09 /06 /2001
  Meki - Ethiopia
  08°10 N   38°50 E
  + 269

Everything went all right today. Nicolas prepared an exam of chemistry, Franck mathematics. First comments : "Our students are champions !".

Here, the most peculiar hour of the day is when the sun goes down. Nomadic women Oromo go back to the hills, as the cattle gets lost in the red dust of the road. The bells worn by the cows remind us it's vital to always be in movement.

Electricity is sent about one mile from the national road to the lands at maximum. The rest of the houses lights up with fires and candles... and life goes on in harmony with the sun.

As the night falls down, the sounds of Africa increase, either scary or familiar. Cicadas, frogs and wild dogs wake up.

At 8.00 pm, the Team meets at home. We're 'lucky': we don't have to worry too much about what we'll have for dinner: either pasta with tomato purée and carrots, or potatoes with tomatoes. When there is a dessert (a luxury), it's either papayas or oranges. When we arrived, we brought with us 5 big chocolate blocks... that we ate in two days.

The cooking is now working well : Aurelie, Sophie and Theo feed the Team, tired but happy.

Click on the picture and watch the video.

MOGUS and his family

This afternoon, after class, we have a meeting with Mogus, a boy who keeps on waiting for us behind the gate. Aurelie promised him to go at his place.

We walk for a mile towards the inland, followed by a dozen of kids, singing, laughing and shouting.

We arrive in a hamlet of 7 huts with roofs of straw. Then we meet Mogus family, 10 people.

We are warmly welcome, and immediately proposed to enter in the house. Very simple, there are three little rooms made of wood and mud. The parents stay in the biggest one, as the 8 children are the two others. All of them have precise tasks.

Most of the children seem adult, and have a great sense of responsibility. None of them complains, and their smile is a great example of dignity and positivity. The two young daughters (12 and 13 years old) look after the youngests (1, 3 and 5 years old). Tasfay, the oldest, works in a farm. At the moment, he's carrying the fertile ground from the river to a potatoe field. The father is a peasant. He owns a few fields, 7 cows, and some chicken.

Mogus, and his brother Joseph (9), are very proud of their toys : all are made of wood, wire and recycled objects found on the road. Their favourite one is a truck made of three pieces of wood bound with a string. They spend their time playing with this stange object: they push it with enthusiasm, stop to let the passengers out, and are very proud of this toy they built only by themselves.

 

Hospitality is for us a gift because a day or another in our life, it will be returned.

Mogus  

 

SOME FIGURES

The World Bank foresees that in 2002, Ehtiopia will be the poorest country in the World. The gross national product is only 750 birr per person... about 7,5 £ !

A farmer (the most common job) works only during the fertile season. He earns about 5 bir per day - 50 pence.

This country has the lowset number of hospitals and doctors in the world :

1 bed for 3300 people / 1 doctor for 33.000 people. In France, there are about 1 doctor for 330 people.

According to Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org.uk), Ethiopia is the country where there are the more journalists in prison.

 

We're a bit tired and ready to rest this week-end. The more tiring and the most stimulting are the relations with the people here. Introductions, discussions, hugs, hellos, goodbyes: they all seem to need to tell us something... but in fact, they're just looking for a bit of attention and consideration.

See you tomorrow, dear Community !

 

team@nomadcommunity.com - loako@hotmail.com

 
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