Well... let's just say I woke up this morning a little sore. The harsh reality of being a common white tourist after my short episode of fame last night really hit hard. By fame, I am referring to my time on stage dancing traditional Ethiopian dances like a champ (look out for great vids). I would also like to point out that numerous locals came up to me afterwords and wanted to shake hands with me/ touch my face.
After breakfast came our briefing of the history of Ethiopia paired with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony performed in our living room. A kind Ethiopian historian named Nahu recited the full history of Ethiopia dating back to 2000 BC (in perfect English, I might add). Meanwhile, the stone pit crackled in the background as our coffee beans were boiled down for the coffee ceremony.
A quick shot of macchiato later, we were headed towards our first destination for the day: Hope Enterprises' Soup Kitchen. We immediately jumped into various chores: washing dishes, putting injera (spongy bread) on plates to serve, pouring soup, etc. This was a tough morning for all. We witnessed extreme poverty; one token for a plate of injera and bean soup costs around 50 cents. We served around 900 people.
My job was at the serving window of the kitchen. I collected tokens and served the corresponding number of injera plates (one token=one plate, etc.). It was hard to keep it together as I held out dishes to blind people, people on crutches, and people without legs. I remember one person in particular who came in the middle of a huge rush when I was hurrying around to get plates to everyone. I stuck out her dish impatiently, waiting for her to grab it; then I realized she didn't have eyes to see I was holding out her plate. Embarrassed at my lack of patience and compassion, I placed the dish directly on her hands.
After each round of people came in, the coin collecting box was pushed aside and replaced with a bucket and a huge bowl of water. Dish-washing time! The dirty plates were knocked a few times into the bucket and then passed to me to rinse off before I sent them to the next washing step. The bucket of food scrapings brought a series of people to the serving window. These people brought baggies to gather as much of the leftover food from the bucket as they could carry. It really hit me: these people are eating the food that their friends basically scraped into the trashcan.
(On that note...) Then came our lunch- pizza and sandwiches- followed by more macchiatos at the Ethiopian equivalent of Starbucks Kaldi's. Next we set off for Berhan Yehun, an afterschool program which serves to tutor, feed, and play with kids from the "landfill district." As the coordinator pointed out, the food the kids receive at Berhan Yehun is often the only nourishment they receive all day. From their smiling faces and quick-to-laugh attitudes, you would never guess these cuties live in what can only be described as sheds.
We had a blast at Berhan. First, we played some praise songs with a random guitar Biniam handed me. The kids sang some nice songs back and then we made bandana bracelets. Talking with the kids was great! I learned (and subsequently forgot) the number system in Amharic. I also had some great beatboxing sessions with several kids. My favorite part would have to be the fork bracelet that a child named Tulu gave me!!
Today was really great for the group cohesiveness as well! Everyone now has a nickname and we have had a lot of hilarious moments. I would try to explain inside jokes but at this point it's getting late and this post is becoming a novel. Ahmasaygenalo (look it up!) for reading this huge post if you made it all the way through! Ciao!
After breakfast came our briefing of the history of Ethiopia paired with a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony performed in our living room. A kind Ethiopian historian named Nahu recited the full history of Ethiopia dating back to 2000 BC (in perfect English, I might add). Meanwhile, the stone pit crackled in the background as our coffee beans were boiled down for the coffee ceremony.
A quick shot of macchiato later, we were headed towards our first destination for the day: Hope Enterprises' Soup Kitchen. We immediately jumped into various chores: washing dishes, putting injera (spongy bread) on plates to serve, pouring soup, etc. This was a tough morning for all. We witnessed extreme poverty; one token for a plate of injera and bean soup costs around 50 cents. We served around 900 people.
My job was at the serving window of the kitchen. I collected tokens and served the corresponding number of injera plates (one token=one plate, etc.). It was hard to keep it together as I held out dishes to blind people, people on crutches, and people without legs. I remember one person in particular who came in the middle of a huge rush when I was hurrying around to get plates to everyone. I stuck out her dish impatiently, waiting for her to grab it; then I realized she didn't have eyes to see I was holding out her plate. Embarrassed at my lack of patience and compassion, I placed the dish directly on her hands.
After each round of people came in, the coin collecting box was pushed aside and replaced with a bucket and a huge bowl of water. Dish-washing time! The dirty plates were knocked a few times into the bucket and then passed to me to rinse off before I sent them to the next washing step. The bucket of food scrapings brought a series of people to the serving window. These people brought baggies to gather as much of the leftover food from the bucket as they could carry. It really hit me: these people are eating the food that their friends basically scraped into the trashcan.
(On that note...) Then came our lunch- pizza and sandwiches- followed by more macchiatos at the Ethiopian equivalent of Starbucks Kaldi's. Next we set off for Berhan Yehun, an afterschool program which serves to tutor, feed, and play with kids from the "landfill district." As the coordinator pointed out, the food the kids receive at Berhan Yehun is often the only nourishment they receive all day. From their smiling faces and quick-to-laugh attitudes, you would never guess these cuties live in what can only be described as sheds.
We had a blast at Berhan. First, we played some praise songs with a random guitar Biniam handed me. The kids sang some nice songs back and then we made bandana bracelets. Talking with the kids was great! I learned (and subsequently forgot) the number system in Amharic. I also had some great beatboxing sessions with several kids. My favorite part would have to be the fork bracelet that a child named Tulu gave me!!
Today was really great for the group cohesiveness as well! Everyone now has a nickname and we have had a lot of hilarious moments. I would try to explain inside jokes but at this point it's getting late and this post is becoming a novel. Ahmasaygenalo (look it up!) for reading this huge post if you made it all the way through! Ciao!
- Carson Clay, '15
Loving all of your blog posts so far!! Looking forward to seeing videos of Carson dancing! --Ms. Higgins
ReplyDelete