November 15, 2009

Yesterday might have been one of the most fun days of my life.

We took an employee field trip to Sodere. We rented a heavy duty bus because most the drivers here chew khat. Dangerous enough for one but most of the other drivers on the road are also buzzed. We were supposed to leave at 7:00 am but in Ethiopia one and half hours is considered late. So… we pulled off about 8:20. The trip took about four hours through the countryside. We had our own little girls and several children of the employees. About thirty of us in total. It was so wonderful to have all the different ages and levels of experience. For all but one, it was their first trip.

We had cookies for breakfast and the children all ate about one dozen each. Personally, I was just wishing for a Starbucks. We pulled into Sodere about lunch time and the first thing we saw were dozens of monkeys everywhere! There are hot springs of holy water and two swimming pools. It was very hot so most of us enjoyed a cold beer with lunch. I was shocked to see Nigistine (an employee who has been with us about four years who cannot be cured from Fistula and lived basically on the streets for twenty years until we found her; she is about 60 years old), drinking a cold beer along with the rest of us. I rushed to have someone translate that the beer has alcohol and that maybe she would prefer a coke. She just gave me a big smile and a nod as she finished the first and ordered a second. Hmmmmm….. I guess we can all surprise each other.

We swam, ate ice cream, had water fights and just a bunch of fun. On the way home we sang and danced the whole trip. Even I was able to relax that there were no seat belts and that I wasn’t sure it was safe that they were dancing on the bus while it was moving. Happy to say we all got home just in time for a good night’s sleep.

More good news! We got our final approval for three more years to work legally in Ethiopia. We are one of the very first International NGOs (non government office) to receive this permission. Although we were just approved recently to work through 2011, there is a new proclamation in Ethiopia that requires all NGOs to re-register. I felt confident as I took our application in on Tuesday, the first day the registration opened, but then I became afraid after an emergency meeting with other International NGOs telling me all their difficulties and realizing that no one there had been granted final permission. So I ran straight to the government office. The man working on our case told me that our application had been approved but that the stamp was not yet on our certificate. I smiled my biggest smile and told him I would wait quietly in his office until he could get someone to give us the stamp. I guess I was getting on his nerves enough that he left his office to find the right official to give us our stamp. Now the certificate is sitting on my table ready to go to work with me Monday! Yeah for us!

I’ve got one more week here to finish all my work and then I head to Spain for a few days and on home to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I can’t wait to see my family and you!