Ethiopian Artisans: Spinning and Weaving

 Driving along busy roads, past shops made from tin sheets, and broken sidewalks - I see women in long flowing skirts, wrapped in white shawls. I see men wearing a fez, or a baseball cap. Scrawny, dusty dogs try to find food under carts piled high with oranges, tomatoes and bananas. Donkeys wait patiently with loads of cement bags and bricks.

Eri silk worms

Suddenly our driver turns onto a short, dirt road and honks at a gate. A wizened old man with hands like gnarled wood, opens the gate and we park in the shade in a little oasis.

Among the cobblestone paths and lush green vegetation are different stone buildings. We have come to Sabahar, a workshop of weavers and spinners that was initiated by a Canadian. 

Inspired by ancient weaving traditions of Ethiopia, Sabahar creates exquisite scarves, table clothes, blankets and much more using locally produced silk and cotton. Ethiopian women have been spinning cotton on drop spindles for centuries while men have been weaving fabrics for their traditional clothing as well as the famous Ethiopian ‘gabi’ blankets. The company buys Eri silk cocoons from rural farmers, often women. The Eri silk worm eats castor plants, which are environmentally friendly plants that grow all over Ethiopia. The raising of silk worms is done to supplement income and primarily managed by women. The silk produced by the worms is then hand spun, a craft that has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations.

Silk cocoons

The silk thread is dyed in natural dyes, producing richly colored fabrics. The dyeing process, too, is ancient but often forgotten. Sabahar helps to preserve these traditional skills. They experiment with flowers, leaves, bark and roots to create gorgeous colours. They even use coffee, tea and flowers to dye the thread.

The thread is then woven on traditional looms, in an age-old technique passed down from father to son. I watched as the men skillfully slid the trundle and thread through the silk lines, creating patterns as they moved the loom. Smiles all around as they take pride in their skills and in the final products, that can be bought in a small shop.

Sabahar not only helps to preserve traditional skills, they enable artisans to work and receive fair wages. The company employs around fifty people at the workshop I visited but also employs another 100 or so artisans who spin and weave in their own homes or in cooperatives around Addis Ababa.

Sabahar emphasizes it philosophy respectful, ethical and sustainable work opportunities for artisans in Ethiopia. 

If you visit their website you can see where you can buy their gorgeous woven scarves and more, in the US, Canada and in Europe, including a store in Victoria, BC. And, yes, I did buy some weavings!

For great photos and more info, look here: www.sabahar.com

Coffee Time!

Altar to coffee

 I often wonder who the first person was to discover that something is edible… Like, who was the first soul brave enough to taste blueberries and then wait to see if she would keel over dead? And rice… who figured out to collect those tiny seeds and cook them? 

I can see that tropical fruits were easier to figure out. A banana, a coconut I can see how you might figure out to open them and sample the inside. But who was the person to pull the first carrot out of the ground and say ‘Oh, a carrot!’? [BTW did you know that carrots were not orange until some Dutch royal loyal tinkered with it?]

Who first stepped on a walnut and then put the mushy insides in his mouth? And corn - would you figure out how to shuck and cook an ear of corn if you had never, ever seen one?

Tea, also, is understandable. I can image a Chinese family, sitting around a fire with a pot of water ready to boil. Some dry tea leaves flutter down from the bushes on a breeze. Some land in the pot and, look, they color the water and… hhmm… it doesn’t taste bad. Maybe even better than plain water. Let’s try that again.

But coffee? It took a whole series of coincidental accidents to figure that one out! Legend has it that a 9th-century Ethiopian goat-herder by the name of Kaldi, noticed the increased energy of his flock. They didn’t want to sleep and happily jumped around the field. He checked the area and found that they had nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush. He chewed on the fruit himself and felt a surge of energy and excitement. This prompted him to bring the berries to a monk in a nearby monastery. But the monk disapproved of the berries and threw them into the fire. A most tantalizing aroma rose from the ashes, causing other monks to rush over and investigate. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up, and dissolved in hot water, yielding the world's first cup of coffee! The rest, as they say, is history. I haven’t seen any Starbucks here yet, but a popular coffee chain is called Kaldi, after that original shepherd.  

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an important part of their social and cultural life. When I first spotted the ceremonial area where coffee is brewed, I took it to be a religious altar. And I guess, in a way, drinking coffee in Ethiopia is a bit of a religious experience.

The ceremony is usually conducted by a young woman, dressed in the traditional Ethiopian costume of a white dress with coloured woven borders. The long, involved process starts with the ceremonial apparatus being arranged upon a bed of long scented grasses (or plastic artificial grass indoors). The roasting of the coffee beans is done in a flat pan over a tiny charcoal stove. This is how it is done even in the lobby of the small hotel where’s staying… The strong smell mixes with that of incense which is also burned during the ceremony. The lady washes the coffee beans on the heated pan and stirs it, shaking away the husks. When the coffee beans have turned black, they are ground with a pestle and mortar. The ground coffee is stirred into a black clay coffee pot locally known as ‘jebena'.

Can you just smell it?!

The lady finally serves the coffee in tiny china cups to those who have waited and watched the procedure for the past half-hour. Pouring a thin stream of coffee into each little cup from a height of one foot without an interruption apparently requires years of practice. You then drink the coffee with plenty of sugar but no milk. It is also tradition to eat fresh popcorn with your coffee. 

In parts of Ethiopia, the coffee ceremony takes place three times a day - in the morning, at noon and in the evening. It is the main social event in the village and a time to discuss the community, politics and life in general. You must have at least three cups, as the third round is considered to bestow a blessing. And, I must say, its flavor is heavenly and smooth without the acid taste so often found in coffee elsewhere.

I’m told the full ceremony can take three hours, so never complain again if your workers want a 15 minute coffee break!

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29541768

I highly recommend watching this sort video of the ceremony:

http://www.epicurean.com/articles/ethiopian-coffee-ceremony.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4zgoR_8UJY

Ethiopia Reads

Many years ago, my friend and colleague Jane Kurtz, a children's author from the US who was born in Ethiopia, was part of a group of both Americans and Ethiopians wanting to put books in the hands of children here. They were instrumental in starting up a library program to help bring literacy and a love of reading to children in Ethiopia.

Their vision blossomed into a solid organization: Ethiopia Reads.

With an administrative and fundraising headquarters in Minnesota and a local office in Addis Ababa, the program now runs some 65 libraries across Ethiopia.

Their mission statement says ‘Ethiopia Reads collaborates with Ethiopian communities to build schools, plant libraries, teach teachers, boost literacy and provide youth and families with the tools to improve their lives’.

Ethiopia Reads’ projects include starting and running libraries at local schools that did not previously have books. 

The school has to make available a space suitable for a library. 

ER than supplies books and a librarian and helps to foster a love of reading in local children and their families. They help to train teachers to be librarians and organize programs such as story time.

A few of the libraries are community libraries, open to anyone who wants to come and read. Often the children, and adults, don’t actually borrow the books, but come in to read and to listen to stories.

In the countryside, some of the libraries are not located in buildings. These unique, horse powered mobile libraries deliver books to remote villages.

In the US Ethiopia Reads offers a consistent program to help with their fundraising. You can sponsor a book or an entire library. You can attend events, donate and even come to work as a volunteer. I know I enjoyed my visit to a small community library yesterday, where the kids were eager to hear stories. I can’t wait to visit a school library later this week.

Check out the website for many details on how you can be involved (with your students!), to watch videos and more: http://www.ethiopiareads.org

Ethiopia: It's About Time

 

Every time again, I am amazed at the things you learn when you travel.

For instance, did you know that Ethiopia has its own calendar? And even its own time?!

Orthodox Church and bougainvillea

Our western calendar and our manner of counting days, months and years is the Gregorian calendar. It dates back to Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, and features 12 irregular months. Some of our months have 30 days, other 31 and then we had to make up the difference by calling a leap year every four years.  

Ethiopia, however, did not change to the Gregorian calendar but stayed with the system that was used before: the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar has 12 months of always 30 days, and then one month of 5 or 6 days. Because of this difference, the years add up differently, too. So I am discovering that it is not 2015 here but 2007 or so..

And not only are the days, months and year different, Ethiopians have a different way of keeping time!

They use a 12 hour clock with 2 cycles. One cycle starts at 7 AM, or sunrise. That is the first hour. After 12 hours, or at sunset (they are close to the Equator so a day and a night are pretty much 12 hours) they start counting again. So 7 AM is 1 AM and 12 noon is 6, while 6 PM is 12 in local time… 

If you ask for a wake up call, or set a meeting time, you need to emphasize that you mean Western time or you might have to wait a few hours… 

Donkeys transport heavy loads, even in the capital city

Confused yet? Add to this a 13 hour flight and an 8 hour time difference with home, and I’m not sure how old I am anymore.

HOWEVER, I was delighted to be told that I am now 7 years younger here than before I left. I think I shall return to Ethiopia many times until I'm 21 again…

If you want to learn more about Ethiopean time keeping, check out these web sites:

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html

http://www.linkethiopia.org/guide-to-ethiopia/travellers-guide/travel-tips/time/

New buildings are made with concrete but still supported by a scaffolding system of bamboo...

  

Addis Ababa has 4 million people and is at an elevation of over 2,300 meters.
Surrounded by volcanic summits it is on the edge of the Rift Valley where Lucy, the oldest human bones were found.
They are now in the museum here.

Mambulu Safaris, a personalized way of travel in Africa

One of the best decisions we made, with our recent trip to Africa, was making use of Mambulu (http://www.mambulu.com) Individual Safaris, a small personalized travel agency. 

We have always planned our own travels, spending days online looking for the right accommodations and travel modes. We usually travel on a budget and often with very specific dates or places in mind. 

How do you get to your motel once you arrive at the airport? 

Should you tip the taxi driver? Barter for the cab fare? Is it better to use a bus?

What is a good place to eat, a safe place to stay?

We had never been to Zambia before and so, when Kees came across the Mambulu website we were interested. It offered personalized safari trips, specializing in African countries. We contacted owner Rob Sijm and asked for quotes.

He immediately responded in a friendly, professional manner. We never looked back.

Rob asked many questions about what we wanted, when and where.

He send us detailed proposals and fine tuned them.

It saved us hours and hours of research. And it wasn't, I'm sure, more expensive than if we had done all the work ourselves.

When we arrived in Lusaka, a transportation staff member welcomed us with our names on a sign. He took our passports, obtained visas for us and ushered us around the waiting queues. He collected our luggage for us and checked it in for our next, local flight.

When we arrived at the next airport, in Livingstone, we were once again greeted and ushered to a waiting car. It went like this for our entire trip.

The accommodations were good albeit very primitive at the Zambia Book Bus (www.thebookbus.org). Turned out that Mambulu Safaris is the official rep for the Book Bus in The Netherlands so he was knowledgable about it and able to include it in our travel plans.

Our next accommodations were Sandy’s Creations in Lusaka: http://thebestofzambia.com/leisure/accommodation/lodges/sandys-creations-lodge/

Very nice individual cottages and a restaurant with simple meals. 

In South Luangwa National Park we splurged on a top notch safari lodge and then spend some time in a more budget lodge: http://www.trackandtrailrivercamp.com

Here, again, we had an individual cabin along the river. Extremely nice people, good food and fabulous game drives, even though the cabins had seen better days.

If and when we return to Africa, we will certainly ask Mambulu Safaris to plan it for us. It was great to have such personal attention to detail. Not only did Rob plan everything for us, but he supplied us with a binder full of all the documents and information, sent reminder emails and met us in person before we flew from Amsterdam to Lusaka. He's located in The Netherlands but you can use their services from anywhere...

Elephants For Lunch

An option to a game drive, is to take a walking safari. Walking appeals to us. But does a walking safari mean that you can run into lions? In a way, it does. But the guide takes us to an area where he feels it is unlikely to run into anything too big or dangerous. It is not a long, arduous hike but an interesting stroll through the African bush. The guide reads the ground like the pages of an open book. “Look,” he points, “ a hyena walked here. He was not in a rush because only the two middle claws show.” [It takes me a while to understand that ‘craw mecks’ means ‘claw marks’… ]

He points out where baboons dined on the fiber of elephant droppings. We see gorgeous round clay pots, broken open. They are the large balls that a dung beetle rolls through the mud. He shows us intricately woven weaver bird weaves nests that always hang on the west side of a tree.

A bird "condo"

There’s even a bird called taylor bird which stitches leaves together with real stitches. We follow trails made by elephants and hippos, see a large flock of bright green love birds that look like the leaves of a tree flying off…

One afternoon, we have lunch at Track & Trail River Camp. They’ve set a little table for us and when I look up I spot an elephant. Then three more. They come within meters. From the safety of the kitchen door we watch as they stroll passed, right next to the bar.

We visit Chipembele Wildlife Centre, an impressive visitors’ centre set up and run by a British couple. They were both police officers in England, obsessed by Africa. Seventeen years ago they moved here, built a house in the bush and now educate African children on the importance of wildlife. On the side, he catches poachers. 

We found an elephant tusk on the ground.

He tells us about one poacher who has just been released from prison. Through some local contacts, we manage to make a date with the guy and spend an afternoon chatting with him. What motivates a poacher? Money.

The (ex)poacher has nine children and no job. 70% unemployment in Zambia means no work, no income. So how does a father provide for his family? How does he put food on the table?

The easiest way is by poaching. Edwin told us he built his own guns and would spend the night in the bush, hunting impala, buffalo, kudo and more. He ate the meat but mostly sold it.

He got caught. At some point he got offered a job but screwed up and went back to poaching. He ended up in jail. Jail in Zambia is not for the faint of heart. “1,500 mean in one cell,” he says. People right next to him died of suffocation. One meal a day of a kind of uncooked porridge. It was a wonder that he survived the year. But now he swears he will never poach again. Only time will tell. We hope he will find a job. His skills as tracker are probably unparalleled. And he now seems to agree: wildlife needs to be protected. Wildlife brings tourists and tourists bring money.

We also understand the problems caused by free roaming wildlife. Herds of elephants trample and eat the crops of corn. They brake into grain storage units. Governments try to help villagers by building stronger storage units. They supply villagers with ‘chili bombs’ and help them to plant chili hedges to discourage elephants.

In Mfuwe, the village nearest the National Park, people have lots of trouble with elephants. “They come through our village at night and eat all of the mangos,” our driver tells us, “but in the next village can sleep outside without fear of being trampled.”

I think about this as I fall asleep to the music of cicadas and the loud ‘snoring’ of hippos just outside our chalet along the river. That night we have the very first rain fall of the new rainy season - the first rain in 7 or 8 months. It will soon transform the region into a lush green forest with wide rivers and newborn animals.

Africa Unplugged

 Turns out there is no internet, no phone connection deep inside the savannah of Zambia… We did not even have TV and, several times, no electricity for a day. It was kind of nice but also meant no contact with the rest of the world. So here is, finally, a new update.

We flew from Lusaka to Mfuwe. We knew we would get picked up and taken to the safari lodge called Lion Camp, located inside the boundaries of South Luanga National Park. But, really, we had no idea what to expect. 

Exciting to see wild elephants

Outside the tiny terminal, a safari vehicle was waiting for us. A large jeep, extended with 3 benches that are higher than the driver’s seat. It was the standard 38º C or more. Our bags were loaded and we climbed onboard for the wind blown trip down the dusty red road. It turned out to be a 2 1/2 hour drive from the airport to the lodge. After 15 minutes or so we drove through the village of Mfuwe (Muh-FOO-way): clusters of straw huts and crooked wooden stalls. The poorest of poor people sitting in the shade of a few straggly trees - some selling tomatoes. Barefooted children waving at us. We noticed campfires for cooking, some brick ovens for baking. A rusty dangling sign announced a 'beauty parlor' or the Good Tidings Fish Store'.  

When we reach the entrance gate to South Luangwa National Park, we cross the long cement bridge over the Luangwa River. Almost immediately the drive from the airport turns into a game drive. 

Elephants lumbered on the sandy banks of the almost dried up river; a huge group of hippos is almost submerged in the river to escape the midday sun so they don’t get sunburned. 

To our amazement we spot a pride of eight lions sleeping under a tree. Giraffes stride through the bushes. Buffaloes with their large black judge’s wigs on their heads track to the river. 

When we finally reach the lodge, it turns out to be a gorgeous large building that blends into the environment with a straw roof and mud coloured walls. One hostess greets us with wet towels, the other serves us a cold drink. What a welcome in this 4 star resort. 

Radiating out from the main lodge, are raised wooden walkways that lead to a small number of cottages. They are raised to separate us from the lions... Our chalet is the far one, the honeymoon suite. Never will I forget the moment that we opened the door. We looked across the kingsize bed, covered in a white mosquito net, and out of the two large screened walls. A wooden porch surrounded our room but the view was of the river bank: absolutely teeming with animals: a large herd of zebras, snorting hippos, a few giraffes and, to top it off, a small herd of elephants lumbered by - right outside our windows. It truly was a jaw dropping view. 

We saw many herds of giraffes

We had ten minutes to wash hands, put on more sunscreen, have a cup of tea and we were off again. This time on our first official safari drive. Our guide was Hendrix, a very nice and knowledgable wildlife guide. To our amazement our safari drives have been almost always for just the two of us. I had imagined, before we came here, that we would be with a car load of other tourists. But it is just the two of us and sometimes one other person. 

On the game drive, we see a large male lion devouring a piece of meat under a tree.

Coming around a bend, there suddenly is a hyena showing its teeth at us. A large herd of elephants has little ones and is lazily browsing on leaves. 

The next morning we drive down the river bank, onto the white sand and find ourselves in the middle of a pride of 18 lions. Two little cubs are playing in the sun. Father Lion looks identical to the lion king, surveying his pride and his kingdom. 

Hippos in the Luangwa River

Zebras abound. Hippos crowd the river so that it looks like you can walk across their backs to the other side. I have never seen such huge crocodiles, one staring up at me from below the river bank.

We stop for a coffee/tea break on the morning drive, and for sundowners during the afternoon/evening drives. The first night we stop at the river bank, during a brilliant red sunset where tables with beer and champagne and chicken wings await us. For once, it is kind of nice to be spoiled in a 4 star hotel. In fact, the amount of wildlife we see in the first two days makes me realize that, if you are on a budget, it might be more economical to spend 2 days in a top notch resort with the best possible guide, then to spend 5 days in a cheaper place. We saw everything we could have wished for in those first two days.

Dining is at 8 PM by candlelight.

Zebras

We spend the next few days in a cheaper lodge but still with elephants roaming outside our door and hippos snorting into the fading evening light. 

During the next few days we see a leopard: the first one has just killed an impala and hauled it into a tree. Then we spot one with two cubs. The fields are dotted with bush bucks, impala, waterbucks, kudu’s and more. I love the wart hogs who run with their tails straight up like a little flag pole. In the spot light at night we see mongoose, porcupine and curvets. 

The array of animals is rounded out by endangered wild dogs, a hyena in the day time, lots of zebra and giraffes, birds of all shapes and sizes. It is survival of the fittest: on the first day we saw how wildlife officers tried to save 8 buffaloes who were stuck in the mud - it didn’t work because two days later we see their carcasses covered in vultures. Even a pride of satisfied lions had their fill of buffalo meat.

Rare leopard...

Of course I (Kees) was very interested to find out what it takes to become a wildlife guide/park ranger in Zambia. On the second day I find an operations manual for wild life guides, the same type I used to write for the park rangers in Kananaskis Provincial Park many years ago. It surprised me the amount of detail they had to learn about wildlife, laws, resource management, history, constellations, and much much more. There is no school for park ganger/guide, but they start as a scout, assisting the certified guides and over the years through self study they have to memorize the entire manual of 165 pages. Then they have to sit for an oral and written exam and a practical exam in the field. That will provide them with the Guide I certificate and after a few years, of more study they can obtain the Guide II certificate which will allow them to conduct walking safaris. 

The guide also has to be a car mechanic.. When we were surrounded by lions I wondered if the truck would start again. It did. But once it did not... Just before, we had stopped next to a leopard and would not have been able to get out. When the truck died, there were no animals and the two of us pushed it downhill to start!