Thoughts.com Blogs - My blog.. FINALLY!

Sorry everyone! I was having some trouble with internet access and setting up a new blog. I am unable to access the blog that I had started back in Canada due to restrictions on websites here in Ethiopia.

So here are a couple blog entries that I wrote in my first week.

I will post weekly updates from now on, as well as some pictures!

I’m off to Ethiopia!

I left for Ethiopia, Addis Ababa last night. I will be there for 5.5 months on an internship with the Ethiopian Nurses Association (ENA) as an Information Management Officer. As an information management officer, I will be helping the ENA with: the membership database, extending their knowledge of certain programs, and building their capacity to troubleshoot. You’re probably wondering how I acquired this work and what my role entails, so I’ll give you some background information. My internship is through the NetCorps program which started back in 1997. Starting this year, the NetCorps program is being funded by the Canadian Development Agency (CIDA). CIDA’s mandate: Supporting sustainable development, reducing poverty and providing humanitarian assistance in order to promote a more secure, equitable and prosperous world. The overall goal of their internships is to increase Canada’s progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). NetCorps helps young professionals to obtain experience overseas working in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). The NetCorps coalition partners with several partners to provide these internships. One of these partners is the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH). CSIH is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to promote international health and development. They also have many partners, with which they collaborate on for internships. In my case, that partner is the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). The CNA is the national voice of nursing in Canada and the roots of the organization stemmed from international health. My internship falls under the Strengthening Nurses and Nursing Associations Project (SNNAP), which began in 2002. The ENA is one of the nursing associations that the CNA has partnered up with for this project. [I hope this is all starting to make sense now, but I have provided a flow chart to make it clearer]

The flight from Toronto to Amsterdam was uneventful… thankfully. My flight to Addis doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning… so I guess I will need to find something to do to kill some time until then. I started reading a book my sister and nephew bought for me, African languages. Right now I’m trying to learn how to count in Amharic, which is the official language of Ethiopia.

Counting to Ten in Amharic (spelt phonetically)

0 – ze-ro
1 – and
2 – hu-luht
3 – sost
4 – ar-at
5 – am-mist
6 – si-dist
7 – suh-bat
8 – si-mint
9 – zu’tuhny
10 – a-sir

I can’t wait to arrive in Addis! I have always wanted to travel to Africa, and I’m really excited that I’m actually able to do this. Alright, I’m going to take a nap. It’s 12:00 here in Amsterdam, but 06:30 Cdn time… But before I do that, I just want to thank everyone for all the support, well wishes, and prayers. It means a lot to me. So, THANK YOU! :D

Ciao (that’s bye in Amharic) for now!

Harp PS – I wrote this right after I got off the plane from Toronto. My stay in Amsterdam was almost 1 day, and I decided to just hang around the airport. That nap I was referring to… yeah, it didn’t happen. I barely slept during my 2 days of travel to get here L But you’ll be happy to know that I actually got 8 hours of sleep last night! :D Now if only my body could acclimatize to the altitude.

I MADE IT HERE!

Yesterday (Oct. 24th) is the day I had my first Ethiopian meal. Prior to my departure, everyone kept telling me Ethiopian food was great and that I should try some before I leave. However, I wanted to hold out until I got here and could eat an authentic meal. I hadn’t really slept, since I arrived in Addis late at night, so I just met everyone from the ENA office (which is only 3 people!) for lunch. We went to a restaurant just between where I’m living and the ENA office.

My family was worrying I wasn’t going to eat anything here and basically stuffed me full of food before I left. However, they need not worry because the food is great and leaves you very full.

Traditional Ethiopian food is served on injera, which is like a huge pancake made from sour dough. Meals are shared, meaning everyone eats from the same dish and uses their hands to rip off pieces of injera and dip it into the different dishes. People also feed each other at times, and this is called gursha. Right now my favourite dish is shiro, which is a chick pea paste with onions and spices. It’s more difficult to get vegetarian dishes on non-fasting days, like today, but we found a place that me shiro just for me :D (most of the meat dishes include lamb and beef) Aside: The population in Ethiopian is predominately Muslim or Orthodox Christian. The latter do not consume meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, hence, fasting days. You actually just have to ask say fasting food, and they bring out the dishes they have on the fasting days. So, basically all I’ve done so far is eat, and a lot because I didn’t want to offend my new co-workers.

I'll post more updates soon!

ciao!