A summary to start
with
The day started in the usual style – breakfast of omelettes
/ scrambled eggs / bread and jam (or in Dan and Jimmy’s cases – all 3!) – then
off on the vans to the project.
Everyone has settled into the rhythm of the programme now, and different classes were
enjoying all sorts of activities.
Carl and Goergia’s group, ably assisted by Jacob, Juliet,
Hannah, Dan and Mikayla started their day using a mini-Olympics as a method of
data collection that then went into a maths lesson. So the children enjoyed
getting timed on the 50m run, tossing the beanbag into circles of differnet
scores etc and then learning about mean, mode and median!
The oldest ones, under the eyes of Leonie and Ruth, Chandos,
Evie, Erin and Alex had another lesson of algebra which they all love doing,
before progressing onto ftiendship bracelets, learning the cup song and other
activities.
The littlest ones enjoyed a range of activities due to the
lower concentration levels, including dancing, play-dough, colouring, collages,
parachute etc. These were all led by Mel, Louise, Lexi, Angelica, Elias and JJ.
Jimmy and Kizzy led some whole team fun and games including
the dressing up game, which basicually involved most of our team members
donning a variety of hats, gloves, scarves, jackets and eye-patches, and the
kids doing a relay to ‘undress and redress’ them!!! Lots of fun was had by all.
The day at the project ended with free-play, and during that
time the last 2 groups went on home visits. These are described below, and
whilst we all see them as an integral part of the programme, as it helps us to
understand better the background to the lives of the children we are working
with, it is still very emotional and sometimes quite harrowing to see just how
appalling are the conditions that some people live in.
After the project, we had a special treat on the way home,
as we had been invited to visit a local family, who we got to know through
Angelica’s grandparents, and enjoy tea, cake, sodas, and the traditional coffee
ceremonay. It was interesting to see how a ‘middle class’ Ethiopian family
live, and it somewhat bridged the gap between the bottom end of life as seen on
home-visits, and the top end as experienced when we went for a swim at the
Hilton yesterday. A very special interlude in a busy week.
Tomorrow is the last day on the project – a time of
celebration and good-byes, so the emotions will be high again! All good stuff
though, and such a privilege to be out here seeing and serving an amazing
project in Women At Risk.
Home visit 1 – Helen
and Hannah
The home we visited was the home of Tukano who is a 12year
old lad at school with moderate cerebral palsy. He can walk, but unsteadily,
and needs assistance coping with steps and uneven ground. He also has
considerable associated learning difficulties, but is always smiling and keen
to be involved in everything going on.
When we got to where he lives, it was initially by way of
rough roads, and then we walked down a muddy uneven pathway off the road to
reach a doorway that we stooped through into a covered, pretty squalid, common
hallway to 4 single room shacks. The walls seemed to be a mixture of mud,
plastic sheets, old curtains, and anything else available, and the ground was
plastic on mud.
Tukano’s home consists of a tiny, single-room dwelling, that
has just enough room for a bed and a couple of stools and a set of drawers. The
light came from a single candle, as they can’t afford the electricity. The
cooking is done on a charcoal stove that is in the room with everything else;
and the toilet is the local river.
Tukano lives there with his mum, her husband, and his half
brother Aob who is 1 ½ yrs old and suffering from Down’s Syndrome. Tukano has
to walk to his school, even though walking is so hard for him, because they
can’t afford transport.
As we sat there and chatted with the mum, her story
gradually unfolded, which started when, age 14 and recently bereaved of her
mother, she went to Addis from her rural homeland to find work. She got a job
as a housemaid, but was severely abused both physically and sexually, so she
ran away. The next housemaid job she got turned out to be with a lady who ran a
brothel, and thus Tukano’s mum fell into prostitution, and Tukano was
conceived.
After 4 years of that sort of work, a friend told her about
Women at Risk, and thus started the climb out of prostitution to the life she
now leads. W.A.R provided her with health care, counseling, skills training,
food baskets, and a small allowance; and they also paid for Tukano to receive
physiotherapy such that he is now able to walk as he does today.
As an alternative income generator she makes beads out of
paper, and sells them via W.A.R . However, with Aob at home all the time, and
so very little space, she finds it very hard to get many beads made, so her
income continues to be very small.
This visit was painfully hard for me on many levels – the
simple fact of someone living in such appalling poverty was bad enough, but to
have to manage two disabled children in those conditions was an extra layer of
pain. And then there is the knowledge that in another society the boys could
have so much support and provision – items reasonably considered to be basic
human rights for those children, and yet largely denied them.
And on top of that is the story of how she got to being in
such a desperate situation – of the number of people who have failed her, of
the systems that have failed her, of society that has failed her.
Sitting in that dark little ‘room’ it was hard to feel much
hope, and yet thanks to Women at Risk there is some hope for Tukano at least –
he is smiling, has friends, goes to school and will be supported through school
and health issues until he is 18 years; without W.A.R he would probably still
be immobile on the floor.
Her story still needs a much happier ending than is has at
the moment, and all we can do is keep supporting Women at Risk and the work
they do, keep telling the story and keep praying.A couple of us prayed for the
family whilst we were there, but the prayers need to continue, for this family
and so many others like them. In some ways it doesn’t seem anywhere near
enough, but we aren’t called to individually change the world in its entirety, instead
just do what we can to make a difference in a positive way – and we can all do
that, inspired and spurred on by people like Tukano and Aob and family.
Home visit 2 – Kizzy,
Juliet and Gerogia
Tigist lives with her 3 year old daughter. As a teenager she
was brought to Addis by her aunt who had promised her an education and a better
life. But the realitly was very different. She was made to be a house maid for
her aunt and cousins and the education she was promised was a myth. It feels as
though it was only bait to lure her into the trap. Decieved by her only family
she left and soon fell pregnant by her boyfriend at the time. Like many others,
when he found out about the pregnancy he wanted nothing to do with her. To this
day he doesn't even know he has a daughter. 2 months after the baby was born,
with nothing to feed the baby, in desperation she turned to prostitution.
Recently, after 3 years of this lifestyle she hated ,she joined the W.A.R
programme. Tigist is only 23 years old.
This afternoon with Dan and Georgia, we visited Tigist's
home and she shared with us her heartbreaking story. It was poingnant that
Kizzy and Tigist are the same age yet their lives could not be more different.
For all of us it was
our first CRED trip and we had no idea what to expect from our home visit.When
the minibus pulled up we thought we might be visiting a modest but pleasant
house to our right which made it even more of a shock when our guide Brikite
took us to the left,across a sewage ditch and into a compound we would
probabaly best describe as a slum. We followed Brikite and Tigiist down a muddy
alley between canvas houses, dodging chickens as we went. We ducked through the
low front door and were welcomed into a room which at first we thought was just
a bedroom. Everyone was quite struck when we realised that was her entire
house. A double bed almost filled the room expect for a chest of drawers and a
small bench. It was remarklable that we even managed to fit everyone in. At
first we were all timid and unsure where to begin. Tigist very much made sure
were all comfortable and was kind to us but her face gave away a sadness beneath
the surface.
She told us that her rent for the house was 400 birr a
month, over half of her allowence from W.A.R. and so she washes clothes to
supplement her income. She told us how her daughter used to be insulted by
others because her mum was a prostitute. She had heard about W.A.R from friends
who had completed the programme and was inspired to change her life in the same
way. Although she is the early stages of the programme she said that her life
is better already as she doesnt have to go out and work at night but can spend
time with her daughter and wake up with her unashamed. This year she wants to
gain a food preparation qualification and we hope and pray that if we were to
visit her in a few years time we would see a different picture. As it is we all
left humbled and in tears struggling to imagine living life as she does. We
were really inspired by her strength and it brought to life how vital the
W.A.R. programme is for women in Tigist's situation.
Straight from the school the whole group went to visit the
family of an ex-politician for coffee. They were so warm and hospitable and it
was a great experience but the shock from going between 2 extremes of Ethiopian
lifestyle in such a short space of time was hard to take.
Tukano whose home some of the team visited. |
at Tukano's home |
entrance to Tukano's home |
enjoying the hospitality of a Brukie and family |
at Tigist's home |
entrance to Tigist's home |
1 comment:
When we didn't get a blog yesterday I assumed their was an Internet outage or some technical
Issue, and I hoped there wasn't any other problem. But, I was relieved to get your double whammy of blogs today.
Your experiences yesterday certainly tested your range of emotions - the teachers and carers in you all in the morning , then witnessing the hardships in the afternoon and finally the welcome & generosity of Brukkie and her family in the afternoon.
You have all done amazing work in the week you have been there and I know that you will return to UK with incredible memories if not as changed people on one way or another.
Love Julia, Dale & Ethan
Angelica - it seems Brukkie & her family were very excited to meet you. I hope you remembered their little gifts. X
Post a Comment