Where we are

Even though Ejigu and I were in the midst of a ridiculously long day of dealing with slimey build material providers, I was able to work with Temesgin and a couple of guys in the workcrew to set some 50 odd posts and get a majority of the fences framing up.  As long as the wood keeps coming it will be finished by Wednesday   Then its finally time to start framing out the buildings.

Meleces, Marah, and Arakin cutting the fence timbers to size.

Temesgin readying the first post.  Notice all the others ready to go, and the clay filler (awesome for a strong pack) being
toted into place by the workers behind him.

The primary structure of the fence.  Each post is placed at least 80cm in the ground.  That's nearly 3 feet.  Folks here think were crazy (in most cases, people dont bury their timbers more then 30cm into the ground), but with proper maintenance  we are planning on this fence being hear for decades to come.  

Sure its kind of boring but the right preparation, leads to a true, and level product.
Your looking at perfectly inline post holes for the schools rear exterior walls.  The
string on the left shows the ground at level.  We dug on average 30 cm. to create two
equal footprints of 12 mtr x 8 mtr.  The library, office, and outdoor reading area (not shown)
got the same treatment.

This is the view that I have been using and will continue to do so, for showing every day progress of the build.  In a few months the shots will make for an epic time lapse.

A few shots from the last couple days

The work crew enjoying some down time with Lolo 

Usual scene during the mid afternoon water break.  

Azedebo essentials.  The formula is for the ever growing Lolo.

 The land is ready.  We are finaly working with timbers starting tomorrow.

The first of many orders of wood. 

Afterwork snack with the fam.  Warmed gudari (a purple potato like tuber), with a spicey garlic sauce.

My new habasha paents sharing a laugh with me.

Another day on the job with the community

Our days are composed of a mesh of sweat equity and community immersion.  One of the reasons why ER’s grassroots work is so effective is because our field team makes it our mission to become a part of the community we work alongside.  It is not easy, and by no means are Ejigu and I experts, but over the course of the last three years we have learned how to let the right walls down while still remaining comfortable in a foreign environment.  Butter salt coffee with village elders, volleyball with the teenagers, learning the local languages with the work crew all are small exercises of assimilation.  During this build I have moved in with an entire family, while Ejigu and Temesgin have moved into an unused building within the school compound.  Since, I have become the eldest son of loving habasha parents, while Ejigu and Temesgin now spend their nights relaxing with the teachers and administrators responsible for educating a majority of the community. 

These choices go along way with the beneficiaries to ER’s work.  By living as the community does, openly participating, and thought fully engaging those that we share space with, we become welcomed into the community. ER’s standing then grows dramatically as direct result of the connections we make, and the lives we live while here.  People begin to associate ER with our own actions, and lifestyles.  And I am confident that when I say that is a wonderful thing. Because even though many other NGO’s have come before us and faltered in KT, when the build is finished in Azedebo, the community will not only be empowered through ER’s development programming, but the community will know that ER sincerely cares on an individual level.  My team and I may be in Washo or Fundamo in a few months, but our actions and attitude will leave legacy that our ER programming will build upon into the future.

The following photos were taken today during the course of the usual work day.   Ill take the time to craft individual blogs to showcase the wonder that is coffee spiced with salt and butter. Of course none of the photos related to this post were able to load.  Expect those tomorrow.  As well as some shots of the freshly ordered timbers.  

Ejigu and Lolo looking over  Agoat and Meleces' work.  

A view from just beyond the bathrooms SW corner 

Loading up one of thousands of barrelas to level the land and gather soil for the cob.

Daniel assisting in clearing the compound of weeds for a an eventual lush grass field for the community

Finishing leveling the land for the framing and foundation of the library space

Temesgin catching up with Sallamnesh over the phone.  She will be with us by the end of the week. She is currently finishing u a construction gig in Addis this week.

Where I lay my head

So I've been in Azedebo for almost a week and a half, and have yet to share where I lay my head.  So here are a few shots of the family's home and compound that I am happily staying in.  Its Sunday, so most of the family is either at church or seeing fam and friends in the area.  But be sure that Ill have another blog introducing you to my new family.

Most folks that are familiar with how we usually do our builds probably were expecting my crew and I all to be living under one roof.  The house is usually donated by the community, or we pay a small, but fair amount to the homeowner (who usually ownes another property that they then move into).  That wasn't possible in Azedebo.  The small town, didnt have to many places to offer, and those they did, were owned by some not too kind people.  Rather then providing us a fair rent, they saw an opportunity to make money, and proceeded to try to make a ridiculous amount.  In addition, the community rests on a main thoroughfare, and with that comes many of the passerby's and young men with idle hands that love hanging out on the road.  As result, well its not the safest place for a few foreigners that are assumed to have plenty of cash and fancy stuffs laying about.  

Safty is of the upmost importance, and unfortunately its not always the wildlife we are forced to worry about.  So we worked with the local officials and community leaders to get Ejigu, Temesgin and Sallamnesh a place within the school compound that overlooks our build site.  There are two security guards, and it known that unless you farm on rented school property, strangers are not welcome in the schools compound. While Lolo and I, and all of our fancy stuff moved in with a village elder and his family.  His house is literally across the blindingly dusty road from the school, so its plenty close, we have a big wall, and my "father" is very well respected so I am plenty safe.  Dont fret.

The basic set up is, Lolo and I live in a spare room in the main house.  The family was using it for storage space, and now I get to use the old cabinet and broken fridge for my own storage. Because my days (7am-6 pm) are spent at the job site or at at my crews place of living, I really am only around for the evenings.  But as one can imagine they are usually short lived.  8 hours of 34.5 C heat at 2500 meters wears you down a bit. I do manage to make it to family dinner every night, which the mother and father especially enjoy.  And its great for my Amharic, and local languages, because no one speaks a lick of English.

Ill share more about my life with the family in future posts.  For the time being welcome to Lolo and I's new home.

My bedroom.  Notice... I have a socket on the wall.

My families swanky dinning area

Lolo and the 40 or so chickens are working on their relationship.  The family and I always get a chuckle from the spats.

My not so secret garden, the chicken coop and the families farm hand

Family compound: Their convenience store on the left (faces the road) cooking area, animal and food storage, in the front and the living quarters on the right.  Its a nice spread.

Lolo, the compounds new guard puppy

Sunday = loud churches, me typing, and lots of laundry being done.

The families mango/coffee/banana grove.  There's also a few types of tubers and guards packed in as well.

My Sunday place of business.  Under the shade of a mango tree. Doi. I am still looking for a suitable set up for my hammock.

Readying the land

Just a few photos of the first couple days of digging and moving land.  We dont have nearly the amount of work we had in Kololo so its going fast.  The land should be completely leveled, and all the holes will be positioned and dug to proper depth by Wednesday.  Here is a few photos of the work and progress thus far.

A panoramic view of the job site.  Ill be tking plenty of photos from this point to show the build progress

Temesgin working on one of the 200 or so post holes

Prepping the land for taking proper bathroom measurements 

Community working together to level the land before building can begin

Time away spent well

For the past few days Lolo (the pup’s new name, I’ll explain later) and I have been traveling around Kembata-Tembaro with the incredible folks from Mudula Water and Clinic at a Time.  During my two and half days away from the jobsite, Ejigu and Temesgin worked together to guide the 20 person work crew through digging nearly 200 post holes.  Their and the communities effort was a success, and my trip with Liz McGovern and co. was an amazing one. All the landscaping was well executed, and my time away was inspiring, to say the very least.

Liz worked with an amazing group of very invested donors to coordinate an amazing two week visit of numerous current, and potential Ethiopian projects.  During my couple days with the group we delivered critical materials to four separate health centers (one of which is the relocated clinic that I journeyed to to have my arm relocated), visited new and old build sites (Kololo, and Azedebo) and spent time touring potential referal  health care facilities in Kembata-Tembaro for Mudula Waters Mid-wife program.  The group was great, everyone was incredibly positive, and always so very happy to see and often hold Lolo.  Its funny how she deflects nearly all of the attention from the 8-14 ferengies where ever we are. Seriously its pretty crazy. 

The following is a few shots of our time in Ambakuna, Mudula, and Kololo.  There is a lot more Id like to share, but tonight's uploads were averaging 35 minutes a photo :-/.  Hey but at least I have internet out here ... right?

The Ambakuna community eagerly assisting us in unloading much needed and appreciated materials

A shadowy shot of Liz and co, and the Ambakuna staff

Spotted this hot rad little number a day or two after the vote

A nice show of bright eyes and big smiles from a few Kololo kids

Two Kololo students posing infront of the school on their way home for lunch

Background on the big summer merger

I want to take the time to share a Ethiopia Reads news letter with all those wondering (it may not be many, but just in case) about why ER is now the implementing body behind my work rather than The Tesfa Foundation. The following will help answer a few potential questions, and give you all a solid update on a couple of my employers.

Over the last eight years, with your support, the Tesfa Foundation has accomplished much. Together we have
built and staffed eight schools; trained and supported dozens of educational professionals; and provided many
young Ethiopian athletes with education and vocational training. We are extremely proud of these undertakings and are grateful to you for your support of education, opportunity and community improvement for so very many
underprivileged people in Ethiopia.

Since our inception, the Tesfa Foundation has collaborated with other non-profit organizations when appropriate. Over the course of the last two years, we have increasingly worked alongside Ethiopia Reads, a well-respected organization that believes deeply in education by way of literacy and that was originally created ten years ago to put more books into more hands of more Ethiopians. Tesfa's own Executive Director, Dana Roskey, has spent these last two years implementing and supervising Ethiopia Reads' programming in Ethiopia and advising its U.S. board of directors. During this time, we at the Tesfa Foundation have learned how very much our own mission overlaps with that of Ethiopia Reads.

In order to maximize resources for both organizations in implementing one shared vision, the board of directors
Tesfa Foundation has voted to combine our efforts and name Ethiopia Reads as the lead implementing agency for our educational programming. That means that these programs will become Ethiopia Reads programs, with the Tesfa Foundation as a funding partner. Donations made to the Tesfa Foundation for any of our projects that have moved to Ethiopia Reads will still be applied to those projects. It should also be noted that the Tesfa Foundation UK remains in place, and retains its own direct link to Tesfa programming in Ethiopia.

We believe this change will positively affect our programming, starting specifically with our recently declared
goal to bring more schools to the Kembata-Tembaro region of Ethiopia. This objective will now be that much
easier to attain as Ethiopia Reads has a strong ongoing relationship with government agencies in Ethiopia, the
Tesfa staff and Executive Director in Ethiopia will continue to implement these programs as they work for Ethiopia Reads and as many of our board members move to the Ethiopia Reads board of directors.

Of course, you too will be instrumental in our continued success. We hope that you will maintain your commitment to education in Ethiopia and to our programming in there. We have only accomplished what we have so far because of you, and the future will only be bright if you accompany us. Please, join us at Ethiopia Reads!

Those of you enrolled with the Tesfa Foundations for automatic donations need not make any changes.

With sincere gratitude for your longstanding and continued support, and on behalf of everyone at the Tesfa
Foundation,

Project updates and an overview of my trip with Mudula Water/ Clinic at a Time soon to come.