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Sharyn Mandel was a champion of education. She was a teacher for 30 years, giving it her heart and soul.

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What I Learned in Ethiopia

It has been 46 days since I returned home from Ethiopia.  I have discovered that the effect this journey has had on me is so profound that it has taken me this long to be able to articulate it.  Upon my return to “normal life” I had to get over my reverse culture shock.  The privileges that we have here in Canada and take for granted are overwhelming.  As I worked through that, I needed time to marinate upon the experiences to understand their meaning.  I am now ready to try to put into words what this journey has meant to me and what I have learned.

The people of Ethiopia live hard lives, but they live them with joy.  They are amazingly friendly, and their smiles are genuine.  An Ethiopian works to live, not for material possessions, but simply to provide food and shelter.  Their sense of community is amazing.  The adage that “it takes a village to raise a child” is truly in practice here.  These children are not taught to fear strangers for there is no reason why they should.  Everywhere we went, in every tiny village, children would see us and yell “hey farangi” (foreigner) “how are you?”  They would smile and ask us where we were from, and show us their school work or tell us stories.

Education is a privilege, not a right.  The thirst for learning regardless of age or gender is exceptional.  In Gobele where we opened the Gobele Sharyn Primary School they are incredibly thankful to have a school in their community.  Children of all ages are attending at whatever grade level their learning ability is, and some adults too!  Parents are attending with their children because through their children’s schooling they have learned that with education they are able to read and recognize numbers that are so helpful in their daily lives.  They can now weigh their goods and negotiate to sell them at market.  Such a simple thing, but so necessary in their lives, it makes me realize how lucky our children are to be able to get an education so easily.

The people of Ethiopia have taught me to smile genuinely and to let the silly things be silly things.  I have learned to appreciate all that I have and not to take my material things and educational opportunities for granted.  I realize now how vast Ethiopia is and what a small impact our group could have on only a fraction of the people, in fact my heart has been touched far more than any impact I could have made.

Ethiopia is not just a vast dusty desert on the other side of the world where famines occur, it is an amazing country full of vibrant people who live simple lives to the fullest and cherish their relationships, and community, and belongings with all their worth.  May I not forget these lessons and live my life with the vigour of the Ethiopian people.

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Want more photos

You can check out my photos at flickr by clicking on the link that looks like two dots to the right

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Erta Ale. Volcano photos courtesy of Chance Franck.

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A typical Ethiopian meal

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Inauguration Day

October 21, 2014 was the day the Gobele Sharyn School was officially opened.  It was an amazing and emotional day, the culmination of the journey that started with Sharyn’s dying wish.  We were excited to see the school come to fruition but there was also a void now that what had been worked for so hard all year was complete.  The void was just in our hearts as reaching the end of the journey it felt as though it were time to let go and move on.  I’m sure the same sentiment was not shared by the children who were just seeing the world open up before them.  It was incredible to see how bringing a school to a community can affect and benefit the entire community, not just the children in, so many ways.

 The people of Gobele had a school before which consisted of a few rudimentary shacks built with sticks with pieces of wood for the children to sit on.  Needless to say, it was not an environment conducive to learning.  The children spent their time staring through the cracks in the walls and the teachers had no materials or motivation with which to teach.

  Imagine 1 Day used the money from Sharyn to not only build the school but to build capacity amongst the teachers, to supply materials for the classrooms, to form a PTA, and build a latrine for boys and girls allowing them privacy, especially necessary for girls when they reach the age of menstruation and become marriageable.  Not to mention previously a tree at the edge of the school property which stands over a river that is the town’s water supply is what had been used as a latrine.

We arrived to the children fanning the track we were walking in on, they were clapping and singing “Welcome, welcome how are you, Welcome, welcome we love you” as we passed under the banner that read the Gobele Sharyn School.  At the inauguration, we heard from community elders, religious leaders, and the principal of the school all of whom related how the new school had benefited all the people of the community.  They all ended with we love you and thank you again and again.  Each time it was so heartfelt it brought tears to my eyes.  I was so touched how the story and spirit of Sharyn had been kept alive in the community and everyone knew what she had done to empower their community.  The most powerful speaker was a girl of 18 or so who is married and attending school at the grade 4 level with her baby tied to her back.  She spoke of how before small children and girls could not attend school because of the distances they had to travel, or because the girls risked abduction along the way and how now even married and with a baby she can attend school because it is accessible in her community.

  We toured the school and saw some of the classes in action.  It was exciting to see that parents were attending with their children.  Even though they were attending at a grade 3 or 4 level they were excited to learn and become literate and participated fully in the classes, even raising their hands to answer questions.  Very high in the cuteness quotient was watching the kindergarten and grade 1 classes sing their ABC’s.  We heard from a couple of girls in the grade 5 class about their thankfulness to continue attending classes (most children drop out after grade 4, our school will eventually go to grade 8).  A poll was done of the class and most children wanted to grow up to be doctors or teachers which are the two professions they see and respect, or engineers, or police.

  A library has been created to allow for quiet reading space, and for access to books for the whole community.  Many of the books were actual books from Sharyn’s collection that her son Gabe had sent ahead to be distributed to the schools.  There were a few tears when old toys and books were recognized by the boys.

  Since the School opened the attendance rate has increased to 81% and they have instituted a child-to-child networking strategy where the older children are educating children aged 4-6 in their neighbourhoods.  There are currently 40 children participating in these classes.  There are currently 322 children from the village attending school, and the school has the capacity to reach 450 when the upper grades are added.  This village will have an entire community that is literate and can continue into higher education or at the very least have enough knowledge to be able to weigh and sell their goods at market, or to make phone calls to their friends, because now they know the basics of numbers and letters.

I am so proud to have been a part of what Sharyn and her family and Imagine 1 Day have created.  Words cannot describe the impact of this day, and the year leading up to it, on both the community and the friends and family of Sharyn Mandel, a true hero.

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Travel is Only Glamourous in Retrospect

Before retrospect sets in, I’ll tell you my story of climbing a volcano only to never see the crater at the top.

The journey to the base camp of the volcano was not an easy one.  From the village we had spent the previous night in to the base camp is approximately 7 hours.  Along the journey we had to stop twice because our logistics/supply vehicle had an issue with the steering column.  This journey was in 44 degree weather, with the air conditioning in the Range Rover dropping the temperature inside the vehicle to 30 degrees.  We continued on with the road giving way to bumpy lava that took about 40 minutes to traverse.

Once at the base camp we rested until evening as the hike up the top of Erta Ale is far too rigorous to attempt in the heat of the day.  At 6:30, once it had cooled to near 30 degrees, we loaded up our packs and prepared to head out; however, I was unable to cool my inner body temperature.  It later became apparent that I had heat exhaustion particularly after I regurgitated my dinner moments before we struck off.  Not wanting to miss out on the spectacle at the top of the volcano, I decided to continue on the journey certain that once I got moving my stomach would settle.  Kindly our guide offered to carry my pack for me.

Up we continued on what should be a 3 hour hike.  Unfortunately my prediction about a settling stomach was incorrect and I continued to get sick about every 20 minutes.  Just less than half way up my travelling companions discussed sending me back to base camp but selfishly I begged to continue. They bolstered me with their one and only coke and some peanuts and on we went. 

Things got worse from there.  I would count to 400 before needing to rest and the patience of my companions was amazing.  Fortunately they are also a savvy lot and thought to ask a passing group if they had any electrolytes for me to take when we reached the top.  I think that might have been my saviour and allowed me to walk down the next day.

Still my strength faded and I was reduced to 20 paces before I had to rest and bring up the water I had sipped on during those 20 paces.  My will was also failing me and had the lava rock not been so inhospitable, I would have been tempted to lay down and tell the group to continue on without me.  They would not have, of course, especially since there was a risk of Eritrean rebels in the area which was why we were travelling with more security than was usual. 

I have been on some interesting rides in my life; I rode a camel in Egypt, an elephant in Thailand, and across a desert on a horse with no name, but the mirage (or what I thought must be a mirage) that appeared just when I thought there was no way I was going to make it even though I could see the lights of the base camp was my favourite ride ever.  Out of the dark appeared a camel who promptly lay down and allowed me to climb on, I can only assume that there was someone leading the camel.  Ten minutes later, with a very erudite “Thank you Mr. Camel” I climbed off and collapsed on the nearest mattress.  The rest is, as they say, history.  My travelling companions continued to the crater and kindly filmed the spectacle for me.  I drank the electrolytes and after a couple hours sleep was able to walk down the volcano.

A huge thank you to my travelling companions for taking such wonderful care of me and for their incredible patience while I turned a 3 hour hike into a hike of over 4 hours.  A double big thank you to Bryan for practically carrying me up the volcano.  My friends have promised to share their photos with me which I will share here in due course.

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The Mercato

The largest market on the African continent, the Mercato is an assault upon the senses.  A plethora of sights, smells and sounds surround you the minute you step into the streets of the Mercado.  Built in 1938 by the Italians and originally called the Grand Mercato Indegeno, the Mercato is a grid of roads lined with stalls, kiosks and small shops.  Just about anything can be purchased there:  clothes, vegetables, spices, mattresses and even chat, leaves which when chewed are a stimulant.

When walking through the market smells of spices abound, but also the smells of garbage and rotting vegetables.  The people, vehicles and goats ebb and flow through the Mercato and around you as you take in the sights.  There is a surreal feeling when you see a stack of boxes, or a bag of grain, or mattress floating above this flow of humanity just to see them pass by with often only a torso and legs visible below them.

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The Mercato

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First Impressions

A country of opposites

Walking through Addis Ababa there are contradictions all around.  Picking a man out of the crowd I notice that he has a stick in one hand for herding the goats in front of him, in the other is a cell phone.  Looking around one can see modern looking high rise buildings next to shanty towns built of corrugated metal and mud.  Next to people in nice suits lie beggars sleeping on the sidewalk.  Walking down the street some Ethiopians will greet you with hello while others will hiss go away.

Generally however my first impression is of friendly and proud people straddling the past and the future.

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Just finished packing up all the wonderful donations we'll be taking to Ethiopia with us.  A huge thanks to everyone who donated!

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A Few Facts About Ethiopia

Just three weeks (give or take, mostly take) before our adventure begins in earnest.  A year ago all I knew about Ethiopia was that it is in East Africa, that is where my Halloween UNICEF money goes, and I think those are the kids you see on the sad commercials about sponsoring a child.  So I thought a bit of research was in order so that I’m not COMPLETELY ignorant when I set foot on Ethiopian soil.  Here are few things I’ve learned.

77 million people live in Ethiopia, 3.5 million in the capital Addis Ababa.  Of that 77 million, half of them are under 20 years old.

The only African country to defeat a European colonial power (Italy) and retain its sovereignty as an independent country.

Amharic is the official language, but there are 83 languages and over 200 dialects spoken in the country.

Ethiopia is completely land locked and is bordered by Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya and Sudan.

Currency is the Birr which is divided into 100 Santim.

Addis Ababa is the 3rd highest capital in the world at 2400m.

Ethiopia was named by the Greeks, it mean “Land of Burned Faces.”

This is the birth place of man.  Lucy, the oldest hominoid skeleton, was found in the Rift Valley and is believed to be 2.3 million years old.

Gabriel and Michael are their most popular archangels – this is particularly interesting as these are the names of two of Sharyn’s sons and both will be in Ethiopia to open Sharyn’s school

Eating is done with the right hand, no utensils.

The surname of an Ethiopian is their father’s first name, therefore when being addressed formally one would say Mr. (Ato) or Mrs. (Woizero) and the person’s first name.

The Ethiopian clock runs on a 12 hour cycle, the first from dawn (our 6am) to dusk and the second from dusk (our 6pm) to dawn, therefore 7:00am is 1:00 in daylight hours.  They also operate on the Julian Calendar rather than the Gregorian Calendar which makes them 7 years and 8 months behind us.  The Millennium was celebrated on September 12, 2007 in Ethiopia.

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The school in progress this summer.

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A Most Meaningful Experience

Sharyn Mandel was a mother, a friend, a sister, and above all a teacher.  Upon being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the summer of 2013, it was her dream to leave a living legacy.  She had a vision to continue to sow the seeds of hope and knowledge in children - and she saved the money she earned from years of teaching and tutoring to make it happen.  It's been said that it takes a village to raise a child. Truly it takes one very special woman and a village full of the people she inspired to raise a school.  Although Sharyn passed in September 2013, she is sending us on one more educational journey.  “Us” are her children, her brother, their partners and friends who are continuing to learn from a most remarkable woman.

                        Partnering with Vancouver based foundation Imagine 1 Day her son Gabriel has carried her dream and vision of a literacy focused school in a developing country to fruition.  A school that serves an ECE program and grades 5-8 is being built in the Oromiya region of Ethiopia with the $120K left by Sharyn in her will.  The funds will provide for 3 years of teachers’ salaries, teaching materials, school supplies, child-to-child networking programs and sports materials after which time the school will be turned over to Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education.

 https://imagine1day.org/

Ethiopia is committed to providing quality education to its primary school aged children.  Since 1997 it has built 6,000 new primary schools and has increased school enrollment from 3.7 million to 11.4 million and has increased the “gross enrollment rate” for girls from 40.7% to 71.5%.  More than 200,000 classrooms are still needed to accommodate all school age children.

To complete the journey, our group will travel to Ethiopia in October 2014 to celebrate the opening of Sharyn’s school.