WELCOME TO ETHIOPIA!

1
WELCOME TO ETHIOPIA!
2
Hi Everybody! I cant tell yall how totally
stoked I am to share my experience in Peace Corps
Ethiopia with you!
How can I steal Lauras bananas

• Ethiopia is a beautiful country full of struggle
  and strength, poverty and hope. I hope this will
  be a good opportunity to put a face to the issues
  youve been learning about in class.
• Being in Ethiopia, in the Peace Corps is well,
  totally awesome, so the last thing Id want is
  for this exchange to be boring for you. So, today
  Ill give you a brief introduction life in small
  town Ethiopia, my role as a public health
  volunteer, some of the strengths and challenges
  the country faces. After that, well base our
  exchange on your interests and questions and what
  you all are learning in class.

3
This is me! 7-ish years ago I was sitting where
you are today, in Mr. Loewensterns class,
absorbing texts and images of social inequality
and injustice across the world. I wasnt wholly
aware at the time, but a fire for social justice
and a desire to take action was being kindled
inside me. After LBJ, I got a degree in Biology
from the University of Texas (Hook em). A year
later I find myself here, pursuing my dream of
joining the Peace Corps.
A refreshing avocado, orange, lime, guava
smoothie.
4

• This is Ethiopia

I live here, in a town of 9,000 people called
Finchaa.
5

• This is Peace Corps!!!
• Goal to promote world peace and friendship by 1)
  helping interested countries meet their need of
  skilled men and women and 2) promoting cultural
  exchange and understanding.
• My job Ill spend 2 years in my town Finchaa
  (the most beautiful place on earth), acting as a
  public health advisor and HIV/AIDS specialist.

Peace Corps focuses on sustainable development
through community integration by building
capacity- providing communities with the support
they need to solve their own problems.
6
Some of my future projects

• Provide life skills training and sexual health
  information for high school students.
• Health Extension Workers are young women who go
  door-to-door in rural areas to teach good
  sanitation and disease prevention. I will work
  with them to improve their leadership skills and
  methods of information delivery. Also put on
  bi-annual womens empowerment workshops.
• Assist the PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDS)
  association to expand their Income Generating
  Activities, particularly to create a internet
  café and cattle fattening project.
• Help people living with HIV/AIDS understand their
  nutritional needs and potentially start a
  community garden to help them meet these needs.

7
What everyday life looks like
8
The rural area, just outside my town. 90 of
Ethiopias population is rural and depend on
traditional herding and farming practices to
survive.
9
A man traveling, probably several miles, from the
rural area to sell fire wood in town for a meager
profit. Finchaa is in the mountains and the
countryside is often shrouded in clouds and fog.
10
Fincha Town
11
Home Sweet Home
12
My Front Yard and woolly neighbors
13
Starbucks
14
Starbucks This is my morning coffee stop-
Shebiree (pictured below) sells traditional
Ethiopian coffee and bread on the side of the
road to earn a living. She is widowed and
supports a young child. Coffee costs 2 birr
about 0.12
15
Office Supply Store This store was started and
is run by an association of people living with
HIV/AIDS. The proceeds of the store benefit those
most at need in the organization, who due to low
education level, low economic status, social
stigma towards HIV people and other factors have
little or no other sources of income with which
to support themselves and their families.
16
Inside the store One of my major tasks will be
to provide support for this organization of HIV
people. This includes helping to expand their
store to include an internet café. In a society
where even important offices seldom have working
computers, internet is a hot commodity.
17
A view of Finchaa high school. In the rural areas
around Finchaa there are no high schools. Some
students walk several hours to get to school
every day.
18
High school geography classroom. Students only
have school for ½ days, some in the morning and
some in the afternoon. This is because there are
more students than there are teachers and space
to accommodate them. Also, it is due to the fact
that many students have other family
responsibilities they are expected to fulfill,
particularly the female students. Some help run
family stores, herd cattle, watch over younger
siblings, prepare meals, fetch water etc.
19
Finchaa Health Center and Regional Health Office
20
My Office This series of buildings is where
people go for medical care. A hard working, but
overworked medical staff treat patients as best
they can with the limited resources available.
There are no doctors (only nurses) and no
ambulance. Patients who are too sick to walk to
the health center are carried on horse carts. The
most common conditions seen at the health center
are preventable communicable diseases such as
pneumonia, diarrheal diseases and malaria.
HIV counseling, testing and treatment facility.
The HIV prevalence rate is around 5.
21
Everyday on my way to the Health Center I see the
smiling face of Abebe. A sweet kid, who
unfortunately has a condition that leaves him
shaky and unable to walk without support of a
large stick. Due to his condition, he has never
been to school.
22
One of the most well stocked stores in town.
Instead of Target or the gas station, tiny shops
like these contain all the supplies needed for
everyday life, from cookies to toilet paper.
23
H-E-B (the town market)
24
Fruits, vegetables, spices, eggs, oil, live
chickens. All fresh food is grown and sold by
local farming families.
25

• Ok, cool.
• Of course there is far far more to say about this
  country than can fit in a tiny powerpoint. This
  was a mere smattering of places and people, to
  help yall get a picture of the everyday lives
  and struggles of folks here.
• There are so many unique facets to Ethiopian life
  and culture. Ive made a list of some of the
  topics I think you might find interesting to help
  guide our future discussion. (on the next slide)
• Additionally, please ask any questions you have
  (about anything!), and I promise to do my best to
  answer them.

26

• Some potential topics for future discussion (plus
  any you all are interested in)
• Gender roles- a day in the life of a ethiopian
  male/female.
• Harmful traditional practices female genetial
  mutiliation, early marriage, wife stealing
• HIV/AIDS and commercial sex workers
• A day in the life of an HIV member of society
• Wealth distribution and disparity
• Health and Sanitation
• Religion
• Attitudes towards homosexuality
• Culture and traditions Food, dance etc.
• Natural history
• Day to day life- how people survive, how I
  survive
• Social life- what people do for fun
• The way things we normally dont notice actually
  really impact our lives
• Transportation
• Medical resources
• Indoor plumbing
• Water sanitation
• Libraries, school books, desks, chairs

27
You must be the change you wish to see
in the worldGandhi

• Carpe diem my friends. Until next time