December 4th 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Another few weeks have flown by full of Go-Karts, Rastafarians, latrine pits, more close calls than I care to remember on the Ethiopian highways, long waits at regional airports, and more churches carved out of solid rock than you can shake a processional cross at.

Often Rachael and I were asked what’s the most fun thing we have done since we got to Ethiopia. That is a great question but until a few weeks ago we would have to respond that nothing really jumped out as the most fun. We would explain that while the whole experience has been great we have not yet had time to do anything that would stand out above other things. That all came to a crashing halt when we discovered that just down the road from our house is a real life Ethiopian Go-Kart track! I like Go-Karts period but the Ethiopian ones are crazy. It is like they used to be, you can bump and crash into each other and nobody says a thing. It is also challenging in that you have to dodge the nuts and bolts that fall off of the carts in front of you.

We also had yet to experience any cultural dances or ceremonies, and then we spent a week in Shashemene. Shashemene is the most practical place for us to stay when we are working in Arsi, where the water project we have been working on is being implemented. It is also a unique place in the world in that it is a bit of a haven for Rastafarians from the whole world. The man Ras Tafari whom Rastafarians believe was the living god was also known by the throne name Haile Selassie. He was the last emperor of Ethiopia. To thank African Americans for financial and moral support during the Italian Ethiopian war, he made a large amount of land available to African Americans in the town of Shashemene; mostly Rastafarians have taken advantage of the opportunity.

We arrived in town as the annual celebration of the coronation of Haile Selassie was winding down. Our hotel was host to some of this celebrating, and Rachael and I went one night. I have never seen pot smoked with such openness before (Rastafarians use Ganja as part of their religious experience). There were probably 50 people in attendance; the rest had already wandered home. There was loud dance music and the young boys were “toasting” (kinda like rapping) over the music, and all the kids were dancing as their parents got high. Marijuana is not illegal in Ethiopia. We of course did not join in the smoking but from the smell of the whole hotel we could have been arrested on probable cause had we been in the States.

While we were staying in Shashemene our days were spent gathering materials and building four water catchment/animal shelters/latrines in the surrounding villages. It is a pretty ingenious unit that takes care of three of the most important needs for health in the area. Rain falling on the roof is collected in a large storage tank. Two thirds of the structure is used as a secure place for families to store small livestock safely from Hyenas. Animals are incredibly valuable to these families and to keep them safe from hyenas (a very serious threat here) they keep the animals inside their house. As a result children are sleeping on the same floor that animals relieve themselves on. The remaining space in the structure is used for a pit latrine, without a latrine the families just go to the bathroom in the yard leaving the waste open where children play. It is a huge help for health in these areas.

The structures are the passion of a donor from the states who was with us as we began the initial construction. And as a very generous thank you he gave Rachael and I a trip to Lalibela, Ethiopia. Lalibela is a world heritage site because of the 11 churches carved out of solid rock. We flew up for two nights and received private tours of all the churches, including a monastery that for protection from enemies was carved into the top of a mountain over 10,000 feet above sea level. This was cool enough to trump the Go-Karts. We rode mules from our hotel approx. 7 km to the church; only walking when it was too steep for the mules to carry us (I was amazed how steep it had to get to be too steep!). My mule was named Solame which in Ethiopian Orthodox (one of the oldest Christian faiths in the world) lore was Mary’s midwife for the birth of the savior, just when you thought your nativity was complete you find out that you are missing Solame. It was an amazing trip, one that I would love to repeat.

As our experience here is drawing to a finish (hopefully an anti-climatic one) I know that boarding the plane to leave will be a bitter sweet experience, we have made so many wonderful friends that we would have probably never had the opportunity to meet and ironically enough most of them are from North America. I will miss the African sunset with acacia trees silhouetted on the horizon. I will miss all the children that run along with me on my morning jogs (I will not miss them asking me for money or a pen or my shoes). I will miss the wonderful members of our church that we have gotten to know and have been so kind to us. I will not miss cold showers and being out of water for a couple days at a time. I will not miss hand washing underwear. I will not miss anything about driving here. I will not miss the early morning calls to prayer (I will miss a culture where it is socially acceptable to let others know that you pray).

We are excited to return home. I am excited to go skiing. I am excited to see my family, and Rachael’s family. I am excited for clean water that comes out of faucets that are inside the home. Ethiopia is a great place for so many reasons but America is my home and I will be there soon. Thank you again for everything. I hope to see you soon.

Love,

Gavin

P.S. pictures are below.

(if you look closely you can see one of the many clever ways goats are transported on the Ethiopian highways. This picture was taken just as we were driving into the capital city.)

(Sitting in traffic is not so bad when you have a view like this guy. Traffic is bad when you have to breathe the fumes from the truck he is on.)

(I have wanted to eat here since we arrived, it was not as exciting as the sign promised, we did not even try the food.)

(This is probably the first time these children have seen their reflection.)

(We did not intend to capture this woman picking her nose but some things just work out.)

(GO UTES!!!)

(I am in the habit of shaking out my shoes before I put them on, to shake out pebbles or spiders. I honestly have never found anything other than a pebble, until one morning this frog fell out of my left shoe. I will continue to shake out my shoes.)

(Lalibela.)

(The ride to the monastery.)

(Life is good at the top of the mountain!)