10-6-2010 0645 Apartment Bole Addis. More aware of the small bird noise this morning, getting up a little before sunrise, which is just after 6. No major warbles or prolonged arias, but a good solid middle-bird chirping and tweeting...gives the dignity it deserves to the electronic mimicry. Could anyone really say something of substance as a 'tweet'? And something riled up the local dogs last night...more barks than usual, as well as the big noises of 747's at Bole.
It was a little cooler today.. imagine East Coast temperatures, and you'll be about right. It makes the gabi (smaller head and shoulders scarf) and boro (larger body wrap) that both men and women wear the most sensible garment. Layers. Because it does get warmer, although not hot this time of year at this altitude. Also most anopheles mosquitos apparently dont live well above 3 thousand feet...although, with the usual inventive genetics of all life, there are varients that are coming up the mountain after us. And since 2008, MVI-PATH, financed by Bill Gates, is using the power of funding to seriously support development of a vaccine.
There was a very small woman with three small children in a sleeping ensemble under a green boro along the wall of one of the nascent buildings...those with concrete skeletons and piles of construction poles (Eucalyptus mostly, a decision by Memlik II to import, apparently)..and I slowed to offer a 1 birr note..about 6 cents. The very youngest, still in arms, asleep. The middle, sitting and gaping. But the 4 year old was doing exactly what Ursula would be doing at that hour and with that family...paging through a picture/word book. And the smiles..the beautiful blend of features, all the noses and lips and cheeks and eye shapes you might encounter anywhere...and of course, thats exactly right, the gene pool amharics are drawing from is probably a wee bit larger than mine. After all, my family left a fair while ago, whereas this cousin's family stayed right here.
The thickbilled ravens are out in force today, hopping, pecking, croaking. But the pair that catch my eye are silouetted against the western sky, on the ride of a red roof. Its the tender croaks they are exchanging that I hear first. Then I notice they are beak to beak, caressing each other. Croaking...just the way I might croak at Sala in the early morning. And then, another small hand, another hopeful face.
On a similar subject, Bob and Kevin came out on a somewhat shortened version of the morning walk after work yesterday. Its a very different scene at 6 pm than in the early. Battered blue and white kombi's scurrying up and down, longer haul busses blatting and blowing huge smokes, and major crowds walking. At the corner gas station, someone has stockpiled huge shiny green multi tire John Deere tractors..at least one with a sticker saying 'Washed carefully in Baltimore". And the small children are out in force, some with a plastic wrapped bundle of tissue to sell, some gum, and some just hoping you will have a small bill or coin for their hand. Coming between Bole and the street of the Cathederal, we acquired two very persistant small boys..looking to be about 4-5. They happened to be tissue salespersons, out with a single packet each. Unusual, most small children stick pretty close to an adult...but these guys hustled right along with us down the unpaved street, onto the pavement next to the 4 small restaurants in a row..your choice of Antique Italian or Classical Chinese...and around the corner onto the main street. They hung in there past the greengrocer on the corner, with piles of green papaya, avocado, onions and collards (well, they function as collards), and all the way north along to Elsies Bar and Cafe. But at that point, we encountered a woman and her two children, one a very slim and agile girl, slightly taller than the small boys. We gave the woman a small bill, the girl, sensing opportunity, came along with us. She averted her eyes after she made contact; obviously not just a kid, she was a responsible part of her family, working for the family good. Her lips, her chin, her brow...every feature designed to express her human enotions was increasingly stormy. 'These small annoying boys', you could almost hear her thoughts,' this is MY territory, the territory of MY MOTHER.' A glance back. Mom was not far behind, with sister. With that support, our little furie edged over and crowded one little boy. He pushed back. She mixed right in. As they stopped progress in combat, we happened to pause for Kevin to check out the Munich Bakery. Watched mom and an askari separating the kids. They circled, watchful, hovering. We continued on. This time, our girl wasted little time. With mom and the askari safely behind, she accellerated, grabbed towards the offending small boy, and the chase was on. She routed both of them; they laughing, she most serious. During this entire encounter, her gabi stayed securely on her head, her rubber sandals on her feet, and her composure generally remained perfect. She chased those two boys right up the street. Yes, I paid her as she came back past us, heading back to mom. And she accepted, now with eye contact and a rather serious smile. Eventually, I gave ther rest of the lifesavers to the small boys, but the young lady got the birr. The walk was over in any case.
The work seems to be going well. Several new colleagues, one from Education, attended We came to a nexus..which I felt really boiled down to whether everyone felt comfortable with the idea that students can learn. I know it sounds obvious, but I've found, everywhere I have been, that teachers seem to divide on this point..in actions if not in words. But Bob made it clearer when he commented ' You mean, that students don't have to be taught'. Yes, thats it, Bob! Students can learn if you provide the opportunities, the tools, the encouragement, even the examples, the tales of success, the joys of discovery, the passion of inquiry and understanding. And by the same dog-door, students who are sat in rows and made to memorize eventually get the message that they cannot learn, and must be taught. The basic problem surfaces over and over in our discussions. Surely there must be lectures, just for the basics. Surely they must need anatomy before... Surely there must be a time when the teacher sets things right... Yes, of course, but can't it be in the form of a clearly understood set of hurdles/benchmarks/competency exams, and a much larger set of opportunities for formative feedback? Can't the curriculum allow students to discover the clinical reasons they need to know how the endocardial cushions form before they try memorize all the incomprehensible and arbitrary nomenlature? Can't we just get past the idea that human behavior in any way ressembles a tetrahedronal pile of blocks? And of course, I believe we can. In the meantime, the discussion goes on.
So the work seems to go well. But who knows. There was a cabinet shuffle yesterday, and our colleagues waited eagerly beside a cell phone receiving a podcast of some kind to learn that it seems likely that the Minister of Health will not be changing. We can work as hard as we like, but everyone is aware that human plans can be swept away by more than hurricanes or earthquakes.
And now, time to eat a bit and head up to work. If it sounds like I am having an amazing time, you got it, baby!! I might even get to be a tourist on the weekend. Meanwhile, share as much as I can, and do what i can to inform Ethiopians making what must be Ethiopian plans.
be well, Salama.
Alan
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