Day 18: Painting Destiny

Thursday afternoon a big group of us went to the world famous Fistula Hospital. It is an institution set up for women with childbirth injuries. It became infamous in the US when Oprah selected it as one of the organizations that she sponsors. I had heard about it in the States but had forgotten that it was located in Addis. As soon as you step onto the grounds you feel like you’ve entered a tropical haven. It is an amazing and merciful place of healing and comfort for women who have been severely damaged by lack of proper medical care. Because of the type of injuries that they receive either from rape or poor birthing methods they are not able to control urination and are treated as outcasts in the community. The Fistula Hospital provides medical treatment and rehabilitation surgery free of charge for these women, many times young girls. They operate on donations. Sometimes the damage is so severe that the women are not able to return home. Those that must remain at the center have the opportunity to make a living through a micro-enterprise cooperative. Others get training and become nurse aides for the hospital. All of the girls were warm and receptive toward us as we toured the wards. I had such sadness for them knowing the pain, suffering, and humiliation they have experienced.

Afterwards, a few of us went to the mercado – a massive outdoor market. It consists of rows of stores ranging from hardware to school supplies. There is also a large market with countless booths of African arts and crafts. Of course, the vendors hounded us when we entered, but it was a lot of fun perusing all of the jewelry and art. I collected many of their business cards and plan to make some good deals when it gets closer to my departure. Bartering is a must at these places. When we got back to the house Asni had made our favorite dinner – tacos and homemade tortilla chips. But to my dismay the water was out again…it still isn’t on.

Yesterday, I concluded my first week of teaching by giving out a pop quiz. The kids did pretty good, but I still feel discouraged by my inability to communicate clearly. I’m sure if they understood better what I was saying they would be doing so much better. Thankfully, Tenagne is usually there to help me translate instructions. I was so thrilled that after a day off of school all of the students had remembered to bring back his or her library book and completed homework.

When school was over all of the girls from the Cherokee house came to paint. We managed the best we could, but it was pretty hectic trying to keep all 13 of us occupied and on task. Plus the paint had been mixed with gas which is clearly a paint thinner so the paint just slid down the walls. We made a huge mess. We had to tape all of the wall corners because each wall is a different color. It was an extremely difficult undertaking keeping the edges clean because the corners of the walls aren’t straight. After a few hours of painting we had covered the whole school with one coat of paint. We had to wash off with gas – knowing we had no running water at home we were feeling extremely gross. Trying to keep things sanitary with no water is next to impossible. Now that it has been three days of no water the house is on complete shut down. Dishes are conserved because they can’t be washed, laundry piles up, hand sanitizer is a must, and the worst thing is the toilets. Since we cannot flush we are dealing with a foul mess. Every time we go out we use public toilets and try to take advantage of any sink with running water.

Today, day three of no shower, we went back to Destiny to finish painting. Then we returned to the spa we had visited last weekend just to use the showers. We had to pay of course, but this was our last resort – we were disgusting! Matt has spent the last two days trying to purchase a water tank for the house because it sounds like the city is going to be periodically shutting down the water over the course of the next several months. The shower was cold, but it was the greatest feeling to be clean again.

Tonight we ate dinner at the top of a tall building downtown Addis at place called Paradise Restaurant. It was so nice and the food was fabulous.