Earth Girl in Ethiopia

Heya Bloggsters,

Sorry I hven't posted in a while but accessing blogger has been impossible untill now. When i have been anble to find a fairly fast internet connection the computer hasn't been able to loasd blogger. (I have been told this is becouse ETC the givernement owned ISP has blocked acces to it).

Anyway, How are you guys? I heard the news about Tony Blair from BBC world. It was a bit unexpected. Whos the new PMthen ? Gordon? I don't know 'cos we don't have satelite TV and I havent been anywhere that has.
The weather here was really nice last week. This week it has been raining a lot.

I'm alternatig between having a nice time being, bored/frustrated and incredibly guilty.

Although the country is improving in leaps and bounds and has improved so much since I was last here. There is still a heartbreaking amount of poverty. I'm not talking about the western kind of poverty - living in a council flat and being on the dole no being able afford an ipod povcerty. I'm talking about living in a mud hut - If your lucky, collecting dried cow dung from the road to uses as fuel for the cooking fire besoue you can't afford to buy wood kind of poverty, the walk down to the river to collect water and wash your clothes kind of poverty.

There is so much construction going on demolishing the tinshack- mud hut slums and replacing them with blocks of flats, construcing new water mains and sewage pipes and surfacing roads which were dirt tracks (in the middle of the city!). There are shiny new office blocks and even a couple of shopping malls. But in many its just as third world as before.

The begging is horrible. Ragged street childern, limbless civil war veterans, polio cripples women with babies and old people with no one to care for them all ask you for money all the time. Especialy us as speaking english we stick out like a sore thumb. The advice from all quarters is not to give money so we bought some meal vouchers from the Hope Enterprises charity to give out instead. Most of them people especialy the children are really greaful for the voucher which they can exchange for a nourishing meal at the feeding centre (many of the street children also get a free breakfast there). There unfortunatlyhave been a few who sneer at the vouchers or even hand them back to you becouse they only want money- but thankfuly these are few and far between. Most peiple are genuine and extreemly greatful for any help you can provide which usualy helps aleviate the guilt for being realtivly rich, just a little...