Trifter

I had landed in South Tigray, Ethiopia in a little Village.  One of the first things I noticed, were the small huts that dotted the land.  The huts looked very poorly put together, they were sticks arranged in a tight circle, with a root made of dried brush.  There were few children out playing.  Actually, when I think about it there weren’t very many people outside like I expected.  Then, I remembered the horrible reason I was here…to help the people who are malnourished and to find out why.

Before I begin to tell you about my experiences in Ethiopia, I should tell you about the landforms to the North East of Ethiopia is the Gulf of Aden.  The Great Rift Valley splits two mountain ranges.  On the West side are the Choke Mountains.  On the East are the Mendebo Mountains.  I am going to the North of Ethiopia, which is somewhat in the Choke Mountain.

When I walked into the poorly put together hut I wanted to shut my eyes and never see anything as sad as this again.  Lying on the bed of hay was an Ethiopian boy; he was so skinny I could see all the bones in his body.  This child was wasting away of malnourishment.  One out of every twenty Ethiopian children born alive will die in their first month of life, one out of ten die before their first birthday, and one out of six die before reaching their fifth birthday.

The little boy in the huts name was Chacha, and he was 7 years old.  Chacha was whimpering, tears running down his cheeks.  I wanted to cry but I stayed calm.  Chacha was not only suffering of malnutrition but of Malaria also because his immune system was so weak from not eating.  We gave Chacha medicines and some potatoes.  He took each gratefully and with some help.

There are about 84 different languages that are spoken in Ethiopia.  Some include; Konso, Somali, Soddo, Hadrya, Berto and Buss.  My guide, Bello, spoke Tigrinya and English as a 2^nd language.  Most of the people in S. Tigray speak Trginya including Chacha and his family.

Chacha’s mother, Bello and I went outside to talk.  Chacha’s mother’s name was Afam.  She told us that the rain hadn’t come for almost two years. She said that without the rains her crops wouldn’t grow and all her livestock crops wouldn’t grow and all her livestock was dead.  Without her crops or livestock she doesn’t have any money to buy other food and she doesn’t have the food that comes from her crops and livestock.  She told us that almost the whole country was poor, because without their crops – coffee, oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugar cane, and vegetables – they couldn’t export anything.  Without exports, that make you money, you can’t import anything.  So, there was famine all across the country.  Most people live on less than a dollar a day.

Afam’s eyes were filled with tears when she told us how hard it was to hear Chacha beg her for food when she was starving too.  She told us that he didn’t understand that she had no food for him, let alone herself. When I told her that we were going to help take care of her family, her eyes lit up with hope.  Then we went back inside with

Chacha.  He seemed much better although still very weak.  He showed me his doll he was snuggling. It was made of straw and looked like a monkey.  I made it do a little dance on his chest and he smiled a faint little smile and giggle.  We gave them some food and said we would be back in the morning to check on them, and Bello and I went back to our huts.

That evening, Bello had told me that over 250,000 people had died in this famine so far.  He also told me that there were more than eighty ethnic groups in Ethiopia.  He said that Oromo, Tigray and Amhara make up more than three quarters of the population.  Bello explained the drought to me a little more.  He said the rainy season is supposed to be between mid-June through mid-September, but it was August now and there is still no rain.  From February to mid-June there are supposed to be light showers every now and then but of course that didn’t happen either.

In the morning on our way back to Chacha and Afam’s, Belo and I saw a herd of Savanna Elephants off in the distance.  They were beautiful creatures.  Big, strong yet in a way elegant.  Bello said that these animals along with many others that had their homes in the Savanna were being affected by the drought too.  He told me about the Black Rhinos who are critically endangered.  He also told me about his personal favorite animal the Walia Ibex.

The Walia Ibex is a mountain goat like creature.  Who lives in the highlands; they are critically endangered also.  He told me about some of the farmers plants and crops that were getting damaged because they need the water from the rain.  Plants like barley,

coffee beans, Niger bean which is found in the high lands, chick peas, garden cress, and linseed were some of the plans suffering.

We finally made it to the small hut I had visited just the day before.  We went inside and found a man we hadn’t seen before.  He turned out to be Afam’s husband, Dayo.  Afam and I did some chores around the hut, and Bello helped Dayo out in the filed.  When they came back I told them that Bello, some other of my friends and I would help them rebuild their hut along with some other families in the village.   They were so happy and grateful and hopeful.  We gave them some more clean water and food and asked them if one of  Them could come with us to hand out food and water to other families and they agreed.  Chacha had motioned me over them.  I held his hand; he looked a little better than yesterday but still very skinny and weak.  He pulled something out from his side.  I hadn’t noticed it before but he had a very sly look on his face.  He told me to shut my eyes.  He then placed something in my hands, it was another small straw monkey doll except this one had a beautiful flower by it’s ear.  Afam told me that he had spent most of the day making it for me.  It was one of the most wonderful gifts I had ever received in my life.

That evening and evenings following either Afam or Dayo helped us hand out food and water.  They also helped us rebuild the houses of their neighbors.  One night Chacha was doing very poorly.  We rushed him to the nearest clinic.  He stayed there for two weeks.  I visited him every other day with Afam.  One time, I saw Afam praying at the side of his bed. She had a cross around her neck.  She asked me one day if I would go to her Christian church with her, and I agreed.

I was surprised at first that Afam was a Christian.  Then I thought that maybe it was brought over by colonization but then I soon found out that Christianity was already in Africa.  Eithiopia was mentioned numerous times in the Bible and is known as a holy place.  Ethiopia is about 61% Christians, 33% Islamic and about 5% traditional ethnic.  Islam came to Ethiopia by a bank of Muslims who were told by Muhammad to leave Mecca and go to Ethiopia to escape execution.

The next time we went to the clinic to see Chacha, he wasn’t doing very well.  Afam decided to spend the night with him at the clinic.  All of the doctors were sure he was going to die.  I was waiting in the hallway when someone came out to tell me that Chacha wanted to see me.   On our way down the hallway the doctor told me that Chacha was going to be just fine in a few days.  He said that some miracle must have occurred.  When we got to the room Chacha smiled and said in a very quiet and raspy voice “thank you for saving my life”.

Once Chacha was home and safe again in a new clean home with lots of food and clean water it was time for me to go back home.  I packed my monkey doll, dress (made by Afam) and all my memories and headed for my tiny airplane.  I was going to miss Ethiopia and my new friends, but I was happy to be returning home.  Ethiopia changed my outlook on life.  It made me thankful for the family I was born into, and the food I had waiting for me never letting me starve.  It also made me thankful for my life and health.  Ethiopia, Chacha and his family will always be in my heart.