Editor’s Note: Apologies for the late post.
We lost power last night and it wasn’t restored by the time we left the house
this morning. All is well!
Greetings from
Addis Ababa! This morning we had an earlier wake up call that put us out the
door at 8:45am. Before leaving, we had a terrific breakfast of coffee and
coffee cake that put all of us in an excellent mood. After breakfast, we all
hopped into the van and bus that we had for the day and headed to Destiny
Academy to spend the day with the ninth grade girls.
After arriving
at Destiny, we went into their library to watch a documentary on Fistula. The
projector took a little while to start working so everyone went around the
table and said their name, grade, a fun fact, and the meaning of their name or
where they got their name from. Everyone had very interesting explanations of
the meaning behind their names and where they got them from. After explaining
our names, the video was finally ready to play. It was a PBS documentary on
Fistula, which is a birth injury that affects women in rural Ethiopia after
being in prolonged labor. This documentary was very emotional and had most of
the room crying. The video showed stories of young women who suffered from
Fistula who then went to be treated at a hospital in Addis Ababa. Most of the
women who have gone to the hospital have been cured of Fistula and their lives
have been permanently altered for the better. The women who had Fistula would
often be divorced by their husbands and then would isolate themselves from
their communities due to the side effects of the injury. After finishing this
documentary, Mackenzie informed me that some of the fifth grade girls who I had
met on Monday wanted to see me and greeted me as I was walking out the door of
the library. The girls were so sweet and asked me so many questions. I only got
to talk to them for a few minutes before having to say my sad goodbyes as I got
on the bus to go on a field trip with the ninth graders.
On the bus, I
sat next to two girls named Redit and Heven. They were both so sweet. We became
really good friends and got to know each other really well. They introduced me
to some of their friends and I became really close with them as well. To
entertain ourselves, we played each other worship music from our different
countries. Our first stop was the Addis Ababa Golf Club where we ate lunch.
When we got there, we learned that lunch would not be ready for thirty minutes
so my new squad and I found a playground to play on and took squad pics on the
swings. We then went back to the room that lunch was in, sat down at our table,
and talked about our life plans. We had a buffet for lunch that featured
traditional Ethiopian food.
After lunch, we
got back on the bus and headed to an animal reserve outside of Addis called
Born Free. On the ride, we saw many fields and pretty views. At the animal
reserve, we hiked for a long time and saw lions, cheetahs, turtles, and
baboons. Everyone loved seeing the animals and learning about how the reserve rehabilitates
and cares for the animals there.
After our long
hike through the reserve, we got back on the bus to go to the Fistula
rehabilitation center, Desta Mender. While we were there, we were given a tour
of the center and saw where the Fistula patients heal. We also saw Hamlin
College, the school for midwives. We saw a few of the patients knitting a
blanket and saw beautiful baskets that were woven by some of the patients. We
also saw a farm that the patients run to make money to help support them when
they return home after being cured. After the tour was over, we went to a café and
shop area where we could buy some of the goods that the patients created. We
then got back on the bus and headed back to Addis to drop the ninth graders
back off at Destiny Academy.
On the bus ride
back, I continued to have some great conversations with my squad and we
exchanged contact information so we can keep in touch. The girls who I became
friends with were incredibly kind and smart and had very high aspirations for
themselves. It was very interesting to see how similar we are despite coming
from very different situations and cultures. When we arrived at Destiny, I said
my sad goodbyes once again and then we headed back to our house. We got back to
the house later than normal today and sat down for dinner shortly after we
arrived. Dinner tonight has been everyone’s favorite dinner yet and featured
chicken, rice, beef kabobs, and ground beef. At dinner, we all shared our glums
and glows of the day. Bini and Dagi told us that they would take us to get
coffee afterwards so we all quickly finished our dinner to head out for our
night on the town. We ended up going to a café called Tuba where we all got macchiatos
which we poured tons of sugar into to make for a nice nightcap. Everyone really
enjoyed the coffee and we are sipping up every bit we can get our hands on
while in the birthplace of coffee. After finishing our time at Tuba, we
returned to the house for some showers and a long night’s sleep after a very
adventurous day!
Sending all my
love from Addis,
Julia
-Julia Bell ‘17
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