A sad but not-far-from-the-truth observation about the current state of things in Ethiopia by a couple of American tourists.
We spent the weekend at the Sheraton in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia. I was glad to get out of the countryside as most of Ethiopia is so sad and full of begging. I knew from stopping at the Sheraton that it was much nicer than the Hilton and actually cheaper. This is where the NGO’s and government agencies send their people to stay in luxury and waste your contributions. From reading Lords of Poverty, I now know that so much of aid money goes to keeping people traveling or living in style.
We had tried to stay at the Sheraton when we got back from the Omo river valley but that night involved all sorts of soldiers, police, and militia running around like something was going on on the road in front of the hotel. Our driver said that sometimes the president (prime minister) stays there as he moves around a lot to keep from being assassinated. He had rescinded the election results and then killed a lot of protesters. What a guy, i hadn’t known about this before i came.
Here’s my wrap-up of Ethiopia. The people are as bad as Indians at hassling you and stare at you in much weirder ways. They want to rip you off as much as they can and no one is friendly without an agenda. They lie to you less than the Indians but beg a lot more, which is saying a lot as India has professional beggars. It’s just that it’s more prevalent.
We, meaning the West, have turned Ethiopia into a nation of beggars. Or, they have turned themselves into beggars as they have suffered through various man-made and natural disasters. The UN, Save the Children and other agencies have a big presence in the country. It’s their industry and they need more and more money to get things done. The problem is there are often little results or the aid is misappropriated through corruption.
This is a nation with little charm, and even less pride. That’s ironic since Ethiopia is supposed to be so proud of their ancient adherence to Christianity and the fact that they were never colonized. But children, many teenagers, and even some adults are totally willing to beg from you. All the children shout at your car, dance to get your attention, and run after it with their hands open expecting some handout. We’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else in the world.
People will randomly come up to you and think that you will give them money since you are white and therefore rich. Children will walk beside you and harass you to give them something. One time when when were camping i was walking by a hillside looking at a little river when two dirty shoeless children approached me to talk about what they were studying in school. Then, it turned into a begging session with them insisting ‘you give me pen’ saying this over and over again, chasing me and getting in my face until i just started walking up the hill vertically and they couldn’t keep up.
Other annoying things are the complete insistence that you answer them if they see you no matter where you go. People will shout ‘hello’ at you and keep raising their voice and pitch as if to force you to acknowledge them, since that is obviously why you are there, to recognize and validate their existence.
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Before Kevin and Kirst reach the above conclusion they had travelled through Ethiopia and posted the following blogs:
Arrival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Rift Valley, Omo River Valley, and the Tribes!
The north: Bahar Dar and The Blue Nile Falls
More Bahar Dar and Lake Tana
Gondar, the castle city (and baths too) of Emperors
Simien Mountains, Trek of Rain
Back to Gondar to cool our heels and kick some butt
Lalibela Ethiopia and the Rock-hewn Churches
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