Impressions and Images of Ethiopia

I have been back in Canada for six weeks now and am still processing my thoughts and impressions of the country. I am very thankful for the opportunity to visit such a complex, interesting and beautiful country.

Food is always an important part of a cultural experience. In Illubabor zone, we ate country food exclusively. My favorite meal of the day was breakfast and the dish called 'fool', a mildly spiced bean stew served with chopped onions. Special fool included scrambled eggs and sometimes a dollop of fresh yogurt - yum! Breakfast was accompanied by small fresh loaves of bread, which we used as our utensils.



The rest of the day's menu focused on meat - mostly sheep or goat with the occasional cattle. While we were in Bedele, we lunched at a restaurant that specialized in "kitfo', a finely chopped or ground dish often served almost raw. I always insisted that mine be roasted. Kitfo was certainly tasty when eaten with berbere spice and a welcome change from 'tibbs', the often chewy strips of meat fried or cooked over small charcoal burners.



I was always happy to go for lunch on Wednesday and Friday - fasting days in the Orthodox religion. Fasting food included a selection of dishes such as yellow peas or lentils, a stew of potatoes and cabbage, shiro and sometimes coleslaw. Except for breakfast, meals are served on injera, the flat bread made of the grain 'teff' which is unique to Ethiopia. Food is eaten by tearing off strips of injera to use as utensils. Needless to say, hand hygiene is very important and restaurants always provided water for hand washing before and after dining. I usually had my handy bottle of hand sanitizer as a backup!

Did I mention that Ethiopia has the best coffee I have ever tasted? Every day started with macchiato, coffee with milk and if we had the opportunity, we would 'take' coffee in a local village, often locally grown, freshly roasted and hand ground. Delicious! The local tea was always very flavourful.

One of the most memorable days was a hike into the Sor Waterfall near Mettu. Even though it was the rainy season, we heard that it was possible, if a bit muddy. We arrived at the end of the road in the middle of a downpour but decided to persist. To call it muddy was an understatement - it was a wet, slippery and our shoes and pant legs were soon covered in red mud.





We were assisted with four guides - two teenagers from the local village and two local guides, a young boy and a young man who found us walking sticks and provided steadying hands when we found ourselves falling over. Our path took us through maize fields, along a goat track, and surrounded by wild wonderfully fragrant and verdant coffee forests.

Imagine my surprise when we emerged above the waterfall to see an amazing scene - a party of people celebrating the anniversary of their local workplace with a picnic.

The sheep who were the main meal of the day had walked in themselves but all the other provisions including beverages were carried in by the revelers. We were invited to join the party and soon served very freshly cooked sheep and honey wine. The sun shone and a great time was had by all.

Final thoughts
* the health workers are providing amazing services in challenging circumstances
* the people in the countryside work so hard to survive and feed their families
* many young people and people within the health sector have a vision for a healthier and productive Ethiopia

My thanks to everyone who supported me through this mission - Canadian Public Health Association, Canadian Field Epidemiology Program, CDC Atlanta staff and the colleagues at World Health Organization in Addis Ababa. Thanks also to Tammy, my friend and colleague who was always there when I needed professional advice, personal support or funtimes in Addis! And of course, the support and understanding from family and friends at home.

Illubabor Part II - Bedele

We accessed the northeastern part of Illubabor Zone from the small market town of Bedele, home of the Bedele Brewery Company and major employer in the area. The Brewery also runs a small guesthouse and we were delighted to be accommodated there during our visit to the area.



Bedele town has a remarkable population of goats who seem to enjoy chewing 'chat' as much as some of the residents.



One unique area is called the 'desert' which is reached by a long drive down onto into the valley. This area is without trees and drier than the nearly highlands but also supports the growing of rice as well as maize. The village of Kolosir is a settlement for families displaced due to famine from drought-stricken areas of Ethiopia. The village has the most interesting backdrop - a straight hill rises from the plain.

The other striking feature of the village was a large tent previously used by the World Food Program for food distribution. Our UN vehicle was the source of great curiousity and my driver, Joseph, spent his time explaining that we were only there to visit the health centre. This new health centre was targeted to be upgraded from a clinic in order to provide more health services including a labour and delivery unit.



I always included a visit to the incinerator or biomedical waste disposal pit as part of my audit. At Kolosir, the path to the disposal pit was through the maize field but we did eventually find it!



And always, there were the children. I was constantly a source of interest and when I spoke to them, it was usually followed by great hilarity because of my accent or mispronounced words of Oromifa or Amharic. In Kolosir as in most villages, there was very little in the way of toys or other sources of entertainment for the children.

A very common sight was of children looking after younger children, such as the young girl to the left, with her younger sibling on her back. The young man on the right outfitted in the Ethiopia gear, had been my guide to the health centre and disposal pit.



My visits to the health centre were usually accompanied by young children who were sometimes camera shy and other times, wanted to be front and centre in the photograph.





In the trip down the valley, we came face to face with another Isuzu truck which provide the main transport on the back roads. They were usually loaded down with people, animals or other products for market and are a very a common sight but I just had to grab a picture as we passed.



On our return trip, we had time to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery. Joseph and Hamza, the Illubabor Zone Communicable Disease Control team leader were posing for a picture when they were joined by several local lads who told us that there were lions in the nearby forests.




In a population of 80 Million, mostly pastoralists (farmers), a striking feature of Ethiopia is that you are never alone. Even when the road seemed empty of people, as soon as we stopped the car to take a picture, people materialized from the fields or forests!