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Helen in Ethiopia 2005/06
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From Addis with love...
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On 22nd September, Helen Webster flew to Ethiopia to spend a year workinng with the Anglican church there. Here are some of the messages she has sent home by email:
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30.9.04
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Went to a church council on Saturday which was good to get a feel for the church, they started off with looking at where they wanted to be and future visions, so that was really good. The person who usually takes the minutes wasn't around so I got that job as well; need to type them up this week.
Went to church on Sunday morning, which was a good service, mix of traditional hymns and songs, may get involved in the music group with my recorder. We had to introduce ourselves during the service and afterwards a couple of people came up to me who had Yorkshire connections, one girl who was from Otley and another man who worked in Halifax for six years before he moved here. On Sunday night we went to Meskel Eve celebrations at the place where Janice works. Meskel is one of the big Orthodox festivals here - not sure exactly want it celebrates but hope to find out a bit more about the Orthodox Church so may know soon.
Monday was a bank holiday for Meskel and we went out with Andrew & Janice and a couple more girls from the church about our age, Gillian from America and Charlotte from the UK. We drove out in the hills around Addis for about 2 hours and visited a place called Debre Libanos where there is a church and where you can walk in the hills. The scenery was wonderful, you could see for miles and we saw some baboons really close. I will be sending you a film shortly of things around here so you can see for yourselves.
Today we met with Andrew to sort out what we will be doing. First of all I will be getting a feel for the church and what they are involved in by sorting out some files and going through information and then I will be involved in looking at ways to raise funds for the work the church does with the Sudanese refugees and other people in the community - things may be coming your way and to other churches in Tod to see if anyone fancies doing a coffee morning or something.
Must go now as need to get back to work and Gen is waiting for me
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8.10.04
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As I've been looking through the information the church has for its work in the refugee camps in the western region of the country one of the things lots of them request and would like to have is footballs. I was wondering whether the kids at Lumbutts may like to be involved in helping to provide these. The cost of a football here is about £1.50 so I thought maybe they might like to buy a football each, maybe contribute some of their own pocket money over a period of time rather than asking people as I know its not long since they did some sponsored things for the minibus.
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Tenastellen - Hello
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Thank you for all your prayers so far. My journey here was good, although about 1 hour late leaving Heathrow and about 1½ hours late arriving in Addis, touched down in Rome about 3am. We flew over the Sahara desert which was pretty spectacular and I sat next to a man from Ethiopia who was able to point things out to me as we flew into the country. I had no problems getting through customs and immigration and met Andrew and Janice without any problems. I have also noticed hardly any problems from the altitude (maybe the effects of living on the Yorkshire moors).
Thank you also to everyone who came to my commissioning service at Lumbutts and to all who would have liked to be there but who were unable to come. It was wonderful to see so many people from so many different churches there and really made me feel the support of you all. The collection from the commissioning service raised over ₤500 which brought the total raised to over what I had budgeted I would need. One of the things I was always sure about from the start of this was that if it was right God would provide the money, but even so I began to doubt and worry when it wasn’t there and I was nearly ready to go. I wish God wouldn’t always leave things until the last minute it does nothing for my nerves but just goes to show that Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 about not worrying are true, if only we would learn the lesson, or re-learn it, or re-learn it…
Addis is an interesting city, very confusing to find your way around, things never look the same on the ground as they do on the map and as there are very few street names (most of those that are around were only put up last year so locals aren’t familiar with them and they’re not on maps) it is easy to get lost. The city is surrounded by hills which you can see from most places in the city and can walk to easily, some of the landscape is very similar to home, not what most people expect of Ethiopia. Main roads are tarmacced, but can fall to pieces in the rainy season, which makes interesting driving. The council wait until the rains stop before repairing any roads, so things are gradually becoming better. As well as people on the streets, you often find herds of sheep, goats and cows, donkeys and poultry. Driving around the city is manic, everyone pushing in front of each other and lots of horn beeping. One of the hardest things I find about being here is that wherever you walk, as a ‘firenge’ (foreigner), you are targeted by people wanting money, children will run after you in the street asking for 1 birr, 1 birr for ages, whether they need it or not. It can be really hard saying no and really heart breaking to have to do so, there is obvious need but there are also people who will try and con you because they see you as being rich because you’re white. One couple who have been here for several years say one of the things they appreciate the most about England is being able to walk around anonymously, after only a few weeks here I know how they feel.
My first Monday here, 27 September was a public holiday, celebrating the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Meskel (the finding of the true cross). According to tradition Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine lit a fire and was led by the smoke from it to find the ‘true cross’ (the actual cross that Christ was crucified on).
Big celebrations take place on Meskel Eve (September 26th), the main one in Meskel Square in Addis, but all over the city too. The streets and homes are filled with Meskel flowers, small yellow flowers with an orange border, bonfires are lit, with crosses at the top representing the cross that (St?) Helena found. Tradition has it that the way the cross from the main bonfire at Meskel Square falls predicts how things will be for the new year (Ethiopian new year starts on 11 September), if the cross falls to the south this means prosperity if it falls to the north famine or war. No-one I have spoken too has been able to say what happens if it falls to the east or west and I don’t know which way it fell this year. Meskel celebrations are also accompanied by traditional Ethiopian dancing. Tradition also has it that after Meskel the rains are supposed to stop. They didn’t. Up until last week we were still getting very heavy showers, but it hasn’t rained for a few days now so here’s hoping the dry season has started.
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FAMOUS VISITORS
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As most of you may know Addis was visited early this month by Tony Blair, the visit was in all the papers, although he didn’t stay as long as he had planned to and didn’t meet everyone he had been planned to meet, which upset some of the people from the Embassy who had been involved in organising the visit.
Addis was also visited recently by Joni Erickson-Tada, who was in Addis to begin a week of disability training seminars organised by the International Evangelical Church in the city. I was able to go and hear her speak at a Sunday night service at the church with an Ethiopian friend, which was very good.
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A TYPICAL DAY
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Wake 7.00 ish. Quiet time sometimes with sound of Orthodox church in background as the church near us broadcasts its services on loudspeaker to the local community, chanting, singing and preaching in Ge’ez the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Breakfast a choice of bread, fruit or cereal.
Travel to work by line taxi, blue and white Toyota minibuses which run all over the city in routes known well to Ethiopians but confusing for us firenges. Line taxis seat 10-12 people and sometimes big bags, building materials, hens, sheep or goats. Each taxi is different, some have radios blaring, others have stickers in the back or side windows, sometimes in Amharic, others in English saying things like ‘I love you’ or supporting Manchester United or Arsenal. Some have zebra or leopard print seat covers or wallpaper on the inside, one I got in the other day had a rather large ceiling rose in the centre of the roof. Cost 1 birr either way (7p)
Work at church from about 9.00 till 5.00, I share a small office at the back of the library building with Gen who is involved in arranging English language lessons with those who come to the library. I am involved in a variety of things, have been looking through files of the work the church is involved with to get an idea of what’s going on, working on project proposals for fundraising for the various projects, putting together lists of who could approach for fundraising, preparing a family service for the first Sunday in November with another Methodist local preacher called Sara, helping prepare a Bible study based around the film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ which we recently watched at the church, playing my recorder in the music group on Sunday morning. At lunchtime sometimes bring sandwiches, sometimes go into Arat Kilo the local centre near us where can go to a supermarket or café. Cook evening meal on gas stove provided by church, uses canister gas rather than a mains supply, we also have a fridge which has been provided by the church. Can get most things in Addis, some are more expensive than others though. There are supermarkets around which cater to firenges where you can buy most things you can at home. We can buy fruit and bread very cheaply from shops and the market near us, getting friendly with local shopkeepers and stall holders. Most fruit and veg locally costs about 2.50 birr a kilo (18p), a loaf of bread is 2 birr. More preparation involved here than at home, all fruit and veg needs to be washed in Milton disinfectant before eating it and water needs to be boiled (for a good 5 minutes because of the altitude) and then filtered to make it safe to drink. It goes dark in the evening very quickly, about 6.30, having been fully light till about 6.00. Evenings vary, sometimes in, reading, listening to music, sometimes out doing a variety of activities which so far have included Bible studies, Meskel celebrations (see separate box), a welcome evening organised by the British council to welcome new Brits to Addis, an evening of Ethiopian dancing and an evening to see a performance of guitar music and gypsy dancing.
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STRANGE FACTS ABOUT ETHIOPIA
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One of the strange things about Ethiopia is that the dates and times are different.
Ethiopia runs on the Julian calendar rather than our Gregorian one, which makes the present year 1997 (unfortunately this doesn’t mean I can go back to being 22). The Ethiopian calendar has 13 months, 12 of 30 days and 1 of 5 days with the new year starting on 11 September.
The Ethiopian clock is a 12 hour clock, starting at 6.00 in the morning, so 6.00 is 12.00, 7.00 - 1.00 etc. It is quite sensible as it comes light about 6.00 and goes dark about 6.30 so the clock is really daylight hours - but it can be a bit confusing when arranging meeting times with Ethiopians
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PLEASE PRAY FOR:
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• Visas: Please pray that Gen and my residence visas are sorted out soon. The paperwork was sent to the diocese headquarters in Egypt and then returned to the wrong branch of the Ethiopian government. My tourist visa expires on 23 November; I am told it can easily be renewed for another month and again after that with a little difficulty. I would really like not to have to go through the bother of having to renew it, but things move really slowly here. Please pray that the residence visas come through quickly, preferably before mine expires in November. We could be asking for a miracle here, but hey why not!!, our God is a great God.
• Continued safety and good health whilst here.
• Volunteers for the work Gen and I are involved with, Gen needs volunteers to help with the English language lessons, English conversation classes and storytelling; I am hoping to start a youth group with the young people at the church but need more help to do this. Please pray that the right people will come along.
• Friendships with people at the church and Gen.
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As mentioned above, one of my jobs here is raising money for the various projects the church is involved in, this includes the library project here working with children from poor backgrounds in the local area and supporting some of them through school; supporting the churches which St. Matthews has oversight of in the Western region of Ethiopia, many among refugees from southern Sudan and other projects. If any of you feel that you could help in this, coffee mornings, market stalls etc. please contact me and I will post you a copy of the church’s Programme Document which gives details of the work the church is involved in. This will probably take about a fortnight to arrive.
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AMASEUGENALLO - Thank-you
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Contact details: c/o St. Matthew’s Anglican Church - P.O. Box 109 -
Addis Ababa - Ethiopia
Helenweb@care4free.net
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ETHIOPIAN EXPERIENCE VOL 3
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Greetings from sunny Addis!! The dry season has definitely started, hardly a drop of rain at all for the last month, most mornings we wake up to a brilliant blue sky and sunshine - however the last few days it has been a bit overcast and cloudy I’m sure it won’t last. It is really hard to get my head around the fact that it’s Christmas in a few weeks time with the weather being so nice, my head tells me it’s July/August but the calendar and preparations being made for the Christmas season say otherwise - so strange.
So what have I been up to since I last wrote - things have been busy for us here as Andrew has been away for most of the month, first on holiday with his parents who were visiting, then in Egypt at a Diocesan retreat, then to Djibouti for Remembrance services. Remembrance Day is quite big here - we had British Legion poppies for sale at the church and there is an annual service at a war cemetery in Addis on Remembrance Sunday, at which Andrew was preaching. The British Embassy also held a Poppy Day lunch raising funds for the British Legion - which was a really nice occasion, although I couldn’t help thinking that this was the kind of thing I would probably never go to in England - and thinking of the contrast between this lunch in the British Embassy compound - which is very spacious and exclusive and the poverty we see on the street just outside it and in our work with refugees in the church.
I helped lead a family service in St. Matthews on the first Sunday in November with Sara, another Methodist local preacher, we led the service on the theme of faith and Peter walking on the water and it went really well. In talking to Sara and her husband Bill I have discovered that Bill, who is an Anglican vicar, used to work in Halifax (their surname is Goodman just in case any of you know them), they have been in Addis for six years and will be returning to England in February. Sara also went to Cliff College, just a few years before me, so we were able to have a nice talk about people we knew at Cliff - Amazing to think that I have come all this way and am still able to meet people with connections like that. There seems to be quite a Yorkshire contingent in Addis, I keep meeting people who either come from Yorkshire or have connections with Yorkshire. I even met one couple who are with V.S.O. who used to visit Mankinholes Youth Hostel regularly up to a few years ago - you can’t get much closer to my home than that!
I have been getting involved in things going on here outside of St. Matthews. I have started going to a midweek Bible Study group on Thursday mornings at the International Evangelical Church which is really good. It is a mixed group of women from all over the world. I was a bit worried when I first went as it was the morning after the American elections and didn’t really want to be surrounded by lots of evangelical Americans celebrating the Bush victory. However the result wasn’t really mentioned but just as I was beginning to think that it wasn’t going to be and how good that was, a Kenyan lady to my left turned to an American lady on my right and said;
‘So, are you glad that Bush won, because I’m not!’ which then led to a very interesting (verging on heated) discussion between those who supported Bush and those who didn’t. Fortunately it only lasted about 15 minutes though and then we all went back to being friendly despite our political differences. I am getting to know people in this group better as I have been going for a few weeks now and really enjoying our meetings together and a time to study God’s word and pray together.
I have also become involved in a play the British Council are putting on. We are doing A Midsummer Nights Dream outside at the British Embassy in February. I am playing the part of Francis Flute the bellows mender/Thisby and rehearsals are proving very, very funny. The cast is also multi-cultural, despite the play being organised by the British Council, with people involved from Ethiopia, Israel and France as well as many English people from many different organisations within the city.
On Sunday it was St. Michael’s day - which apparently is a day when lots of rubbish is burned throughout the town (this could account for the cloudiness of the last few days). Our local Orthodox church is St. Michael’s church so this meant that the church was broadcasting on it’s loudspeakers all night (It was going when we went to bed about 11.30, when I roused slightly at 2.45am and when I woke about 7.30am - so I presume all night). Also as on a special saints day Ethiopians go to that saints church, when I went to go to church in the morning, when I got to the bottom of our street, there were thousands of people all either going to or coming from church. All the women were wearing traditional white shawls so the road just looked like a sea of white. It was a nightmare trying to get on a taxi to church as every time one came in people just pushed to get on it. When I came home from church there were still many people there and later in the afternoon I am told there was dancing in the street.
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VISIT TO DEBRE BERHAN
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While Andrew’s parents were visiting Gen and I went out with them and Andrew and Janice to visit the Jerusalem Child and Community Development Association in Debre Berhan, a couple of hours drive from Addis. This was a project which started out of the 1984/5 famine and linked to St. Matthews originally, but now independent, initially caring for children of those affected by the famine who had either been abandoned by their parents or whose parents had died. The aim was to give these children an education and teach them to become self-reliant. Once the majority of those affected by the 1984/5 famine had moved on the Association moved out to help other members in the communities where they were based, as well as Debre Berhan there are projects in 4/5 other areas of Ethiopia. They work with mainly children, youths and women helping them with education and showing how to grow their own crops and look after animals. Most houses in Ethiopia are in compounds so many people have their own small area of land where they can grow crops or keep a cow or hens. Education wise the project runs a scheme of peer teaching. As many government schools in Ethiopia are very large, often with about 80-100 pupils in a class, most teaching is by rote learning so this scheme is a programme where children can come after school and work in classes where the children sit in groups of about 8 and discuss between themselves what they have been studying at school and anything that they didn’t understand, helping them to understand more what they have learned. It also runs welfare groups in many schools in the area to help poorer pupils through school. On the Association’s compound we saw areas which had been set aside for organic farming where people from the local area would come to learn how to grow produce organically themselves, also a dairy which housed about a dozen cows and where people could come to learn how to milk the cows and produce butter and cheese.
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VISIT TO WESTERN REGION
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Trip to Gambella - Next Sunday - 28 November I will be going to visit the churches in the Western Region of Ethiopia. I will be going down in the car with a couple of other people leaving about 7am Sunday morning to travel half way on Sunday, completing the journey on Monday. Andrew is flying out to join us on Tuesday morning with a couple of other people from the church and Janice will be coming out later in the week. We will be arriving back in Addis on Thursday 9 December. There are very few internet connections in this part of the country so if any of you write I probably won’t be able to respond until I return.
Please pray for us as we make this trip that God will keep us and our belongings safe and that we will be able to deal with the different conditions - Gambella is a lot lower than Addis and therefore a lot hotter with mosquitos.
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COUNT IN AMHARIC
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One - And
Two - Heulett
Three - Sost
Four - Arat
Five - Amist
Six - Sidist
Seven - Seubat
Eight - Simint
Nine - Zeuteuny
Ten - Assir
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Photos
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For those of you around Tod my mum has a film of photos of the church, home and various other scenes of the city and surrounding areas so you can see some of the people and places I’m talking about
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Helen in Ethiopia 2005/06