leaving

dinner with VSO staff

Leaving
I left Eritrea on 29th March. We had heard the week before that work permits would not be issued to us and on the back of that VSO said our contract there would end on 31st March. Although the news was not totally unexpected, the fact that I had to leave and so quickly, took a while to sink in. We were given no reason nor explanation for the decision which makes it even harder to accept. Even now, 10 days on, I feel so terribly sad when I think that I won’t be going back to my home and job in Mekerka. It really is an amazingly beautiful place to live. And I have been fortunate as an outsider to share this place with those who live there and welcomed me so, so warmly.

farewell coffee ceremony

It’s strange that I called this blog “travels in Eritrea” when I really did very little travelling once there. I only travelled the 32km between Asmara and Mekerka. Foreigners need travel permits to visit other towns and as we never got residence permits we were never able to apply for travel papers. I was lucky to be able to get to Mekerka and that’s only because it’s off a very minor no exit road with no police checks.
So, after a very frantic few days packing up and saying goodbyes, I flew to Cairo with 2 other VSO evictees. We spent the first few days being totally overwhelmed by the noise, traffic, dirt, amount and variety of food and everyone trying to rip us off...it couldn’t have been more different from Asmara. We then headed down to Luxor to be overwhelmed by the Valley of the Kings and the temples at Karnac and Luxor. John and Aaron were headed off to do some diving in the Red Sea and I’ve come to Altea, Spain to plan my next move!

doing the tourist thing in Cairo

my work

Work


My placement title is Methodology Trainer/ Teacher trainer and I’m based in one of the sub zones which has 8 primary schools, 4 secondaries and 3 seniors. The idea is to work closely with the local Ministry of Education and supervisor (inspector) to identify a group of Key teachers, train them further and they in turn will be able to give training to other teachers...all part of VSO’s sustainable development plan.
I arrived in the village on 25th February, keen to start work, only to find that both the boss and supervisor were at a meeting in Barentu which is the regions head office and situated 200 miles away. They returned last Thursday, 5th March. So I decided to help out at the local secondary school which was experiencing a bit of a teacher shortage, just 12 teachers for 1,300 pupils. I taught English to the grade 7 students, aged anywhere between 11 and 15. This was “a good learning experience” as they say; classes of 60+, often a text book between 4 and students that are just programmed to copy everything you say or write on the blackboard. They were also quite hyper at having a teacher, and especially a foreign one. They’d stand outside their classroom door shouting, “get in here, teacher!” and then clap at the end of the lesson. They also say “thank you, teacher” when asked to sit down, fight over who can clean the board and rush to carry your bag...not the surly teenagers I’m used to.

Now that the supervisor is back, we’ve started our programme. So far, we’ve visited 4 schools, met all the teachers, drunk lots of tea and once we’ve travelled round all the schools in the region start running some workshops. I should be bringing my motorbike here from Asmara this weekend to make travel a bit easier but the supervisor is not convinced about riding pillion. He keeps telling me that there are buses, but some of them only run on certain days and are often only one way.
I organised a writing competition to coincide with International Women’s Day last week. The title was “A woman I admire”. There were some good entries, several on Eritrean women fighters, but there was also many copied from books and three were exactly the same! We’re having photos and prize giving tomorrow..all very exciting.Well, that’s a brief outline for now. I’m sure I’ll have more soon.

My new home

Wednesday 25th February
The bus journey to Mekerka
The day had come to travel to my new house. I was told that I should get a bus sometime between 7 and 11am and so I headed off to the bus station at 7:30. You have to just ask around for bus destinations as there is no office, no timetable and no bus numbers. I was soon told that there would be a bus to Mekerka in 10 mins..brilliant! After 20 mins I was taken to a bus (an old, blue, square shaped one), and seated behind the driver. Then the driver disappeared for nearly 2 hours!! Apparently the bus only leaves when it’s full so the driver was probably sitting in the bar around the corner drinking tea. In the meantime the bus slowly filled up and at least 30 different people got on the bus selling water, bread, tissues, chewing gum, watches, radios, t.shirts and the occasional beggar. There was more activity than in the market square. At one point two men had this very heated argument which only ended when one was escorted off the bus by some of the other passengers. Once we got going at 10am, we had to take a detour to a garage outside of town to get some petrol...at this point I naturally assumed that I was on the wrong bus. We chugged along steadily for the first half an hour or so then left the tarmac road. Things got a bit bumpier for a while on the red road. Then the journey turned into a white knuckle ride as we didn’t appear to be travelling on any road at all, just going cross country. Thankfully the bus reached Mekerka in one piece at 11:45. 32km in nearly 2 hours. I’d sat beside a teacher from the senior school who spoke some English and told me the names of all the villages we passed through and when we got to Mekerka he got a young lad to help me carry my bags to the house and it seemed that everyone in town knew I was coming. Next time I may take the motorbike.




My home

My home is in the village of Mekerka which is 32 km from Asmara. It’s in the highlands at 2,300m above sea level and so has a lovely climate; cool mornings and evenings and a daytime temperature of about 25c, but will get hotter in April and May. The rains come in the summer. It’s not a big village and the centre appears to be a street with a bus stop, 2 small shops, a tea shop and a “hotel”. The main secondary school is in the middle of the village. It has a huge open space in front of it where the kids play football, volleyball and the donkeys wander when it’s free. There are donkeys and goats everywhere and lots of chickens and children too. The school also has a satellite dish so a lot of people go there in the evening to watch local tv and international football matches: apparently it’s standing room only on Saturday evenings when Arsenal, Chelsea or Man Utd are playing.
part of the village
My house is up a little hill and so has a glorious view over the village and the land and hills beyond. I’ll try and include some photos. There is no obvious path to the house..it’s all a bit of cross country walking and I usually end up in some neighbour’s goat / chicken yard but they don’t seem to mind and always want me to go in for coffee or tea. My closest neighbour is Dehab who lives with her mother in law and 2 young girls and, as her uncle is my landlord, she feels the need to look after me. Shushy, my neighbour on the other side, has 5 boys under 12 and a husband who lives somewhere else with another woman. The house has 2 big rooms; one I use as a bedroom/lounge and the other as a kitchen/bathroom. The toilet is outside in a kind of concrete shed. I have a little garden area but there’s not much growing there at the moment. I hope to have a go at growing things soon. The house has 24 hour electricity which is a real bonus but no running water. The cleaning water comes from a communal well and the drinking water comes with a student on a donkey. I haven’t worked out where exactly it comes from but I have a water filter and so filter it just to be on the safe side. This all means that the kitchen/bathroom contains a collection of buckets and basins, all with a different purpose.
The house is quite private once the gate is shut and it is lovely to have my little refuge in the evening away from all the shouts of “hello teacher”, “what’s your name?” “where are you from?” the kids are sweet but there questions are fairly constant!

News from Asmara

Asmara Feb 20th 2009

I’m hoping to be able to post something here every 2 weeks or so and maybe even post a picture or two if technology allows. So here are some musings after nearly three weeks in Asmara.

Climate

The weather is almost perfect. Mostly blue sunny skies, with the odd fluffy cloud, and day time temperatures of about 20 *c. It will get hotter but just right at the moment. It does cool down quite a bit during the evening/night but not too much. The wind picks up during the afternoons, which is fine in town but it means that dust/sand blows around a good bit in the villages.

The people

The Eritreans are extremely friendly and very welcoming. Many have a good level of English and even those who don’t speak much or any at all still manage to make you feel really welcome. I know it's a bit of a cliche but the children and beautiful and a lot of the women are really striking too. The men would be much improved if it weren't for the tash.
It's common for both men and women to hold hands when walking or chatting but very unusual for couples to show physical affection in public. The men also have this funny shoulder bump greeting...dates back to war times. They are a very quietly spoken people. I've not heard a raised voice yet, a real contrast from Spain in that sense.


Asmara

Asmara reminds me a lot of old Havana. It has lots of beautiful Italian Villas and great art deco style buildings but most could do with a lick of paint. The centre is quite compact and fairly easy to get around and the best bit is that it has hundreds of cafes and cake shops..a legacy of Italian rule. There is a large market area selling mostly fruit/ veg, cereals and spices..it has a real Arabic air about it.


Food and drink

Black tea with a dash of lemon and loads of sugar is the national drink. Cappuchinos and machiatos are common in Asmara but not in villages. Coffee ceremonies are apparently quite common on special occasions. They last for about 2 hours and you’re expected to have a minimum of 3 shots of very strong expresso type coffee. Well, I won’t be able to do that after 5pm or I won’t sleep. Apparently until recently there was Eritrean beer, rum and an aniseed type drink but production stopped a few months ago. Most alcohol is now imported and it costs a fortune…so won’t be bothering with drink then.

In Asmara there seems to be a mixture of restaurants serving local food or Italian/fast food…so we’ve been having more pizzas than injera which is the main local dish. It’s an acquired taste and I’ll need to acquire it soon as there’ll be no pizzas where I’m going! The market has lots of bananas, oranges, papayas and guavas as well as potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin and spinach and other seasonal veg. Some of the older volunteers got very excited last week when they heard there was some brocoli in town! You can buy pasta and rice in the bigger supermarkets and fish and meat somewhere else. I think I’ll be a veggie for now though. There’s a place that makes wonderful mixed fruit juices with icecream which’ll be a treat whenever I’m in town.


Transport
Considering Asmara is the capital city here, there are not a lot of private cars on the roads. There are lots of buses, jeeps, trucks, bikes, pedestrians, donkeys, goats and the odd camel. The city buses are very cheap and are always packed and I mean packed. They splutter out lots of black fumes which is apparently due to the high altitude of the city. Someone was explaining that the fuel doesn’t have enough oxygen to burn properly. I’m getting used to cycling on less oxygen and trying not to breathe in the bus and lorry fumes. Eritreans are super cyclists and often win international medals. The city is often closed to traffic on Sunday mornings as there are cycles races through town.

Departing

My passport with the visa finally arrived yesterday so we're leaving for Eritrea this Saturday, 2 weeks later than expected. Packing has been a bit of a nightmare, trying to get everything I'll need including a crash helmet, solar shower and toiletries for 6 months into one suitcase but it's nearly done. We'll be staying in the capital, Asmara, for the first week or so for our in country training and I'm really looking forward to that.
I'll try and keep a record of my time in Eritrea on this blog assuming there'll be some access to the internet now and again.



This is actually a new blog from Asmara 5 feb 2009...
I've been unable to open the blog until now....internet is desperately slow.
We're having a lovely week here in Asmara...at school during the day, learning Tigringya and ways of working here. We've also been visiting places....several offices to get papers sorted, the British embassy to say hello and yesterday met the Minister of Education who was really welcoming and gave us tea (more than the BE managed!).
Everything going well, weather, lovely, food good (though dairy products in short supply) the people are really friendly and the women and children are quite beautiful...men don't seem to wear as well.
will write more when I can.

Waiting for visa

Our departure date for Eritrea has been put back a week to 24th January as the visas are not yet ready. They are still with the Minstry for Labour and Human Welfare.