Tag Archives: Ethiopia

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Water an afterthought in dash to cash in on Ethiopian markets

18 Tuesday Mar 2014

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I ran across an article titled “Coming Soon to Ethiopia: Heineken and KFC?” a few days ago through Mashable via Businessweek. The article highlights Heineken’s entry into the Ethiopian market through the purchase of 2 local beer company and development of a large Heineken brewery on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, near Ambo. The article goes on to note that other multinational companies such as Yum Corporation are exploring expansion into Ethiopia.

The story of Heineken, which is not breaking news by any means since has been in development for the last few years, is of concern nonetheless. In the frenzy to attract direct foreign investment, basic questions related to availability of resources- water namely have been absent from national discourse. The location of Heineken’s new brewery is in direct competition for water resources, mostly groundwater, with other industries such as Ambo Sparkling water as well as domestic water supply sources for Addis Ababa and commercial agriculture in the area.

The entry of Heineken into Ethiopia has been received with mixed emotions and has been mostly scrutinized from financial and economic viability angles. Very few have questioned that this brewery that will require large quantities of water, a finite resource in the area. Although Ethiopia has been endowed with plentiful water resources, the Ambo area, which falls in the Awash River Basin, heavily relies on groundwater sources. The city of Addis Ababa also relies on the same groundwater sources for domestic water supply. Both Addis Ababa and Ambo, which are geographically located in the Great Rift Valley, sit on stratified groundwater aquifers. Due to complex geology and expense to carry out technical studies,  limited information is known about the characteristics of these aquifers and available water resources. To meet domestic water supply demands, wells are being dug deeper and deeper, adding to the cost of new water source development and increasing the cost of operation of maintenance due to the use of pumps to retrieve water from deep wells.

As water demanding industries such as breweries expand in the area, Addis Ababa and its surrounding communities face increased risk of land subsidence, as well as complications to already strained domestic water supplies. So with the introduction of Heineken in stores and bars across Addis Ababa, beer maybe plentiful in the coming months, drinking water in the coming years may not.

Businesses such as Heineken, need not take availability of water resources for granted, given that they must share this resource with many other sectors. Also, given the scale of investments going into these breweries, detailed groundwater investigations that can shed light on groundwater sources and better inform water resources planning are a cheap investment for private sector and a public service to Ministry of Water and Energy.

Given that the scale of this problem will be exasperated in coming years, as the population of Addis Ababa mushrooms and industries in the area grow, I hope that much greater consideration for water resources and implications of overdraft are considered more seriously.

So fresh and so clean clean: Ethiopia’s listros ‘shoe-shine boys’

17 Wednesday Aug 2011

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A sight that is as ubiquitous as Addis Ababa’s distinctive blue taxis are none other than the thousands of listros or “shoe-shine boys” who roam the streets of Addis Ababa. They tend to weary shoes of the city’s pedestrians, giving them  a new ‘face-lift’ and much-needed relief from the city’s abuara ‘dust’ or in kermt ‘rainy season’, chiqa ‘mud’. When I first arrived in Addis Ababa, I noticed the sight of these young boys who line the streets and offer shoe polishing for a mere 2 birr. They diligently smear away the layers of dust and mud and apply a generous portion of shoe shine, that leaves most shoe-soles gleaming. They walk around with distinctive wooden boxes that house their gear and double as a stand for clients to rest their feet as they are being polished. In some areas, some listros have gone as far as setting up strings of stools and using plastic sheets to create umbrellas to guard against the rain and sun. These little listro stalls become chill out spots where you see people sitting in small stools getting their shoes shined, getting their fill of local news or discussing recent events.

Initially I found this practice fairly amusing, never have I been to a country where there was such a deep ingrained culture to have freshly polished shoes. Where it was taboo to walk around with slightly dusty shoes. I found this practice particularly amusing during kermt, where it rains without fail on a daily basis and the streets become a canvas of mud and rocks. It didn’t make sense to me that one would get their shoes polished, walk several steps and have to repeat the process. Soon after I realized the utility of the service these listros provide. Having to walk from my house to the office, it became part of my routine to stop by one listro boy’s particular spot in the mornings, exchange greetings and have my shoes polished.

I then began to ask about the nature of this profession and how it came to be such an integral part of urban culture in Ethiopia. For many of these listros, the meager earnings from shoe shining provide a vital life line to life in the city and possibly at times to supporting family members. I discovered that most of these young boys are migrants from outside Addis. Initially listros were known to be from a particular tribe, Guragai, who are renowned for their business and entrepreneurship skills. A job as a listro for them is the first step in the ladder to becoming a self-made business man. Many of these listros worked to save up funds and pool it together to jump to the next rung in the ladder or renting a small mobile stall in Merkato (Africa’s  largest open air market….a city of its own). From there as their liquidity increases, they move up to renting bigger venues and becoming more established business men. I admired this sense of resourcefulness that instilled the dogma of “hard work, can pay off.”

These days, the listro market although still majority Guragai, is now infiltrated by many young boys form other tribal groups (most notably the Wellita) trying to emulate the success of those who have gone to become well established business men or have found means to gain access to higher education. In trying to do a bit of ad-hoc research about the origins of the name ‘listro’, I came across some noteworthy organizations and others who are trying to portray a dire situation where these young boys are systematically victimized. The latter fail to understand the intricate business ethic that is instilled within this community of young boys and do little understand their mentality. Rather they are seen as drifters who have been neglected by society. They fail to understand that the services they provide are highly appreciated by the general public. More importantly is that these young boys do not see a lifetime of shoe-shining in their horizon, but instead see it as a step in becoming self-sufficient and capable of earning an income. Their intentions are to earn and save sufficient amount of money to move up to the next venture; making way for the next wave of  young listos to occupy their ranks. Further in reading some of these accounts, it makes it seem these young boys are aimless and have no prospects. But in reality many are trying to go to school and take up this profession on the side.

Ethiopia:The new global baby market

14 Sunday Aug 2011

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As I stood in the check-in counter at Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport a few weeks back on my way to London, I noticed an all too familiar sight. Many European and American families with Ethiopian babies. In my particular flight at the time of my check in I counted 8 different families with new Ethiopian adoptive babies. For 2 of these families, it was their second adoption from Ethiopia as they were accompanied by young children (ranging from 6-10 yrs of age). The number of these adoptions have exponentially risen in Ethiopia. I’m sure that a wave of celebrity adoption of African babies, one of which was from Ethiopia has fueled this trend.

I have gotten into many heated debates about this topic with friends here in Ethiopia. I was always tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, and advocated for these adoptions.  Ethiopia is in the process of reforming its adoption policies to attract more international adoptions. I viewed this as a positive step forward to making the process more transparent and an effort to safeguard children who are being placed with foreign families. I strongly argued against allegations of why these Western families were coming to adopt from Africa and Ethiopia in particular. My feeling was every child deserves a good home and most of these families are those who for some reason or another want to expand their families… so in a way it’s win-win.

I brushed aside the troubling fact that mostly Caucasian parents to be, adopt East African children and set them up for a life-time of confusion and isolation as they struggle to reconcile their new homes and their heritage. Further, I pushed aside the fact that Ethiopia is a country trying to manage this flux of international adoptions. As a result some of their safeguards and vetting processes for prospective parents is somewhat weak and can surrender young children to the hands of relative strangers who will take him/her to a foreign land and potentially expose them to abuse…and lack of a safety net to turn to in the event of such acts.

Many opponents of this wave of adoptions often argued why these parents fail to adopt from their own countries, where the foster care system is overflowing with children waiting to be placed into good homes. In my naive effort, I argued that systems in Western countries are very restrictive (which is true), which leads desperate parents to be, to venture and seek other avenues of adopting children.

I was troubled by blogs in the blogosphere where new parents talk about struggling to manage “unruly” hair of their new adopted daughters and the manner in which they conveyed their differences. I can only imagine what kind of impact that has on a child growing up knowing how different they are from their adoptive parents. These acts serve as subtle messages that create a chasm between the adoptive child and their adoptive parents and reinforce a divide in the mind of this child.

A friend of mine recently shared this link… where a 13-year-old Ethiopian girl adopted into an American home and relocated to Seattle, Washington, was found dead from frostbite in her family’s backyard. Reports indicated that teachers noticed that she lost significant weight before her death. Several months later and no one has been charged with her death and inquiries into this gross negligence have been moving at a glacial pace. Reading about this story was heartbreaking. I realize it would be premature of me to say this is what happens to every adoptive child. But hearing this story highlighted that these acts exist and authorities in their adoptive countries are very slow to react.

Lastly, I was captivated by a 3 part story on Slate.com titled the Makeni Children, where the Mosely family recounts their tribulations with international adoptions and discovering that their children whom they thought were orphans and in need of good homes were actually part of a large child selling schemes. Middle men/women, worked to lure young children from their families and practically sell them to adoption agencies in the US.

I am still an advocate for adoptions. There are many many children here in Ethiopia, Sudan and across the horn who are in need of good homes. Governments are doing very little to help provide basic needs to these children. To add, the destructive stigmas that surround adoptions in our cultures leave many of these children in sub-par orphanages, without hope of finding families. Yet I am more aware that the issue of adoptions is not black and white, yet many grey shades in between. I do hope that the Ethiopian government works to make adoption process more stringent and create stronger linkages in order to facilitate follow-up of adoptive children in their new environments. I also hope that those who adopt from Ethiopia become more conscious of remarks and actions that may seem harmless but can scar a child for life… and as a closing remark, I do hope that “we” Ethiopians/ Sudanese (people from the Horn of Africa) begin to shift our paradigm and reconsider adoptions. Instead of merely criticizing foreigners coming an adopting local children…why can’t we be part of the solution by providing homes for some of these children.

Around Addis: public transport

03 Friday Jun 2011

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I  have a love-hate relationship with the distinctive blue and white mini-van public transport taxis in Addis. They run along various predetermined routes….or at least they are supposed to. But like everyone trying to make a little more money, the drivers’ routes deviate from time to time. As a new arrival to Ethiopia, not knowing the city, the language or any other person to depend on, to occupy my time on weekends, I took these taxis around everywhere to get to major markets around town. My first visits to Merkato as well as Shiro Meda was through the use of string of these taxis. It was novel, cheap and I got to see more of the city. Through sign language and bits of English from taxi users, I got directions on where to get off and which taxis to take to certain places. One of my more memorable taxi stop conversations, with a lovely older lady was etiquette of taking these taxis. She began to give me words of advice when she realized I was not Ethiopian and new the city. She told me the most useful word I would need on these taxis is…’waraja’ (I took it to mean stop (here))”

But that love has certainly weaned off. As the occasional pedestrian and a fellow driver along the roads of Addis, these taxis are a true menace at times. Their snaking around lanes, abrupt stops and the tendency to cut you off are somewhat annoying. There is little regard for the common pedestrian. Although in defense of taxi drivers pedestrians here are something else (at times believing that they too have licence plates attached to their front and back).

As the taxis come to an abrupt stop you find a young boy/man shouting the names of the last stop. Their rapid and peculiar way of shouting out names of boroughs around the cities needs a trained ear. For a first timer, as I once was, it was difficult to distinguish what they were saying and where they were going.

Today in an effort to regulate taxis the government has imposed  predesignated routes and instructed all taxis to place signs over head. Unfortunately all the signs are in Amharic. From my Ethiopian friends, I gather that even those who can read them have had difficulty understanding the final destination as the written names don’t correspond to names of stops previously belted out.

 

Love them or hate them, these taxis are probably the preferred form of transport around Addis and the most abundant. Many times there aren’t enough and you find people piling up in hoards waiting for the a seat in any taxi headed in their desired direction. One thing is for sure, they definitely keep me as a driver on my toe…because you never know what to expect from them.

Black Jesus

31 Tuesday May 2011

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Some years back prior to moving to Ethiopia a family friend gave me a beautiful painting from Ethiopia with 3 chocolate coloured, almond-eyed women sitting around and making coffee. Their distinctive faces are typical of drawings and paintings that date back centuries in the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Although I do not frequent many churches, I did notice something rather odd, outside all major churches in Addis there are men or women selling large posters of a blue-eyed, blond-haired Mary holding a milk-coloured baby Jesus. I was caught a bit off-guard.

I then took a trip to Lalibella, which I blogged about last year. There among the 11 rock-hewn churches that we traversed, I saw only 2 main pictures depicting biblical figures as seen in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Instead around each and every altar there was this new image, a foreign image. I couldn’t really understand the significance or implications on the religion.

Last week I attended a lecture where this very same issue was brought up. From a religious point of view, I can’t even begin to delve into the matter because I know far too little. As an art from it is sad that such iconic images are disappearing from the view. I get the sense that some view this style of art as archaic vestiges of the Orthodox Church. Although the church popularized this artistic style, it is not only limited to the church but represents a style  that has been crafted, and refined in Ethiopia.

Again with so many matters that compel me to write a blog post, I have more questions than answers. It is understandable in this increasingly interconnected world that with many things including art, food, music there is a global sampling process taking place, but how is this process taking shape? why are some things so easily adopted and why are we so quick to let go of what we have?  Observing this shift in Ethiopian art, made me reflect on the fact that in Sudan we widely celebrate international artists, and at regional scale many Middle Eastern artists but are not so generous to our own home-grown talent. In terms of music there is wide appreciation but when it comes to visual arts, there is relatively little support or praise.

I ask my Ethiopian friends to shed some light on this issue with respect to the disappearance of black Jesus from church mantles across the country. As for fam and friends out there, we need to do a better job of promoting and supporting our local artists, because it is a shame that their unique and inspiring work is going about unnoticed and being overwhelmed by works in the international sphere.

 

 

 

 

Trying to squeeze a dollar out of a dime

19 Thursday May 2011

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I started this post several weeks ago and never really got the chance to finish it off. I spent the better part of April in Bahir Dar on work related trip. My trip was not meant to be prolonged but as work progressed, I realized I will not have much time to spend with my sister who came to visit me in Ethiopia for 10 days. So trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, I told her and my cousin to book tickets to Bahir Dar and then we would travel to a Axum and Lalibella for their sake.

Our trip however was mired in confrontations with deceptive clerks, tour guides and shuttle servicemen. Initially, I brushed off these incidences as isolated events limited to a few individuals and it would be too brash of me to generalize. But as we moved from city to city, it seemed that these problems were everywhere. A few months back I wrote about our trip to Bale Mountains and how our guide, despite being nothing but a placeholder in the car,  had the audacity to school us on what his services entailed and that many “foreigners” have given him high praises. Again, I kept on trying to give many the benefit of the doubt but it really became increasingly frustrating when  trying to enjoy the city/attraction and having to deal with all these incidents. It really does put a damper on the trip.  These incidences ran the gambit from double charging for shuttle services, exuberant prices for tour guides, pressure to utilize unnecessary transport and inclusion of tariffs that already included in the agreed upon price.

As Ethiopia’s tourism industry begins to take shape it seems that everyone is trying to cash in, as a result there is a great deal of collusion, misinformation and to some extent out-right bullying to use services that are otherwise unnecessary. It becomes even more infuriating when you know the actual costs. I’m not one for confrontations but when at my wit’s end towards the end of the trip, we engaged in a very candid discussion with a local tour guide to get a better sense of why these mistrustful activities are taking place at a massive scale. He tried to equate these prices with attraction in Europe and try to defend how tourism is helping his local community. In reality only him and a handful of those working in the tourism industry in these respective towns are benefiting, the rest of the community is merely side acts for tourists to gauk at and take numerous pictures.

Ethiopia’s tourism industry is gaining traction but acts such as those I mentioned, where there is complete lack of transparency and accountability can seriously tarnish the image of Ethiopia as a tourist destination. As we traveled along we met several other travelers who shared similar frustrating experiences. What resonated from all their conversations is the lack of outlet to air out one’s grievances as a result, despite remembering the remarkable sites and the generosity of the community, most leave with a bitter after taste.

 

Walled City of Harar

29 Tuesday Mar 2011

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Making good on a promise to get out of Addis and explore the rest of Ethiopia, I jumped at the chance to visit the Eastern city of Harar with a few friends. We opted to take the bus because I definitely wasn’t going to entertain the idea of driving 8 hours on a very busy road that eventually leads to the Djiboutian port. The city is unlike any other place in Ethiopia and while trying to navigate its complex network of narrow alleyways, it definitely did not feel like I was in Ethiopia.

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Harar is a walled city, with 5 main gates that once were closed on a nightly basis to protect the city from invaders. The city is regarded as the 4th most holy city in Islam. It also boasts a whopping 90 mosques within the small radius of 45km2. The old town or Gugul, has a feel of small Maghrib towns with stone homes, brightly painted and very narrow passages. Getting lost and roaming around these passage ways was a highlight of the trip. The first time I stepped into the guesthouse, I was taken aback by the amount of trinkets hanging EVERYWHERE. I thought this was some sort of tourist gimmick, but it turns out this is very much the norm. As the pics in the slide show indicate, it’s customary to hang or display every piece of kitchen ware on the walls and built-in shelfs in the living room area. Decoration meets functionality. It definitely took a minute to take it all in a bit dizzying.

We spent an entire morning fabric shopping and stopping at every cafe for a cup of tea. As shop keepers began to wane off and retreat to their Khat chewing sessions and escape the burning afternoon sun, we took a wonderful siesta and returned to our aimless meandering around the town. As for the tea, amount of sugar used was literally half the small cup it was served it. I thought Sudanese liked their sugar…but Hararis have taken the prize for that one.

We were dragged by a certain someone to go and see the infamous “Hyena man”. An old man who has taken to feeding the hyenas that roam around the city. Ironically, I ended up feeding the disgusting animals, while the person who dragged us there was scared to death to even approach them. I have no idea how this man came across this odd hobby that now probably provides a steady income from various tourists wanting to partake in the experience.

Down side of the trip was the unexpected aggressiveness by young guys around town. We were constantly followed, at time claiming it was for our “safety” or to help us bargain in the market. Constantly trying to ward off these unwanted individuals definitely was a test on our collective patience. Despite these annoyances, the long bus ride and ridiculous amount of customs checks along the ride back, the trip was well worth it and a must see for anyone visiting or living in Ethiopia.

Off the beaten track: Bale Mountains

10 Thursday Mar 2011

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Talk of a trip to Bale Mountain had circulated for many month but when it came down to it, we managed to put the trip together in a matter of hours and leave the following day. Ethiopia is slowly but surely building up its tourism industry. It has managed to get thousands of foreign tourists on the so called” Heritage trail”, which encompasses several Northern cities starting with Bahir Dar and moving northward to Gonder, Lalibella, Axum, Mekelle to visit various ancient religious sites that are mostly associated with the region’s strong ties to Orthodox Christianity. The other popular route of tourism, is what I like to refer to as the “people watching tour” where visitors are caravaned down to the Omo River region to watch people of various indigenous tribes such as the Hamar, Mursi and Murele tribes to name a few. Although I do my best not to generalize and stereotype, the latter tour generally attracts hoards of westerners wanting to “experience” these traditional lifestyles but in reality can be very invasive with their prodding and bulky SLR cameras and video equipment. I will not dwell on that matter. Nonetheless, Ethiopia has much to offer and Bale Mountains, most notably Suf Umar caves tend to get overlooked in terms of tourist destinations. Great news for us, but a shame for the many that comes to visit and never take the opportunity to explore these amazing caves.

The first day of the trip we rode off from Addis en route to Dinsho, the base camp for Bale Mountains National Park. En route we drove via Shashamane and stopped by the town of Dodola to pick up a local guide from the Dodola Tour Guides association (the story about this guide deserves its own post, keep a look out for it). Arriving in Dinsho late afternoon, we took advantage of the remaining day light and trekked through the park and saw an array of animal in the process. Impressive Nyalas , Ethiopian Wolves and numerous birds to name a few. The chilly weather was worthy of a nice warm fire and given the lack of electricity in our basic lodge, we had plenty of time to star gaze. In all honesty I have never seen a sky so littered with stars in my life; simply phenomenal. Standing in the cold, necks tilted to the heaven for hours was unexpectedly very enjoyable. It was captivating.

The following morning after a stop for breakfast in the town of Robe we drove to Suf Umar. Given that Saturday is a market day we also weaved through the masses of people, donkeys, cows, goats and camels making their way to the Suf Umar market. The trip to the cave was definitely worth the long drive, 200 km of which was on a dirt road. These are the second largest caves of their kind in the world, with many paths still undiscovered. Cave exploring and crossing many rivers and streams that converge within the darkness of these spaces was an indescribable experience. At times while trying to traverse the river within the cave, we had to wade in rapids that were waist deep and hold on to the edge for fear of being swept away by the currents. During the several hours of exploration we also got to hear stories of local folktales surrounding the naming of this cave and infamous Suf Umar.

After several hours of trekking within narrow passage ways and pitch black darkness with thousands of bats, we headed out of the cave and chilled by the river. In was perfect weather, and the water was refreshingly cold. Clearly we were not the only ones with this bright idea as it seemed to be the local swimming hangout, laundry facility and animal watering hole. Several hours more were spent wading in the river and lounging on large rocks near by, which made for a very relaxed ending to a very adventurous day.

Lalibela- The New Jerusalem

20 Saturday Feb 2010

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A few weeks back I took a trip with 2 friends to the town of Lalibela. Located in Northeastern Ethiopia, this town was once the capital of the Zagwe Dynasty and previously known as Roha. Oral history dictates that King Lalibela ( reigned from 12-13th century) poisoned by his brother in order to gain control of the throne, came back to life after several days of his death with a vision from god to build “a New Jerusalem”. With that vision he began carving what is now a series of 11 rock-hewn churches, intricately chiseled out of solid rock.

The result, still standing over 1000 years later is a spectacular wonder and architectural triumph. The site was the series of churches, crypts and grottoes are overpowering. No pictures of these grandeur structures parallels standing within their compounds. While traversing the narrow, dimly lit passage ways or taking the time to observe the intricate wall art, I was constantly in awe of the manpower and determination that it must have taken to complete such masterpieces. It is something you have to see in person.

We spent the day getting a history lesson as passed through the different churches. It was inspiring and definitely exceeded my expectations. The churches are still in use today and great care is taken to preserve them after hundreds of years of neglect. They serve as the epicenter for the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Epiphany, where thousands of pilgrims descend on the town of Lalibela in search of spiritual rejuvenation.

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UNESCO has erected obscure “Swedish” inspired roofs to protect some of the churches from the elements that have not been so kind over the years. These futuristic structures blatantly contrast with their surroundings. Despite their incongruity these protective structures do not detract from the real attraction.

We spent the night in a quaint hotel or series of tukuls, but with a modern twist. It was a great way to bottom out after an eventful day of “Indiana Jones-eque” adventures. We even had the hats to go along with the character.

Amhara

16 Wednesday Dec 2009

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I have been fortunate these past few months, work has allowed me to explore various regions of Ethiopia. Primarily Amhara region. I have visited Bahir Dar (Capital of the region) on the shores of Lake Tana several times to date. I wrote those 2 sentences weeks ago but my rather hectic schedule has not allowed me to come back and write my commentary of those trips. The least I can do is put some of the pics that I have finally managed to upload. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so hopefully these pics do the talking.

I didn’t take many pictures within Bahir Dar and more so of the surrounding countryside and rural regions. Much more picturesque. I will try my best to give you a glimpse of Addis in the coming days.

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