After Hours

Besides all the business impressions, there are of course also other impressions of Ethiopia. One of them especially touched my heart and I’d quickly like to talk about it.

During my time when I was staying at a missionary guest house, there was a government place that issued passports. Every day on my way to the Ghion Hotel – where we hosted the business workshop I would walk by this very large line up of women and always wondered what they were doing there.

Turns out that every day thousands of women line up there, because they want to leave Ethiopia for a chance of having a better life. 2000 Women actually do get deported from Ethiopia and deported to Arabic countries, where well one can only imagine what happens to them. The sadest part about this whole thing is, no one can do anything about it because they’re going out of their own will.

The next impression I’d like to touch on is the hospital right across from where we were staying at first. The hospital is called “The Black Lion Hospital” and apparently once you go in, you never come out. Now if this is true or not, I don’t know of course but multiple people would say that its not really that great of a place to go to – and to be able to sleep at night even I will refrain from going for now.

one of the last communist sculptures left.

At last, another thing that really touched my heart is the poverty that you see around (and I will talk more about that later). Lots of people here are living in mud houses, there are always very many beggars on the street, especially as a white person I’m basically a walking dollar sign. Sometimes I really feel bad, but other times it can get to one if 30 people come up to you in one day asking for the same thing. Money truly does make the world go round, which in my opinion is incredibly sad – but I guess reality.

One part of town. More developed

Of course there are other crazy things, such as random slaughtering of sheep on the street with piles of bones, organs and meat, things such as cut off roads, unfinished bridges, random tour de France like race through the city of Addis, donkey’s walking in the middle of the roads, even the odd naked person walking around the streets!

But take the positive from the negative, I’m learning ALOT here and these three weeks I’ve been here I’ve become incredibly comfortable with the friendliness of most people, the culture and even the food. I know that this experience will guide me throughout the rest of my life, and for that I’m forever thankful.

The TEAM!