Hawassa

Lake Hawassa

Birds by Lake Hawassa

Treats from Hawassa

I've been making a lot if soups. There's a Peace Corps Ethiopia cook book that I have a copy of so I'm going to do more experimenting.

Health Center

Hand washing instruction mural at the health center, made by the last volunteer at my site

Room for pregnant mothers, waiting to deliver at the health center.

Tigist, my counterpart - a Health Extension worker, on the right and another HEW on the left at one of the Health Posts.

My home

My house! I live on one side of this house and my landlords (a husband and wife and their nine year old daughter) live on the other side. My landlords also have another house on the other side of town near land where they keep their seven cows. Most adults in the Sidama Zone have at least one cow.

Left side as you walk through the door (where the light is coming from). The door you see here is to the other side of the house, where my landlords live. I'm currently storing my clothing like this but I hired a local carpenter to build a big shelving unit for me which should be done tomorrow!

My living room area. I'm so happy that my landlords let me use these two couches!

My kitchen area. That's a propane stove. I can find apples at the village markets on Mondays and Thursdays! I'm going to be moving a lot of the stuff underneath the table to my shelving unit when I get it tomorrow.

Entryway to my bedroom. I take baths inside in that metal tub.

Desk in my bedroom. The previous volunteer left my a lot of program guides and other materials for camps, etc. That wheel-like thing is where I hang my socks and underwear to dry ( it's considered impolite to hang underwear on the clotheslines outside).

My bed with mosquito netting. When I crawl in there at night it feels like a fort I would make as a child. It's cozy. However, since I've arrived in country I've had ongoing issues with some fleas/bed bugs in beds that is difficult to resolve (washing sheets, hanging them out in the sun, etc, has not worked terribly well for me). Many other PCVs have this same issue and many of our ankles have several flea bites.

My bed. It's bigger than it appears here. About full size.

View from my bedroom window. That's the false banana leaf that people use for eating and for many other purposes.

Neighbors!

front yard

landscape

Sidama Zone

I've now lived for one week at my permanent site in the Sidama Zone / SNNPR Region! I'll live here for two years.

When I first arrived I was overwhelmed with the prospect of learning two languages at once - Sidamic (most people's first language in Sidama) and Amharic (what I've been learning during our three months of training, and most people's second language in Sidama.) However, I was given a great Sidamic language guide developed by previous Peace Corps Volunteers in Sidama and my counterparts introduced me to a language tutor who is also a Science teacher at the secondary school. We agreed to 3 hours of Sidamic tutoring and 2 hours of Amharic tutoring every week.
So far, I've mostly learned the greetings like"Keereho?" ("Peace?") / "Keereholla" ("I am peace"), and other time/gender/subject specific greetings.

I replaced another volunteer and was gifted a lot of her old things, which made moving in much easier - especially receiving her bed, mattress, and propane stove.

It can take a long time to do things like cooking, bathing, and washing clothing. I decided to write down all my daily accomplishments, even things like "filled water filter," to pep myself up.

Here's an example from Thursday:
Thursday, April 19 - Day 4

1. Amharic tutoring: 1/2 conversation practice, 1/2 translating community mapping activity to do with Health Extension Workers
2. Called doctor to discuss on-going diarrhea. Started taking antibiotics and drank oral re-hydration salt with water.
3. Filled out language tutoring registration form with Dora (tutor)
4. Went to Health Post with Tigist (counterpart and Health Extension worker)
5. Planned with Tigist to meet with two families next week for developing relationships and completing household intake forms
6. Tigist introduced me to Kebele Administration
7. Planned to go to other health post with Tigist tomorrow
8. Had coffee with Tigist, Almaz (landlord / host mother), Almaz's daughter and Almaz's sister in law. Taught them a new card game, which we played together.
9. Went to the market with Dora and Tigist and bought: 10 bananas, charcoal stove, 1 kilo tomatoes, 5 apples.
10. Practices Sidama greetings with many people I passed by on the road, especially "keero hositto?"("good afternoon", to a male), "keere hositta?" ("good afternoon", to a female) and "keerella hosoomma" (response to good afternoon, that I say as a female).

I'm still writing letters and love receiving them!
Wish list for care packages (much cheaper to use padded envelopes):
- Thai Kitchen instant rice noodle packets
- dried oregano and basil
- Bragg Organic Sprinkle spice
- dark colored cute socks
- Emergen-C (especially pink lemonade flavor)
- Probiotics that don't need refrigeration (GI issues are fairly common, so I want probiotics for prevention and for after taking antibiotics)
- dehydrated vegetables and dehydrated vegetable soups
- fly strips
- flea/bed bug spray (natural/non-toxic preferred)

SNNPR

This is the SNNPR (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Principalities Region) regional Peace Corps Office in Hawassa (SNNPR's capital). It's where I am now, to write this facebook post. It's about 2 1/2 - 3 hours from my site. I plan to come here 3 times a month or so, at least at first - especially considering this is where I'll get my mail.

Swearing in announcement from US Embassy

From U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa: Ambassador Mike presided over the swearing in of 55 newly arrived Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia The volunteers are preparing to work with communities throughout Ethiopia on agriculture, education, health and gender equality. As the Ambassador said at the ceremony, “The beauty of Peace Corps is that everyone wins: our two nations, our peoples, our volunteers, and those whose lives they touch.” Read his full remarks at: Peace Corps Ethiopia

Swearing in!

Today I swore in as a Community Health Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia! The ceremony was at the American Embassy in Addis Ababa. On Sunday I depart for my site where I will live for 2+ years! Its in the Sidama Zone and SNNPR region. I also passed my Amharic language test! Yay! In Sidama I will speak both Amharic and Sidamo (which I don't know now at all!).

Host family

These babies are two of my home-stay brothers who I lived with during training - Eliyas on the left, Muntu on the right.

Host brothers and sister from home-stay (training). They took the furniture to the lawn outside to clean before Easter.

Host sister K'alu from home-stay in training.

Host brother Yoseph from home-stay during training.