New Years Eve! Although it's a Sunday I spent the afternoon at college helping with the mid-term exams. I invigilated a one hour physics exam and then spent some time preparing a meeting I need to have with the cluster unit staff tomorrow to clarify our roles. The exam was quite well run and the questions were quite tough. As with Xmas, there's nothing special going on here as it's not New Year for Ethiopians (Ethiopian New Year is our 11th September), so it's a quiet night as usual.

After seething with frustration for much of the week I feel calmer now, and quite tired from all the unecessary adrenalin. By the end of today it became much clearer to me that there is a lack of mutual understanding of our roles amongst the Cluster Unit staff. I thought we had clarified who was responsible for doing what, especially my role, during a previous meeting. I realised today that I had actually only clarified to me what each person's role was, and had fallen into the trap of confusing agreement with understanding. There is a sense of urgency now about organising training as we approach January, but I have the impression that everyone is waiting for me to take the lead and make it happen, when I'm still floundering around trying to get to grips with the awful communications in the college and identifying the key people. So, my colleagues are (in my mind) gossiping with each other about how I don't seem to be making anything happen, without of course talking to me directly about it, while I'm wondering why they are not making things happen. It's up to me to bring some clarity, and I've spent part of this evening coming up with a way to facilitate exploring everyones understanding of the situation and to make sure we all really do understand our roles.

If I've learned something from this week it's that feeling frustrated is a symptom of a communications problem for me and my lack of understanding, and not necessarily an indication of a failing or lack of understanding by them.

Temper temper. I nearly lost it this morning. I had a brief meeting with the other physics teacher, who is teaching the same course as me to his own classes. At the start of the course he told me all the students had been “told” to buy calculators, which cost about 25 birr and are available here in Gondar. I’ve discovered that in each of my three classes only one or two students actually have calculators. I wanted to check what happens during exams if students do not have calculators, if they lose marks for not producing a final answer, etc. “Don’t worry”, he said, “it is not our problem”, “it’s not for us to solve”, etc. Getting a straight answer about what happens during the exam proved impossible, and the usual lack of anyone taking responsibility really wound me up. If the students really cannot afford to buy calculators, fair enough. What about the college arranging a deal with a supplier to get them cheaply? What about arranging the course and the exams to remove the need for a calculator? No no no. Nobody is doing these things. “You shouldn’t take on these difficulties, don’t worry this is Ethiopia”, I was repeatedly told this morning, with a smile which suggested he thought it was mildly amusing watching this ignorant ferenji get worked up. Nothing is going to change unless people take responsibility, get a bit angry and decide that some things really are unacceptable and should be dealt with. Sometimes I feel like screaming.

Still, teaching Section II this morning lifted my spirits a bit and raised my energy level. After the lesson I was filled with energy and wanted to get on and change the world. Unfortunately, the world didn’t want to change at my pace and in the way I wanted it to. Increasingly I feel frustration build up and threaten to spill over into an outburst of anger. Sometimes here I feel lacking in drive and at other times I can build up a big head of steam and end up seething with irritation at the shortcomings of others. I can so easily feel angry in response to the passivity of my Ethiopian colleagues, to get angry on their behalf. The symptoms are easy to spot, such as getting more and more irritable while they seem more and more serene, and feeling like lashing out in response to everybody in the street shouting at me to get my attention when a smile is all they want, but sadly I can be stubbornly closed while nursing my anger. Thank God for the privacy of our house – a sanctuary where we can be “off duty”, stop, breath and think about how to respond better to life here. There was a copy of Steven Covey’s “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” at the college in Awassa. When I was browsing through it, one phrase of his leapt off the page and really resonated with being a VSO volunteer: “seek first to understand, then to be understood”. How often have I forgotten that piece of wisdom! When I jump in with both feet and expect people here to “somehow” permanently change how they think and work, how can I expect anything other than frustration?! I can’t think of a better guiding principle for a VSO to follow. I just have to remember to do it.

Part of a Grade 7 Biology class


The science equipment for a school teaching Grades 1 to 8


A science practical lab


Breaktime


The end of a Grade 8 Biology lesson

Boxing Day physics. I spent part of yesterday planning “mission impossible” i.e. how to cover a ridiculous amount about electromagnetic induction, generators, motors and transformers in one two hour lesson, with each of my three classes this week. During a brief encounter with the other physics teacher this morning he mentioned in passing that the part of the syllabus covering generators, motors and transformers, that I was attempting to do today, no longer applied, which he had forgotten to tell me weeks ago. So, mission impossible became mission definitely possible and the lesson went smoothly (apart from the unforeseen hiccup of none of the students knowing the circuit symbols for a switch, resistor, etc). I still have the tricky issue of having more students in my class (58) than are officially on the register (51). It’s nice to be popular but please…

After bathing in chalk dust for two hours I headed off to visit two schools to investigate the science teaching and facilities so I can start to plan appropriate training. In the morning I visited Feleg Abiyot school which is only walking distance from the college. Like most schools here a shift system is used where 2^nd cycle (Grades 5 to 8) attend from 8am to 12.15pm and 1^st cycle (Grades 1 to 4) attend from 12.30pm to 5pm. I observed a Grade 7 Biology lesson and a Grade 8 Chemistry lesson, each with 90 students of various ages. There is no practical science equipment and the floor was just bare earth (some of the teachers have to share a board duster). The lesson was just plain dull not helped by this year being the first year Grade 7 has been taught in English. The chemistry lesson was about Magnesium, a substance the students and the teacher have never actually seen.

I spent the afternoon at Atse Bekafa school, during their 2^nd cycle shift. At least this school has a room designated for practical science and some equipment. However, almost no practical work takes place because nobody knows how to organise the equipment, most of the chemicals are out of date and replacements cannot be found, and the room has no water supply. The “lab assistant” actually works full time somewhere else and he doesn’t know how to organise the equipment either! I observed two lessons, accompanied by the school Director (Headteacher), and discussed with some of the science teachers about the kind of training they think they need. Where do you start? Something I think the Cluster Unit can do is set up some training on how to make science resources from local materials, which is cheaper than buying “proper” kit and sustainable. There’s also the usual need for training in methodology (even using coloured chalk would help!).

During one of the lessons this afternoon, one of the students looked very ill and had to leave the room to get some air. The miserable look on his face was in stark contrast to the smiling cheerful faces of most kids here. I felt an instant wave of depression and guilt. If you get seriously ill here you’re screwed. I was reminded of my privileged status yet again.

Xmas kitchen

Xmas night with our tuna tin and tomato puree tin candle holders

Merry Xmas! If it were not for the BBC World Service I would probably forget its Xmas Day. Actually the World Service only occasionally mentions Xmas, given its global audience, which is good. When I woke up this morning I felt instantly a bit lonely and down. It’s not that I particularly care about Xmas as such (and it is genuinely refreshing to be away from all the revolting Xmas commercialism), it’s just that work-as-usual doesn’t change the background feeling that there is something special about today that resonates from childhood. At least the sunshine and the heat (this must have been the hottest afternoon yet in Gondar) go some way to neutralizing Xmas feelings, as does the ignorance of many of my colleagues that today is Xmas in much of the World. Ethiopian Xmas is on our 7^th Jan and is supposed to be quite a spectacle, but as it’s a Sunday there’s no holiday associated with it. At least we marked Xmas Eve by going for drinks at Olaf’s house (a Dutch VSO IT volunteer) last night. Us four VSOs were outnumbered by a new contingent of German trainee doctors doing internships at Gondar University Medical Faculty. We were also joined by an Ethiopian who works as an official tourist guide. He told us that the tourist trade here has plummeted recently because foreign tourists have been scared off by the involvement of Ethiopia in Somalia. Every day we’ve heard on the World Service about Ethiopian troops fighting the Union of Islamic Courts inside Somalia, and it seems the situation will only get worse. There’s a long history of tension and war between the two countries, and there is a large Somali population in the east of Ethiopia. Given Ethiopia’s long tradition of Christians and Muslims living together without any problems (surely unique in the world?) there is understandable concern here about the effect of Somalia becoming a radical Islamic state.

As for work today, the theme was the common one of “frustration”. I tried to see my line manager, only to discover that he was missing as usual, and the IT support guy about getting the Cluster Unit printer working again, only to discover that he couldn’t fix the problem. Gill and I started to plan some training for maths and science teachers. Many of the science teachers I’ve met have identified practical work as a particular difficulty. Hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll work with Mulugeta to develop basic science kit which can be easily made from local resources. The other physics teacher who is also teaching Electromagnetism & Electronics came to see me to make sure I will finish teaching “chapter 2” by Sunday, when the students will have a mid-term exam, i.e. in one lesson I am supposed to teach a half-terms worth of physics. I want to meet with him regularly to share ideas and develop the module, but he wouldn’t commit himself to fixing a time. The system for meeting here is described as “informal” i.e. staff wander around trying to find each other if they want to meet. The sheer inefficiency of many of the working practices just leaves me wanting to scream with frustration at times.

By the end of the day I could identify some small successes, but it’s so hard and time consuming getting even simple things done. For our Xmas dinner we went to a local hotel for pizza, only to be told there was “no pizza left”. Fish Cutlet was the only alternative, which turned out to be wafer thin fish covered in copious amounts of breadcrumbs. At home I made custard to go with a cake we bought in Addis and we opened a bottle of Ferenji red wine. The evening was finished with one of Ian’s DVDs supplied during our UK visit, an animation called “Valiant”. Ian – we love you but you have the weirdest taste in movies.

The countryside around the conference hotel



Xmas Eve at home

It’s Xmas Eve and there’s absolutely no evidence of Xmas whatsoever. It’s hot and sunny, and only the occasional mention of Xmas on the BBC World Service reminds me of the time of year. We’re back home in Gondar after being away for over a week. I flew to Addis Ababa last Thursday to attend a volunteer committee meeting at the VSO office on Friday. Gill flew to Addis on Saturday and then all the VSO Ethiopia vols (about 90) travelled to a conference on Monday. The conference was at a hotel in the middle of nowhere about three hours drive from Addis. We had a great three days getting to know each other and sharing experiences, as well as enjoying the swimming pool fed by a natural hot spring. During each day there were discussion sessions held on various issues, such as HIV & AIDS, dealing with hassle in the street, security and life after VSO. We had a talk about Development issues in Ethiopia by an Ethiopian economics and development expert. Out of many interesting facts he told us about, the one the sticks in my mind is that only 14% of the arable land here is actually used for cultivation, and yet Ethiopia receives several million tons of food aid each year. The “Life after VSO” session was particularly thought provoking. Although we have about a year of service remaining (although placement duration is not rigid – you can extend or finish earlier) I do think about it. At the conference were a few people who are going home in Feb and they talked about the range of emotions they were feeling. Some people have very clear ideas about what they will do next while others have no idea. Many vols, myself included, do not want to return to how they used to live and work, but don’t really know what they want to do. One vol who flew home to the UK yesterday, has been in Ethiopia for four years. I think he’s about 27 years old and I wonder how hard he will find resettling. There are many ways of staying involved with VSO, ranging from delivering pre-departure training to visiting schools and colleges to talk about VSO, while some people re-volunteer (the record is TEN consecutive two-year placements!). As we approach the half-way point I think “what happens next” will become a bigger topic of thought.

Other highlights of the conference included sitting around a bonfire under an incredibly starry night sky, not having to think about what to cook (each meal was a decent buffet) and just being away from work and hanging out with people with similar backgrounds who are having the same kind of experiences in Ethiopia. The low point was being pickpocketed in Addis. I fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book. A very well dressed man bumped into me and then profusely apologised, shaking my hand in a very Ethiopian way. As we shook hands another man reached into my pocket but made it look as if he had simply brushed past me. Fortunately, he grabbed a couple of travellers cheques and manged to miss the 200 birr in cash I had in the same pocket. The frustrating thing is that I'm normally very very careful about security here, but I fell into the trap of getting complacent. Live and learn.

After the conference we had a couple of days in Addis. Being in Addis is a good opportunity to go to a restaurant and have interesting food, and also a valuable chance to stock up on goodies at Bambis Supermarket. Key purchases included brown flour, herbs & spices and decent chocolate. As a Xmas treat we also spent some money on a couple of bottles of Ferenji wine, a jar of pesto sauce, tinned pears and some Italian cake. I can’t wait!

As for Xmas itself, tomorrow (Monday) is just a normal working day and there’s lots for us to get on with. During the conference I got some good ideas and suggestions from other vols, especially about how to help develop the skills of my Ethiopian colleagues. Hopefully in the evening we’ll have drinks with the vols who are still in Gondar.

Today started well, with a physics lesson that felt a good deal more lively and interesting than the lacklustre one I did yesterday. We are both feeling very tired and drained. Two non-VSO volunteers who are working in Gondar, Gemma and Steve, came round to our place last night for dinner. They both pointed out that after working flat out in Awassa to get things finished we then left our "home", relocated to a new town and started new jobs within a few days. I think we need to be a bit less hard on ourselves and accept that life here is just harder and more tiring than we would expect it to be at home. We had a good evening, helped by the bottle of Ethiopian red wine. If you haven't heard of Ethiopian wine it's for a good reason, but in the right company and in the right mood it can be surprisingly drinkable.

After a satisfying lesson (students here love being taught by a ferenji - my class of 51 students actually consisted of 56 such is the desrire to attend a lesson by a ferenji, even if it's not a class you are supposed to be in!) the rest of the day did not go so well. I had arranged to meet with the Vice Dean to discuss the cluster unit action plan I have been working on, only to discover that he had gone into Gondar on other business. His secretary didn't know when he would return, does not keep any sort of appointments book for him and generally couldn't tell me anything useful. Just one of the many frustrations.

I teach another class tomorrow morning, and then head off to the airport to fly to Addis Ababa to attend a volunteers committee meeting on Friday. Gill flies to Addis on Saturday and then the following week will be spent with all the VSOs in Ethiopia at a conference. The break will be good and is much needed! We will be back at work in Gondar on Dec 25th - Xmas day but not here! Dec 25th is just a normal day here.

After a relaxed weekend came a rollercoaster Monday. We ran yesterday and suffered a bit as a result. The lingering tiredness today probably contributed to feeling sluggish, lethargic and completely unmotivated. When I'm in that state the many minor nuisances of working life here start to take on overwhelming proportions. By lunchtime I just really really wanted to escape from this country and be in the UK. The sheer difficulty in getting some things done and the constant background of poverty can be too much sometimes.

After lunch Gill and I had to go to the Ethiopian Airlines office in town to collect our plane tickets. I'm off to Addis Ababa on Thursday to attend a volunteers committee meeting and Gill flies to Addis on Saturday. In the Ethiopian Airlines office three things hit me straight away: the two ferenjis sorting out the next leg of their tour, the posters advertising travel to lots of interesting places and the flat screen PC monitors. I felt like I was in an outpost of a world I've not been part of for a long time. The sprice juice I had afterwards (separate layers of papaya, avocado, guava, mango and pineapple juices served in a tall glass) reminded me of some of the pleasurable aspects to life here. In the short time I had left in college I managed to find the physics lab assistant and see the physics kit they've got. It didn't take long as all of the kit would fit into one of the cupboards in our house. At least I managed to find enough to do a demo in my lesson tomorrow, and my mood started to lift. Sometimes the small achievements are important.

We’ve restarted the morning run. Every second morning (well, that’s the plan!) we get up at 5am and run for 50 mins. In Awassa we used to run to Tabor Hill, speed walk up and run down, catching the start of of sunrise over the Rift Valley rim on the way. Here the terrain is much more hilly but all the main roads are surfaced. It’s also a lot cooler in the morning, to the point where I have cold hands within minutes of going outside. It’s beautiful at that time of the morning. The stars are stunning and the surrounding mountains in the moonlight make it the best time of the day to be out. I can feel the effect of the altitude though. We probably vary between 2200 m and 2300 m during our run and I can feel my lungs having to work harder.

Yesterday, Friday, I ran a workshop for science teachers from all the 2^nd cycle schools (Grades 5 – 8) in Gondar Town. Each school has nominated a “key teacher” who will attend training in the college and then train their colleagues back in their school. After Gill and I ran two workshops on Wednesday for key English teachers, Gill ran one on Thursday for key Maths teachers. I had 27 key Science teachers, with the primary aim of exploring the training and development needs of their departments. One of the activities I planned was a “bus stop” tool, where five sheets of flipchart paper were placed around the room, on the walls, with a different question on each, such as “What are the challenges for teaching science in your school?” and “What is good about how science is taught in your school?”. Everyone was organized into five groups, each group got some time to discuss one of the questions and then wrote their responses onto the flipchart. After a set time, all the groups moved round one “stop” to consider a new question and add their responses to the ones made by the previous group, etc. Eventually every group had considered every question. This worked very well, apart from the question about what was good in their department. Almost every group had difficulty giving answers that matched the question. When I talked with some of the teachers I realized the main problem was that none of them thought there was anything good about the science teaching in their schools! After a varied couple of hours I now have some information to go on which I can turn into a needs analysis and then meaningfully plan training.

In the evening we went to “Blue House”, a bar café in town. A half-decent pizza is done there and a very nice fish “cutlet” i.e. fish in breadcrumbs. On the walk home, which takes 25 mins, out of town the night sky was stunning. The lack of light pollution means the stars here are more vivid and numerous than at home, with the Milky Way often being very prominent. The phases of the moon are also more noticeable here as the resulting variation in its brightness makes a big difference given the lack of any street lighting. On the horizon were bright flashes of lightening, but so far away there was no sound of thunder. A wall of cloud was forming on the horizon which was briefly lit up by the lightening. An absolutely beautiful night.

As we entered our compound we could see that the porch area, which is covered in cream coloured tiles, was covered in ants. I then realized that the whole of the “garden” (which is actually barren compacted builders rubble) was swarming with tens of thousands of ants. I’ve never seen anything like it. The big soldier ants climbed up our socks and started biting! Inside the house were probably a hundred or so ants which we spent the next hour killing (squashing ants is less productive than it sounds as they are tough buggers).

I’m convinced there isn’t a true need for many VSO volunteer placements here. The real need is with developing leadership and management. I find time and time again that a lot of problems are caused by mangers not implementing proper line management and making sure that people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. There’s also a chronic lack of forward thinking. For example, the college seems to be a bit of a graveyard for photocopiers. A new copier is bought and eventually of course breaks down. Only then does the idea of support and maintenance feature on anyones radar. Maintenance of course might be hard to come by, so eventually the college buys a new copier. It’s extraordinary that the college has way more photocopiers than any secondary school in the UK has!

While I’m griping, PC maintenance continually winds me up. The PC support person is never around, as he seems to hang out in cafes in town until he is summoned. What about making sure he is doing useful stuff around the college instead of waiting to be called to a problem? Again, lack of proper line management.

On a brighter note, I taught my first lesson in the college today. I’ve asked to teach some physics, partly for me and partly to give me a better insight into life as a teacher here. I’m teaching three classes of maths students, who also have to study physics and chemistry, who are on the three year Diploma course, which will qualify them to become 2^nd cycle primary teachers (Grades 5 – 8). Each class has 50 students and I get them for one double lesson (100 mins) per week. The plan is for me to teach the Electomagnetism & Electronics course, which has content at UK A-level and 1^st year physics degree level. I have nine weeks to cover a ridiculous amount of content before the end of the semester. I loved the stimulation of working with the students and I’m looking forward to getting to grips with covering a lot of stuff without having any books for the students to use.

Another plus: in the college library I found a Geophysics textbook I used at home during my MSc course. Choosing to spend some of my evening reading an academic textbook for pleasure is not a common experience for me at home, but here I’ve loved it! Reading it has re-kindled as well the real interest I had for earth science. The Head of Science at the college has asked for help with teaching part of the Applied Physics degree course at Gondar University. Maybe I’ll get to teach some geophysics?

The Cluster Unit building at Gondar CTE


The model classroom in the cluster unit

In the UK if I spent a weekend at home I’d feel like a caged animal. Here I’ve learned to really enjoy and appreciate spending most of a weekend at home. Our house is really nice, I get to sit outside in the sun (because it’s a lot cooler than it was in Awassa) and listen to the near-constant breeze through the eucalyptus trees that overhang our compound. As a Ferenji living and working here, the privacy of your compound is vital to maintaining sanity. Outside of the compound you have to be in “famous person mode” due to the constant attention, stares, children following trying to get your attention (the “cling-ons” as we’ve taken to calling them), people asking for money and general conspicuousness. Once inside the compound, you’re back in your own space.

The walk from our house into the centre of town takes about 25 mins and it’s uphill all the way. This morning I made the trek to stock up with kerosene. We cook and purify water using kerosene stoves. Unfortunately the garages don’t all have kerosene at the same time. Still, hiking into town was a good excuse to stop for a coffee and juice in Hash Bar, a very nice café. I managed to find a garage with kerosene and then lugged my 10 litre jerrycan back home: a round trip taking an hour and half.

A peculiarity of being a VSO vol here is that we have guards. When I first heard the term during In-Country Training I visualised a man in uniform brandishing an AK-47. Actually a guard is a person who hangs around in your compound to deter anyone from climbing over the wall. Day Guards are usually women who also clean and do laundry, night guards simply sleep in the compound to provide an overnight presence. In Awassa we didn’t have guards because our landlord and his family lived in the same compound as us. VSO policy is that you must have guards if you don’t share the compound with people who are around all the time. Given that just outside our house is the police barracks for the town with uniformed sentries hanging around with AK-47s, we’re as safe as you can get. However, we now have the sister of one of the college drivers as a day guard, and a friend of the driver as our night guard. Our day guard, Mekdes, is a qualified 1^st cycle primary teacher but she cannot get a job. Yet another ludicrous situation here is that there are now too many 1^st cycle teachers for the number of schools, even though less than half of kids go to school. She’s young, shy and frighteningly industrious. She actually looks around the house for things to clean e.g. yesterday I discovered she had scrubbed the INSIDE of the kettle. Our night guard, Tilahun, seems quite happy to sit in the compound and stare into space for the whole evening. It’s easy to forget that people don’t read to kill time like we might do at home: books are not available and many people cannot read anyway. I’m finding it strange getting used to somebody hanging around outside the house all night and somebody else cleaning everything she can find during the daytime. There’s a very different attitude to personal space here compared to the UK and it’s going to take me a while to adjust.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with how much needs sorting out here. Gill and I visited two more schools in the last three days, just outside of Gondar. There comes a point where there isn’t much point in visiting schools unless you are actually working with them as there’s so much to feel depressed about.

We’ve been at the college for nearly two weeks now, and it’s been a microcosm of the whole VSO experience. Some of the time has been spent floundering around thinking “what am I supposed to be doing here?” and then there have been moments of clarity. The documentation from VSO is often a bit vague about the exact nature of the placement, or simply incorrect, and you have to accept that you will initially spend a lot of time figuring out how you can be useful, and how the expectations of your colleagues, employer and VSO match your own. Technically I have taken over from Janice, the previous VSO vol here in the Cluster Unit who finished and returned home to the UK in June, but I’ve realized that my role will be a bit different from hers. Janice, along with Meleshew and Mulugeta, achieved an amazing amount in only one academic year. However, the main thrust of the unit now is to expand the number of schools it is supporting and develop what has already been started. A lot of what Janice did was “setting up” type work, whereas a lot of the work I need to do, I think, is “advising and supporting” type work. The Cluster Unit staff and I met yesterday and agreed that really I’m needed to provide advice while the Unit staff continue their work. This suits me fine as I think this is how I can be most useful.

“Sustainability” is a much-used word by VSO, and is a cornerstone of the VSO approach. In practice what this means is that all VSO vols are supposed to have at least one Ethiopian counterpart who you work alongside with and train/develop/support so that they take over once the VSO vol leaves. In theory no further VSO support is needed as the trained counterpart(s) continues and develops the work so that it is fully owned, run and developed by Ethiopians. I fully support and agree with this idea. My experience of development so far is that it often has the effect of encouraging dependency so that local people become passive recipients. I’ve seen lots of evidence of this dependency culture, from complete strangers of all ages (many of whom are obviously in employment and have money) asking me for money in the streets, to the attitude of many professional colleagues who openly expect me to tell them what to do so they can unquestioningly do it. Another symptom is the idea of a Per Diem, a payment for attending training, workshops or meetings. At home if you are expected to travel anywhere for a meeting you would be paid reasonable expenses on production of a receipt. Here you are given a fixed amount of cash regardless of actual expenses e.g. if I have to go to Addis on VSO business, VSO give me 50 birr in cash for each full day in Addis to spend on my food. If I only spend 20 birr on food then I’ve pocketed 30 birr. Giving Per Diems is a lot less hassle to the giver than collecting receipts and paying expenses, but it has the nasty effect of encouraging people to push for Per Diem payments for attending almost any event and to push for bigger payments. Sometimes it gets utterly ridiculous and is simply a form of corruption. The People In Need NGO in Awassa had constant problems when they ran courses for school teachers. For each day of training they agreed to pay perhaps 45 birr (the course itself was free) but the teachers would complain and demand more. In Awassa I, even as a ferenji, would struggle to spend 45 birr on food in one day! Sadly many people here will not attend free training and development opportunities unless they are paid a Per Diem i.e. effectively a bribe. At Debub College, to get a school director from a school only 20 minutes WALK away to attend a meeting would cost the college more than 50 birr! At home as a teacher I’d often have to fight to receive training opportunities, here few people are interested unless they are paid to do it, even when the training is free and is in school time.