I managed to visit two of the programs, Gondar (ETH02b) and Asezo (ETH02l).
The daily programs were allowed to continue operating during the recent strikes so at least that was not affected and the seniors were still fed. In talking with them it’s obvious that their expectations about life in old age are pretty low. As long as they have somewhere to sleep and food that’s all they want. These programs give them at least what they feel they require. It’s still a pretty miserable existence even though they “are still alive” as one guy told me.
Tegabo Amaldi – is a character of a man. He tells stories and fables constantly and laughs easily despite his obvious lack of anything decent. He lives about a kilometre away from the Gondar site. He was a farmer in a village about two hours out of Gondar. 15 years ago the government took his land and gave him a house in Asezo. His wife and three children are all dead and he has no grandchildren.
He came to town and for some years used to tend cattle for someone and that got him a little money for food. But those people brought their cattle into a shelter rather than graze them out on the land so he had no work or income. He begged on the streets for two years before he heard about this place. Still today his tattered clothes were given to him by some charitable people.
He has nothing to do so he comes to the centre early most days to meet his friends and talk. He would be very sad and lonely if this place was not available. In fact, he said, “I would be dead.”
Emawayesh Adana is a sad little woman. She lived in a rural village for many years until during the fighting 25 years ago they fled to Gondar and they have lived here ever since. Her husband died and she has one daughter. The daughter lives in a village and her husband died too, so her two grandchildren have been sent to live with her so they can go to school. She has to beg to send her grandchildren to school, the girl is 18 years old and the boy 16. They are not doing so well at school because they cannot afford the costs.
She has been coming to the centre since it opened and doesn’t know how they would survive without the help. She gets food for all three of them. As a young person, while still living in the village, she hurt her arm while working in the field. She tried to treat it with local medicines but it got worse. Eventually she came to the city and they amputated her right arm. She is obviously embarrassed still about it and it makes life difficult for her. In addition, she is not well and her legs are quite swollen.
The number of beneficiaries at the Asezo programme has risen to 70 as planned and another woman has been brought in to help. The biggest job is making 150 injera each day, they begin at 6.30am and finish around 2.30pm.
I interviewed three at the Asezo programme. All of them told stories of loss, death and abandonment. One woman (in the middle) was in tears as she told how she had a few possessions and lived in Addis Ababa. She had one daughter who invited her to come and live with her in Gondar. So she sold up everything and came. After about three years she fell out with her daughter who kicked her out and has nothing to do with her. She has nothing. The local Council is building some houses like the one at the other project in Gondar and she has been promised a place in that.
The old man went blind 24 years ago and has no one to care for him. He has two daughters but they cannot help him. Even his clothes are given to him by others. He lives on the veranda of someone who lets him stay there for a small amount. He begs to get enough to pay for the rent and would not eat without the senior care programme, he would be dead.
The third woman has one daughter. A few years ago the daughter came to town from the village and the mother has not heard from her since then. She doesn’t know if she is dead or alive. She then came to town to look for her and has never gone back to her village. She begs to get THB130 (US$6.50) / month for rent and comes to the programme to get food as she would not eat without it.
The circumstances of these people affects me every time I hear another story. It’s so desperate. I would like there to be more care for the people, a Christian social worker to work with them. I’ll bring it up with Worku as there is a lot more spiritual input that could be given.
The program at Tikel Dingaye (ETH02m) is going well. They have got another room in which to store their things and have opened out the front of the building to get more light in. They have also built permanent seating so they don’t have to sit in the ground. This has helped a lot.
Worku is very busy. It’s like he is running from morning to night and gets little time to think about anything but getting the school (ETH03) up and running. He is constantly fielding questions, encouraging people, having team meetings and answering the phone. He has people doing specific roles but when there is a contractor on site he cannot take his eye off them for a minute. The day I was there the plumber was getting the water connected. We walked into the staff bathroom and the basin for handwashing was nowhere near the right place or where the drain pipe was. He had just put in the water pipe for the tap without measuring it, drilled holes in the wall and it was at least a foot in the wrong place. Not just in the wrong place but all the holes drilled in the wall tiles were in the wrong place! This all happened while Worku was doing something else for an hour.
When I asked about the greatest need his answer was “prayer.” Due to the political situation things could go very nasty, very quickly. The people are very angry and very united. Unless there are major changes at the government level this will boil over and there is little hope of a good outcome. Many people have been killed and every day more and more young people disappear. No one knows what happens to them.
Worku’s sister Achu was married here in August to a local guy. He is an educator and I can see that part of Worku’s plan is to involve family in the school operation so he can concentrate on the church planting and widow projects. Probably not a bad plan actually as he can really only trust family when there is such a valuable property involved. Having them around has been a great encouragement to him as well.