Jan's Journal
Since before '911', our Executive Director has been traveling to Africa in pursuit of our organization's mission goal - Working to Improve Literacy and Basic Education Throughout the Developing World. The members of the board asked her to record the personal side of her ventures in these pages and suggested the name, 'Jan's Journal' to her as the title for them. In the past, she has included personal stories, articles, diaries, and experiences. Together with its original digital imagery, these materials have appeared under a baker's dozen sub-titles before now. Today however, we bring you the 'Thousand Mile Journey' edition from Jan's Journal during her final days in Ethiopia at the close of 2008.
Thousand Mile Journey
(Copyright © 2009 by
World Literacy Initiative, Inc. –
All rights reserved.)
Preface.
From early March 2008 until the end of the third week of December,
World Literacy Initiative, Inc. and its
Executive Director, Jan Heckler were fully engaged in a protracted effort to
help Ethiopia gain $417 million in dedicated funds for improving the quality of
education in that least developed country.
Since most of the final award was ‘pure’ grant-in-aid from the World Bank
and five European donor nations, this project quickly became the number one
priority for much of the Ministry of Education (MOE) under State Minister, His
Excellency Faud Ibrahim during this same period.
After months of rigorous planning the agreement had been worked out and the
donors’ funds finally committed, yet there remained a final requisite task:
to re-plan all of the major components of the General Education Quality
Improvement Programme (GEQIP) for each of the fifty-nine budget entities
converting each plan’s first year from a full year to a partial one of just four
months time
since
the new beginning date for GEQIP had been delayed.
This task, though straightforward enough in any industrialized country,
still loomed as a huge requirement for the project to go forward since doing so
was not only a condition of release of the funds that all parties had agreed to
but was a task requiring organization, planning, and computer skills that many
of the budget entities’ planners were still developing and did not yet fully
possess.
Thus, with 3 of every 5 plans under Jan and her consultancy team’s
responsibility to shepherd through this process and the clock already ticking
against a fast-approaching mid December deadline, Jan and her team set off to
meet with planners in half a dozen cities over a thousand miles before time ran
out. To do this, she and her two
companions travelled
and conducted re-planning workshops
for eighteen calendar days
including travel
over high mountain roads that
were under substantial construction/re-construction and which were not only
dangerous
at times
but barely passable in
others.
This is the diary of her ‘thousand mile journey’.
It begins on the fifth day of the planning period following the
conclusion of the Addis Ababa workshop and consultancy.
Sunday 23 Nov
Today, my trusted companion from the ministry, Tsegau Berhanu along with our ministry driver, Abebe and I took the first steps of our trip to help re-plan the General Education Quality Improvement Programme (GEQIP) for Ethiopia. There are two teams going out to accomplish this. We have divided the country into two parts and our team has responsibility to help convert the work plans for thirty-five teacher education colleges, universities and regional education bureaus. The other team will attempt to work with the remaining twenty-two.
The conversions are being required by the World Bank as the existing plans call for three full years of work beginning in July 2008. Since it is already November, these plans must be changed to reflect the passage of time and the addition of a ‘fourth’ year. While this sounds straight forward enough, it will mean cutting the first year by about 60% and re-planning how things will get done, what will wait until year two and how to pay for things already being accomplished. This last problem derives from a World Bank rule that prohibits using WB funds for any work previously accomplished prior to the formal start of its program.
At a time when the whole world is falling into the
economic chaos, this has caused a number of least developed countries
to fall into their
own deficit postures.
Since there are about 26,000 lines of work plan and budget, the work before us looms as an awesome task.
As with all
prior such exercises in GEQIP, this will require both teams’ complete focus from
the
start of the exercise last week when our team kicked things off with a workshop
in Addis Ababa all the way until the plans have revised, collected, quality
reviewed and sent
every plan in to Washington.
If our progress in
the three major re-planning efforts already accomplished was any indication, we will need all 31 days (from 18
November) working right up until the deadline on 18 December in order to
complete our work.
As before, I begin each day in prayer.
The task before is too great physically and emotionally to contemplate
without the help of our maker. Ten
to twelve hour days, gruelling drives and with living conditions along the way
surely
a rung
or two
down
e
.JPG)
Today, we drove north northwest
f
Our Amhara Workshop here however is a buzz over the absence of ‘bridging’ funds
that will help them connect this years ongoing activities to the formal start of
GEQIP in January/February as they have planned.
A misunderstanding on this point with World Bank officials has
contributed to confusion and as a result,
there is a
sizeable budgetary short-fall.
The large deficits in most budget entities, hard to deal with in
any country at any time, may be more difficult due to the current economic
conditions and the fact that a least developed country generally has little in the
way of surplus funds. GEQIP funds, once they are released in 2009 will not be
able to be used to address these deficits and this fact, new to some, has
added an emotional component to the existing fiscal conundrum.
Me and my team minister to these emotional needs as best we can for we
have no real
answers for the fiscally related side of this problem.
Wednesday 26 Nov
Saw an American friend, her daughter and Ethiopian husband for dinner.
They are both educators at Bahir Dar University.
A handsome couple and beautiful and precocious child, they are a positive
symbol of the global community’s new families.
Healthy and strong, they forge a life for themselves while helping to
lead their new country in its development.
It may be a while before we see one another again so it was good to take
advantage of this 'chance' crossing of our paths.
Thanksgiving Day -
Thursday 27 Nov
Happy Thanksgiving! Today, we drove to Lalibela where ancient churches (built in the 12th and 13th centuries) are carved into solid rock! This showcase miracle of Africa was not going to be our original goal, but the roads in this part (most) of the country are so difficult for driving that the 300 k (~186 m) from Bahir Dar to Mekelle will require two ten hour days of driving to get through. That these roads are nearly all under some stage of construction is both good and bad news.
Although surely tough going on this trip, in just a few years time, these same roads will become frequently travelled as the mountains and sights are truly awesome. Yet, today because of the roads, they are simply one more hurdle to surmount.
To add to this, today I became really sick. Just as during a trip to Bahir Dar in March of 2007, I contracted a case of diarrhea again - but this time it was big time. As it happened today, the internal loss of fluids and concomitant drop in my
At the
time two years ago, I was able to just sit down on the stairs at the hotel and
wait a few minutes until I was able to return directly to my room and the
privacy it afforded. However, this
time I lost consciousness in the lobby of the small, very modest hotel we had
stopped at for me to use the toilet.
By the time the car finally stopped for me to go, I had already developed tunnel
vision and could only just barely talk;
only just
mumble a few words;
words like
‘bathroom’ and ‘hurry’. As I began
to stumble, Tsegau and the driver, Abebe came and
attempted to support me
by grabbing me under my arms
and helping me to
walk. But just as we made it through the
front door to the hotel,
my legs
simply gave out at
the same time I lost what remained of
my vision and I went
down onto the floor of the lobby. Though
this could have easily resulted in a bad injury, because of my comrades’
attempts to keep me up, I went down easier than surely would have been the case
otherwise. Still, down is where I
went and, down is where I stayed.
Although I ‘came to’ fairly quickly being out perhaps no more than
half a minute or
so, it was long enough for four people to turn me over and to begin lifting me
off the floor. Also, quite
regrettably, it was long enough that my sphincter muscle relaxed emptying
my bloated bowels into my underwear and sweat suit.
Now, if this was not the worst moment of my life, it surely will make
my
all-time short list of such experiences. I felt
horrible, was extremely dehydrated, weak and dizzy with illness, and now I
looked and smelled the part as well.
The men discontinued attempts to carry me when my eyes fluttered open and I
began speaking words; not necessarily coherent ones, but clearly enough to know
that I had survived thus far. Quite
soon, I began to assure them that I would be ‘all right’ if only I could be
helped up and directed to the bathroom.
Though it was not clear that anyone else in the room spoke English,
Tsegau did and he began directing traffic for me and helping me up.
With no small effort on his part, he got me to the latrine out back. Because I was still quite weak, he half carried me and we somehow made our way forward.
Now, the word, latrine may conjure up all sorts of things but where I found myself, quite typically in various parts of Africa, was a room constructed of corrugated iron plating about 2 meters by 1 meter (~ 6 ft by 3 ft) with a roof overhead and a hole in the ground towards the back end. These are generally quite septic places to begin with and I am afraid that I contributed further to the rage of bacteria ongoing there that day.
Due to my continuing weakened and sick condition, the limited space of the latrine, the septic nature of the entire area and the obvious limitations of cleaning up with limited facilities, progress came painfully slowly. I prayed repeatedly that I should not pass out again – especially in there and alone now, I would fall into ‘it’ for sure. And, I prayed for the strength not to waste my energy on self-pity but to use what was left as effectively as possible and to somehow take each step necessary to return to our task still waiting at hand.
At least twice more over the next forty to fifty minutes, Tsegau came to check on me by talking through the door. Still somehow with the strength made possible only by the Lord, I somehow managed to get myself cleaned up and changed clothing without giving myself dysentery. Afterwards, we waited another twenty minutes whi
le I sat and drank some water. Then, without further delay, we got back on the road for Lalibela.
We had no
real choice but to do this as we were already a day behind due to road
conditions. A further delay with
the World Bank deadline looming was just not possible.
So, we pushed on and, again thanks to the Lord, I somehow recovered my
strength throughout the day. We
were fortunate to get a decent room for me that night and although both water
and electricity were being rationed when we arrived after dark, they both came
on by about 9 o’clock and so a badly needed and desired shower and a light
dinner of bread and broth was possible. Then, exhausted quite beyond words
and after giving 'thanks', I
slept like a baby.
Friday 28 Nov
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On Friday, we drove on through meandering mountainous roads at a continuing
average speed of usually not more than 25 mph for another very long day to
Mekelle. But this day was not
marred with illness or mishap and I had a reservation at the Axum Hotel
Because we were running late, we decided to begin our workshop on Saturday.
Everyone from the region and the universities and colleges were extremely
good-spirited about this development despite the obvious inconvenience to them
and their families. Again, the only
real stickler was the issue about not
using World Bank funds to pay for expenses already incurred.
As before, this created a circumstance whereby most of the budget
entities would be facing a budgetary short-fall.
Still, after a short while spent processing this and related issues, we
were able to re-direct our focus to the re-drafting of plans that was the reason
for our collaboration.
Saturday 29 Nov – Tuesday 2 Dec .JPG)
Because Sunday is widely accepted in Ethiopia as the Sabbath and thus a day of rest, we necessarily stood down to reconvene our work sessions on Monday. Instead, we visited the Tigray Memorial for War Veterans. This regional memorial offers a tribute to the fallen who died for the freedoms of those who survive. Artifacts from the war to replace a communistic dictatorship and written historical accounts along with statues and pictures comprise the collection viewable by the public.
Monday we
worked hard and by Monday evening, we were pretty much done with our work here.
What remained to be accomplished was easily within reach of the
participants at this point.
So, T
uesday morning, knowing that we had another day and a half drive ahead of us, we decided to depart for Dessie by way of Woldiya. In spending the night in Woldiya, we ran once more up against electricity and water rationing this time doing without either throughout the night and into the morrow. Apparently, we were either asleep or well on the road again the next day before either came on again and so spent our whole stay in Woldiya without either nicety. Still, the cook somehow managed a dinner of chicken soup and yebug tibs (pieces of lamb in a spicy stew) for dinner and the night, albeit quite dark, was peaceful enough.
Wednesday 3 Dec
The next morning, still without running water,
I washed up with splashes of bottled water and then simply changed into clean clothing. After a breakfast of eggs and toast, we then drove from Woldiya to Dessie (sometimes spelled Dese) the site of our fourth and final workshop.
We had the opportunity to drive through the scenic and historic Wichale (sometimes spelled Wochale), place of the treaty of ‘confusion’ between the Italians and the Ethiopians in 1889. Following this treaty’s signing, that the Italians took (their Italian version) to mean that Ethiopia would become its protectorate henceforth and the Ethiopians took (their Amharic version) to signify a simple treaty of friendship and cooperation, war broke out between the two nations in 1895 to resolve the peace treaty’s intention.
Following their
decisive defeat at Adwa in 1896 however, the Italians agreed to ‘friendship and
cooperation’, at least until they re-invaded again in 1936.
On that occasion, with the help of the British however, the Italians were once
again soundly defeated (1941) and except for these two brief occupations by
foreign armies, Ethiopia retained its self-proclaimed title as the only
uncolonized country in modern
sub-Saharan Africa. The dramatic
relief in driving through the surrounding mountains was striking.
.JPG)
Upon arrival we learned that the hotel where I had reservations cancelled them
upon not having heard from me that
morning. The telephone network had
not been available for the past 48 hours (though I had not been particularly
inclined to call ahead as we had not been doing so with previous hotels), but
this requirement, unmentioned in prior communications with the hotel,
caused us to search for an alternative place for the next three nights.
Regrettably, the town appeared to have few good hotel rooms still available from which to choose. The place appeared to be booming. Surrounded by beautiful scenery and home t
o both a university and a college the place was teeming with people coming and going. So, after spending an hour or so spent in an increasingly frantic search, we settled on what was at the time the best we could find; the Amba Ras. Although this had a tiny room available, it had no rooms available that have hot running water. Although this is proving to be a real loss as the temperatures range from 17 - 21 C. (~ 63 – 70 F.) I am told by my traveling companions that I am fortunate, for at 80 birr per night (~$8.16/night), the room is 'a real bargain'.
The town’s main road is under construction, donkeys are seen hauling loads, and
especially due to the presence of a huge mountain rising up on either side of
the city especially to the south of town and an otherwise hilly terrain, I have
had the impression of our being in an old west mining town (a
la McCabe & Mrs. Miller). It is
an interesting quasi-roughing it type place, though on the slightly cool side
and of course without most amenities.
Friday 5 Dec
Given that this is the smallest of our four workshops and everyone here is
pretty much finished, we will be leaving early tomorrow on Saturday.
As it is our last night in town, a few of us have a dinner out.
Two VSO’s (Volunteer Service Overseas, a U.K. charity that works much
like the Peace Corps, through volunteers overseas) along with a young Dean of
Education from Samara University went for an early dinner walking distance from
the hotel. Tomorrow is the final
day of our journey as we head on back to Addis, so tonight it is nice to reflect
on the past weeks and workshops and what it all might mean.
Saturday 6 Dec
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Today we drove home. It took twelve
hours, the final two or three were done once again in the dark.
The thousand mile journey, about the distance from Atlanta to Boston,
although very scenic and picturesque
took us about 45 hours to complete.
That is an average speed of only 22 miles per hour.
Again, this speaks to the conditions of the roads which was not good.
But also and quite gratefully, much of the roadway conditions were due to
ongoing construction and so in another few years, this stretch will be a dream
relative to what we just went through.
Right now, I am eyeing my bed after what will be my first hot shower since
Wednesday afternoon. I will force
myself to stay awake long enough to eat but then I will succumb to ten or more
hours in the sack. I can hardly
wait.
Both ministry consultancy teams completed their missions on time and the
final deadline was met. The World
Bank then proceeded to announce the $417 million investment in Ethiopia
education to the global audience
Jan Heckler
No portion of the Thousand Mile Journey edition of
Jan’s
Journal including its digital imagery,
19 Dec 2008
Addis Ababa
may be used without the expressed written consent
of
World Literacy Initiative, Inc.
