Moore Park Grace Centre Adventures

Gallery: House Building and Home Kit

grace_peoples — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:41:00 GMT

Some photos taken during house building and a home kit we delivered.

AMAZING DEDICATION

grace_peoples — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 04:16:00 GMT

This is my first contribution to the blog as the team is breaking up and Adele and I will be the last to leave. This is our third trip to Ethiopia and each trip has been different. While there are things that are the same (general maintenance and improvement of the Grace facilities) there are many different things (house building and home kits).

For us the biggest impact has been the last few days when we have been in charge of the Grace Centre. The couple who are normally in charge, Andrew and Dee Knife, went to Addis on Thursday for a wedding. Leith Harding also went together with Zewditu, Ian, Lauran, Bryce and all the Knife children (Lydia, Joshua, Berhani, Moconna and Sara). Keliesha also went to keep Zewditu company. This meant that Adele and I were in charge with Michael, Stephanie and Naomi for help. The Fraser family from Sunshine Coast are also still here for another couple of days.

Michael, Stephanie and Naomi leave in the morning (I drive them in a Tuk Tuk) and Andrew and Dee (and children) arrive back at lunch time.

It has been an amazing experience to be in charge of a ministry employing 82 people and caring for over 100 children on the premises and even more people being fed or otehrwise supported. The experience was even more amazing because we did not know that we would be asked to do this.

I have an incredible respect for the resilience and dedication of Andrew and Dee. It is not an easy ministry to run. There are decisions to be made from when you get up in the morning until you go to sleep at night (and then we get up at 2am to check the night staff). I believe it is only possible by the grace of God and by the very capable staff that God has brought to Grace.

Language is a barrier but with the right attitude it is surmountable. Many Ethiopians have a little English and we have a little Amharic. The result is that we work most things out. When we get stuck there are a few staff who can translate well so we get by.

Across all things we need to watch finances. God has been gracious and the ministry is not seriously limited by finances, but there is nothing to spare for luxuries. The wedding is the first break that Andrew and Dee have had for months. I hope we can get through till theyreturn without messing anything up.

Mark

Smaller team but lots of work

grace_peoples — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:05:00 GMT

Over the last week, many people have left to continue on their travels. We are now down to 9 adults and 2 kids but plenty of good work has been completed.

A few of us went out to help one of the workers build her own traditional mud house out of eucalypt sticks, nails and mud. It was amazing to see how deft the 'builder' was and how strong a structure could be constructed with such minimal materials.

We have delivered 3 home kits now to different single mothers connected with the centre - it is very humbling to see the tiny mud rooms these mothers live in with hardly any possessions at all. They were all so grateful and it was rewarding to us to see that we are giving such useful gifts.

The After School Hours house has seen great improvements - a new cubby house painted and revamped, a garden removed and replaced with gravel to allow more play area, and a new and organised library and teaching resources. Other projects under way include fences, shelves and mass cleaning up while Andrew and Dee and family are away at a wedding in Addis Ababa.

Today the school across the road hosted the interschool soccer grand final - it was fascinating to watch, especially the enthusiasm of the drum beating, singing crowds and the way everyone ran into the field at every goal and penalty.

More stories to come in the next few days.

Sunday, Gondar, a Sponsor Child, Soccer

grace_peoples — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:26:00 GMT

On Sunday morning we assembled on the lawn of Grace Centre HQ for a little cute church service. This was very refreshing. We started with sitting around in lazy chairs singing some songs - lots of Moore Park classics including "Blessed be Your Name" and "Lord I Lift Your Name on high". Ian lead the service while Michael was on preaching duties.

We shared a few stories and then Mark H lead us in prayer. Michael followed with a really good message on 2nd Kings which had several different allegories and applications. This service came the day after the last of the Gondar trips... if I may go back in time. On Friday and Saturday most people at Grace Centre boarded a mini-bus for a 2.5 hour road trip to the city of Gondar. This is a city quite rich with Ethiopian history including a beautiful church (17th Century) filled with, well... beautiful paintings :-). Before this we visited an array of spectacular castles from the times of the Ethiopian Kings. There are some photos of this in the Gondar Gallery on the blog.

The Gondar trip also involved a visit to a "bath" site where one of those Ethiopian Kings had built a "Camp David" style retreat which including a massive (larger than Olympic size) swimming pool with a Palace in the middle of it. He was smart enough to built this in a position ideal for diverting the Blue Nile into his pool for quick filling ;-).

The drive also allowed us to enjoy some more of Ethiopia's spectacular landscape.

As for work at Grace: our projects have been continuing well. Most of the plumbing issues are fixed (kind of). The ditch is having some plastic piping added for increased drainability. Kelisha and I will complete the double step for the kids water tap today. Some timber fences are being built for the big/small kid day care centre. I forgot to mention that Barb (the Canadian mother) was doing some sewing, mending back packs, clothing and other baby accessories.

Steph and Michael had the excellent opportunity of visiting their sponsor child who lives in a town of Bahir Dar. Steph has been sponsoring this girl for a long time (since high school) and it was a nice coincidence that the child and family were living in the same city as the Grace Centre. I won't say anymore here as I don't know the details - but Steph will probably write a blog entry about this.

At the moment we are getting into a good routine of playing a game of soccer with the local boys (there is a soccer field opposite HQ). Dave Fraser, Michael Cox and myself played yesterday for about 45 minutes which is not bad at this altitude. We had an Aussie v Ethiopia match and went down 2 nil which was ridiculous as one of the goals was an own goal (badly defended by GS) and the other was just pure altitude sickness or something.

I should let you know I am heading home on Wednesday, its been a trip. Someone else (maybe Keliesha) will continue the blog for Moore Park after I leave. Cheers. Chow.

Life at Grace

grace_peoples — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 19:19:00 GMT

There are so many people and so many different aspects and functions of life here that its hard to decide what to write without it becoming a thesis. A few people have been sick (Mary, Naomi, Keliesha, Bryce, Jeff, Simon and myself) so we appreciate prayers for health as it seems to be a bit of worry sometimes.

Mark, Adele and Keliesha arrived at the Grace Centre on Wednesday the 7th which is Ethiopia's Christmas day. As usual it was after some rough plane rides including a mini plane ride from Addis to Bahir Dar on which Keliesha continued to consume the interesting food of which did not appreciate its new home and retraced its steps back into the world frequently over the next 24 hours. All ok now though.

The Horsburgh's have been making themselves useful, Mark building some shelves and Adele looking how to improve aspects of each of the day care centres for the kids education and play needs. Keliesha and Zewditu will be working at big and small kid day care chillin' with the kids.

I wanted to detail a typical day at Grace. So I will to that quickly here.

A typical day at Grace involves emerging from our Mosquito netted beds and have breakfast at HQ at 0900. We usually have a bible study together or separately and then get into the days tasks. Its pretty flexible at Grace so people can attempt whatever they want to whenever they want to. We have lunch around 1300 which is also flexible and not necessarily as a group. More afternoon tasks and then dinner separately at one of the various homes. People can chose to eat anywhere really. After dinner, a group of cool people play 500 for a few hours, while the rest watch either (A) Amharic TV or (B) the Gilmore Girls on DVD supplied by the Canadian Katisse. Everyone tends to be pretty exhausted at this point so we go off to sleep.

Thats a typical day. Fortunately and sometimes unfortunately life in Ethiopia is not very often typical. Both our vehicles are currently out of commission. Leith almost caught on fire riding the "took took" (which is a hybrid motorbike/cart) from an electrical issue. The Suzuki 4WD swallowed too much dirty fuel and stranded Andrew for a while. Its currently in the workshop. On Christmas night instead of playing 500, we let off about 50 very legal fireworks outside Grace - this was just awesome and the best way I can describe it is by a quote from Andrew "I love Ethiopia, you can blow up stuff". I should clarify though - nothing was really blown up, it just seemed that way.

Again I just want to express the blessing it is to be at Grace. We are looked after so well. The staff (cooks, maids, guards) make us good food, wash our clothes and make our beds, and protect us even in this very safe area. The main blessing (and a privledge) however is to be surrounded with a fellowship of believers in Jesus working together to improve the lives of our Ethiopian friends and supporting Andrew and Dee (and kids) in their service to the Lord.

Gallery: Staff Christmas Party

grace_peoples — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 19:45:00 GMT

Present giving for Ethiopian Christmas

grace_peoples — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 19:37:00 GMT

The 5th of January involved more practical assistance at the Grace Centre. We completed installation of a ground water tank to boost the header tank. Mary, Steph, Helen and Sara and some others completed preparing Christmas presents for the children. Gwennie (a civil engineer) headed up the "ditch" team which was tasked with installing a drainage ditch for gray water from the main house.

When we arrived at Grace, there was already a Canadian family staying here; Mark, Barb, Katisse and Roan (Evans-Ehricht). A lovely family who contacted Grace while on their travels through other parts of the world. They were looking for a mission somewhere that would take a family on and contributed nicely to the goings on here. Also joining us a few days after we arrived were the Frasers from Sunshine Coast Australia; Dave, Georgia, Bronwyn, Jesse and Eden. Dave works for a charity called (Solution Network Australia) that installs very precious water filter systems in various countries suffering from polluted water. One of these filters has been installed at Grace (for free / cost is around 5K).

Some more good meals and sleep preceded Ethiopia's Christmas Eve. I am writing this on Christmas day. Strangely Ethiopia has a 13 month calender and its currently only 2001 here - which means I just turned 20, and not 28... maybe that's why the average life expectancy is around 48 years old?!

So, Christmas Eve was a special day for us and the children... and the mothers. We had a Christmas performance to look forward to at 3:00pm by the kids at after-school-care (3-12 years). After some hard work we all walked over and took our seats or just the ground to watch. Some singing, some drama, some dancing, even a coffee ceremony and some more delightful singing was the best entertainment since Ababe and his little brothers performed for us in Addis. Finally, it was time for Andrew and Dee to hand out the prepared gifts for the children (mainly clothes and soap). It was a joy to see their joy in receiving what little we had to give. After a childs name was called, all the other kids would chant their name.."Huftamool, huftamool, huftamool!!". The child would then give Andrew a big kiss and say "Amasaganallo" (thankyou very much).

The same thing followed at the smaller kids day care. We helped some boys and girls put on their new clothes. They were so excited. They were all playing with the soap - putting it in and out the box. Not sure they knew what it was, but they loved it.

God Bless - Gareth

Blue Nile Falls and Boat Rides

grace_peoples — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 19:33:00 GMT

On the 4th we had packed schedule of sights and sounds outside of the Grace Centre to attend to. We left around 9am on a massive bus (one of those gigantic school bus types) which was really bumpy, then smooth for a few minutes on the main road, then really bumpy again for another 45 minutes (imagine gap creek road but three times worse). Our first top was the "Blue Nile Falls". It involved a 30 min walk through some slightly mountainous region until we reached the falls. Pretty, and spectacular. The falls are second only to the "Victoria Falls". About 500m wide and 50m high. Our walk continued along the mountain, down some slope, across a stream in which some locals were bathing Pepsi's for sale. Nobody purchased anything unfortunately for them, and we continued around and back to a river which we had to cross in a (15 horse-power) boat. Going was slow but enjoyable.

We boarded the bus again and headed back to Bahir Dar central. A 2 hour lunch stop which presented some contrasting food presentations when compared to the imaginations of those ordering. From here we were to head off on another (this time 25 horse-power) boat ride to see some Monasteries on islands and also some "hippo-hunting" (no guns involved). Due to our lunch mixup, we were late for our boat ride and got into a bit of a tussle with the boat owners. We wanted to cancel. They wanted us to go. We offered a 200 Birr cancel fee. They requested a 1000 Birr cancel fee. To avoid any punches or injuries, we decided to board the boats. Iinstead of 5 Monasteries, we visited 1 which revealed a very old bible and some ancient enough ruins/building.

Due to the late hour, the Hippo hunting was partly in vain. It was beautiful cruising around the quite lake looking for them nonetheless. We came across some men on make-shift canoes (made of straw/reeds/sticks) rowing reeds to one of the islands. It was going to be a long night for them. It took us 30 minutes with 25 horse power. For them: zero horse power and maybe 12 hours? Check the photo section to see what I mean.

Gallery: 4-6th January

grace_peoples — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 18:57:00 GMT

Grace Centre

1-3rd January at the Grace Centre

grace_peoples — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 18:02:00 GMT

The current operators of the Grace Centre are Andrew and Dee Knife who have five children living at the Centre; Lidya, Joshua, Sara and two other little ones that cannot be named. Sara (14) and also the latter two (a brother and sister (2)) are Ethiopian and in the process of adoption.

So the first day of the new year we spent getting to know Andrew and Dee. The main house also functions as a care centre for children in transition to adoption. Andrew took us on a guided tour around the various homes around the Bahir Dar neighbourhood that function as baby and childcare/after school care centres, Each home is around 100-300m from the main house (HQ).

There is plenty to do and fix around each home. Main concerns are plumbing and water issues which partly rely on an un-reliable water supply which offers mediocre water pressure at the best of times. Due to this lack of pressure, water pumps are often needed to boost supply to gravity feed water tanks. When something breaks down its not as simple as calling in a plumber to fix... it becomes Andrews responsibility or any willing volunteer.

We spent most of the 1st and even 2nd and 3rd planning the repairs required which of course involved several trips to the local market strips to buy supplies. Other areas of need in the care homes are washing lines, swing and play sets for repair, gardening, alot of door/lock work and electrical maintenance. Ian could live here for a year and still have something to fix.

Michael made the most of his time working on several locks at the "Volunteer House". He was able to repair two locks which were maybe 50% operable. This was an important job as this home will be transformed into the new baby day care centre when we leave.

A group of people did some baby training to look after "transitional" babies to allow some Grace staff to take time off for Genna (Ethiopian Christmas).

The biggest task has been installing a ground water tank at the "Volunteer home" (soon to be baby day care centre) from which water will be electrically pumped into the header tank to pressure supply the house. Lead by Ian, most people have managed to contribute something to this project and its been fantastic to watch the team work together using what sometimes limited materials and supplies we have to achieve a result.

The food here has been amazing and his provided by the Grace (Ethiopian) staff every morning, lunch and dinner. We eat scrambled eggs, pancakes, enjura with various Ethiopian style meats, spaghetti, lots of Coke, fruit, salads, home made pizza and the odd meal at a Bahir Dar restaurant.

Its been a real blessing being here so far and the work the Centre does here is an incredible blessing to the people in Bahir Dar. There are little and big lives that have been and are being transformed by the love and care that is provided by the various baby and child care operations in the homes that surround the Grace Centre HQ. Praise the Lord!

Gallery: The Grace Centre

grace_peoples — Sat, 3 Jan 2009 22:34:00 GMT

1-3rd January 2009

Gallery: Bus Trip

grace_peoples — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 21:20:00 GMT

Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar

Bus Ride to Bahir Dar, New Years Eve

grace_peoples — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 14:25:00 GMT

Yesterday morning we had to leave the comforts of our hotel for a loaded bus on route for Bahir Dar at 5:30am. The bus was thankfully alot more stuck together than our previous bus.

We were on our way with very little traffic and it was really a beautiful drive out of the city as we made a good time into the country side which was surprisingly green. Seemed to be just single road leading out with similar sought of mud and stick housing lining the roads. These houses are gorgeous and we were dying to just take a look inside and see what home is really like. There were plenty of little shack-style stores, not much more than 2m wide by 3m deep, selling anything from Coke to Hygiene goods.

There is plenty to see on the road to Bahir Dar and its hard to describe the warmth you feel in reviewing the mini Ethiopian communities. The people are almost constantly friendly and excited to see you. Its probably partly our "foreigness" but mostly there simple warmth and happiness.

We took a slight detour to an orthodox Christian Community and church. While there the people were in a the middle of a 3-5 hour time of prayer. A man in the church was singing/praying constantly in this beautiful but slightly eery voice. We walked up this rock parth through some forest/jungle to another old old church built into the mountain. Here it is said that a man once prayed for 7 years without moving. After a few years he lost one leg and kept praying. This is why this church has become so sacred and why the people walk up there to pray where he did, drink some holy water and hopefully be healed or touched by God? You just want to tell them that Jesus frees from all this complicated religious ceremony - but that would be robbing them all purpose probably.

The ride continued and we made our way to the edge of the canyon. This is an amazing sight. Similar in grandeur to the grand canyon perhaps, maybe not has deep but really wide and sprawling. Our driver was incredible. Throughout the bus trip he was driving like a taxi-bus racing champion overtaking vehicles with supreme confidence sometimes on seemingly blind corners with zero hesitation and wise discernment. The crazy thing is he didn't hold back on these tactics down the mountain. Mouths were gaping and voices signing in aw looking across the beautiful view from several hundred meters above the Ethiopian country side.

Now a few hours into the trip, things went from slight discomfort and interest to just discomfort. We stopped at a little town at had some Cokes. A little boy was performing for us with a toy he had invented. He was posing as he did not understand that we wanted to see him use the toy. Some broken conversations with the locals and we were off again.

We finally rolled into Bahir Dar around 4 or 5pm local time. We really were all a bit dazed. A more than ample dinner was provided and following this we all made a our way in separate groups to various homes a few hundred meters apart down the rock strewn, makeshift dirty streets. Lots of greeting from locals. Kids running up to shake your hand or touch you. People calling out "yeeellloow".....

Steph, Michael, Naomi, myself, Jeff, Mary and Simon are staying together in a house complete with beds, table, chairs, cold water from plumbing in need of repair and a guard house where a servant on the Grace payroll protects us and operates the massive swinging gate. We make some further sleeping preparations with mozzie-nets covering us and sleep a little ; -).

Gallery: Addis Ababa

grace_peoples — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:11:00 GMT

We spent 3 nights in Addis

Fistula Hospital, Day Three, Addis Ababa

grace_peoples — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:11:00 GMT

This is Naomi writing with some editing and additions by Gareth,

This morning we went to visit the famous Fistula Hospital (via a brief stop at Addis Golf Country Club). This is a hospital for Women with childbirth injuries (look up Fistula on google).

The thing that most struck me was the cleanliness, the white buildings and a huge number of patients. Each ward was light with good views of landscaped gardens. Stone paths wind around the hillside that overlooks a quarry (quite beautiful really for a quarry-view).

We had a tour by a very articulate young Ethiopian lady who told us amazing stories of how a life can be transformed through Fistula surgery. There was even an Oprah wing. The language barrier of about 80 languages (some variations on Amharic I guess) seemed to be a big problem. It was actually a little overwhelming seeing the Women there struggling with simple physical life so much; however they were in the best place they could be and on a good road to recovery.

We then went to the airport to try get our luggage which was still visiting Hong Kong and after some further searching were told it was indeed still there and would be flown in to Bahir Dar later in the week. I wonder if we will ever see it again.

We had lunch above a restaurant lining the "Churchhill Road" markets. The food took maybe 50 mins to come because they made sure all 12 persons food was cooked before serving anything. So half of the meals were half cold. But our waiter was lovely and his passionate, joyful waiting was worth every minute. I had pineapple Fanta.

We then Taxi-Bussed it "Sister Zenebesh's Baby Home" - who looks after abandoned babies until they can be adopted. She usually has 20 babies at a time. I got to hold and feed one baby a bottle. We will upload a cool photo showing the construction of this wild mansion right next to this shackish little orphanage.

We decided to head back to Churchhill Road for some shopping. I bought 10birr earings and Gareth bought a T-Shirt for 40 birr. Michael had a wonderful shoe shine for would you believe 1birr!.... that is around 20c AU. After shopping it was back to the hotel for some quick refreshment and then straight to a house called "Aussie-Opia. This is where a cool young man named Abebe lives with his family; the family hosts some Australian visitors throughout the year. Abebe was sponsored from little guy by the Hardings and is now 20 and just the best of guys you could ever meet. At Aussie-Opia we had a banquet of a dinner, bonfire, fireworks, singing and dancing by Abebe and friends, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony and finally a 3 hour hair braiding session for Helens hair. We will upload a great of photo of our evening there ASAP... internet is like 5 kb/s here!

Thanks for getting through that. Much love,

Gareth&Naomi.

Addis Ababa - Day Two

grace_peoples — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 23:36:00 GMT

This morning after another fine breakfast filled with eggs and bread, we hoped on our trustworthy little bus driven by the ever faithful Bitsai and headed to the Kebebe Teshay orphanage in Addis. This was only originally schedule for Mary, Jeff and Simon to visit with their adopted daughters Sara and Helen (adopted 14 years ago from the same orphanage), however we were all granted permission to visit.

It was very special and quite sad as well. The kids were beaming and constantly running after you, grabbing your hand or requesting you to throw them in the air. We played some soccer. Michael ended up giving a line of kids some high fives on the way down from a slippery slide. For Mary, Jeff, Simon, Helen and Sara it was particularly emotional to see the place where Helen and Sara were adopted from so many 14 years ago. I am not sure how to express their feelings and thoughts so I will stop here. It was just lovely to see the smiles on the kids faces, who I am sure even without the presence of these strangers in "Australia" jackets are probably quite content with what they have, which is little to speak of.

From there it was a 30-40 minute wait on the side of the road for a slightly less faithful Bitsai to pick us up. We watched the traffic which never ceases to amuse or generate conversation. The consistency of the Ethiopian taxis mingled in with a couple of brand new Landcruisers, some bicycles and the lovely flow of local people smiling and sometimes asking for food or money as they walked past.

We had lunch had a pretty western style cafe. Big meals, Pepsis and cool atmosphere. I had a massive Club sandwich with ample supply of tasty chips which came to a grand total of 28 Bir or around $5 Aussie dollars. The price of food is truly just as wonderful as the food most times.

It was time for shopping now. Firstly for Grace Centre items, lastly for recreation. The Grace Centre items took us to a scary, bustling spread of markets called the Merkato markets. The people here are more serious, less welcoming perhaps and less afraid to charge you twice the local deal. We sat in the bus mostly as Bitsai gave us a taxi driving lesson which included precise navigation through a range of people and vehicle obstacles you could never ever come across in Aussie-land. It was bus ride worth paying for. Leith, myself, Naomi and Simon hopped off the bus with Bitsai to go traverse our way around the markets looking for (1) baby formula and (2) plumbing fittings. We negotaited, were stared at, negotaited and left without the (1) and with a nice deal on (2).

With some relief we headed back to the typical local markets (that line most streets in Addis) and enjoyed some shopping there. Most people managed to leave with a nice hat, bracelet, ring or bag purchased at relatively very low AU price. I managed to agree to purchase an Africa poster that started at 40 bir and ended up sealing the deal at 20 bir. It was nice to give the local community some business and a pleasure to mingle in there happy company.

Feeling quite depleted by now. We all joined Bitsai for another excellent display in taxi-bus-navigation back to our Hotel (via the bank) for a brief siesta. At 7pm we walked maybe 2kms up the road for Pizza in a brick and cabin like restaurant for some splendid wood fired pizza, more Pepsi's and some excellent local beer enjoyed by myself and Simon for 8bir ($1.10 each). This dinner was highlighted by some Glass bottle tower building I managed to instigate which caught the attention of the restaurant staff - who then proceeded to copy and build their own Coke bottle tower, which finally ended in a single broken Coke bottle as we joined together to try get 6 standing end to neck in a row. We'll have to try attached a photo for you to see how cool this really was.

Until tomorrow. Over and out. Thanks for reading.

Arrived Addis Ababa

grace_peoples — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:15:00 GMT

Hi All. This is Gareth the current blogger for all on the trip. Our group comprised of: Steph and Michael, Naomi and I, Jeff, Mary, Helen and Sara Roberts, Simon Roberts, Dee, Andrew, Kielly and Jack Hudson (pheww) arrived at around 6:30am local time (1:30pm Aussie time). Just a couple of bags missing somewhere in Hong Kong, but all good otherwise. (We should get them back :-).

So.... after a pretty long haul via Cairns - Hong Kong - Bangkok we finally arrived very safely in Addis Ababa. It was a beautiful landing with the sun rising over Ethiopia and some interesting glimpses of the land. Mainly populated with older cement, clay building with some newer construction poking through in places. The land is green, but dry and dusty. Addis is just about the highest altitude in Ethiopia so we have struggled and perhaps imagined some thinner air being breathed in.

The airport is actually quite new and better than some ports in more developed countries .. in some ways. Walking into the airport was slightly disconcerting and the culture hits you in the face a bit. Smells and curious looks. One guy was taking real good look at me... not sure whether he thought i had something of value or was just interested in why we were there.

The dust and dryness is really quite a shock. We walked out to this crazy old van - African style - not sure what make or model but it was interesting. The Ethiopians come out to start helping you with bags, even if you don't want them to. The help you and there ask for currency ... US or Euros. Its hard to say no, but Leith our organiser does all that negotiation.

The trip from the airport to our hotel in Addis was the most bazaar and crazy car ride I have ever taken. Not that it was dangerous, as our average speed was probably 30km/h, but the people walking around, the rudimentry business lining the streets and the lack of any organisation on the roads was frightening. You feel slightly threatened by the people just walking everywhere, however in our group with some lovely local friends, we were very very safe.

The rest of our day was taken up with various activities including a local church service (lead by an Aussie Pastor), a partially successful bus ride up Mount Entoto where after lack of engine power we stopped to chat to some local urchins (probably 8 years and under). This was a lovely experience, seeing the simple joy and happiness in the eyes with such simple things like their photo being taken, water bottles being handed to them and some left over bread rolls from breakfast.

After all that, we'll all exhausted and jet-lagged and looking forward to a good first night of sleep in Addis.

God Bless.. and Chow!