Ethiopia Day 2

The endless day is over, (more than 50 hours between beds) I slept 8 hours last night and I am "on the new schedule. " We are over 2,000 ft above sea level which may account for the shakiness I'm feeling inside(effects of altitude), but overall I am well, and happy to be here. The weather is wonderful, it gets nice and cold at night – probably less than 15 degrees centigrade, and even when it is hot in the afternoon, the breeze is still cool. The air unfortunately is quite polluted but not as bad as either Beijing or Accra, and in general so far Addis is more affluent than Accra.

There are herds of sheep sometimes with a few cattle thrown in, bevies of donkeys carrying burdens that can be seen from time to time, making their way with haste down the side of the road, or even as part of the traffic; and this is right in the middle of down-town Addis, so pastureland is rather scarce! We have been feasted twice already by Limenew, Zinabu's cousin, at two different restaurants, with Enjerra and various delicious meat and vegetable concoctions: beef, lamb, goat green vegetables I don't recognize. So far the chillies have been on the side, which is a good thing, since their version of hot is pretty hot!

We are staying in what amounts to a very comfortable cottage: Greg is in the master bedroom under mosquito netting in a rather opulent white set-up; I am in the kids' room with perfectly comfortable bunkbeds and Zinabu is in the servant's bedroom which includes a small double bed and a sink. There are no screens on the windows, but then there aren't many mosquitoes either, given the altitude and cold nights. The windows themselves are a latched set of of glass windows on the outside and latched wooden panels on the inside. The grounds are well manicured with lovely hedges, trees and cacti, many colourful, musical birds and generally a quiet, restful atmosphere. The air is nice with the exception of when a neighbour's servant is burning some yard refuse.

 

Yesterday (the endless day) after arriving in Addis I had several intense, fruitful meetings as I began exploring the construction industry looking for gaps that Canadian manufacturing or services could fill, met with the Carlos, the founder of Alchemy World – an Ethiopian NGO, and his executive Director, Daniel a local. We found many synergies between our ideals, visions and approaches and are likely to, partner together with them (One Village Canada) on getting our first Digital Village up and running.

Carlos, like myself, comes from the software Industry, also on the marketing, sales & consulting side of things, but 5 years ago began to explore his roots (his Mom is Ethiopian, while his Dad is Italian). In coming to Ethiopia he was struck by the millions of people living in poverty but realized that they were hard-working people who just didn't have good jobs. So, he set about creating jobs by developing entrepreneurs. He is working with the poorest children who have not finished school but who are bright and show initiative and drive, 70% of whom were female, and supports them in finishing their high school. But he also trains them in the use of computers and in business. Each of his schools handles 25 children at a time and his programs take a year or two each. He already has 4 schools going and aims to have 100 someday, each churning out 100 graduates a year. They will end up pouring new entrepreneurs who will each become small to medium sized businesses, and therefore increasingly transform the Ethiopian economy. This is especially likely as so far Ethiopia has yet to embrace the computer age, having very limited internet (only as fast as our dial-up – and often very slow) so that businesses are not on the web, there is no online banking, etc. But by next year a fibre-optic ring will be completed linking in much of the country with hi-speed to the rest of the world and thus these entrepreneurs will have a competitive advantage when it comes to getting businesses online.

Alchemy World is a natural fit with The One Village Foundation as we take a similar approach on the importance of access to the internet and basic computer training for the alleviation of poverty. Since they are already well established, including with the Amhara (the ethnic group we will be working with in Woldia) we will be able to leverage that reputation but also add to their program elements that will increase the good being achieved, and, even produce trained Open Source developers who will themselves be contributing to the Ethiopia's emergence in the 21st century knowledge economy.

I also visited the Caterpillar Offices and Garage and was really impressed at the sophistication and scale of these multi-million dollar heavy equipment sales and maintenance facilities. It has been in operation for fourteen years, is owned by a Frenchman, but totally manned and operated by Ethiopians exhibiting Caterpillar best practices in every aspect of their business. The construction industry is booming as Ethiopia industrializes and modernizes at a tremendous pace. In keeping with our doing good business and doing good philosophy, we are hoping to play matchmaker between a Canadian manufacturer or services company, who knowledge will be a boost to the Ethiopian economy, just as opening another market would be a boost to them.