw ingredients is incredibly satisfying. Perhaps the really important part is the hanging around together and chatting. We spent nearly two hours making and drinking coffee. In exchange for such an enriching experience, we exposed our Ethiopian family to the jar of instant coffee left behind by Bruno. Curiosity got the better of them and they tried it, despite my warnings. Needless to say, instant coffee will not become a popular product in this country. Quite right too.

I visited Debub University this afternoon for a tour round the physics department. Debub means “south” in Amharic, and Debub Uni is a government institution that takes approx 1500 students from all over the country. After a chat with the Dean of Natural Sciences I was taken around by the Head of the Physics Dept and one of the senior lecturers, a retired physics professor from India. Some of the buildings are new and would look modern in the UK. The rest of my experience revealed a system that’s anything but modern. In fact, a better description would be of dedicated staff heroically struggling in a barely-functioning system with severe lack of resources and funding. The interior of the buildings is shabby, there is nothing on display on any of the wall spaces or in the corridors. The physics equipment store, for a Physics BSc programme of up to 40 students in each of the three years of the degree programme, was woefully lacking compared to a Physics Dept in a UK university. If the dept want to buy equipment, the order must go through the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Addis, which then goes through an international tendering process. The uni is not allowed to try and procure equipment directly from anyone. As a result it often takes months and can take YEARS to get simple pieces of standard, widely available equipment. There is no transparency and once the MoE bureaucrats receive the order it sometimes “disappears”. The teaching lab was quite nice but limited in equipment and with only a chalk board for lecturers to use. There are no PCs for students to use apart from two for use during their final year projects. The Natural Sciences library was reasonably well stocked with books, but the range is limited. An increasing number of books are photocopied, the university, like a lot of Ethiopian institutions, ignores copyright and quite right too. No research is conducted. All students live on campus in dormitories. No student study bedrooms here with en suite bathrooms! There are eight students to a room. There are none of the societies, clubs, bars, leisure facilities, etc you would find at a UK uni. In the evenings students are busy studying.

All Ethiopians understand that the only chance they have of living a reasonable life is through being highly educated. Even then, their choices are very limited. Most physics graduates end up as school teachers because there are no jobs for their skills. I keep being reminded that the majority of people here do not have choices of what they do with their lives. Most people in teaching are not there through choice. My life in the UK is a life full of choices and opportunities. Most of the time, I’m either not aware of the choices I have available or I take them all for granted. Today I feel angry. There are so many problems here. Government inefficiency is just one of many.

Perhaps my morning walks up Tabor Hill might not always be the sanctuary I’ve become used to. Yesterday morning I bumped into two men who turned out to be students at Awassa College. Despite the friendly introductions I could feel a barely hidden Christian agenda. Sure enough, the gentle probing about my beliefs started. At home, I would usually cut and run, but here fleeing seemed particularly rude, so I lingered. My confession to being a non-believer was met with obvious concern and quotations of King Solomon and other biblical references. Just as I was in danger of becoming interested in a passionate debate about religion, the friendly student finally understood he wasn’t going to convert any heathens that day. I was particularly struck by his plea for me to choose God so when I go home I could spread the message. Does he think everyone in the UK is pagan? If I do end up working at Awassa College I’ll probably bump into him as he is a chemistry student. I thought us physicists were supposed to be the weird ones?!

Today I decided to get up at 4.50am to go for a run. Yes, that's early but I wanted to watch sunrise from Tabor Hill and have a run without hassle. Sunrise is at 6.45am so I thought there would be some twilight to run by for a while before then. The streets at 5.15am are deserted and walking is difficult, never mind running, because of the complete lack of street lighting. I managed to avoid falling into ditches and scrambled up Tabor Hill. Even at 5.40am there is absolutely no hint of dawn. Sitting on the top of a hill in T-shirt and shorts gazing up at the stars was something I had hoped to do in Africa, but not this morning. Eventually the first sign of brightening on the horizon appeared, followed soon after by a couple of Ethiopian runners. Complete night-time to actual sunrise takes only 40 mins and is truly beautiful.

The afternoon was spent at Gill’s college observing her deliver her first session as a HDL. The session was very good and I felt envious of her doing something constructive. Debriefing took place over mango juice at Pinna Café, which is fast becoming my regular haunt. I think the staff must assume I’m some rich Ferenji on holiday as I’m there every day.

A lazy Sunday

Highlight of my time in Awassa so far! Getting up at 0530 to walk up Tabor Hill and watch sunrise. Tabor Hill is currently my favourite place in Ethiopia. It's approx 200m above the rest of Awassa (2000m actual altitude above sea level) and it's a 25min speed-walk to the top. The sun started to appear above the East rim of the rift valley at 0646 and the change in the colour of the sky was stunning. Sunrise happens so fast here compared to at home. We were inspired by the Ethiopians who were RUNNING up the hill, back down it and then up AGAIN for training. They weren't even sweating!

Most of the rest of the day has been spent pottering around the house and reading. Finished "The Oddyssey" which was sent to me by an inspired friend. For a classic work of western literature, the ancient greeks seemed a little pre-occupied with sex and feasting on large quantities of food.

So far...

Boredom, anxiety and frustration are the themes of the previous week or so. Every day is a learning experience about being a volunteer in a developing country. Last Monday I visited Awassa College and met the Dean (who I had spent time with at a VSO workshop in Addis the week before) only to discover that he was no longer the Dean, having been replaced that morning by the Vice Dean. The Vice Dean is what is described by all as a “political” appointee i.e. selected by the government. The now-previous Dean introduced me to one of the Ethiopian Higher Diploma Leaders (HDL) I was supposed to be working with. Once the Ethiopian HDL got over his surprise (he didn’t know anything about me) he showed me round the college and then told me the two Higher Diploma groups had been merged into one. Given there is already a Western volunteer from an American organisation called IFESH working as a HDL, and two Ethiopian HDLs, it was immediately obvious I would not be needed. Finally in the afternoon I got to meet the new Dean. He had spent the previous three months in Addis (getting up to date with “government policies”) and had drawn up the original request for a VSO vol back in the summer. Somewhere along the way, the college circumstances changed and they didn’t update VSO (although I’m not convinced that VSO are blameless). After consulting with VSO I was told to be patient until the education team can sort it out.

So, the rest of the week was spent sitting around, going to cafés to drink mango juice and coffee and generally trying to relax while feeling anxious and fed up. To rub salt into the wound, Gill’s college are fantastic, have included me in their induction tours & visits and generally made me feel very welcome.

The cavalry from VSO arrived on Monday (in the form of Sewit, my programme manager). She got the Dean to write a new requirement for me, which is a complete non-starter. So, while the organisational wheels turn agonisingly slowly I have spent this week walking, sitting in cafes and developing my patience. I await developments with an ever philosophical attitude.

On the plus side, I’ve had lots of time to explore Awassa. One of the other VSOs showed us a walk up a local hill with panoramic views of the town. It’s also cool and breezy up there and forms the best opportunity for exercise so far. Every morning I climb the hill and sit and contemplate the view. Awassa is amazing to look at. It is much bigger than it feels (approx 90,000 people) and most of it looks like a sprawling village. I’m also getting used to the heat. The first week of afternoons was hell, made worse by food poisoning. Erupting from various orifices while also burning up was a truly character-testing experience (Ian, I know you’re laughing). This week has been better. Even the hassle from locals is not quite as intimidating as it was. Imagine being stared at by nearly everyone you pass from the moment you leave your house. A lot of them shout “you!” or “Ferenji” to get your attention. Most of them just smile and talk when you acknowledge them but some of the kids walk with you hassling for money. Although it’s just driven by curiosity and novelty I can find it hard to keep a sense of humour. Getting annoyed makes it worse so you either acknowledge them or ignore it. Sometimes it’s a laugh. Occasionally it’s charming. Most of the time I crave anonymity.

I’ve spent most of the afternoons at Gill’s college looking at Higher Diploma stuff and reading their physics textbooks. I need the stimulation and it is actually very interesting reading another country’s home-grown textbooks (really, honest). Some of their physics textbooks have clearer explanations and are more concise than a lot of our books at home. Some of the physics studied in Ethiopian Grade 10 (17/18 years old) is of a higher level than what our Year 12 & 13 do at home. I suspect the teaching here is not as good, which I want to see for myself this week.

So, another hard-working week approaches in a land of constant heat and sunshine. I’ll visit a school, try and hang out with a Czech NGO who work with teachers and see what they do, and drink mango juice. Could be worse, I could be back in Hertfordshire.