Another Brick in the Wall

As there are no large cliffs with deep ravines close by my apartment, i decide to throw myself into my work instead. I bark orders around at everyone and let it be known i expect results – and fast.

One of the many outstanding issues is “The Wall”. This grey eyesore in my playground doesn’t belong to the school, but to the shiny and deserted building next door, and i am told categorically i can’t touch it at all without their written permission.

I beg and plead repeatedly with Dr No to make contact with them, but he completely fails to do so. I try by-passing him, asking their security guard, but nada. I then try site manager Ketima, telling him i will take full responsibility for any trouble after. I am confident that if i sand and paint the wall on the school side, they will issue us with a multimillion Birr lawsuit. He refuses to help too.

Ato S intervenes in a pathetic attempt to appease the raging Mountain Man and swiftly gets the necessary paperwork. I come to school on Saturday to see action at last, and i love that. Unfortunately it’ll take 3 weekends to complete. 

It will be will be white-washed and used as a canvas for the kids to decorate after a whole-school mural competition. Some seven months late!

Street Urchins

With the continued migration from the countryside to Addis, beggars continue to escalate around the city.

Returning Rasta, Mrs R tells me in no uncertain terms that the bars in the evening are teaming with them every night, as they drink through their hand-outs.

Children on the streets also continue to grow in number in their selected patches. My weekly grocery shopping trip to Allmart is getting worse, and the hassles around Bole are getting unbearable.

I won’t give money to the kids, but i am always willing to lecture them about the importance of education. Mum’s, who use their offspring for additional effect, watch on hopefully, only to berate their kids when they come back empty-handed.

Ms J tells me of a recent encounter with a seven year old boy. The kid is asking her for money, and she asks him why. He tells her he is hungry. “Then why are you asking for money?” she responds. “You can’t eat money.” He informs her his parents are dead and she tells him to meet her tomorrow morning and she will bring him some breakfast. The boy doesn’t look too excited about the prospect and slouches off. 

A watching Cabana (security guard) approaches her and asks her what the boy wanted. Ms J tell him the story, and he scoffs loudly. I know his mother, he is just after extra pocket-money. Ms J is nonplussed and catches up with the boy. She then bollocks him out for being a liar and a cheat, and asks him how his parents would feel if they knew he was telling strangers that they were dead? He looks totally horrified and scuttles off very fast. She hasn't seen him since.

Confrontation Time

More scandals have been unearthed as Dr No packs up his office. Serious money stolen by Mr A and Dr No’s salary has given himself (and his partner in crime Mr A) a 125% pay-rise in the last 12 months. There i am desperately trying to get the totally dedicated and committed Ms J her first pay increase (a paltry 3%) since 2011.

Everything here is so fundamentally wrong and rotten to the core. It’s morally and ethically totally moribund. And i am a principled Principal. I can’t sleep at night. I can barely operate and in auto-mode. It’s time to take the bull by the horns.

Ato S is about to depart on a two week business trip back to Dubai and Turkey. I text him the night before asking him if he could come over to my office for twenty minutes to listen only. He texts back two hours later telling me he will call me to confirm. But he doesn’t. He enters my open door unannounced.

My points and demands are clear, though extensive

• Everything is fundamentally wrong
• He doesn’t have a school, he has two buildings with fee-paying kids
• Both he and Boss are guilty of gross negligence
• After the experiences with  Mr A and Dr No, cronyism must end immediately – dream on Mountain Man
• Total transparency in Finance – outlandish expectation
• A new salary scale for all be introduced and adhered to
• All teachers’ wages are competitive with other private schools
• Maintenance and cleaning staff are given minimum salaries to take them above the poverty line (some earn less than US$50 a month!)
• 60% of the school’s total income is to be used for salaries and 20% for resources (pretty standard percentages)
• Performance related increments 
• Everyone is made accountable via appraisal indicators

A bit cheeky perchance? I can’t help myself, i can only say it like i see it.

Over-demanding? Absofuckinglutely. Completely and utterly unrealistic. I am clearly chopping off my own wobbly danglies, but i can’t help myself.I have never been one to call a spade a hand-held digging implement. 

But Ato S can’t listen – not even for 20 seconds let alone 20 minutes. What makes it worse is that he immediately goes in to bullshit and lying mode – he simply can’t help it; an automatic response.He pretends he doesn’t know that Mr A had been sacked twice for his inappropriate sexual relationships with young women, and that he personally sanctioned Dr No’s meteoric pay-rise. He tries desperately to placate me. He tells me that the school has broken down, but he will fix it with the “help” of Boss. This is the same man that less than two months ago informed us that Boss should be moved out of to a tiny corner from the current organigram where she sits boldly at the top.

I go ballistic. I tell him it hasn’t broken down, it has never been right in the first place! All under the authority and “organisation” of Boss. I go to the computer and print off  a document that Ginger Warrior had started and passed on to me of 15 serious indiscretions of Boss to which i have added three more, but still not completed. I pass him a copy and pack him off out of my office, telling him to reflect on what i have said, and we’d meet up when he returns to Addis. 

“You will stay for at least two years Mr Mountain,” Ato S calls after himself, and it sounds like a cross between a hex, a life – sentence and a death-wish. 

The End of the Road

Last night saw the end of Ethiopia's run in the African Cup of Nations.

Admittedly hopes were not high after the thumping against Bekina Faso, but The Black Lions still had a mathematical chance of qualification if they can beat Nigeria. Nigeria were once a power-house of African football, but are on the decline.

Again, both teams make a tentative start to the game and there is nothing to write home about in the first 45 minutes of action. Things do liven up in the 2nd half. Whilst Nigeria enjoy the lion's share of the possession, the Black Lions look threatening on the break. 

Nonetheless, for the second time in three matches, Ethiopia's goal-keeper is sent off in the 78th minute, and Nigeria score from the resulting penalty. A second penalty follows 10 minutes later, and it's Goodnight Vienna.

Ethiopians drown their sorrows after the game, and i hear bottles smashing throughout the night. 

Let's hope it's not another 31 years before the Black Lions qualify for the African Cup of Nations again. 

From King To Superhero

Ginger Warrior takes much pleasure informing staff of the “resignation” of Dr No at his daily morning Staff Briefing. On the Primary Campus, we have only a Staff Briefing on Monday morning (Staff Meetings and Teacher INSET are Wednesday afternoons).

Word spreads quickly across campuses, and i find myself elevated from King (not always a popular one with a few of my staff members) to Super Hero!

Dr No was a much loathed figure in the school, where he has bullied and insulted all and sundry when it came to contracts. Even my most belligerent and hostile members of staff have suddenly started smiling at me with new-found respect. It’s kinda eerie to say the least.

Pro Mountain staff come up quietly and thank me for such a sterling job. They can’t quite get over the announcement. If i have done nothing else for the school, it’s a fantastic legacy to leave behind for successors to the throne.