Ethiopia

Thursday, April 25, 2013

God blessed us with another wonderful day in Ethiopia!

This morning we went to Entoto Mountain just outside of the city of Addis Abba. As we drove up this mountain we witnessed the worst poverty we have ever seen! The trek up the mountain was about three miles of winding roads, very steep. One very interesting sight is the cultural work ethic. Woman, older woman, even elderly woman trek up the mountain, gather wood, large bundles. Some measuring 8 ft long up to 48 inches around strapped to their backs. They carry these large bundles down the mountain to their homes where their men are waiting or they sell it for a few birr. The wood is used for fire wood, cooking and heating. It is against the law to cut wood so they have to go into the woods and gather up wood.

At the top of the mountain we were given a guided tour through a museum of a traditional Orthodox Church, as well as a palace for the Emperor. Let me tell you it is not a palace like most of us Americans would have in mind. We encountered very needy people as we took our tour, which made it very hard to  not help everyone of them. We had a bag of peanut butter cracker sandwiches, so we gave what we had.

Again I was reminded of how blessed we are in America!

We also went to the Lion Zoo, which focused on Abyssinian Lions (black-maned lions). The closest I have ever been and ever want to be to a lion. They are massive creatures, so powerful and beautiful.

One blessing in the midst of an accident: as we were pulling into the gate in our van, a man was not paying attention to where he was walking, his head was turned the other direction. Our driver thought he saw us, but he did not. He walked into our van as we were coming to a stop, his foot went under the front tire of the van and he fell to the ground. The driver immediately went to take care of him as we were bombarded with a large crowd of people. Our driver told us to go in the Lion Zoo, so we did.
He took the man to the hospital. We were in the Zoo about a half hour when it began to pour like I have never seen before. The street was filled with brown dirt water about 4 inches deep. Remember the streets are filled with people. We had no idea when we were going to get picked up or when our driver would return. After waiting about an hour another van from our agency picked us up.
What we found out later is that in an accident the person driving the car is responsible to pay for the persons medical care as well as to provide for them until they are completely well.
People with money do not drive, because they are targets for poor people to strategically get injured so the people with money will take care of them.
If a person driving the car hits a person and kills them they spend 15 years in prison, no questions asked.
The blessing is that the man's foot had a slight fracture, which is not good but considering the alternative it was a small incident.

We spent the afternoon in our suite playing games, coloring and bonding.

We ordered in from the Zebra Grill, Good rice and burgers.

We had the opportunity this evening to meet a new family that will be going to court next week.

We also had the opportunity to say good bye to a family that passed court and is now waiting for the Embassy.

We are looking forward to arriving home Saturday!

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Sam & Diane

1 comment:

  1. Wow, you are having some amazing experiences. Looking forward to seeing you all. Love you.

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