Garden of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia

One of the places my wife and I wanted to visit while in Ethiopia last December was the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, established many years ago by an Australian doctor, Catherine Hamlin and her husband. We had heard about this wonderful hospital some years ago and had financially supported its work.

Last year, just when we were planning our trip to Ethiopia, an hour long documentary on the work was shown on Australian television, further fostering a growing passion to support this hospital. In December we planned to visit our daughter who was teaching at Bingham Academy, an international school about 20 minutes by taxi from the hospital.

We asked her if she could contact the hospital to enquire if we could visit. She went one better and arranged an appointment for us. It so happened that the son of the CEO of the hospital was a student in her class. We later met the CEO and his family at a church service and found them to be lovely people.

Over the coming days I plan to show more photos of the garden of this wonderful hospital. I was not permitted to take any photos of the patients which is completely understandable. The grounds, however, were amazing; so peaceful and therapeutic for the patients.

I challenge my readers to find out more about the work of this hospital in treating women suffering from obstetric fistula. In fact, I challenge you to financially support this amazing work. Click here to go to their website for more information.

Garden of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia

Garden of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia

Street vendor, Addis Ababa

By way of contrast with the photos I posted yesterday, today I have shown some scenes of the shops and buildings of some of the ordinary people living in the bustling city of Addis Ababa. There are thousands of street vendors like the one shown above, selling everything from fruit and vegetables to clothing to shoes to whatever you want.

Shops in suburban Addis Ababa

Many of the shops are tiny – perhaps only a few square metres in the front room of a house. Bakeries, butcher shops, furniture shops, car repair garages, cafes, clothing shops, sheep and goats for sale, shoe shops – the list could go on and on. In any one street you can find thousands of different items for sale. It’s all very colourful and diverse with pedestrians moving along the street – or on the road – all the time.

One interesting thing we observed in moving through the streets and looking into shops; they are generally very clean. The street may be rough with potholes, drains, animal excrement and the like, but most shopkeepers take a pride in their shops and the wares they are selling. Even in the poorest areas they attempt to give good service and a good product.

Shops in suburban Addis Ababa

Shops in suburban Addis Ababa

Shops in suburban Addis Ababa

Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

One of the interesting things I found about visiting Ethiopia last December was the contrasts in the capital city, Addis Ababa. Today I have posted photos of several modern and quite lovely buildings, structures which would not be out of place in Australian cities. We went to several supermarkets and shopping centres and they looked very similar to what we’d find here in Adelaide or other Australian cities. In fact, the supermarkets were generally much cleaner and well kept than their Australian counterparts. Only the products on sale differed though we recognised many of the same brands we can get here at home. The labelling also differed, though many were in English as well as the locally spoken Amharic.

In most cases, however, we only had to go a short distance to see the other side of Ethiopia where the vast majority of people live in poor conditions and struggle for survival. More about that in coming days.

Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Buildings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

My daughter's apartment building, Bingham Academy

During our visit to our daughter at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa last December we stayed with her in her apartment on the school campus. In the photo above her apartment is the three windows on the top floor on the left of the ramp going up to the door. This was just a few metres across the car park from the teachers’ preparation offices so it was very convenient.

Staff apartments, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

In the second photo above are more staff apartments in the lower part of the school. We only went in one of these when we were invited to dinner to the home of an Australian family we got to know quite well while there. The housing for teachers at Bingham is quite comfortable without being over the top. All the teachers I spoke to seemed very happy with their accommodation. I observed that some classrooms were somewhat less than ideal, some needed maintenance and some were filling roles for which they were not designed. The administrative staff and governing board are very aware of these shortcomings. There is currently a strong fund raising effort to enable a completely new secondary school building to be built in the next year or so. This will ease the shortage of classroom accommodation in the rest of the school.

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

The above photo shows several of the classrooms, a part of the playground for the younger children and to the lower right the car maintenance sheds. The photo is taken from the balcony leading into the school library. The library is at bursting point and in serious need of expansion and upgrading. I think this is also on the plans for rebuilding.

Eucalyptus forest, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

One of my favourite spots within the campus was the eucalyptus forest near the oval. This was a very peaceful area and good birding there as well. I am a little sad that a part of this small forest will be removed in order to accommodate the new secondary building. I know its necessary for the future of the school and the students, but I hope some of the trees are retained as a very useful and pleasant amenity.

Overlooking Addis Ababa from Bingham Academy

From the library one has a limited view over neighbouring houses, as shown above. It shows the style and diversity of housing in the district. In another view – one I didn’t photograph – there is a prominent slum area. This is quite common in Addis Ababa: good housing merges with slum zones with very little separating the two.

School tortoise, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

Not many schools can boast having their own resident tortoise. Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa can boast six of them. The school has a closed compound with a high fence surrounding the campus and a guarded gate only opened to allow car and foot traffic through.

It was my observation that the tortoises do a good job of keeping the grass and weeds trimmed to manageable levels, so they certainly earn their keep. The children tolerate these large creatures, especially when they slowly wander across the oval during soccer matches. The students just play around them.

Bingham Academy was where my daughter taught last year. We visited her in December. I will add more about our visit to Ethiopia in coming days.

School tortoise, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

Traditional Ethiopian Tukul, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

While we were in Ethiopia in December we saw many traditional tukuls in the rural areas of the country. A tukul is a traditional style of hut used extensively throughout the country.

We had a close up look at several in the grounds of the school where our daughter was teaching last year. We both agreed that we would like one in our garden here in South Australia, so I took a number of photos to show how they are constructed. It seems easy enough so I might put my hands to good use later this year and make one.

Traditional Ethiopian Tukul,

Traditional Ethiopian Tukul,

Traditional Ethiopian Tukul,

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During the latter half of 2011 my daughter taught at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Bingham is an international Christian school with staff and students drawn from around the globe. There are local children attending as well and it is located in one of the poorer areas of the city.

In December last year my wife and I visited our daughter for two weeks up until the time her term finished. We stayed with her in her apartment on the campus, so we experienced school life up close. We both found the experience uplifting and inspiring and were made to feel very welcome by the staff.

I was not surprised that her short stay has inspired our daughter to return to the school in a few years’ time. In fact, both my wife and I are very experienced teachers and are wondering whether we also have a role to play in the future. We will see. Meanwhile I’ll share a few photos taken on the campus.

To read more about the school click here.

For the observant readers, the trees in the small forest near the oval are Australian eucalypts – we felt quite at home. There are also large tracts of eucalypt forests surrounding Addis Ababa, but more of that in another post coming soon.

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Street scene, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

I’ve been travelling, so I’ve been rather quiet here on this site over the last 7 weeks. The posts which did appear were prepared before I left.

Over the last 7 weeks my wife, daughter and I have had a wonderful journey through Ethiopia, Morocco and Spain. We had a wonderful time and I will be sharing my experiences and many photos here over the coming weeks and months.

Ethiopia has a great deal to offer the tourist but it seems that this country never features much in most travellers’ thinking as a desirable destination. Sure, poverty and homelessness is in your face wherever you go, especially in the capital Addis Ababa, but then I’ve seen that even in our cities here in Australia. Ethiopia has much to offer the tourist.

The reason we went to Ethiopia was to spend time with our daughter who was finishing up her term in an international school in Addis Ababa. We spent 2 weeks with her, living on the campus where she taught. It was great to see where she had been working and to not only meet her colleagues, but to meet some of the local people and students. While we were there we also took the opportunity to do some touring around, employing local drivers.

The photos on this post are first shots taken while driving from the airport to the school. They show typical street scenes that could have been taken in any large city in Africa. I was warned by our daughter not to take photos of the many soldiers and police present in one part of the city. Former US President George Bush was in the city for a major conference, explaining the strong security presence.

In the photo below you can see a high truck load of mattresses, tied down with a couple of thin ropes. We were all amazed how the mattresses managed to stay on the truck while negotiating corners. Had they toppled though, I’m sure there would have been a soft landing.

Street scene, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Construction site, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Callistomen flower, Pangarinda Arboretum, South Australia

To all my faithful readers I’d like to wish you a wonderful Christmas.

Have a safe time, enjoy yourself, and return here in coming weeks. When this post is being published, I will be enjoying a special Christmas travelling in Africa and Europe. I will have many hundreds of photos to share of my travels, so please stick around. Meanwhile, enjoy the Christmas season.

All the best,

Trevor