May 17, 2009

Yesterday we spent the day in Addis Ababa. It was our second trip to Ethiopia’s capital, other than the day we landed in Ethiopia. As we drove around the city and stopped at various sites I was constantly struck by the stark contrasts around me.

Our first stop was at the Swedish Clinic on the east side of the city. Solomon had had a fever since Thursday evening, so we thought we better get him to a doctor. When it comes to medical facilities, there are a number of options. In our city of Debre Zeit, there is a hospital close to where we live. However, we were told to go there only if we had no other options, and, as Canadians in Ethiopia, we obviously have plenty of options. Since we were planning to go into Addis anyways, it was suggested that we visit the Swedish Clinic, started a number of years ago by doctors from Sweden.

As we had last week, we hired a local taxi driver named Daniel to take us to Addis. He charges us 600 Birr (around $55 US) for the day. Just to put that in perspective, I spoke with two North American women at lunch today who were visiting people here at the college from Addis. They took a taxi like the one Daniel drives and paid 10 Birr (around $1.00), 600 Birr is a lot of money for the average Ethiopian. I think the average labourer earns around 30 Birr a day.

When we arrived at the clinic we drove through the gate and parked beside what looked like a nice bungalow. An older Ethiopian in a lab technician’s coat was there to meet us and we walked right in to see the doctor, also an Ethiopian. There are two Swedish doctors on staff but they were not working on Saturday. There was also a female nurse/receptionist who was also on duty. All three had some ties to Sweden in terms of their training. I filled out a brief form and we were shown the fee schedule. After looking at Sol for a few minutes he diagnosed tonsillitis, and a lab test confirmed strep throat as well. After paying 1,743 Swedish Krona (a little over $200 CDN) for the consultation, the lab test, and the prescription for the antibiotics) we were on our way. The only other patients we saw at the clinic were a young Dutch couple. Going to this clinic would be out of the question for nearly all Ethiopians, which explains why there was no one there when we arrived, even though it was the middle of the morning on a Saturday.

From the clinic we drove to Bole Road to visit a travel agent in order to book our tickets for a trip to the northern part of the country. The travel agency is located in a 5-6 story commercial building. It is basically a mall with an open court in the middle surrounded by high-priced stores on each floor. The stores were all fairly small, but looked just like the kind of stores you would see in a Canadian mall. There weren’t very many people in the stores, but those who were there were obviously representative of a very small proportion of the Ethiopian population that is wealthy, along with the occasional North Americans, Europeans, and Chinese.

What is interesting is that in Addis these high-priced stores are located in buildings next to what I would describe as a slum area – corrugated metal shacks sprawled across a field. You don’t really have rich and poor areas of Addis – they are all mixed together. In Addis the wealthy Ethiopians don’t have the luxury of secluding themselves from the poverty around them.
Addis has a lot of beggars and cripples in certain parts of town. You see a number of amputees, both young and old, walking and crawling around. They are all asking for money, and as a white person, you become the target. We were stopped at a red light three lanes over from the curb and within 10 seconds there was a beggar holding a young child at the window. I suppose each foreigner has to decide how to respond to these situations. I’m not sure I have figured out a consistent response yet. Sometimes I see a woman with a child and so I give in and hand them 1 or 2 Birr (10 or 20 cents) while other times I just shake my head or ignore them altogether. I would love to be able to walk the streets and hand out Birr notes to whoever asked, but a person just can’t do that – at least, I can’t.

There are some humorous sights as well – at least from my perspective. It is interesting to see what seems to be in abundance in the country. Backpacks are everywhere. As you drive down the streets you see stores with nothing but backpacks hanging from floor to ceiling. Another site that I thought was strange was seeing young men selling laminated maps of the world. Now, being a lover of maps, I would probably buy one of these if I had a home in Addis, but as a tourist, why would I be asked to buy one of these maps? What do these men think I am going to do with a laminated map of the world? At first I looked and almost laughed at the guys, but I just declined and carried on.

People in Ethiopia, especially in the cities, dress very modestly and for the most part, conservatively. The Muslim women are usually covered up but you can see their faces. Orthodox Christian women are also clothed in several layers, often with a shawl over their head. Young women are also dressed very modestly. Men often have suites on, and you really don’t see anyone wearing shorts, except for the occasional insensitive tourist. The countryside is a little more relaxed when it comes to shorts for men, but not in the city. Some of the men wear traditional head coverings, but most don’t. Many of the older people walk with a walking stick.
The only time you see people dressed in shorts or skimpy tops are when you see mentally ill people. We saw a young woman walking down the street wearing shorts and a top that was pushed up to her neck in the front. I thought that maybe she was a prostitute but was told that she was most likely mentally ill.

Transportation in Addis is mostly either public transportation in the form of buses or taxis that are all blue and white Toyota vans that have five rows of seats. They stop wherever they are hailed and keep loading up people until they are full. Private vehicles are mostly Japanese imports and the occasional Mercedes Benz. Oh, and by the way, in Addis, women can make left turns at busy intersections while others are making left turns at right angles from them, while talking on their cell phones. Truly an impressive sight.

Well, that it is for my observations today.