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Still more of Helen in Ethiopia 05/06
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FAMINE
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The World Service and some local papers tell me that almost 4 million people in Ethiopia are at risk of malnutrition this year. I remember when I was at high school in the late 80s seeing a picture in a geography textbook of Addis Ababa and thinking how wrong it was that the city had so much, while so many people in the same country had been suffering from famine - 1984 and Live Aid etc. still recent memory - Band Aid 1 being the first single I ever bought. Well now here I am, living that reality and it seems so strange. There doesn’t appear to be a food shortage in Addis - supermarkets and markets are all well stocked and much meat was consumed at Easter, yet elsewhere in the same country there are still people starving. How does that work??? It somehow doesn’t seem real - maybe due as much to lack of information here - in English anyway. Of course 1984 was communist times and things are different from then and I freely admit I don’t know enough about economics and all the many other factors involved but how can one part of one country have so much and another have so little - it still doesn’t seem right and I still don’t understand it - even here. I’m not going to bore you with all my thoughts on the matter - too many and too varied. To be honest I don’t know what to think. Everything seemed so much simpler from England when I was 12. Still not right but easier to think about than it is now.
As a footnote to this, I found a magazine article from last year about an event entitled ‘A birr for a compatriot’ a concert held in Addis where nearly $2 million was raised to help famine relief efforts around the country. Although there are many poor people in Addis - many people gave - including some of the poorest, to help their fellow-countrymen. International aid was still needed on top of what was raised but it’s good to know that people in the city are willing to help those around - I don’t remember reading about this in the English papers last year but it’s the kind of thing that should be reported to change the negative image that many people have about this country.
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PLEASE PRAY FOR:
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• The youth group we hope to start
• Andrew and Janice who leave on their 3 month furlough on 1 June and for Revd Michael Goss who is coming to cover during that period.
• Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea (this is a growing concern)
• Elections which take place here this Sunday, 15 May, that they will be no trouble and they will pass peacefully.
• EEPs returning home - Adam from St. Vincent and Rachel from Brazil
• The people in the Western region who are worried about having to move from their homes.
• Those from St. Matthew’s who returned to Sudan that they will be able to rebuild their lives there.
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AND FINALLY - THE WEATHER!
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Ever since I got here everyone has kept saying May is the hottest month of the year. Being from England though I should know better than to believe such things - you know how it goes - they promise you heat and sunshine and - guess what - it rains!!!! It is beginning to look as though the main (kerempt) rains have come early - which at the moment means very heavy showers once or twice a day - sometimes going on for hours. Although in between it can be hot and sunny when it rains - it really rains. This has been going on for 2/3 weeks now and if it is kerempt it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better - the length and severity of the showers increasing over the next couple of months. Everyone you speak to has a different interpretation of what this means and whether the rainy season will be heavier or lighter - longer or shorter and whether this is good or bad for the farmers. The change in the weather also means it can be quite cold - especially at night and alright I’m not talking England in December/January but enough for jumpers and more than one blanket - not what you usually expect of Africa.
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AND BRINGING US UP TO DATE
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We are delighte that Helen has begins full time training as a Decon in Autumn 2009, at Cambridge.
We wish her God's Speed & blessings!
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Lumbutts Methodist Church
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Still more of Helen in Ethiopia 05/06