Make Your Mind Up Time

Rumours have been rife. Dr No has allegedly drafted a letter to Ato S  stating he is unable to work with either Ginger Warrior or Mountain Man. The SMT have reached grid-lock point

Dr No has worked with Ato S for 13 years after being head-hunted as a manager of a government bullet factory; a very prestigious position apparently! He  is one of the school’s Founding Three – Ato S, his high school teacher, Boss and Dr No. Ato S continually maintains that GW and i don’t understand the Ethiopian concept of loyalty to justify his continued support and forgiveness of Dr No.

Following an alleged missing 5 million Birr (US$270,000) a couple of years ago, Dr No disappeared and everyone celebrated. Such festivities proved to be premature however, and the reptile amazingly slithered back into school some three months later.

Dr No has continued to upset most staff on my campus, and several have been reduced to tears. I have let it be known i would very much welcome written reports. I receive five  by the end of the day which i pass across to Ato S.

Fair play to Dr No – he has forced Ato S into a corner. And clearly he believes he is in a strong position – years of loyalty will prevail.  However, after his attempted sabotage and non-compliance, he may well be shooting himself with a bullet from his old factory in the knee-cap.

Place your bets in the comment box below.

Shooting Christians

Today marks Epiphany in Ethiopia, so i head out with The Beast and snap a few pics. 

happy pilgrims

a popular penalty shoot-out

Spraying Holy Water

 Umbrella Seller

 a Rasta records the celebrations

 the procession in front of the Arc of the Covenant 

the arc of the covenant must always be covered - looking at it would vaporize you - apparently 

Hasta Luego Anna and Robert

I have already mentioned the lack of honesty in Ethiopia. Lying and bullshit is all part of the course. And it makes living and working here almost unbearable to me. Thank goodness for the kids and Ms Jill in the workplace. Outside of school i have loved spending time with Anna and Robert. In their mid-sixties and awfully proper English gentlefolk. Most Saturdays we have hooked up for lunch to bear our weekly burdens and frustrations about trying to get even the most basic stuff done. We have to laugh about it or we’d cry. Rob has gone overboard to help me out, whether to help me investigate the school’s ridiculous and absurd accounts, or to take a look at the car. Anna has been a stalwart supporter of all my efforts to move forward with school improvement.

Anna and Robert met in Ethiopia around 1974. Anna has worked in education whilst Robert is an accountant. They know Boss and Frank from here also, and remained friends. Last January Anna and Rob  left there comfy life-style in Cornwall and opted to volunteer their services to Boss to help her build and establish a small primary school in Bishoftu on a one year permit. Apart from accommodation, fuel and paying for the materials and resources they have been self- funding and invested not only a year of their time, but financially making up all the extras. About three months ago, Boss threw them out of her compound because they had befriended a cat that meowed.

Their year has elapsed all too fast, and it is with a very heavy heart that we say our goodbyes. Anna and Rob can’t understand where the time has gone, and berate themselves for leaving a few things left unfinished, without realizing just how much they have accomplished in very trying conditions. For a reason completely unfathomable to me, they love Ethiopia and want to come back out again as soon as possible. Not least because they face a harsh British winter.

They have been asking around for other school building projects they might be able to help out on, including projects with their church and, even more weirdly a new project Boss wants to start in Awassa. I hope they come back out soon, for i am not even confident i will be able to hang on to the end of the school year.

Ciao Mr A

 Would you prefer to be sacked or pre-empty the situation and hand in your resignation?

Smarmy Mr A (HR and Dr No’s crony), once King of the Castle and now reduced to “doing the right thing”.

Owner Ato S despises him, although Ato T (Pre Uni Director) would like him to stay in HR and Ginger Warrior (Head of Secondary) is prepared to let him stay providing he becomes his direct line manager because he can get things done fast – but only when he chooses to, and that pisses me off. He is also a Master Bullshitter of the highest order.

Mr A is also one of Boss’ “pets/toyboys” despite her knowledge of all his misdemeanours. Originally employed in the Secondary school as a tutor, he was dismissed for inappropriate behaviour. Subsequently, he was employed as an administrator at one of her own Kindergarten, only to be sacked for sleeping with several visiting university students on the compound. He is then employed by Boss back at my school as HR where he has propositioned several candidates, boasted to my predecessor that he had made out with the Secondary girls, and spends much of his time leering at women from his favourite cafe.

He recently boasted to Miss J that he was “completely unsackable.” He believed it completely, for he became a legal signatory and his pay rose from Birr 1000 to 8000 plus during the last two years – authorized by Dr No. Including 3 increment points this year alone.

Ato S finds out the signature has been abused and has seen he has usurped his authority, and he makes it clear he wants him out. He informs Boss that the end is near and i guess she advised him to jump before he is pushed. He has no job to go to and is due to get married next week. Despite knowing his entire history, Boss is still flattered that she is his “Mother” for the day. Mr A knows better than invite me to his hollow celebrations – i would only blab to his Mrs A.

One down, two to go. Ciao Mr A – i hope i never have to see your smarmy and lecherous face ever again.

Poverty

It’s a truism around the globe. The Rich get richer and those in poverty get pissed upon. Ethiopian brother Derbo loses his phone on the way back from burying his grandfather in Lalibela only to be told he must move out tomorrow coz his friend has his family moving in instead.

I give him his 1^st month’s rent as he acquires a bare room. He then gets a private taxi to help him move his few possessions to his new digs. He loads up the taxi with his meager bits and then realises he has left his phone at his friend’s digs. He goes back in to collect only to find the taxi driver has driven off with his only worldly goods. His graduation suit alongside all the rest of his clothes, his decent shoes and even his wallet, C.V.s and his most prized procession of it all – the transistor i bought for him as a Farewell and Thank You gift before travelling on to Sudan in 2011.

Derbo calls me in despair and disbelief. But as he notes himself disaster after disaster befall the poor. He believes that this may be an omen that he should return to his family home outside Lalibella in the North of the country. His mother is slowly dying of Aids, tuberculosis and now hit with diabetes. She never went to school and signs her name with an x. Derbo, at 20 is the eldest of what remains of the dwindling number of siblings. His father was killed during the war with Eritrea. And so it goes on. The poor get pissed on.

Nonetheless he has paid for the room for the month, and Derbo takes his chances in Addis for now. My request for new mattresses was finally granted last month and at least i can pass him one of these, blankets, pillows and bed-linen. I give him about US$50 to get some new clothes. Down, but not quite out!.