Addis Ababa - Part I: The Mercado

In late May, I spent about ten days in Addis for a conference on HIV/AIDs. While the conference was a mixture of information and politics, another part of my education came from the time I spent in Addis. I arrived on a Friday evening at Bole International airport with colleagues also attending the conference and their family members. I was initially struck by how cool the weather was and realized that – like Kigali – Addis is also at an elevation.

I could not see much of the city as the hotel shuttle whizzed through darkened streets. But, from what I could see of it, I knew that Addis was a much bigger town than Kigali and, like my colleagues, I was excited to be in a new place. Ado Solomon, who greeted us at the airport, and drove us to the hotel pointed out shadowy buildings and would indicate whether it was a palace or a church. I asked him about the recent elections and he said that it would take many days to know the results of the election. I also asked him about the Mercado since I had heard that it was an amazing market – not to be missed – and my colleagues and I wanted to plan a trip there. He let me know the hours and, before I knew it, we arrived at the hotel.

Early the next day after breakfast, my colleagues and I set out for the Mercado, which is the largest open air market in Africa (or so I was told repeatedly). We rented a taxi and were dropped off at in an area that didn’t much look like a large open air market. We started to walk around and saw a lot of goats just sitting in the middle of a busy street. But, still, we could not figure out where the fabric stores were or all the other types of shops we were told about. However, as we were walking around a little lost, we were approached by a few guys who offered to serve as guides through the market. My colleague picked one who didn’t use a hard sell approach and Fikadou became our guide.

Fikadou really knew his way around the Mercado. But, he walked quickly and it was difficult for one of my colleagues and his wife to keep up since they had their baby with them. Within a few minutes, we entered an area that looked like an open air market and started to pass stall after stall with all kinds of goods – arts, crafts, antiques, appliances, house hold goods, gold, silver, and food stores with colorful red chilies and spices. We wove our way through a maze of shops –crossing a couple of busy streets, ducking out of the way of traffic, donkeys and goats -- headingtowards the section called shemawat (hope I got this right) with Ethiopian fabric stores. Two of us wanted to buy shawls, and we did find stores that sold beautiful shawls.

Although I have never really been much of a shopper, the Mercado brought out the shawlaholic in me, and I ended up buying more than a few shawls. After the first set of purchases, we headed towards the section of the Mercado that sold the antiques and crafts. Along the way, one of my colleagues, his wife and child decided to head to another part of town to get coffee because they were tired of running around.

So, Fikadou was left with two of us. He took us to a shop and, since I did not have much interest in the antiques, I started to walk around and look at nearby stalls. But, within a few minutes, I was pulled back into the stall and given a stool to sit on while my colleague negotiated for some antiques that she wanted to buy. During the negotiations, we were given macchiatos (a very good and potent local coffee drink). I ended up looking around the store and found one item that I really liked. So, I too started to negotiate on a price and, before long, the shopkeeper and I found a price that we both agreed on. My colleague eventually got the items she wanted and traded a digital camera for a portion of the asking price.

While sitting on the stool, I realized that I needed dishware and cutlery in Kigali since I would not have those things when I returned. So, while my colleague finished up her deal, I left with Fikadou and went out to another part of the Mercado. I ended up getting everything I needed including dishware, glasses, coffee cups, and cutlery for the unheard of price of $30. Yes, you can find some of the most amazing bargins at this market! By the time I got back to the antique shop, my colleague had returned to the hotel because the shopkeeper had offered her a ride. So, I took the opportunity to set out to yet another part of the Mercado to buy a few more things. It started to rain and became really muddy. But, after an hour, I came back to the antique shop where I had been allowed to leave my dishware and other purchases. Just as I got there, the shop keeper showed up and insisted on also giving me a ride back to the hotel since I was ‘his customer' too. I paid Fikadou for his work as our guide and headed out with the shop keeper.

Again, I'm not sure why i'm amazed by unexpected generosity but i was touched. I tried to pay the shop keeper for the ride, but he would not let me. It was something he wanted to do, he told me. The ride back was a little scary since there was no seat belt in the car and the traffic there does not always follow the rules of the road. But, I got back to the hotel and even learned a little about Ethiopian music on the ride back. I enjoyed immensely my adventure in the Mercado, and I’d recommend a visit there to anyone who makes it to Addis in the near or distant future! It’s truly an amazing community of shop keepers, guides, and a mish mosh of humanity.

Day to Day

During my fellowship orientation some months ago, I was told that it might be wiser not to write about my work – for obvious reasons – in a public forum. Consequently, I have purposely limited the references here to work and am trying to focus on those things I am learning outside of work. However, I will say that it is a complex, political environment and I am learning a lot at work and outside too.

The government of Rwanda (GOR) seems committed to scaling up HIV/AIDs programs and to the three ones - one national strategic framework, a coordinated approach to partners, and one monitoring and evaluation system. So far, Rwanda has done well in exceeding targets set for it in the treatment and care of people with HIV/AIDs. But, like many other countries, it faces challenges including the need for more trained health care professionals (particularly post genocide). The goal of the coordinated approach is to prevent a duplication of efforts and to ensure that coverage and treatment of individuals with HIV/AIDS is maximized. In adopting this approach, there is a commitment to spending funds efficiently and, more importantly, helping as many people as possible.

My fellowship – while giving me exposure to the topics above – is currently focused on working with local staff in my office. The office here is attempting to set up management systems. It has been interesting to learn about how US agencies function aboard and how they have set up a common, collaborative system for basic services in order to reduce overhead costs. Like the GOR, the USG seems to be striving for efficiency. It’s not easy here and, in many aspects of this experience, I found that people make assumptions – which are sometimes counterproductive at the least and, well, just inappropriate at its worst. In coming months, I hope to get more exposure to technical issues and pick up a technical portfolio. But, more later.

Akagera Game Park

May 2005

I went to Akagera the first weekend in May at the invitation of people I had only recently met. I appreciated their generosity – especially to someone they don’t really know. I’m not sure why I’ve been surprised, but many people I have met here are generous and offer a lot without thought or expectation of reciprocity. It’s good to be reminded of this and these gestures seem so unexpected – just because I am not used to them in New York.

So, as a follow up to my previous post, I found out that Rwanda does have mandatory community service days and witnessed it for myself. This practice, which is called umuganda (and is not unique to Rwanda), apparently now occurs from 9 am to noon the first Saturday of every month after previously being held on the Fridays. The Saturday morning we left for Akagera was a community service day and, while we were allowed to travel outside the
city without being stopped because of license plates that
clearly indicated we were foreigners, many cars with
Rwandan license plates were stopped on the side of the road.
People were lined up outside their cars, perhaps to pay fines
and then to participate in the national and mandatory
community service.

The two hour drive to Akagera was interesting. Just outside
of Kigali, the scenery changes dramatically and there are
fields of crops such as corn, sugar, and houses with fences
made of live plants. The road to Akagera was well paved for
the first hour, and we passed small towns with mud and brick houses. Because it was a community service day, it seemed as if every person
in these small towns was out and on the side of the road.
And, they stared as the car passed through their towns.
Some people, particularly children, waved at us, and we
waved back, but many others had a stern look on their
faces – as if to say that it was not appropriate to be traveling
on umuganda.

As we neared the park, the road changed and was unpaved.
Since it had rained a lot, the tall grass and thicket-like trees
looked green and lush. The road was red, may be from the
clay in the dirt, and it was often bumpy and filled with
potholes. The land also flattened out near the park, as it is on the
border with Tanzania.

Akagera was a nice entry into the world of wild animals.
During the war, the Akagera game lodge hotel was
abandoned and was taken over by baboons. And, even now,
the baboons behave as if humans are a pesky nuisance and
roam the hotel freely. I saw a baboon walking the grounds of
the hotel when we first arrived. And, I was a little mesmerized
by the whole troop, which I soon met near the hotel pool.

The baboons camp out in close proximity to the pool
because it has tables where people eat and drink. They wait for
opportunities to steal food, water bottles and, yes, beer.
When careless guests walk away from their food or drink,
the baboons make their way from the grass and
trees directly behind the pool, climb up a short brick wall,
and perch on the wall’s ledge while they grab their goodies
– usually before anyone is the wiser. And, even when you
can see it coming, you might just freeze as I did the first
afternoon of my trip.

A baboon slinked up the wall and sat on the ledge about two
feet away from me. And, in a quick move, the baboon stuck out its long, thin brown furry arm and its black, padded digits towards the
cup of coffee on the table next to me. I could not believe that
I was so close to a baboon and just stared at it. But, the
people behind me started to make a noise and then a waiter chased
it away. I kind of wished they had just been quiet since it
would have been fun to see, if the baboon would have stayed
on the ledge after he picked up the cup of coffee.

Later that afternoon, I walked over to a tree behind the pool
where the baboons congregated to eat berries. Again, I was able to get
just a few feet away and watch them jump from one tree
branch to another. They’re mischievous and playful creatures
and I loved watching them eat, play, and plot to take
food and beers from the guests.

Early the second morning of my stay at the lodge, I went out
on a drive in a modified, school-bus that was only covered on
the sides and top with canvas – not much protection from the
animals we hoped to see. When we stopped at the ranger’s
office to pay entry into the park after leaving the lodge, a
section of our group went behind the building. After a few
minutes, the driver of the bus came in and asked us to join
the rest of the group. He had given me a pair of binoculars
and, with a little direction from another group member, I
focused in on three giraffes moving through the landscape in
the valley below. There were two adults and a baby giraffe.
And, they seemed to saunter through the area. Next to them,
the trees looked small and overshadowed. Too bad we could
not get any closer but it was still nice to see them.

During the four hour drive that first took us up some hills and
exposed us to amazing vistas, we saw impala, antelopes and
a lot of interesting birds. The red, clay filled road was still
such a beautiful contrast to the tall, green grass that was peppered
with small white and yellow butterflies and purple and yellow wildflowers. (I may have said this before, but Rwanda is breathtaking and gorgeous!!)

The guide on the bus initially kept apologizing for not seeing
any of the big animals, but I was taking in the soothing
scenery. My one regret was not being able to get a camera
before leaving the States since things just got too hectic.
But, the absence of a camera forced me to really enjoy the
moment and, while some of the other hotel guests were
scrambling to get good shots of the animals we eventually
encountered, I could just sit back.

After about an hour into the trip, the driver cut the engine of
the bus. I couldn’t figure out why until I looked straight
ahead and saw black and white stripes. We came upon a
group of zebras (and from the sight of them, pretty well fed).
A long time ago, someone told me that zebra stripes are not
identical. And, since this was my first encounter with a herd
of Zebras, I started looking at them closely and did notice
differences in the group. Zebras look a lot like horses and,
unlike some of the impalas we ran into, they stayed clear of
our bus. The entire group backed up when the driver
turned on the engine and slowly moved towards them.

After seeing more antelope and some rare birds, our
bus made its way down to one of the lakes in a network of
water ways that serves as a natural divide between Tanzania
and Rwanda. The scenery changed and we moved into a
palpably warmer climate. When we neared the lake, we
saw that there were hippos in the water. The bus got within a
few feet of the water where the hippos were cooling
themselves off. Although it was only about 10:30 in the
morning when we got to the lake, it was getting progressively
hotter and I kind of envied the hippos. We
saw at least two groups of hippos and a couple of them
snorted at us – as if to say, keep your distance. A
couple of the hippos looked like they were swimming but it
was really hard to tell since they just keep their very round
eyes and ears above water. It was a great sight! But, I hope
to see the hippos out of the water sometime – although that
is when they are at their most dangerous and can charge a
vehicle.

After viewing the hippos, we moved along to another part of
the lake and found an elephant (named Solitaire) in the park.
The elephant was also in the water, which was good since he has
run after people and vehicles in the last month. There are
people who monitor the animals and this elephant was tame before the
war but -- for some reason – does not like people now. So, we
were warned to keep a healthy distance and did not get very
close at all.

After the game drive, I spent the rest of the afternoon
roasting in the sun and catching up on some sleep before
heading back to Kigali. It was an amazing experience, and I
hope to have the chance to visit the park again in the future or another one where I can see more animals up close. Although Akagera is
known to have a lion and rhino, we were not lucky enough to see them
this time but I still loved the experience and the entire
weekend! And, just before I left, I saw the baboons plotting
to take advantage of another unsuspecting guest. I have a feeling that - if the baboons have their way – I will come back one day and find them lounging by the pool with big beer belies and concocting a plot to raid the hotel kitchen!

A little behind

Because of power outages and a crazy work schedule, I have not been able to post as often as I wanted. However, i have been keeping a journal and will transfer things to this site periodicallly (or en masse whenever possible)!