The Changing face of Addis

Addis is plagued with housing problems. A friend of mine calls Addis a big slum. He lives in one of the impoverished sefers (who doesn’t?); he always says that he lives in a smaller slum located in the bigger slum (Addis). Well, it’s true (or has been true for many years).

But now we can witness a wave of new constructions in Addis. Whenever I visit places where I haven’t been to for a while, I’m greeted with at least one new high-rise building ready to serve and another being constructed. The western style luxury houses constructed by real estate companies in the suburbs bring nostalgic feelings to returnees. The nouveaux riches, returnees and the upper middle class are direct beneficiaries of this economic surge. But for the likes of my friend who live in the slums, this means nothing. They even blame the rising cost of living in Addis on this economic surge.

I, however, see a little hope whenever I think of the condominium buildings being constructed by the government. I see them everywhere. They are not as posh as the older government owned apartment buildings we see in Bole, Arat Kilo, Piassa, etc. Just a look at them and one would understand what I mean by this. These buildings are thought to curb the housing problem in Addis. I’m sure they will - no matter how much irregular the distribution system is. People often complain that the condos are not well built. Well, it’s a low cost housing project and should not be expected to be as good as the workmanship displayed in the older apartments. Moreover, they’re much better than the houses found in the slums.

The condos will contribute to effectively reducing the housing problems in Addis; they are changing the landscape of Addis that’s filled with rusty corrugated sheet roofs reinforced with pieces of basalt rocks.

And a word or two about the older apartments: these apartments are being painted and we wonder if it’s for the “millennium. By the way, the millennium celebrations were officially launched yesterday – the date was brought forward by 3 days to coincide with the World Environment Day. The highlight of the day was the 'Two Trees for 2000' project. Good enough. But the cynic in me tells me he’s afraid all this is just to attract attention and not much good will come from it. Yet, I WANT to believe and hope that our country is on a better course. Too optimistic?????

Leba Teyizo Dula Ayiteyekim (If you catch a thief, beat him up.)

We Ethiopians may not see eye to eye on many things. But one of things we may agree about is the treatment of thieves. If you catch a thief, just beat him up. Beat him up more. And even more. And much more. He has to have his lessons – so that he wouldn’t come around again. Only few would mind if a thief is killed ('murdered' would be the right word) while being beaten – after all he’s a thief.

I witnessed one of these thief beating ceremonies today. I heard some commotion going on the lane and I peered through my window. Some guys were chasing down a man. They caught him and immediately started beating him up. He allegedly stole two mobile phones from a computer store posing as a customer; it seemed that he was caught red handed. Others joined in the beating spree (just beat him up!). Nobody questioned if the beating was right. Then the building security personnel came out, took him inside. People were still beating him.

I went out and requested the people surrounding the thief not to beat him. I told them to call a cop. Nobody would listen to me. They almost started shouting at me; some of them even said I was an accomplice to the guy. One of them proposed the 'thief' should have his hands cut (we’re not in Saudi, dude!). I told them that they should call the police for an investigation and then it’s the court’s job to hand down a punishment. They said the 'thief' was caught red handed and no need to prove his guilt in a court. Finally the crowd dispersed leaving the ‘thief’ in the custody of the security personnel.

I felt like asking everybody present if they have never stolen anything in their life. I’m sure most of them have. Stationary from their office, misusing the phones in their office, avoiding taxes, over invoicing, etc. The list can go on.

I would say that what I saw there shows how ignorant we are in matters of individual rights and the savage in us comes up with the slightest of excuse. I abhorred the self righteous (holier-than-thou) attitude displayed in the crowd (who by the way may have stolen many things from their bosses, business partners, the state, etc).

I hope one day the age old adage will be changed to ‘leba teyizo polis yiteral’. ( If you catch a thief, call the police).

The other side of Addis

I heard a friend saying that a European colleague of his remarked Addis is a very safe city; her roads are better than most of the cities in East Africa. And that Sheraton Addis is one of the most luxurious hotels in the whole of Africa. And that people are friendly and polite.

Well, this European’s image of Addis was quite different before he came here on business trips a couple of times. He thought of knife wielding muggers and hungry pedestrians, roads with potholes every few meters, expensive hotels with rats jumping around in the hotel room.

For us the natives, it’s true that we see a lot of problems in Addis: housing, unemployment, abject poverty, molestation, the semi finished roads, etc. More over, with the rising inflation, it’s hard to dwell on the good things this city can offer.

I’ve often heard people say the millennium celebrations will give Addis (for that matter the whole country) an opportunity to get rid of the famine/ poverty and related images that have been associated with the country for many decades now. I may have my misgivings to the hype surrounding the new millennium; however, I believe that Addis has a better side to offer to the visitors, which we, the residents, have been enjoying this every day.

Resting in the knowledge that one’s parked car is safe because a parking attendant (teenage/ young girls or boys in most cases) is around astonishes me. One would normally imagine that a serious crook could blackmail these unarmed, wretched attendants and do whatever he/she wants. But that’s not normally the case here. Isn’t it amazing!

I was unable to blog for the last few days, as the blogging site was blocked. Now it has been unblocked and I am able to access it.

The millennium craze and accommodation for the guests:

Millennium Burger, Millennium Traditional Food Restaurant, Milennium...., Millennium....

The list can go on. Entrepreneurs have already been making advantage of the craze to make some fortune out of it. Hotel rooms are being expanded; various committees are set up (with the way things are going, they will set up a committee that will oversee all other committees); NGO's are getting pamphlets published; etc.

There seems to be an air of expectation in Addis. Of course, with celebrations poised to start as early as June 2007 (Sene 1999), a lot of us have something for diversion. Diversions from the housing problems, diversions from the water problems, diversions from the inflation.....

However, I wonder when I hear that around 700,000 guests are expected to come from abroad for the celebrations. It will be a massive boost for tourism and should be encouraged by all means, yet where are we going to put all these people? Do we have enough hotel rooms? I doubt. So, they're going to rent houses and prices will hike. For the ordinary Addis Abeban, it's something to worry about. I, for one, have started worrying what the proprietor will do when the contract runs out in June. Will he increase the rent? Will he tell me to leave?

More to come on this blog: Ethiopian Millennium Celebration, Inflation, the New Upper Middle class

Addis is gearing up to celebrate the millennium (for those who still think that the millennium passed 7 and 1/2 years ago, I would inform Ethiopia follows a different calendar). The government has set up a millennium celebrations committee; one hears the word 'millennium' mentioned more often; and new restaurants/cafes/ shops that bear the name 'millennium' have started showing up.

I will try to post as much as possible, as there will be more activity in Addis.

The fiasco surrounding the celebrations will be in contrast to the struggle of the poor to make ends meet because of the inflation (as high as 16%). And the new upper/ upper middle class frequenting the trendy cafes in Addis will make another interesting observation.

More is to come on this blog.....

Shoa Supermarket removed the USAID Oil cans from the stands

I happened to be in this supermarket some weeks ago and was shocked with what I saw and posted it on this blog.

Last Friday, I visited Shoa and was pleased and surprised to see that they had removed the oil cans from the stand.

Pollution and the environment in Addis - as seen by a driver

Well, Addis may not be as polluted as Bombay or Sao Paulo or Beijing. I'm afraid, however, that pollution is on the rise. Going to work early morning, I have to drive along numerous Anbessa buses, inter - city transport buses, trucks and the like. When many of these vehicles shift gears or climb steep roads, the amount of smoke that comes out is horrible to see. A driver may escape the immediate effects of the smoke by rolling up his/her windows. Yet, it's dangerous because the visibility will be threatened for some seconds - mind you an accident may happen. The smog seen in Addis (in mornings) is a witness to the long-lasting effect of the smoke.

I hear that most of these trucks or buses are old or had already been old when they were imported. The engines are not well maintained and hence the smoke. What amazes me, though, is to see brand new four wheelers bought at a very expensive price giving off black smokes. One experienced driver told me that they're smoky because they use diesel. Another person, who was from Europe and happened to be with us, remarked that he drives a car that is some years old and uses diesel but no smoke. Is the quality of the fuel that bad here?

Getting rid of all these smoky old vehicles would seem a good idea to some, but what will happen to the people whose livelihood depends on them? What comes first - the environment or putting some food on the table?

Blogspot.com has been blocked again, and a pledge to write more

I haven't been able to blog for some time now, as I've been a bit busy. But I'll try to post two blogs a week.

The situation is not very encouraging as blogspot.com has been blocked again in Ethiopia and readers here can access it only via annonymous proxies. Sad!

I encourage the readers to leave comments; there's a lot more to be said about Addis that might have escaped the blogger's attention.

Addis Roads and Thirteen Months of Sunshine

There have been some torrential rains in Addis in the last few days. Many of the main roads, including the ring road, have been flooded.

The flood can always be blamed on the poor construction of the drainage or the roads. Yet, one wonders when one sees the ‘well constructed’ ring road. It’s been built by the now ubiquitous Chinese construction companies. These guys have made a name for themselves by constructing roads in a very short time compared to their Ethiopian counterparts. The roads seem good too. At least the paint that is used to divide the lanes does not disappear after 2-3 months. The ring road, however, has one major problem: it gets flooded after heavy rain. It’s hard to believe that the reputed Chinese companies built it.

Ethiopia has long been called a country of thirteen months of sunshine. Is it the case that the Chinese, who were relatively new to Addis (Ethiopia) when they built the road, took the phrase too literally and thought it would never rain in Addis? In this case, they might not have taken the rain into account when they made the design.

Fireworks and Commonsense

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting with friends in a café. The Addis Ababa Stadium was in full site and it looked like there was some kind of procession going on (it was the Ethiopian Sports Meet – we later learnt). We were chatting and suddenly one of us shouted ‘fireworks, fireworks!’ We thought it was on the giant LCD screen in the Meskel Square. No, it was not. It was being detonated from the inside of the Addis Ababa Stadium. It didn’t look accidental because it was repeated for some time.

Hey guys, I thought fireworks were meant to be ‘fired’ in the dark. Correct me if I’m wrong. If it were feasible, I would love to do a research whether yesterday’s firework was the first to be [not accidentally] fired during the day (when the Sun was at its brightest). Or if any one of you would like to help, leave your comments.

Does the generation lack commonsense? Or is it an Ethiopian phenomenon?

USAID OIL FOR SALE

These days in Addis, it’s so common to see cans of aid oil (cooking oil), donated books (with the stamp ‘Not For Resale’ clearly shown), etc in the market (mind you, they are for sale).

The most common aid oil for sale is the oil with USA stamped on it with a smaller USAID print beneath. You can get it in Merkato; you can see it in small shops in your neighbourhood. You may even have it in your kitchen.

The amount is too much to say that the poor who’re dependent on food aid sold all the cans of oil we see in the city. So, where did it come from? It’s very likely it didn’t reach the poor.

I have never said anything to the small shop owners who sell the aid oil. Many of them may not even know it’s aid oil. I don’t expect high level of business ethics from them either. But a recent experience at one of the biggest and high standard supermarkets in town shocked me. A friend of mine and I went to buy some stuff at Shoa Supermarket on Bole Road – a 24-hours-open, high standard place. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we encountered a familiar site (cans of USAID oil for sale). We tried to speak to one of the shopping attendants. She sent us to the owner/manager. The manager tried to act as if she hadn’t seen the USAID mark on the cans. When we showed her, she started defending her company saying that since there is a high demand, she sells it. When we told her that it was supposed to reach the poor and we would never expect a big supermarket with a high standard such as Shoa to sell the oil, she said that as long as there is demand, she sells it. She also said that the poor may have sold it back to buy other necessary food items. We pointed out to her that such a vast amount of oil in the city couldn’t be a resell. “Perhaps the Aid Organization has sold it,” she speculated. (I wonder what USAID would say to that.) Then she asked us to see our papers. We told her we were just concerned citizens.

It was a crass act that can never be expected from a high standard shopping centre.

USAID: please pay attention to this. The oil should reach those who need it (and in whose name it has been shipped).

Profit, profit, and yet more profit - Private hospitals and their motto

Just to follow up on the health care.

Private hospitals in Addis are alleged to charge a very exaggerated rate for the medicines used by patients during their stay there. Inside sources say that the hospitals charge up to 5 times the price of the medicine one would be required to pay at a pharmacy. A friend of mine informed me that they had to pay more than one thousand Birr for two – three hundred Birr worth of medicines, after his relative had stayed in one of these hospitals for six days.

I heard that the government controls the pharmacies and they can make a maximum profit of only 10%. It would be good if the authorities pay a visit to these hospitals.

Please leave your comments and let me know if you’ve had a similar experience.

Money, proper healthcare and traditional medicine

I wrote last time that I would write on schools in Addis. I disappeared owing to problems in accessing the blog edition site. Now that I can access it well, I’m back with more stories about everyday happenings in Addis.

Do allow me to shift from schools to one particular incident that got me thinking about our healthcare.

This is what happened to a friend of mine:

A person he knows closely had a car accident and suffered multiple rib fractures. He was taken to the biggest government hospital and they told him to go home after checking the X ray. His condition was not 'critical' enough to get him admitted in the hospital. Even if it was, there would probably be no beds available in the surgical ward. He was taken to a private hospital after three days because his health deteriorated, stayed there a few days and got discharged. After three days, he had to be taken again to the same hospital because he became very sick. The X ray revealed that he needed a surgical intervention. When the physician on duty consulted (on phone) the surgeon who was on ‘on call’ duty, the surgeon advised him to keep him till morning with some antibiotics and he’d see him in the morning (mind you – the surgeon was ‘on call’ and yet didn’t want to come). The duty physician, however, was not at all comfortable because (he believed) the patient was in a rather critical condition. So, he advised them to take him to another hospital and also offered an ambulance (they, of course, had to pay for it – Br. 150 for a ten minutes drive). They took him there hoping and praying that the surgeon on call would come. He came and did whatever he had to do and the patient is more or less in a stable condition now.

What I observed is that if you are poor and cannot afford to visit the pocket robbing private hospitals, it is very very unlikely that you will get a proper medical attention. Even if you can somehow afford to get robbed at these hospitals, the medical attention you get will depend on the physician’s mood. Whatever has happened to the word CARE – God knows. (Maybe it’s considered an archaic word by many health professionals here!)

If you want to apply for a health insurance, the insurance companies will ask you to buy also the life insurance – which is not affordable! So, unless you work in some of the big NGO’s or rich private companies or profit making government corporations, forget health insurance. A mother can only hope and pray that her children won’t get sick. She is struggling to buy bread and buying medicine is a luxury!

No wonder people still visit some dodgy traditional healers. They at least provide hope with their affordable ‘medicine’ and ‘treatment’!

(Please leave your comments.)

Addiswatch is back.

Hello...

I've learnt that this blog can be accesses directly at www.inblogs.net/addiswatch. I will keep updating this blog.....

Now that you can access it without anonymous servers, you can read the ads too.

This blog is blocked; but I will keep on writing.....

It’s been quite a few days since I posted the last blog; all blogs in Ethiopia have been blocked and this is one of them (oddly and sadly) – this blog is very apolitical and the blogger’s (only) interest is to let people know the other [perhaps the more fanciful and charming] side of Addis.

It took me a while to find out how I can make my blog accessible to readers in Ethiopia and abroad. For those who live abroad, you can easily access my blog, read the stories, leave your comments, click the ads, etc. It’s very easy. But for those who live here, it’s pretty difficult unless you use an anonymous proxy server like www.atunnel.com. But you may only be able to read and leave comments.

I’ll come back to you with more articles. Have a good week.

Kindergartens and their amusing ads.....

I was just standing on the pedestrian pavement of a big road (the road from Urael to Bole Medahlialem) this morning and waiting for somebody. It was around 8:00 am (GMT + 3:00); I could see a lot of students walking to the nearby Bole Higher Secondary School clad in their green and white uniforms. I quickly scanned in my mind the numerous kindergartens, elementary and high schools, colleges – private, public or state run. It struck me that it’s worthwhile to let the world know a bit about the schools in Addis. I hope to post successive blogs in the coming days….

I will start with Kindergartens and some of their ads today….

Some of the amusing ads on Kindergartens:

So and So Kinder Garden

The people who were running this ‘Kinder Garden’ seem not to bother to check the spelling. Perhaps, they thought it’s a garden where some ‘truths’ get planted in the kids’ minds. Or perhaps the secretary typed something else and the auto corrector changed it to Kinder Garden (both English words). Perhaps the owners were playing a kind of pun by saying they’re kinder than other owners because they’ve a garden full of flowers for the kids to enjoy. (I’m yet to see a kid who enjoys gardens without trampling the plants, though).

So and So Kindergarten…….your kids will speak English like a diplomat

I saw this posted on the interior of the bigger taxis (mini buses). Which diplomat? That was what came to my mind…. I know of diplomats who at best speak broken English and at worst use a translator………let me be kind…perhaps the owners have good contacts with diplomats who speak English like the Queen………


We teach ‘Computers’…

I know of a KG where they entice parents by saying they teach computers, they even have a computer teacher…….the kids have been taking computer lessons for the last 3 years….but the KG is yet to acquire a single computer…..the kids are forced to imagine….I also hear that the teacher uses pictures to at least show how a computer looks like…..poor kids……

This is another kind of ad…

I know a lady who teaches at one of the numerous KG’s…. there is another KG adjacent to where she teaches…these guys (the neighbours) apparently had small number of students and went around the neighbourhood during the summer lobbying…they allegedly defamed the other KG (the place where this lady teaches)…and the result? They got less number of students…it kind of backfired!!!

Please leave your comments. If you’d like to add anything, you’re most welcome.

Addis Watch Online!

Well, I always feel that there are everyday happenings in Addis Ababa (for that matter everywhere) that are too worthy, charming and fanciful to be left out– yet are hardly reported/ recorded.

I strive to fill this gap – writing what I observe around me while traveling in share-cabs, sitting in cafes, walking, talking with friends, etc.

So, enjoy my blog and leave your comments……..

Addis Watch