Feb 7th, 2008

It hasn't been a fun past days with being unwell. Both of us have ailments of our own – Shuwen with Giardia (tummy parasite), and Marc with allergies to the dust (and possibly also some symptoms of Giardia). Shuwen is getting better, but Marc's allergies are unlikely to go away
until we leave the country, so meanwhile his nose is runny, red and sore.

Work-wise, Marc had a number of meetings with people from the World Bank and attended a session with water ministers from the various Nile basin countries. Meanwhile, Shuwen is making progress on her paper and plans to send off her draft for the first paper tomorrow.

On Tuesday, we met up after Marc got off work and checked out the Addis Alliance Ethio-Francais, which has a pretty campus, offering French language and cultural classes. Every Tuesday evening, they show a movie and this week it was Bamako, a movie that came out about 3 years ago.

Bamako took an interesting approach to discussing the issue of the role of international organizations such as the World Bank and the IMF in contributing to the dire economic and social situation that Mali and much of the rest of the African countries are in. There were a few side
stories going on while the "trial" was underway, which work as allegorical devices to reflect the exploitation of Africa, and the sense of depression felt by the African people. On the other hand, there was also a lot of ambiguity in the message, as it also does not simply blame the West or the international organization, recognizing the complex interactions among all parties involved. That is probably what was well done about the film. Who is to blame? Probably everyone – the
international organizations may have good intentions to start off with, but get bogged down by corruption and political interests of the more powerful. The developing nations have a complexity from decades of colonization and exploitation, which leaves them wanting true
sovereignty, yet fearful of not having the political and financial support from their past colonizers. International aid comes with string attached, which more often than not results in worse outcomes, but can they do without international aid?

The film does not offer up any suggestions, but is a good starting point to think about the multiple parties that have left much of the African continent in such contradictory state of minds that the countries are unable to really determine what they want and how to go about getting
it. Recent events in Kenya and Chad, and the on-going problems in Sudan and Uganda remind us of all of this.

<--- Shanties in the middle of Addis, with the UN in the background

Being in a country like Ethiopia makes one realize how ridiculous politics in the US is. CNN is constantly covering the US presidential elections -- it seems like we can't get away from it even all the way here in Ethiopia! We are finding US politics to be getting ridiculous because despite all the rhetoric about the poor in American the presidential candidates talk about, the truth is that most Americans really don't know what poverty is. We can't claim to either, since we do not live in poverty and are simply witnesses to glimpses of it here in Ethiopia. Still, it is mind-boggling that Americans freak out over the cost of gas and corn (by the way, gas costs US$ 1.13 per liter in Addis) when all of this is more heavily subsidized in the US than most people realize.

Meanwhile, the streets in Addis are lined with beggars who spend their nights sleeping out in the cold. As many beggars as there are in Addis, we notice that they are predominantly old or disabled people. We wondered by this is so. Is it that they have been abandoned by their
families due to their disability and/or age? Or in the case of the old, did their children all die (likely from AIDs or warfare)? While we wonder about the cause of their plight and empathize with them, it is also not difficult to get annoyed by the frequent requests for money from them (especially because we are foreigners). I feel that this "give-me, give-me, give-me" attitude is something that is prevalent from the base of the population to the government when dealing with the rest of the world. Ethiopia receives an amazing amount of international aid, but much of it is misused/mishandled (i.e., corruption reigns), leaving the country still underdeveloped and stuck in a runt. Who is to blame? How can things change?