The current and well established political maxim the world over is that the key to success is education so with the recent visitation of a keen primary school teacher and teaching opportunities I looked forward to hearing how education for the emerging middle classes of this land was faring. You will not be surprised to hear from the reports I received that all is not well. Much of the classes seem to be spent with the pupils in the room undertaking or not various set activities, but apparently without much in the way of resources, while the teachers sit in rows outside the class room chatting before presumably moving on to their second job. There is a (locked) resource room which contains books and other useful educational material which is apparently used but the dust on the books raises suspicion that this may not be the case. Lessons by our visitor seem well received after initial embarrassment but the only interaction between the regular teachers and the pupils was calling out answers to times tables questions. Overall, and I was not there to witness this, there is perhaps an insight into why the Ethiopian psyche is as it is and the ability to synthesise information or even to use it usefully rather than just partially absorb is as it is. Melanie Phillips (Guardian Journalist, sorry about that) once wrote a polemic entitled ‘All must have prizes’ decrying the state of British education and here in the horn of Africa the combination of patchy dumbed down education (morning or afternoons, you take your choice and not at all when required to pick coffee) together with great difficulty in failing anything goes a long way to explaining the poor level of understanding that exists. If however you have found a Faranji to support you failing becomes very important as you can go on repeating years for some comfortably financially remunerative time until someone finally pulls the plug on you. Thus is the state of the unemployed poorly educated of Ethiopia. Many of these sadly hang around the gates by the car, shout abuse, demand money with menaces and even lob the odd rock. Welcome faranjis all!
Travel, it is said, broadens the mind (and here possibly the waist too) and thus we set out to be tourists last week and slipped comfortably into that bubble taking a bemused local Ethiopian with us so that she could see her country and have her first ever aeroplane flight. After the usual terrible drive we got to Addis and having cracked Addis by car found wonderful restaurants and met up with friends. My trip to Immigration, usually fraught with banana skins was mercifully easy and having completed endless forms and brought all sorts of photocopies, I am now resident and legal again! Nearly fell at the last post though as I did not have enough Birr, as Karen thinks I am too demented to handle money so she had to hand me more through the bars (high security) for my replacement green card though the other snake was a Kenyan not an Ethiopian police report and a wrong form filled out. Any visitors, you just wait! So off we flew to Gondor (castles and Simien mountains) and Lalibela, rock hewn churches and angina inducing mountain walks to monasteries, all this going on in the fasting week leading up to Ethiopian Easter. Thus the churches were full of Ethiopians chanting Ge’ez , the fore-runner to Amharic but oblivious to our visits but handy to have a guide and they really are quite dramatic. If by the way you are having problems conceiving your troubles can be sorted by dunking in a rather septic looking pool (see photo, the reeds are not usually there, something to do with palm Sunday I believe. What our stunningly attractive but largely silent Ethiopian guest made of it I do not know but I am embarrassed to think that we probably spent more money in a week than she earns in a year but I hope she enjoyed the experience. Although deeply supressed I think she may be capable of deductive thought as I was left to entertain her while an overlong pedicure was taking place and I espied a Sudoku in a magazine and taught her how to do it – suddenly she was thinking, something I had not seen before. Perhaps mind expansion for Ethiopians is through puzzles, but what is apparent is that it is not through their education.
Our current administrative mine field is the Ethiopian national Ethics committee, regulations down loaded from an English Ethics committee site and an Ethics committee manager out of the helpful English, make sure this stumbles mode. Ethiopian Ethics required because U.K. Ethics say this is necessary but U.K. ethics probably not necessary but number required if wish to publish so here goes. Having given in papers, complete with Afan Oromo consent translation, though most probably cannot read it and letter from local NGO organiser saying O.K.we now need letter from local health office saying they happy too. Not of course told about this before and also if goes in post never seen again. So more trailing around offices, I am beginning to understand why they all have sofas. But may be we will have to deliver it ourselves. Trip to the bright lights of Addis to deliver said letter perhaps! My Afan Oromo lessons have taught me that Addis Ababa means new flower.
Meanwhile back in Gimbie, there is no internet (so when this goes up is any one’s guess) and my Ethiopian oppo is delighted to have someone else to do the nights with him. I think local obstetricians must be away as there seems to be an upturn in obstructed labour, heavy bleeding (Hb 2.8) and mal-presentation. Some of the local health centres have clearly decided that episiotomy is in, though they seem to be cut on the latera lwall and into the ischeo-rectal fossa producing some interesting haematomas and reconstructive surgery, carried out with the helpof a head light and the left overs from a recent influx of prolapse tourists most of whom I managed to escape by visiting churches. Happily so far I am not left with a lot of pelvic cellulitis but early days. Out patients, (there was a failure of pre planning) is now full of the hopeful but droopy and they will either have to wait till the next trip in November or pay up. Equally the new regimen means that women with previous caesarean sections, and small of stature are being turned away and scandalously a lady with a ruptured uterus and little circulating volume, until she could come up with the reddies. For a predominantly socialist country a little socialised medicine would be a good thing.
Those of you in the U.K. system will know that it is ‘elective season’ and the place is crawling with faranji students so I am teaching them more than anyone else and little other than enthusiasm changes, otherwise they would not be here, however like medical students (though all girls) the world over they have discovered the ‘Green Bar’, however sadly and our medical politicians have a lot to answer for, their education to date is –perhaps- a little Ethiopian.
They are perhaps having their minds broadened here!
The pool is a fertility pool, dunk your self in and there you go.
