I never thought of myself as privileged until moving to Addis Ababa. There are many thoughts and emotions that have crossed my mind since landing in Ethiopia, but one that seems most prevalent is, why me?
After being here for 5 days, I am starting to settle in quite nicely. It is a completely different way of life here at Bingham Academy (the school where I am teaching and living). We usually eat dinner early in the evening, and you very rarely eat alone. You are living in a community and you get to take advantage of dining with other staff members and their families. Everyone leaves their doors unlocked, even the classroom doors. No one is allowed inside of Bingham without permission. We have guards that regulate who comes in and out, so you don’t have to worry about your belongings being taken. I have been given my own apartment, and I will have a house helper assigned to me. She will help with my cleaning, laundry, and cooking on the days she comes to help. This is normal for foreigners in the city. Foreigners pay their house helper a very small wage, but it provides much more than many of the other jobs. Having a house helper, is a way to help support a family here.
These are the things about Ethiopia that I have come to love in my short time here. When I describe all of these things, I’m sure it makes some of you envious of the life I am living. It is pretty great! I start to like it more and more each day I spend here, but it does not come without its trials. If I did not have Bingham, I’m not sure how I would be feeling on day 5.
I’ve never seen anything quite like Ethiopia. I’ve experienced culture shock since the beginning of the ride home from the airport. The city is huge, and there are millions of people who live here. The driving is CRAZY! There seems to be no method to the madness. People pull out in front of each other, people drive on the wrong side of the road. There seems to be no rules, but yet I am told that somehow it works. The roads are crowded and they are often shut down. But what is even more shocking than the driving, is the number of people that are walking. I come from a city that doesn’t even have public transportation. I never see anyone walking unless it’s for exercise. However, here in Addis, there are more people walking than driving or riding in the crowded streets. Women, men, and children, walking to their destinations, often times carrying very heavy loads or herding sheep or goats.
The power in most third world countries is either non-existent or unreliable, and the same goes for Ethiopia. Since I have been here, there have been 3 power outages. The power goes out unannounced, and you don’t know when it will come back on. It has typically been coming back on 3-4 hours later. This has become normal for the people living here. They have candles placed around their houses in every room, and they have activities that they do to keep them busy in the dark. It doesn’t seem to faze them; it’s just a part of life.
The food here in the stores is very cheap from our American perspectives. I bought a whole carton of strawberries for less than $.20 USD. I got more vegetables than I would normally buy on a grocery trip for $2.00 USD. It is unreal, how inexpensive things are here. But that is from my ignorant perspective. I read a statistic in my community manual that said the average American consumes as much as 520 Ethiopians in a year. The groceries that I bought for myself yesterday, would probably be enough to feed dozens over the next couple of weeks. The prices have to be cheap or the local people would not eat.
I really don’t know what to do with everything I am seeing and taking in while I observe the culture and customs of the local people. There is no way I could leave this experience unchanged. I will never go back to America with the same mindset. My prayer to God is why me? Why am I the privileged foreigner who doesn’t have to worry about where my next meal will come from? Why have I been so materially blessed while others go without? What am I supposed to do with the knowledge of this world around me, and how can I help the people?
No comments:
Post a Comment