I can’t believe that it is finally my last day. I didn’t set my alarm so that I could catch up on sleep before the arduous journey home, but of course I woke up at 6am worried about all the things that I need to do and that now seems like it was days ago.
Yesterday 23 protestors were killed in Addis Ababa and over 100 were injured. Today I did not hear any shots fired, but according to BBC 4 people were killed in a good neighbourhood where many expats live. My room on the top floor of the Hilton gave me a great view of the deserted city. At about 11:30am I saw a groups of about 50 armored police gather in Meskel square, but fortunately I did not see any protestors.
I am writing this from the airport as I wait for my flight. It was creepy driving here from the hotel. It was my first venture out of the Hilton in over 48 hours and I am glad I didn't go to the office today as I had considered doing. There were more miltary vehicles on the roads the civilian cars, but the streets were pretty much deserted. We even passed two Hummers bristling with machine guns - and very bravely, or stupidly, the shuttle driver honked at one of them because they were driving erratically! Over 40 protestors have died since Tuesday, and everyone is saying that tomorrow will be worse now that Ramadan is over.
I am feeling very sad leaving here. It is just tragic to think of what could happen to Ethiopia. It is really a desperately poor country, but it has such incredible potential and it is right on the cusp of a major change for the better. USAID just did a 180 on their approach to Ethiopia. Previosly they had a "band aid" relief approach, distributing food aid and destroying local food markets by flooding the market with free food, causing the price of locally grown agriculture produce plummet, and removing the incentive for farmers to grow (as they were losing money by planting crops). Hence Ethiopia has relied on food aid continuously for more than 7 years. But USAID just changed to a market oriented approach focused on increasing incomes of Ethiopians by producing goods and finding markets. This will all come to nothing though if things countinue down the path in which they are heading.
On top of the domestic clashes, Ethiopia and Eritrea are building up troops on the border. Someone told me that Menles (Ethiopian President) and the President of Eritrea are cousins so whenever one of them has a domestic problem and they need a distraction, they go to war. It is just too depressing. I wander what this country will look like the next time I am here.
I think when I get home it make take me a little while to relax. This has been an intense trip. Not only has the security situation been difficult, but work has been incredibly demanding of my time. I am looking forward to getting on the plane and catch up on sleep and on my movie watching. Listening to my travel playlist on my ipod is putting me in the right mood. (It starts with "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and ends with "Homeward Bound"). I’ll write again when I get home to let you all know that I arrived safely.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Tension
This morning I awoke to a very tense city. There is very little traffic on the roads, most shops are shut and people are just waiting to see what happens.
Last night the police arrested opposition leaders and the heads of all independent media. The government accuses them of organizing these illegal riots and inciting violence and says they can defend their cases while they are in custody. The government statement says, “The police contained the riot and violence before the damage incurred and the violence got worse”.
And it looks like they were not successful. As I sat in the Hilton conducting phone interviews for candidates for the project, I was listening to gunshots in the streets outside. I rushed to the window the first time, but the few people on the street were just walking along as if nothing was happening. (Don’t worry, the Hilton has large grounds and I am not in any danger. No one has any interest in the Hilton or foreigners).
One of my colleagues here called around 10am to say that he is sending the staff home. The violence has spread from the Merkato area to the area around the hotel to the other side of town near the airport. I will spend the rest of the day in the hotel working - and hopefully lying out by the pool if I have time. Although I must say it will feel a bit strange to be sunbathing while the city around me falls apart.
It’s now lunchtime and I have not heard shots in a while. Maybe things are calming down – or moving to another part of the city. One of the most frustrating things is not knowing what is going on. BBC runs at least 12 hours late, and there is no other source of real news in English.
Tomorrow will be the Eid holiday. That means all offices will be closed and once again I will have no reason to leave the hotel. At least I am having an opportunity to catch up on work which should make my homecoming easier.
Last night the police arrested opposition leaders and the heads of all independent media. The government accuses them of organizing these illegal riots and inciting violence and says they can defend their cases while they are in custody. The government statement says, “The police contained the riot and violence before the damage incurred and the violence got worse”.
And it looks like they were not successful. As I sat in the Hilton conducting phone interviews for candidates for the project, I was listening to gunshots in the streets outside. I rushed to the window the first time, but the few people on the street were just walking along as if nothing was happening. (Don’t worry, the Hilton has large grounds and I am not in any danger. No one has any interest in the Hilton or foreigners).
One of my colleagues here called around 10am to say that he is sending the staff home. The violence has spread from the Merkato area to the area around the hotel to the other side of town near the airport. I will spend the rest of the day in the hotel working - and hopefully lying out by the pool if I have time. Although I must say it will feel a bit strange to be sunbathing while the city around me falls apart.
It’s now lunchtime and I have not heard shots in a while. Maybe things are calming down – or moving to another part of the city. One of the most frustrating things is not knowing what is going on. BBC runs at least 12 hours late, and there is no other source of real news in English.
Tomorrow will be the Eid holiday. That means all offices will be closed and once again I will have no reason to leave the hotel. At least I am having an opportunity to catch up on work which should make my homecoming easier.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
African Democracy
I didn’t want to mention this before now, but the opposition party here in Ethiopia called for strikes and protests all of this week. The last time there were protests (in June) the government retaliated by opening fire and killing 37 people. Yesterday nothing happened. Today things are a little different.
I heard early this morning that people were protesting in Merkato, an area of town where there are a lot of small traders and where the shootings took place earlier in the year. At first there were just a few protestors. But the numbers grew.
While I was meeting with an Italian who works for UNIDO this morning he received a call from the Italian embassy to say that the police were shooting. Later I heard from a colleague that people were honking their horns to protest and some students threw stones. The police retaliated with arrests, confiscating drivers’ licenses, and gunfire. Five students were killed. A bullet for a stone. It is inexplicable, especially when I hear that the government does have less fatal options at their disposal including rubber bullets, water cannons, and of course batons.
The irony is that Ethiopia is the home of the African Union and is currently hosting several African heads of state for an AU conference. The AU is supposed to be an institution that encourages democracy and now we have the hosts shooting people who simply wish to voice a dissenting opinion.
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fetir to celebrate the end of Ramadan is either tomorrow or the next day (it depends on the moon so will not be decided until tonight). It will be a public holiday in Ethiopia and all offices will be closed. As I said in an earlier posting, a large crowd will gather in the National Stadium to pray. I just hope that it remains peaceful. The rumor is that the opposition is waiting until after the holy month of Ramadan is over before the big protests start.
Leaving the office today the streets were empty. Shops are all closed, and even the taxis are not running, stranding many people in downtown Addis. I managed to switch hotels into the Hilton, which has much better security. (I am guessing that many faranji are leaving Ethiopia immediately). I am on the executive floor and feel quite spoiled given what is going on outside. I am leaving on Thursday and will stay in the hotel as long as things are not safe outside.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4395874.stm
I heard early this morning that people were protesting in Merkato, an area of town where there are a lot of small traders and where the shootings took place earlier in the year. At first there were just a few protestors. But the numbers grew.
While I was meeting with an Italian who works for UNIDO this morning he received a call from the Italian embassy to say that the police were shooting. Later I heard from a colleague that people were honking their horns to protest and some students threw stones. The police retaliated with arrests, confiscating drivers’ licenses, and gunfire. Five students were killed. A bullet for a stone. It is inexplicable, especially when I hear that the government does have less fatal options at their disposal including rubber bullets, water cannons, and of course batons.
The irony is that Ethiopia is the home of the African Union and is currently hosting several African heads of state for an AU conference. The AU is supposed to be an institution that encourages democracy and now we have the hosts shooting people who simply wish to voice a dissenting opinion.
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fetir to celebrate the end of Ramadan is either tomorrow or the next day (it depends on the moon so will not be decided until tonight). It will be a public holiday in Ethiopia and all offices will be closed. As I said in an earlier posting, a large crowd will gather in the National Stadium to pray. I just hope that it remains peaceful. The rumor is that the opposition is waiting until after the holy month of Ramadan is over before the big protests start.
Leaving the office today the streets were empty. Shops are all closed, and even the taxis are not running, stranding many people in downtown Addis. I managed to switch hotels into the Hilton, which has much better security. (I am guessing that many faranji are leaving Ethiopia immediately). I am on the executive floor and feel quite spoiled given what is going on outside. I am leaving on Thursday and will stay in the hotel as long as things are not safe outside.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4395874.stm
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