Last Days

 

Warning.. may be the longest post ever, lack of internet prevented regular posting for the past month.. Here is a mega post!!!

Coming back from Kenya Corina and I spent the weekend in Addis -  Went to my old office- finished cleaning it out and doing some last paperwork  We hung out with my Hope For Korah girls on Saturday. Playing with them, cooking and having one last bible study.
 

 Monday and Tuesday all across Ethiopia were holidays to celebrate Meskel the finding of the true cross. As there would be no meetings those two days anyway we decided to head up north to Lalibella. Nicole and our other friends were already up there doing a 4 day trek so headed up to meet up for the last day.  We headed up and the first day in the morning and early afternoon saw all the 10 stone hewn churches.  These orthodox churches are very interesting. They were carved in the 12th century all out single rocks following a dream by the then current king Lallibella. Ledgend says He built them all in one night with the help of angels but the more realastic version is that they took around 23 years to carve.   They are below the ground level so they weren't visible from afar.  Priests and the church faithful still hold services, pray, and perform all the riutals of the church here everyday. The rock beneath our feet was worn smooth by everyone who has been there over the past 800 years.  As it was Meskel the churches were especially busy with extra prayers, chants and processions.

This is the church of St George- the most identifieable of the grouping of 11 churches in this area.  Carved from 1 rock it has thee stories inside.

 Priests are perched everywhere.. reading their books and praying

 Young boys start their religious schooling early to be a priest.  It takes over 10 years. 

 Priests and people coming to the chuches often use prayer sticks to help support their weight as they pray for hours at a time. 

  

This area is where a lot of the priests and nuns live.  Its tunnel like feeling and little homes made me think of hobbits.

 

After we visited all the churches we made it back for the main Meskel procession.  Lots of chanting, speeches and music. The fancy umbrellas were a fav.   The finishing touches were also made to the Meskel fire pile.  The tradition Meskel is that Queen Meskel the wife of King Lalibella had a dream in which  there was a fire. The smoke of the fire pointed in a certain direction and when she followed the smoke she found the remains of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.  So traditions are different in various parts of the country but in the north there is a ceremony in the evening and the following morning at sunrise is when the fires are lit.

Next morning we headed back to the square for the lighting of the fire.  Thousands of people packed into the square.. more singing, chanting and finally the lighting of the fire.  After breakfast we headed up to hike one of the peaks that surround the town. Up and down the trail was a steady stream of villagers from the village which is the hanging valley between the peaks they had come down to celebrate the holiday.  The climb was gorgeous but Lallibella is at a elevation of 2800meters and as we reached the top of the 700m elevation gain as we got higher the air became so much thinner breathing became much less effective.  The rest of my lalibella photos are captive on a SD card that will not read so here are a few phone snaps of the morning and hike

As rainy season in the mountains is complete it is trail reconstruction time for all the trails which were washed out

Donkeys are my favorite

There is a lodge at the top of the mountain and that is where we were to have lunch.    When we reached close to the top a random boy joined our walk, we thought nothing of it as we had a few other little trailers but until we reached the top and our guide said the lodge was closed and this boy had our lunch.  Unbeknownst to us our guide had phoned when we were about 1 hour into the 3 hour climb to make sure that the lodge knew we were coming. Apparently the cookers had the day off so he had called back to the village- had his friend order us a pizza a local restaurant and give it to this boy to hike it to the top of the mountain for us... only in Africa.

 

After this gorgeous 26km walk we were excited to shower and meet up with Nicole and Rafael and Melinda back at the hotel have some dinner and head out for some awesome local traditional music and dancing- I may be getting slightly better at my shoulder shake.

Back in Addis we had some meetings at the local government hospitals to round out the week and then get ready for the arrival of the team from Abbotsford.  So excited to see more familiar faces walk out of the airport Sunday morning.

   Checking out the progress at St Peters..

 

 

That whole week was a busy wonderful blur.  We would get up at 5 leave the house at 545 to catch the 4 buses across town to be at morning breakfast program by 7 am.  We worked hard weighing, measuring and deworming all 250 kids in the nutrition program.  Mornings were then spent having open clinic for the Hope for Korah beneficiaries and other members of the community. These clinics were great- able to work with the Hope for Korah nurses, support their practice but also bring the people power to see more patients in a short time as well as reach a wider client base. In afternoons Nicole and I continued with our work with the government hospital programs also being able to bring team members from Abbotsford with us so they could get an idea of government health care here in Addis.  So excited also for some good connections. We have been working with St Peters Pediatrics to develop some of their emergency programs but they already have an amazing malnutrition program and was able to form a connection with Hope for Korah and they are very willing to help support some of our at risk kids with outpatient malnutrition assessment and treatment.   The team stayed at Blue Nile which is right next to Korah which is super convenient. One night due to protests and road closures we also crashed there for the night.. grownup slumber party style. 

Said goodbye to Corina on Friday night.  Was so amazing to have her here.  For the vacation we had but also the chance to show her my world here. So blessed to have an amazing friend who supports me wherever I am and whatever I am doing. 

 

 

 

Had to say a lot of sad goodbyes at the end of this week as well... to all the kids, women, families and wonderful staff who work with them.  Both of these wonderful people pictured here have endured so much in their young lives.. muleken at 18 and lamrot at 12- but so full of happiness, joy and a heart of service.  Will miss them so much

remains of a busy morning deworming

 

 

Saturday morning we headed north with the rest of the team for a weekend getaway. We flew in to Mekele the biggest city in the north.  We headed ?? out of the city. stopping and seeing a few rock churches on the way.  

 Quick stop for lunch.. Little goats got a little confused and wanted to join us lol.

Here the landscape is much different than the highlands.. lots of cactus and fields full of barley, wheat and teff

On our way out of town we stopped at one of the rock churches.. climbed up this sand stone escarpment.. the worn foot steps imprinted in the rocks

The priests have rotating duties here, two years of service and then time back at home to farm their land and see their families

Little girl waits for her dad the caretaker of the church

 

 

 

In a place where life is lived a stones throw from where you are born these two have probably walked this walk 1000 times togethe

We stayed at Geralta Lodge.. a great place. set into a hill with small local style rock buildings scattered across the property with amazing views out towards the rocks.

Sicamore Trees

Sunday morning we were up early and set out to hike to morning church.  We parked about 1 km away from the rocks and walked the red dirt road. Bright aloa plants dotted the landscape and >>>  on first look the rock looks like s straight face but upon closer inspection there is a cleft in the rock and passagel that cuts up at a good angle.  one through there we were able to clamber up the side of the red rock to a plateau cut at the top.  Here is the church and it courtyard were . After spending time praying here and exploring the inside of the church we followed a narrow trail cut into the rock to the front of the rock face. Here high above the plains below is a hobbit size door into a cave church carved into the stone. 

Following time here we made our way back down to the valley below.  Stopping to get lunch at a local restaurant we were struck by the somberness of people intently watching the news cast.  The prime minister was announcing the state of emergency which Ethiopia will now be in for 6 months. Ongoing unrest has gripped the country for the past 9 months and will continue for the foreseeable future.

Following lunch we headed around to some rock spires we had spotted from the top of the mornings mountain.  We climbed to the base of the spires. Here we had to leave our shoes behind and scramble barefoot to the church high in the red rock.  The priest here is a young man... not the church for an old man although one of our guides was 60!!.  There was something very amazing to climb using the handholds worn into the rocks by Christians coming here for the past 10 centuries. 

The priest here reads from these bibles which are hundreds of years old.  The paintings depict the disciples as well as the patriarchs of the old testament.

Monday we went to see a school run by the development program "Imagine 1 Day "... great school and teacher training development program working with the community to have buy-in of the importance of education, teacher and administration leadership training as well as active leadership training of the students

Once we got to Mekele we said good bye to the team and headed out separate ways.  Nicole and I had contacted the friend of a friend who we had never met and he had agreed to host us in Mekele. However that day he texted and said that he couldn't meet us so had arranged for us to stay at the home of his sister.  We had the driver talk to the person at the number he had given us and the driver stopped somewhere and said those are the guys you are going with.. okay we hopped off the bus and walked off with those guys... we went to a home where we met a bunch of other people.. The guys were nice.. spoke some English and deemed it their duty to show us the city.. museum and all.  Pretty good afternoon but then they left us at the house with the other people... we sat awkwardly on the couch, watched amharic music videos and slept there on the floor.. to this day not entirely sure what anyone's names were or exactly how they were related to our friends friend but we had a free place to stay for the night.

Next morning we headed out for the Danikil Depression. Initially Nicole and I had wanted to do some hiking for the week but the area which we wanted to go has been a hotbed of unrest and in early September when we had to make up our mind we decided against going as it was just to unpredictable. Instead we chose to go to the Danakil Depression.  Due to ongoing boarder disputes travel here is not recommended but the companies that arrange tours here are well versed in the risks and all the security requirements so we felt it the better more predictable option.  As we headed out of Mekele in to the Afar Region the scenery changed from rockl, to lava fields, to desert.  Our destination the army camp at the base of the volcano Era Alta.
Nicole pretty surprised our first lunch was hamburgers kept in a cooler from Mekele.

 

Army Camp in the middle of a lava field..There were some real army guys here to.. but also some scarecrows.  I wondered what the soldiers had to do to get this placement... possibly the most desolate landscape ever.  Volcano in the distance

Sweating, playing cards and waiting for the sun to go down. It was roughly a balmy 40C

Our landrover had its hood up a lot.. not the most comforting sign.. Camel backup transport... Nicole and I look for a place to pee... not a tree in sight

Once we finished dinner the sun had set and we set out to walk the 10 km to the rim of the volcano crater. Joining our group now was a local policeman, an army escort, local guide, and a man with a camel to carry water for the next day as well as our mattresses.  We started in a line across the sand but sand soon gave way to uneven harsh lava and our field of vision shrunk to the radius of the shine of my headlamp. The only clue that we were going anywhere in the right direction was the occasional camel dropping and cigarette butt on the ground.   A hot wind blew around us and while it was slightly refreshing after the still air of the day each breath warmed me from the inside out.  After living so high above sea level the hike it self was super easy.. my body not quite knowing what to do with all the oxygen available in the air.  After about 3 ish hours we topped the hill and saw the volcano ahead of us. We were standing on the rim of a crater which was home to another army camp  but within the crater was a smaller built up crater in which was the lava. It glowed hot, red and steamy. Occasionally a splash of lava shooting high in the air.  Once the entire group was there we headed down into the crater to get closer to the lava lake.  Not going to lie that was abit sketchy... the crater had overflowed about two weeks previous so there was lots of new rock around the inner crater that was not yet fully hardened so one had to watch their step... we climbed a rock close to the crater to be able to look down on it.  Here the view was good but the wind carring the sulfur gas cloud was hot and horrid to breath.  I didn't last long.. walking back to the upper crater to see the view from there.  Then it was to bed.  We had our choice of rock circles with mattress.  I actually slept very well. The stars were amazing and if you ignored the smell of camels and the army guys doing laps around the camp with their AK47's you could imagine you were sleeping on any mountain top in Canada. 

Sunrise with the crater glowing

530 came early as we woke to start our journey down the mountain before the sun became too hot. Not exactly sure who came down the mountain with us as I don't think it was who came up.. the camel kept us company as well as random army guys and locals.    The walk down was nice as you could see where you were stepping and until the sun crested the top of the hill the temperature actually quite pleasant.  The last kilometer before we reached camp was hot and sandy and I have never been so glad to round a corner and see a rock hut in my life... I somehow don't think I would cut it as a desert nomad.

Camel and me on the walk down

Breakfast was good and then we set out for a pretty long hot drive.  The guides had decided that they were going to attempt the cross desert drive for the first time since the rainy season.  The regular route is 25km lava road and then about 8 hours on the highway but they decided that we would do the 25km lava road and then cut across the desert.. hopeing to shave about 2 hours off the driver.   Well we may have shaved 1 hour off and had the drive of a life.  Side note.. I don't think I have ever been as hot as I was in that car.. A/C was just a tease... I sweat every drop of the 6 liters of water I drank that day!!

Africa life... have not seen a house or sign of civilization except for some donkeys and camels for miles but get a Land Rover stuck and children will appear from no where!!!

Arrived at the end of the desert to the salt flats.  Camel Carvans as far as the eye can see loaded with salt and at the start of their two week journey to the city.   

This area is the salt lake. Not currently harvested as it is covered with water. The water never got more than 3 inches deep but the illusion of deep water had us walking a couple hundred meters before we realized that it never did get deeper. We had picked up a few more army guys at this point as well.. They were abit more legit than the volcano guys

We spent this night at another army camp.  This one abit bigger with a bit of a small town around it and a hut where you could get a lukewarm pop or beer.  We slept under the skies again on cots made from woven reeds. I slept like a rock but poor Nicole was awakened by what she thinks was a donkey in the middle of the night.

Next am we drove out to the salt flats again.. passing camels heading out to get loaded.  These red rocks are pure salt- the locals consider this salt as special.. not harvesting it at all except small bits to use in medicines. 

We arrived a gentle sloped hill.. walked up to the top and the sight was unreal.  Dallol- Considered the hottest inhabited place on the earth. Constantly changing depending on the activity potassium, magnesium and other minerals combined with the sulfur make vibrant, boiling lakes and rock formations. 

 

As we walked a round Africa style.. no rules, no guideropes or warning signs. As we hopped from place to place I felt like I was on a video game of hungry hippo... don't fall off the lily pad or else you will get acid burns

Neighbourhood Army Guy

After spending quite some time there were headed back the cars. Here my dream of driving in Africa came true. .Kebebe let me drive to the next couple of stops. Driving in on the salt flats was cool. Some areas smooth and slippery other areas hard and bumpy!! Also I have never drove with someone on the roof before.. Poor sasha had to hang on tight!!

 

We saw some more salt mountains and a random sulfure pool in the middle of nowhere and then we headed out to where they are actively harvesting salt.   Thousands of camels, donkeys and men dotted the landscape. The camels seem like they are okay with it but I felt pretty sorry for the donkeys.. they looked pretty depressed.  The men chop the blocks of salt out, trim them into squares, stack them and then when they have enough load their animals for the long walk to Mekele.  It is hard work in a harsh and unforgiving environment.   also PS.. there is so much camel poop everywhere... whats in your salt shaker!!

 

Then it was back to Addis for one more day of meetings and then good bye lunch and coffees with these amazing friends.  It was a joy to experience Addis with them 

And with that my time here in Ethiopia came to an end.  I really am so thankful and appreciative for everyone back home who has prayed for me, messaged me, phoned me, or worked short because I was gone. I could not have done it at all without everyone who stood behind me.