So, it’s kind of like camping…

After a 4.5 hour drive, we have arrived in Awassa, the capital of the southern region of Ethiopia. Imagine an illustrated Children’s bible, that’s pretty much what the scenery looks like, lush, green as far as you can see, all the while dodging herds of goats, cows and donkeys on the road.



We headed straight to the “compound,” as everyone calls it, which is a sizeable piece of property, with a main house, and few smaller cottage-type homes, several well-kept flower gardens, a chicken- coop, and a small orchard with newly planted coffee trees.



We have our own room, with pretty modern furnishings, and bright blue, canopy-like mosquito nets to sleep under. Never having gone to ‘sleep-away camp’ in the traditional sense…I can imagine this is pretty close to it. Running water is a distant memory, electricity is totally unpredictable and shoddy, and we don’t have a phone (we’ll get a local cell on Thursday, fingers-crossed).



In order to conserve energy, rolling “brown-outs” throughout the country happen several times a week, dictated by the government. Hardly prepared, we played make-shift scrabble by candlelight, using the magnetic alphabet letters we brought for the children. Any suggestions you may have for any games/activities would be appreciated.



We usually help each other with the showering situation…not a one-man job. Conveniently, it was thunder storming this evening, so we kick-started the shower ceremony off au naturel…not kidding. Turns out, contrary to popular misunderstanding, it’s not blistering hot here. In fact, it downpours daily during the summer ‘rainy’ months, and the average temp during the day is usually a comfortable 80*.



In Addis, it is much more common to see foreigners/Westerners, relative to Awassa. When we walk down the street, we usually attract a small following of young children who shout “You, You, You, Yo, money! Money!” The level of poverty is staggering, and completely arresting throughout this country. Most families in this region can’t even afford the $3 registration fee to send their children to government-funded schools. After a few days absorbing these surroundings, we just find ourselves asking the same question over and over, “How do you pull an entire country out of this?”