(Jenny is recovering from a night of excesses on the local honey wine so I – her (more or less) uninvited guest for the last few days – have decided to put pen to paper while her head clears...)
I’ll confess that I’m not a great fan of flying at the best of times, however, I was more glad than normal when my plane to Addis landed on account that (courtesy of my sneezing co-passengers) it had been a swine flu party in all but name. Introducing swine flu to remotest Africa is infamy I can do without! Despite my relief, I was a little surprised by the rolling green fields I could see from my window. The decidedly nippy breeze that greeted me off the plane and unceremonious drenching a couple of hours later clinched it - packing clothes based on outdated Ethiopian stereotypes (think Band Aid 1984) was a big mistake!
Some rapid acclimatisation later – and I’m now in Lalibela and in receipt of Jenny’s impeccable hospitality. Her house was apparently once used by Princess Anne –though Royal privileges evidently do not extend to the full range of creature comforts. We have running water sporadically, electricity every other day, and that crucial combination of both running water and electricity (i.e. a hot shower) – once in a blue moon!
I’ve been helping out where I can at Jenny’s school in the (very) remote village of Erfa. The building work has been progressing quickly – in no small part due to half the village coming out to watch my efforts and (thankfully) to lend a hand. The villagers literally ran some skilled builders out of town not so long ago on account that they threatened local employment...I have tried not to think about what their warm welcome to me says about my own building prowess! Lack of expertise aside, the football and volleyball nets I brought along have gone up in double quick time, the library has been decorated, a toilet installed – now there’s just enough time to patch the leaky school roof and attempt some dry stone walling...
That brings everything pretty much up to date – I myself was not immune to the after effects of the honey wine, so I’m off for a lie down...
Over and out
Paul
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