Cheshire Polio Hospital

The Hawaii group at the Polio Clinic

58 Rotarians from the US and Canada arrived in Addis Ababa on October 19th to visit various Rotary funded projects and to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Ethiopia. Our first morning was spent at the Cheshire Polio hospital where children with polio in Ethiopia get treatment and rehabilitation. Polio is a highly contagious infectious disease that can lead to paralysis or even death. The polio eradication project has been highly successful with the fatal disease now only remaining a problem in a handful of countries such as India, Burma, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sudan. Ethiopia’s recurring cases are coming in from the borders of Somalia, so that is where they plan on sending our group for the polio immunization later this week.

Rhona with a polio patient

Ethiopia’s Cheshire hospital is a place where landmine victims, polio patients and people with facial deformations are treated. Currently it is taking care of more than 5,000 patients per year. One of our Rotarian members is currently raising several million dollars for a therapeutic swimming pool. This project is led by the kind heart of Rotarian Denny Wilford, who himself had been afflicted with polio. Denny’s foundation hopes to supply Cheshire with treadmills, bicycle equipment, and gym equipment. The Canadian Wheelchair Foundation also donated many wheelchairs to the center on Monday during our visit.

Polio is a crippling disease that is painful to treat. The doctors straighten the child’s crippled limb by stretching it and setting it in a cast for a few months. This procedure is repeated until the limb is as straight as possible. At the clinic, they also make custom shoes, wheelchairs, and crutches. It truly is a remarkable place. You will see by the pictures that the children are happy. They have a glimmer of hope on their face and are eager to get the treatment they need so that they can go home soon, healthier. We brought the leis from Hawaii. The children also received pens, pencils, crayons, little toys and other small gifts.

Kayla is spreading cheer with leis from Hawaii

NOMA

Hawaii group with NOMA patients

Noma is a disfiguring disease that attacks some people that are malnourished. The face, particularly the nose, cheeks, and lips dissolve. Some people at the Cheshire are here for facial reconstruction in collaboration with Facing Africa. Facial patients stay at the clinic for around six weeks. It is a very emotional and sad thing to bear witness to. The pictures are a bit graphic, but I want to say this: these people are amazing. They are happy in spite of their circumstances and they are so friendly. Even though Kayla and I cannot speak their language, we know how to communicate with them. They express their love to us, and we express our love to them. Again, words cannot even begin to express what this experience was like. While the adults ate lunch, Kayla sat on the steps with some of the patients and played with a chameleon she had found. She is very calm and happy around children. They loved her!

A Special Birthday Celebration

Zemi's husband sent her 12 dozen roses!

Zemi’s 50th birthday was Saturday, October 16th! Her day started with a very special coffee ceremony at her house. Alem did a wonderful job and it was beautiful. The incense she uses is especially strong and fragrant. We had the traditional bread, popcorn and sweets served with a papaya and avocado smoothie. A coffee ceremony is about 2 hours and involves three rounds. of coffee. In the background was the 12 dozen roses-yes, 144 roses- sent to Zemi by her husband. They are so beautiful!

Alem is cooking the coffee beans for the coffee ceremony
Our next stop was the Joy Center. The teachers were gathered for a birthday celebration for their beloved leader. What better way is there to show your love for someone than having a coffee ceremony! Yeah! Another one! Everyone, including Kayla and I, took the podium to express our love and appreciation for Zemi.

 

Zemi wanted to spend her birthday afternoon at the Sheridan pool where I could take Jo Jo swimming. He is like a fish in water! I taught him to float on his back, but he already knows how to do basic swim strokes. I mostly just followed Jo Jo around and kept him out of the path of passing swimmers. The hardest part was getting him out of the water. The pool at the Sheridan Hotel has music under the water! You can only hear it when your ears are below the surface. Imagine floating on your back, looking up at the big birds circling overhead in a big blue sky and listening to relaxing classical music! It was a spiritually moving moment. The hardest part was getting him out of the water. I was well beyond the wrinkling stage, yet Jo Jo had no interest at all in getting out. Eventually, the lure of a chocolate bar brought him out of the pool!

Teaching Jo Jo to float on his back

Zemi’s birthday evening was spent at a wonderful restaurant surrounded by friends. We had a lovely meal and then enjoyed some amazing traditional Ethiopian music and dancing. It was the best I have ever seen! I have a great video of Kayla learning how to do the shoulder dance. She was brought out to the dance floor on several occasions to dance by the entertainers. In fact, we all danced quite a bit last night. We were a group of five fun, beautiful ladies and a teenager, and we were celebrating Zemi’s life with joy and happiness. Happy birthday Zemi and best of luck to you as you celebrate your birthday every day this special year!

Kayla learning ethiopian shoulder dance!

Gratitude for the Simple Things in Life

Today was Kayla and my last day at the Joy Center. We will return for a coffee ceremony and luncheon next Wednesday with other Rotarians from Seattle and Hawaii. Our group will bring crayons, pencils, pens and sharpeners and more balls. We also have some musical instruments and puzzles for the children.

                                                      The teachers and I at lunch time
Kayla and I have grown fond of quite a few of the children here, and have made friends with several of the teachers. A certain group of teachers invite us to eat with them every day. They put a big flat pan in the middle of the table then cover it with layers of engera, and then dump various containers of shiro, tomatoes, avocados and peppers all over the engera. Everyone at the table eats from the dish with their right hand. Yes, it makes a difference whether you eat with your right or your left. The other day I was asked why I ate with my left hand. I replied that I write, eat, throw a ball and do everything left handed. Zemi enlightened me that evening that one should always give the right hand preference over the left. Shake hands with the right, give something to someone with the right hand, and eat with the right hand. To do something with the left hand could be interpreted as being rude. Interesting, isn’t it? So while I am here, I shall learn to eat with my right hand. And yes, we eat with our hands, not with utensils. Eating with your hand is supposed to make the food taste better because you are touching it and feeling it before it goes into your mouth. Warm fingers in your mouth feel better than a cold fork. Eating this way uses all of your sense

                                                   Two weeks of clothes we hand washed!
It’s a back to nature type of lifestyle here in many ways, which is a great experience. So how do we wash two week’s worth of clothes? BY HAND! Now, you might have washed a few fine linens and a shirt or two by hand, but have you ever washed two week’s worth of a teenage girl’s clothes by hand? I did today, and it is the last time. I have shown her how it is done, and from here on out Kayla will be responsible for washing her own clothes by hand. I know that this will help her remember to wear her pants at least two to three times before tossing them in her dirty clothes bag. All four of us (Alem, Kayla, Jo Jo and I) spent about two hours scrubbing, wringing, rinsing, wringing again, and hanging clothes on the clothes line. It was quite funny when Jo Jo was rinsing Kayla’s bras and he was squeezing out all the water from them. He wasn’t aware that her bras were any different than the shirts he was also wringing out, but Kayla was so embarrassed that this 18 year old boy was actually handling her underclothes! The whole experience of washing clothes by hand was refreshing and relaxing. Also, when they are washed this way, the clothes retain their color and size. They smell fabulous fresh from the line!

We gave this lady money every time we passed her! 

I have a funny toilet story. Zemi’s flush mechanism on her toilet is temporarily broken, so we pour a bucket of water in the toilet to flush it. I was so used to using the bucket that I assumed that is the way it is done other places. For almost two weeks I have flushed the toilet at the Joy Center with a bucket of water. The other day when I needed to use the restroom I noticed that the bucket was empty, so I asked one of the teachers in broken English and sign language where I could fill the bucket up so that I could flush the toilet. She looked at me oddly and showed me how to push the button on the tank of the perfectly working toilet! All I ever needed to do to flush the toilet was to push the button on the tank! Duh!

                                                Popcorn actually popped on the stove, not a microwave!
We have become quite expert in communicating our needs to Alem and to other non-English speaking contacts. We use a lot of sign language for food, drink, let’s go for a walk, where is this or where am I, how much is this, and many others. We have learned a bit of Amharic at the Joy Center. We can say “Enough!” (Beka), count to five, wusha (dog), behg (sheep), abeba (flower), Amesegnalehu (thank you), tenasteleng (good day), selam (hello and peace) and selam alaikum (hello and peace be with you), and quite a few other basic words. We learned a lot working at the Joy Center and living among the locals, and I look forward to learning much more as our trip continues.

I am grateful for the simple things in life like clean clothes and clean water. I am grateful for the friends I have made here. I am thankful for my life and the opportunity to share it with so many others. It seems that every person I meet here enriches my life in some little way. Every day I am becoming a better person than the day before. I can also see these experiences changing the life of my daughter. She is blossoming right before my eyes!

My thoughts to this point on the trip

Zemi has shown me a side of Ethiopia that I didn't know about.  I would describe Zemi as a very successful  business woman and Ethiopian citizen.  She owns and operates a beauty school for her main income, but even in this endeavor, she helps many girls living on the street by providing them free scholarships to her school.  These girls learn a skill and can then have a way to provide a living for themselves and get off the street.  I was witness to this once.  We were stopped at an intersection and she recognized a girl she had seen begging there since she was little.  The girl was now old enough to attend the beauty school.  Zemi honked her horn, asked the girl for her name and asked her if she would be interested in attending beauty school to learn a trade.  The girl was very excited and information was exchanged.  She will be off the street soon. I was so touched.

Zemi's charity work is amazing as well.  Of course, you are familiar with the Joy Center for Autism, but she is active in many organizations to promote the education and involvement of autistic kids in Ethiopia.  Everyone knows who she is, and she is very respected.  She is also very busy.  While Kayla and my day at the Joy Center is 9-3:00, Zemi often does not come home until well after 8 or 9 in the evening.  She also runs the NIA Foundation, a non-govenment foundation that helps women, children and parents of children with autism.  It has been a very humbling experience to be a part of her life for the past two weeks. 

While my prior visits to Ethiopia were focused on poverty, polio, and disease, this pre-trip has introduced me to a different side.  Not everybody in Ethiopia is starving or living in a run down hut!  Zemi has a beautiful, yet humble home.  She assures me that many people she knows live in very luxurious homes here.  So it is possible to live in Ethiopia comfortably and safely.  The roads are getting much better as both the Ethiopian government and the Chinese are building and investing here extensively.  Buildings are sprouting up everywhere. As the basic needs of the people are getting met, technology will get better.  Right now, the dial up internet I am attached to is 54.6 Kbps, which isn't too bad, but much slower than we are used to in the US.  In prior years I was told to not walk around unaccompanied.  I have learned Addis Ababa is one of the safest cities in the world.  Just use common sense and leave the jewelry, extra money and flashy video cameras at home. 

The food here is some of the best I have ever eaten.  I don't know if I ever want to open another can of vegetables in my life after eating fresh cooked green beans, tomatoes, etc.  Avocados are a favorite when mixed with lime juice, onions and garlic.  Collard greens with fresh garlic cloves will become my new dish at home.  I want to cook like this when I go home.  I have taken to drinking my tea and coffee with no sugar so as to get the full flavor, which is a surprise to many women here, as sugar is always added to the drinks here.  They do like their sugar!

After school, Kayla and I spend a lot of time with Jo Jo.  Yesterday we took him for a long walk to the bank to get some birr.  He loves his chocolate bars and will attack Kayla's pockets if he thinks she is hiding something in there!  In fact, at home, we have to lock up the big bag of M&M's she brought with her because he knows they are there and he wants them all!  We give him a few every afternoon, but he still trys to unlock our bag many times every day! We walked by "The Burger Shop" yesterday and Kayla asked "Please, please, let us get a hamburger!"  So we entered the little local cafe and ordered three hamburgers and fries.  Jo Jo was in heaven!  He kept opening the cook's door to watch them cook his food.  They were very kind to him.  So after the bank, a CD shop to get a Teddy Afro CD and an authentic Ethiopian music CD/DVD (for 27 birr each-less than $2), a stop at the candy store and a hamburger joint, we went to the fruit stand for more avocados.   It was an exciting walk for all of us. Jo Jo isn't allowed out much because he recently started to have seizures, so Zemi has to be very watchful of him.  I feel comfortable with my first aide and life-guard training, that I could assist him if he has a seizure with me.

I have come to really love Jo Jo and have a great respect for Zemi and the work she is doing here and the sacrifices she is making in her own life to help the children of her own country. 

I know that the next two weeks will be different from these past two weeks.  We will see children with polio, and the horrible disfiguring disease NOMA, and we will see the Fistula hospital.  We will be exposed to so much more need and poverty as we Rotarians are taken around to places all over Ethiopia that need our help and we are given opportunities to render aid and get involved with projects to aid and support the places we are visiting.  We will see other Rotarian water projects, libraries, clinics, and orphanages.  I can't wait to show Kayla this side of humanity, and how service to others is the key to individual happpiness.  When she can learn to forget her own problems and quit needing to have more and better things, and stop focusing on herself, her looks, her clothes, then I have done my job as a mother.  When she opens her heart and her life, and I know she will, to the poor and the needy of this world, she will find a contentment with herself that nothing or nobody can ever take away.  She will find true happiness; that is what I am doing here this year.  I am teaching my daughter service above self.  I love her so much, and this is the gift I want to leave her with.

I also want to thank my husband Greg for giving us the opportunity to come here and experience this.  He lets me use the money from my business to do things like this rather than use it for bills or a better, richer life-style.  There are many other things that we need to be buying for the house or cars.  So in this way, I am blessed as well.  Thank you, Greg, for holding down the fort and taking care of our little dogs, the house, the cars, and the bills.  And thank you fellow Rotarians for all the service you do around the world. 

A day of shopping in Addis Ababa

Today Zemi took Kayla and I shopping at the local markets.  She has a relative that makes traditional Ethiopian clothing at this market, so we stopped to get Kayla her authentic souvineer dress.  Abdul owns his own dress shop and he made the dresses that Kayla and I are wearing.  Kayla's complete 3-piece ensemble was 550 birr, which is about $43.85!  I didn't buy the one I am wearing because I already have an Ethiopian outfit from a prior year.  Kayla had many to choose from, and finally choose the one in this picture. We had a little model show going go!

Beautiful Kayla

Beautiful Kayla with her Mom!

Ok, so we're have a bit of fun!

The market was very crowded and very busy.  Abdul, the young dress maker, accompanied us and ensured we were given the best prices.  Kayla bought some bead necklaces, including a head piece with matching necklace and bracelet, and we bought a few scarves and a couple of baskets.  It's really the only day we will be able to shop because once our Rotary group gets here on Sunday, it's go, go, go.  We had a great day and took some great photos. I am in my Rotary shirt because I attended the Rotary Club of West Ababa meeting that morning.

Abdul, Me and Kayla at the Martket

A very busy market

The Shiro Meda Market Place

Kayla modeling her new bead wear!

Islamic Wedding Celebration

This morning we went to a Muslim pre-wedding celebration.  It is a very festive event.  We were greeted with the traditional "la la la la la la la", and in turn, we welcomed others as they joined us. It was fun for Kayla and I to learn how to do this.  Just before the ceremony, we took the kids on a walk to the fruit stand and bought bananas.  They are learning to do things like this for themselves.  Here is the picture from that.

Kayla walking with Joy Center kids to market

Back to the wedding.  It was the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony with bread, figs, engera, berberi, and shiro.  It is interesting that one of the staple dishes here, shiro, is made of chick peas.  It is the main ingredient of hummus, which is a main food in the middle east.  Shiro is a favorite of Kayla and I.  We eat it at almost every meal.  We were so welcomed at the ceremony, and we had a great time.  They had got together earlier that morning to make a big batch of berberi, another spicy dish, that will be eaten at the wedding this weekend. We were invited to have our hands and feet painted with the henna later on in the week.  If we have it done, I will post the pictures. Notice how colorful the clothes of these ladies are.  It is just beautiful!

Kayla being greeted at the ceremony

A sample of the food and ladies present

Very lovely ladies

Kayla and Zemi eating engera and berberi

Walking around Addis Ababa

Kayla at the market

Walking around Addis Ababa is such an adventure! We were a bit nervous to do this the first few days, but we couldn't just stay inside all afternoon, and everybody kept assuring us it was totally safe. Our first outing was to the fruit and vegetable stand with Alemsea. That afternoon, Kayla and I took off  with Zemi's map in one hand and our camera in the other. Our goal was to find the Sheraton Hotel. We loved the sights, the sounds and the smells of Ethiopia. There are beautiful fruit stands, basket stores, butcher shops, shoe shiners, and many other little street shops. Kayla had a few 1 birr in her pocket to hand out to the homeless or needy as she saw fit and felt comfortable doing so.

Our first stop was at the Hilton where our Rotary group stayed two years ago. We bought a couple of scarves, and some snacks at the grocery store. We then headed in the direction of the Sheraton, but missed the turn and ended up walking much further than necessary. I finally asked for directions and was turned around the way we came, but eventually we arrived at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel. It's a very nice but expensive hotel. We walked around the grounds and checked out the pool. It costs about $10 to swim here. We only brought 400 birr (about $32) with us and we had spent it on the way here on the scarves and snacks, so we didn't have enough to go swimming! The weather was chilly, so we didn't mind not swimming today. The walk was refreshing and it felt good to stretch our legs. We will walk somewhere everyday now.

Addis Ababa on our walk

On Saturday we drove to the building Zemi is building.  It was beautiful.  We needed petrol, but the stations were either all out of gas or there were very long lines.  The price would be increasing on Sunday, so everyone wanted to fill up.  We had to head home and wait for gas on Sunday. Kayla and I took a short walk to a basket shop, but the skys were about to open up!  The weather has been a chilly 68-72 and rain everyday since Thursday.  Sometimes there is thunder and lightning and sheets of rain.  It's been flannel PJ's every night for sure the last few nights.  Petrol is about 11.23 birr per liter, which a figure to be about $3.40 a gallon with the price increase.  Zemi bought 17.21 liters for 200 birr Sunday morning.

Kayla and JoJo

Sunday morning brought us a visit to the prison.  Zemi has a friend who accidently hit and killed a man with his car, and was sentenced to 8 months in prison.  It seems unfair and is such a shame because people are running randomly into the street constantly and not paying attention to where they are going.  All of the responsibility is put onto the driver no matter what.  Hitting or killing a goat can be very expensive as well. We didn't actually go into the prison.  Kayla, I and JoJo waited for Zemi and ate fresh soybeans we just bought and some candy that Kayla bought on a little walk. Driving in Ethiopia is not on my "adventures to have" list!

A typical street market

We spent the afternoon with Zemi's family at her childhood home.  We experienced the awesome original Ethiopian coffee ceremony.  It is an important ceremony in many ways. They roast the coffee beans right there, grind them, and brew them.  The first round is very strong, and the next two rounds get a bit weaker. The coffee is served with popcorn, candies and cookies.  The whole thing takes about two hours.  By the time we are done, I had enough caffeine in my system that I could jog home! Ha ha.  We must partake in all these ceremonies so as to not be rude! :) You can't get any fresher ground roast than right under your nose!

The Ethiopian coffee ceremony

Last night we took a walk to the Ghion, the hotel where we will be staying next week.  Teddy Afro was in concert at the stadium and we walked right by it.  The people here love him to death.  He is somewhat of a freedom rebel here and very popular and very talented.  The whole ground shook with their stomping and yelling and singing!  Thousands attended his concert. I will try to get a CD of his music here.  It is very good.
Farewell for now.  I will post again in a few days.  We are attending a birthday party tonight for a friend.