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.
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.
posted by Michael at 22:29
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