A group of shoe-shining boys

I seem to go to Addis Ababa so often that the journey is starting to feel like a commute. I’m not complaining as any opportunity to get away from your placement is valuable. Thursday and Friday were a VSO Cluster Conference. All VSO vols involved with the programme, their Ethiopian counterparts and other people in placements related to Clustering were involved, and the two days were a good experience for all concerned.

Different vols had volunteered to lead a session and, because Gill didn’t go, I ended up leading a 90 min session on “Best Practice in Training” and a session on the second day about “Future Plans”. Preparing for my Training session turned out to be a very valuable and stimulating experience, and made me realize that I enjoy thinking and reading about educational theory. I also enjoyed delivering my session.

The really enjoyable part though was feeling part of something that’s bigger than my own small world at Gondar College. It’s so easy to stop feeling connected to the big picture. It’s also very easy to feel isolated and I know I’m especially prone to feeling self critical about how much I’m achieving. Being able to engage in professional dialogue with peers and discover you are not alone in your worries gave me a real emotional lift. I miss that daily contact with colleagues, and the stimulation of sharing ideas and criticisms. I have an important role here in trying to work with my Ethiopian colleagues to help them develop their skills, but it can be a lonely experience.

As usual, any trip to Addis demands a trip to Zebra Grill for bean burrito and an evening at the Yonas Hotel, the usual VSO haunt, to blether over beer and fish kebab!

Back in Gondar, Gill and I watched the London Marathon on the big screen at the Red Fox Hotel, about 40 min walk away. Last year we saw some of the marathon while were in Yirga Alem visiting Fasil’s (our landlord) family for Easter. I still feel a little bit amazed we have lasted for over one year at times. Seeing London in the sunshine while listening to the Brendan Foster on the BBC coverage made us both feel a bit homesick. I have no intention to live or work in London again, but on TV it looked just beautiful. There were many Ethiopians also watching I norder to see how well Haile Gebreselassie did. How disappointing to see him drop out. I know he’s popular in the UK but he’s a real hero here: an Ethiopian who has made it “big” in the World.