The Hoopoes and the storks are back, a sign that a year has passed, and so quickly. A pair of storks even considered nesting in one of our palm trees but decided, probably rightly, that the palm leaves gave too much under their weight, and moved on.
Water pressure is also back and the tank on our roof has filled up for the first time in months. I can’t get out of the habit of filling buckets up. Sometimes we’d go for a couple of days without water in the standpipe. It’s been a salutary reminder of how precious water is.
Took part in a quiz night last Thursday. On my table were two Eritreans - Aster and Yemane from the programme office, a retired Scottish nun - Sister Pat who has been in Eritrea for 40 years and Samuel – Italian speaking but of Armenian origin who was born in Asmara and has lived here all his life. He holds a British passport, reflecting the ruling powers here at the time of his birth. He has a fascinating history, according to Wikipedia he is the last remaining Jew in Eritrea and has many many old photos which he has invited us to come round and see.
The other tables at the quiz night had an equally cosmopolitan mix. We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Phil’s table won the quiz but I’ve taken over part of his prize.
C
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Thursday, 16 April 2009
The Motorised Wheelchair Campaign
We’re still looking for a little more cash in order to reach our quite modest target of about 1500 GBP but there has been a change of plan.
THERE IS STILL TIME! Please send cheques made payable to us (Phil Appleby and Caroline Holden) at: VSO Eritrea, PO Box 5565, Asmara, Eritrea.
Things have changed, however …
Behind the scenes we have been working on getting information on how to source one of the machines in question and that line of inquiry led us to have a talk with the head of the Eritrean Veteran’s Association – a very reasonable and affable man by the name of Abraham.
He instantly voiced some concerns about the petrol-engined tricycles which Dawit had heard about and seen on the streets, some of which echoed our own:
To add a couple of points of my own, they look dangerous and they seem to be intended for travel over quite long distances.
Eventually we managed to arrange a meeting involving Abraham, Dawit and friends and family and the conclusion which was reached remarkably quickly is that we should change the purpose of our collection and divert the funds into Dawit’s business.
What he wants to do is to license and establish a kiosk to replace his current street pitch and to expand into selling more goods. We felt that this approach would be more sustainable than just a large outlay on a motor-vehicle which would then incur running costs.
If anybody who has already donated has any objections to our cavalier behaviour with their money please just let us know – we haven’t cashed any cheques yet.
If anybody has not already donated please do so!
P
THERE IS STILL TIME! Please send cheques made payable to us (Phil Appleby and Caroline Holden) at: VSO Eritrea, PO Box 5565, Asmara, Eritrea.
Things have changed, however …
Behind the scenes we have been working on getting information on how to source one of the machines in question and that line of inquiry led us to have a talk with the head of the Eritrean Veteran’s Association – a very reasonable and affable man by the name of Abraham.
He instantly voiced some concerns about the petrol-engined tricycles which Dawit had heard about and seen on the streets, some of which echoed our own:
- Spare parts are not easy to come by now.
- Ordering and importing a new one of these machines would be very expensive.
- There would be the recurring cost of buying fuel which is also in short supply.
- He wanted to know if Dawit and his family had considered alternative uses for the money collected.
To add a couple of points of my own, they look dangerous and they seem to be intended for travel over quite long distances.
Eventually we managed to arrange a meeting involving Abraham, Dawit and friends and family and the conclusion which was reached remarkably quickly is that we should change the purpose of our collection and divert the funds into Dawit’s business.
What he wants to do is to license and establish a kiosk to replace his current street pitch and to expand into selling more goods. We felt that this approach would be more sustainable than just a large outlay on a motor-vehicle which would then incur running costs.
If anybody who has already donated has any objections to our cavalier behaviour with their money please just let us know – we haven’t cashed any cheques yet.
If anybody has not already donated please do so!
P
Monday, 13 April 2009
out of town for the weekend
Back in work this Monday morning after a weekend in Segenetti visiting Sami and Helen. Set off earlyish on Saturday although as we’d been told that the Segenetti busses ran quite well it wasn’t a 5 am start as it can be for other destinations. As foreigners and teachers we were queue jumped onto a bus. In their early days volunteers tens to resist this and do the “ no, no, just treat me like everyone else” thing. That soon passes. Bus stations here are hot crowded dusty places, the least time spent there the better. Busses don’t leave until they are full and full means full – huge bags, chickens, goats as well as people. We were lucky, we got 2 seats together next to a window that opened and the journey was only 2 hours.
It was lovely to see where Sami and Helen lived – Sami was one of the vols who came over in our group in Jan 2008 and has since married Helen. They are hoping, bureaucracy and visas permitting, to go to the UK this summer. We did the obligatory walk to the big (gigantic actually) tree that figures on the 5 Nakfa note, our entourage growing as we walked. By the time we arrived at the tree it consisted of 5 school kids, assorted adults and a cow. It was good to see the tree but as usual on these occasions it’s the getting there rather the arrival that’s most memorable.
Thank you Sami and Helen for a good weekend (great food and coffee Helen.)
As usual we’re in time warp here. Easter is next weekend. Not an Easter egg in sight though. In fact not many eggs about. A lot of people fast during Lent – nothing at all in daylight hours and then only a vegetarian diet so no eggs.
C
It was lovely to see where Sami and Helen lived – Sami was one of the vols who came over in our group in Jan 2008 and has since married Helen. They are hoping, bureaucracy and visas permitting, to go to the UK this summer. We did the obligatory walk to the big (gigantic actually) tree that figures on the 5 Nakfa note, our entourage growing as we walked. By the time we arrived at the tree it consisted of 5 school kids, assorted adults and a cow. It was good to see the tree but as usual on these occasions it’s the getting there rather the arrival that’s most memorable.
Thank you Sami and Helen for a good weekend (great food and coffee Helen.)
As usual we’re in time warp here. Easter is next weekend. Not an Easter egg in sight though. In fact not many eggs about. A lot of people fast during Lent – nothing at all in daylight hours and then only a vegetarian diet so no eggs.
C
Friday, 3 April 2009
Walking In Eritrea
Eritrea would be perfect walking country if travel permits were more freely available and if you could always carry enough water to keep you going on long hikes. That said the now-departed John (more about that later, not as morbid as it sounds!) organised a walk starting on the edge of Asmara as part of a weekend of St Patrick’s day celebrations a couple of weeks ago.
Setting off from the end of the line for the no. 1 bus which is near the city dump (the walk gets better!) you first pass a very well maintained cemetery and onward to the edge of “the escarpment” ready for the descent.
One you start going down this is really quite rough walking, lots of loose stuff, very steep in places and definitely no waymarkers! Our objective for the morning was just to walk for a few hours and take in the scenery and wildlife but you need to be equipped even for this; so showing up in flip-flops and with less that half a litre of water doesn’t really cut it as one of our number found … he finished up sitting and waiting at the top for 3+ hours.
One of the main attractions of a walk in this particular area is the chance of reasonably close encounters with troupes of baboons and it wasn’t long before we started to spot them sitting on the tops of ridges and moving away from breakfast at the city dump in quite large numbers. They make a lot of noise and get out of the way if humans get to close, though. The dump also attracts large numbers of steppe eagles and other birds of prey and carrion-eaters plus, of course, Jason our resident VSO bird-watcher.
The ascent back to the top of the escarpment was tougher than expected and we were all glad of the occasional rest and of the water we'd taken care to bring along. Eritrea can be a demanding place to go walking.
A few baboon photos came out really well along with a few of the eagles – someday we’ll get some more out there on the web-album ...
The End For Some
-----------------------
The New Volunteers as they were collectively known have now all left Eritrea so what are they now? (Old-? Ex-? Never were-?). Whatever the label it’s all just very sad and frustrating … in John (one of the six) I have lost an IT colleague to with whom exchange ideas and we’ve all lost a natural social organiser (who knows where the EMIS - Education Management Information System - project will go now).
The mood amongst the volunteers who remain and the programme office staff is understandably subdued just now. No-one really knows what will happen next.
Computers in Education
-----------------------------
Work is a little slow but, of the solar-power schools in phase one, all but two have now received computers so I’ll be gathering feedback on their ICT teaching programs when I can. Let’s hope it goes as well as Foro school.
Following a suggestion by Tariq of Aptivate, an ICT-in-Development NGO (Google “Aptivate NGO”), and with the help of Stephane in London I have now obtained a copy of the Schools Wikipedia collection (all 4Gb of it in uncompressed form) from SOS Children’s Village a very worthwhile orphan’s charity … a pause to imagine what it’s like to be an orphan in a very poor African country during a global recession.
It’s part of my minor push to get some educational content onto the computers we deliver and it will have the added benefit of giving students a bit of an internet experience (albeit simulated) – we’re going to try it out at Fthi school next week.
P
Setting off from the end of the line for the no. 1 bus which is near the city dump (the walk gets better!) you first pass a very well maintained cemetery and onward to the edge of “the escarpment” ready for the descent.
One you start going down this is really quite rough walking, lots of loose stuff, very steep in places and definitely no waymarkers! Our objective for the morning was just to walk for a few hours and take in the scenery and wildlife but you need to be equipped even for this; so showing up in flip-flops and with less that half a litre of water doesn’t really cut it as one of our number found … he finished up sitting and waiting at the top for 3+ hours.
One of the main attractions of a walk in this particular area is the chance of reasonably close encounters with troupes of baboons and it wasn’t long before we started to spot them sitting on the tops of ridges and moving away from breakfast at the city dump in quite large numbers. They make a lot of noise and get out of the way if humans get to close, though. The dump also attracts large numbers of steppe eagles and other birds of prey and carrion-eaters plus, of course, Jason our resident VSO bird-watcher.
The ascent back to the top of the escarpment was tougher than expected and we were all glad of the occasional rest and of the water we'd taken care to bring along. Eritrea can be a demanding place to go walking.
A few baboon photos came out really well along with a few of the eagles – someday we’ll get some more out there on the web-album ...
The End For Some
-----------------------
The New Volunteers as they were collectively known have now all left Eritrea so what are they now? (Old-? Ex-? Never were-?). Whatever the label it’s all just very sad and frustrating … in John (one of the six) I have lost an IT colleague to with whom exchange ideas and we’ve all lost a natural social organiser (who knows where the EMIS - Education Management Information System - project will go now).
The mood amongst the volunteers who remain and the programme office staff is understandably subdued just now. No-one really knows what will happen next.
Computers in Education
-----------------------------
Work is a little slow but, of the solar-power schools in phase one, all but two have now received computers so I’ll be gathering feedback on their ICT teaching programs when I can. Let’s hope it goes as well as Foro school.
Following a suggestion by Tariq of Aptivate, an ICT-in-Development NGO (Google “Aptivate NGO”), and with the help of Stephane in London I have now obtained a copy of the Schools Wikipedia collection (all 4Gb of it in uncompressed form) from SOS Children’s Village a very worthwhile orphan’s charity … a pause to imagine what it’s like to be an orphan in a very poor African country during a global recession.
It’s part of my minor push to get some educational content onto the computers we deliver and it will have the added benefit of giving students a bit of an internet experience (albeit simulated) – we’re going to try it out at Fthi school next week.
P
Monday, 23 March 2009
Water Rationing
Just a quick one - Google Alerts told us that my previous article had been picked up by someone from 'capitaleritrea.com' and cited as reporting water shortages in Asmara.
Well that's kind of what it did, but I think I should point out that we're probably just seeing the results of a sensible water-rationing program, just now, given that we are in that time before the rains.
And yes, so far it's only really caused me more effort fetching and carrying buckets from our garden stand-pipe and it's really not much worse than the water efforts which have to be made here year-round.
The main point of the previous post was our consternation over work-permits, of course.
P
Well that's kind of what it did, but I think I should point out that we're probably just seeing the results of a sensible water-rationing program, just now, given that we are in that time before the rains.
And yes, so far it's only really caused me more effort fetching and carrying buckets from our garden stand-pipe and it's really not much worse than the water efforts which have to be made here year-round.
The main point of the previous post was our consternation over work-permits, of course.
P
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Getting near to The End?
Before getting to the point, just a note to say that Caroline realises that, following a particularly plaintive Facebook status update, she now owes a lot of people replies to emails. However the MoE’s internet connections disappeared a couple of days ago and she can’t get to the British Council due to the flu this weekend. So she asks for patience.
To get closer to the subject above our worries about both Eritrea and VSO’s programme here were magnified by our water tank choosing to remind us this week that it’s not bottomless after all. So we’re using the now-trickling garden tap when we can and we’re in the world of bucket flushes and solar showers (actually those are spectacularly good, bordering on the too hot if you use them immediately).
Before I say any more let’s just calm the cries of “you Asmarinos always have it so easy and now you’re complaining about lack of running water” or similar, from other Eritrea volunteers. Yes, it was just a crude device to introduce a theme - OK?
Of course it just symbolises the way we're feeling and, in fact, Eritrea battles constantly with water shortages as volunteers in remoter parts will tell you. Now the shortages have reached Asmara, in large part due to it being the time of year just before the rainy seasons have really got going.
The big news concerns the new volunteers who arrived in January and who have now been told they are not going to be given work permits. Meaning they are not going to be given residence permits, meaning they are going home. Quite apart from the impact on somebody’s life who has given up a job, maybe a home and said goodbye to friends expecting to be away for a prolonged period this must also have implications across the board for VSO here … we just don’t know exactly what yet.
Ironically, I received an email from VSO London asking if I would be prepared to be interviewed by an online IT magazine (it was sent to all current IT volunteers, I think). The resulting article would probably be along the lines of “How some IT people side-stepped the recession and saved the world at the same time while simultaneously avoiding being mired in self-pity following redundancy” (I may have over-extrapolated there). For me it wasn't like that, though. We have been saying we would "do VSO" someday for years and finally got around to initiating the process in early 2006 - quite a long time before the financial industry noticed that it had accidentally underpinned it's entire being with trillions of dollars-worth of unrecoverable debt.
So I would feel a bit of a fraud responding. Perhaps I should just reply asking for ideas on where my next volunteer / NGO IT job could be.
Interesting times, watch this space!
Climate change and East Africa
------------------------------
I had intended that the above be the post but ... I had a lot of rubbish going around in my head this week – best to let it out!
Having read George Monbiot's latest post on climate change and thinking about Eritrea's constant battle with water shortages I was just wondering how raised global temperatures and accompanying shifts in climate patterns might affect this region given that it is already on the edge (in more ways than one) climatically.
I know that it's not that simple given the interwoven complexities of this planet's dynamic systems and that the region could become wetter but what if a small shift sent things the wrong way? A few years of missed rain and it's Sahara-time for at least the Eritrean lowlands.
Historically migration due to shifts in climate patterns must have been the norm and, in fact, a lot of the lowland peoples here are semi-nomadic. But there's a problem: in recent times arbitrary borders have become more important and greatly increased human populations mean much more contention for resources. So what was once a normal migration pattern now becomes a border violation and a fight with a sitting population.
Forced migration due to climate change must be coming to this region sooner or later; let's face it we need more conflict here!
On the other hand, if you take the really pessimistic view that it's already too late, that the Earth's systems are so large and have such inertia that winding them back with the quite pathetic measures that are being mooted is impossible, that the planet's human population is already way too large then maybe it will only be small, remote, groups of people who use resources efficiently who will survive the mass starvation to come and this region will have to populate the world again in a few hundred thousand millenia ... after the Earth has cooled again.
Ok, Ok I'll try and stick more to what I know next time.
P
To get closer to the subject above our worries about both Eritrea and VSO’s programme here were magnified by our water tank choosing to remind us this week that it’s not bottomless after all. So we’re using the now-trickling garden tap when we can and we’re in the world of bucket flushes and solar showers (actually those are spectacularly good, bordering on the too hot if you use them immediately).
Before I say any more let’s just calm the cries of “you Asmarinos always have it so easy and now you’re complaining about lack of running water” or similar, from other Eritrea volunteers. Yes, it was just a crude device to introduce a theme - OK?
Of course it just symbolises the way we're feeling and, in fact, Eritrea battles constantly with water shortages as volunteers in remoter parts will tell you. Now the shortages have reached Asmara, in large part due to it being the time of year just before the rainy seasons have really got going.
The big news concerns the new volunteers who arrived in January and who have now been told they are not going to be given work permits. Meaning they are not going to be given residence permits, meaning they are going home. Quite apart from the impact on somebody’s life who has given up a job, maybe a home and said goodbye to friends expecting to be away for a prolonged period this must also have implications across the board for VSO here … we just don’t know exactly what yet.
Ironically, I received an email from VSO London asking if I would be prepared to be interviewed by an online IT magazine (it was sent to all current IT volunteers, I think). The resulting article would probably be along the lines of “How some IT people side-stepped the recession and saved the world at the same time while simultaneously avoiding being mired in self-pity following redundancy” (I may have over-extrapolated there). For me it wasn't like that, though. We have been saying we would "do VSO" someday for years and finally got around to initiating the process in early 2006 - quite a long time before the financial industry noticed that it had accidentally underpinned it's entire being with trillions of dollars-worth of unrecoverable debt.
So I would feel a bit of a fraud responding. Perhaps I should just reply asking for ideas on where my next volunteer / NGO IT job could be.
Interesting times, watch this space!
Climate change and East Africa
------------------------------
I had intended that the above be the post but ... I had a lot of rubbish going around in my head this week – best to let it out!
Having read George Monbiot's latest post on climate change and thinking about Eritrea's constant battle with water shortages I was just wondering how raised global temperatures and accompanying shifts in climate patterns might affect this region given that it is already on the edge (in more ways than one) climatically.
I know that it's not that simple given the interwoven complexities of this planet's dynamic systems and that the region could become wetter but what if a small shift sent things the wrong way? A few years of missed rain and it's Sahara-time for at least the Eritrean lowlands.
Historically migration due to shifts in climate patterns must have been the norm and, in fact, a lot of the lowland peoples here are semi-nomadic. But there's a problem: in recent times arbitrary borders have become more important and greatly increased human populations mean much more contention for resources. So what was once a normal migration pattern now becomes a border violation and a fight with a sitting population.
Forced migration due to climate change must be coming to this region sooner or later; let's face it we need more conflict here!
On the other hand, if you take the really pessimistic view that it's already too late, that the Earth's systems are so large and have such inertia that winding them back with the quite pathetic measures that are being mooted is impossible, that the planet's human population is already way too large then maybe it will only be small, remote, groups of people who use resources efficiently who will survive the mass starvation to come and this region will have to populate the world again in a few hundred thousand millenia ... after the Earth has cooled again.
Ok, Ok I'll try and stick more to what I know next time.
P
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Of rain and books
The small rainy season has arrived and the ground smells wonderful. Let’s hope the rains are good this year. Last year they weren’t and the food situation in the countryside is very bad now.
In the UK I take a constant supply of reading material for granted. Libraries and bookshops have always been a constant in my life. There is a huge supply of books in the VSO office passed on by volunteers over the years and I am possibly reading more now than ever. And I take it as normal. Yet to Eritreans a book is a luxury. An English novel given to a student was accepted as if it was golddust, and read by the time of the next lesson, a week later. I am constantly asked by colleagues for novels. The male friend who asked yesterday told me that he particularly liked to read detective stories. However most men, when asked what they like to read will say “love stories” (honestly!) and give Danielle Steele as their favourite author. I’ve no idea how this came about but as far as I’m concerned any reading is better than no reading so I’m happy to feed their habit.
C
In the UK I take a constant supply of reading material for granted. Libraries and bookshops have always been a constant in my life. There is a huge supply of books in the VSO office passed on by volunteers over the years and I am possibly reading more now than ever. And I take it as normal. Yet to Eritreans a book is a luxury. An English novel given to a student was accepted as if it was golddust, and read by the time of the next lesson, a week later. I am constantly asked by colleagues for novels. The male friend who asked yesterday told me that he particularly liked to read detective stories. However most men, when asked what they like to read will say “love stories” (honestly!) and give Danielle Steele as their favourite author. I’ve no idea how this came about but as far as I’m concerned any reading is better than no reading so I’m happy to feed their habit.
C
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