Each meal we gathered, usually at a big table with Grace before the meal.   Following Breakfast, a different person was designated to present a devotional.  A great way to start the day.                                                                                                                                  We were warned early on to drink lots of water and protect ourselves from the sun.

We were asked what are expectations were for the upcoming trip.  One of the grain farmers hopes to see the circle completed. They want to see the people on the other end benefitting from the CFBG projects.  Some expressed fear of the magnitude of what we were going to see, concern that we would not be able to comprehend what we would see, others look forward to seeing the love and appreciation they have in their hearts, we want to see the hope the projects bring.  One is concerned that we don’t know and we will not understand.    We are advised to listen, ask good questions, to be ready to accept their gratitude.  We expect this experience will change us; we will not be the same people when we come back.  We understand there will be a blessing and a burden resulting from this experience.  The aim is to help them help themselves.    We are assured that the places we are going are quite safe but the politically based insecurity, although turned around by the new Prime Minister, is not totally turned around.  We are warned to be street smart, to lock our suitcases, to show respect, reciprocate, to expect respect in return.  Hope is that we will see beauty beyond the poverty, to look at the beggar as a person.

We are here as guests of our partners.  Be gracious receivers.  We are all biased.  We are encouraged to look at what we have in common.  To be open minded as we listen.  To look at what we have in common.

Monday Morning there was no mercy for anyone now on Ethiopian time (7-10 hours earlier that Canadian time!)  Quality programming brought the group to life.  A consulting firm called Desert Rose help people who come into the country to understand the country.  Martha’s background is in Social-Anthropology quickly made the topic very relevant.

·         Eighty plus classes or groups make up Ethiopia.  Very diverse culture.

·         The colors of the flag of Ethiopia have different meanings.  Martha said some say the Green is for the Holy Spirit, the Yellow for Peace and the Red for Sacrificial Blood.

·         There are three important pieces to the Ethiopian culture: 

1.    Relationships:

§  Ethiopians love to be around people.

§  Family is very important (they don’t want to be alone)

§  Family goes beyond the nuclear family.  For example, responsibility extends to cousins.  If financial help is asked for, obligations may have to be postponed until next month to help you cousin. This applies to education, medical help, immigration and more.

§  There are lots of orphans in Ethiopia.  Adoption is accepted.

§  People live in close family compounds.

§  There is not a good system for emergency police, ambulance.  Rely first on family, then on neighbors.

§  Network is important.  They make sure they have many people in their network.

§  It is not important what you know, it is who you know.

§  You can only depend on your network to get the services you need!  (Martha gave two life threatening examples in her own life)

§  1^st responders in any crisis are the neighbors

§  The population of Ethiopia is 102 million ((2016).  Canada, by comparison was 36.2 million in 2016.  Canada  is 9 X the land size of Ethiopia!

§  Of the 41million children in Ethiopia, only 5 million are able to eat well.

§  There are many displaced people, refugees. 

§  There are 16 million hungry (the government says 8 million)

§  Diplomats have their own community network

§  Tourists?

§  Why would expats want to live here?

§  People want to go to a better life

§  For outsiders to build a new relationship, difficult

§  Outsiders are called Farage (people from the outside)

·         Four rules will help build relationships

1.    Smile:  If you smile, you are accepted by them.  A smile is a door opening to build a new relationship.

2.    Greeting:  How to acknowledge another person.  We deserve to be greeted.  Greet everyone every morning.  It is very important to recognize another person’s space. 

We had demonstrated to us the ‘shoulder bump hand shake, the three part cheek kiss, the hand shake touching the right arm with the left hand, all with appropriate eye contact and head position’.

3.    Smile and greet

4.    Greet and smile

§  Invest time to make social visit.  Family, friends, neighbors.

§  Weddings, funerals, sickness, birth, holidays-all times to make visits, to celebrate life.

2.    Status.  Power in Culture. 

§  Hierarchy vs Equality

§  Customs:

·         The man slaughters the chicken or goat

·         Inheritance is to the male child or children

·         There is an attempt to change the society.  For example, 50% of the cabinet are women

§  The Five A’s of Position in the Ethiopian Society

·         Ancestors- eg King or Queen, Indian caste, Somali

·         Achievement- graduated, appointed to a position

·         Age-older people have more respect

·         Assignment-government appointment

·         Appearance is important-(how I want to represent myself to you).  Clean shoes are important!

§  Criticism throws Ethiopians off.  It is painful.  People may become defensive or aggressive. 

§  Evaluation is stressful for senior management

§  It is hard to receive criticism, not easy to take

§  Here it is exceedingly hard to manage, the culture makes it difficult.  Everything is taken personally.  It becomes part of who they are.   The Ethiopian must be respected.

·         The Expat says, ‘I will respect you when I see results.’

·         The Ethiopian says ‘I will give you results when I am respected'.

§  If not greeted, the Ethiopian feels disrespected. 

3.    Holidays and Celebrations:

§  Religious       vs      Social

§  Christian:  Finding the cross;  Christmas Jan 7^th, Epiphany: Baptism of Jesus, Easter

§  Muslim:  There are two official holidays in Islam: Eid Al-Fitrand Eid Al-Adha. Eid Al-Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan (a month of fasting during daylight hours), and Muslims may invoke zakat (charity) on the occasion which begins after the new moon sighting for the beginning of Shawal (Google)

§  Desert Rose provides training for religious groups to understand each other.

4.    Social Events

§  New Year, Childbirth, Baptism, 1^st Birthday, Graduation, Weddings, Funerals

§  Financial Burden:  For example, a wedding may include 1000 guests with 200 invited to a luncheon.  (They say the main reason for divorce in Addis is the wedding!)

§  Why is celebration important?

·         Escape from the Hierarchy

§  In Ethiopia, there is strong distinction between formal vs informal

·         If you want to talk to someone, have coffee, not a meeting.  Coffee is a green light for discussion.

·         In an informal setting, it is easier to give feedback.

 Poverty vs Sufficiency:

We then played a game where we were given a card representing a person in Ethiopia.  We were each given a small amount of money.  We were asked to pay our necessary bills.  Many of us did not have enough to pay our bills.  To make matters worse, we had to draw cards and deal with unexpected situations usually requiring money.  Some of us had been given extra money so you know what happened.  We had to call on neighbors for help. 

This brought up topics like:

·         Independence vs Inter dependence. Everyone is helping. 

·         Present vs the Future

·         Investing?

·         Networking

·         Resources

·         To do something bigger, if everyone contributes, we can do bigger projects

·         Money-invest in network, land and resources

This was a very valuable morning, one that we would think about many times over the duration of our travels to communities where we visited CFGB projects.

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