Eleanor's Ethiopia trip was humbling
Ethiopia is a name which conjures up, for most people, heartbreaking images of famine in the 1980s. The month I spent there on a gap year placement proved it to be no less heartbreaking than imagined, but also a beautiful and inspiring country.
For four weeks I lived and worked in the capital, Addis Ababa, staying with a host family, teaching in a day-care centre for poor children and caring for abandoned babies in an orphanage. Whilst the help that volunteers give can in no way solve the major issues facing a country such as Ethiopia, every little really does help, and it was amazing to see the differences we made to the lives of individual children – from buying medicine for one to teaching another to write the English alphabet, or to help a toddler to stand by himself.
I made friends with some of the older girls at the day-care centre, who have spent years on the streets but finally have the chance of food and education without having to beg.
Their lives are unimaginable to us and it was humbling to meet them.
I also got to absorb the colourful and noisy culture of Ethiopia by staying with a host family. They welcomed me in as their own daughter, and by my second weekend I was attending a family wedding – a three-day event featuring animal slaughters, honey wine and traditional dancing.
At the weekends I was taken to explore Merkato, Africa's biggest market, and the beautiful Entoto mountains above the city. Over the month I learned far more than I taught, and the children in both centres and all the others like them became causes very close to my heart.
I am planning to return within a couple of years.
At the end of 2008, I spent two months working in an orphanage in Argentina, on a placement organised by a company Projects Abroad which organises worldwide voluntary work.
I had a fantastic time and was so well cared for that I had no hesitation in returning to the company to arrange a one-month teaching and care placement in Ethiopia in May.
Projects Abroad supported me every step of the way and I would recommend them to anyone, especially students, who wants not just to travel but really get to know another culture and help to make a difference."
For details visit www.projects-abroad.co.uk
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Weather for Chichester
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
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