Pooping in a Hole Ain't For the Faint of Heart

After 2 years in Ethiopia there are several things that I miss about my life in America.  Of course there are also many things that I don’t miss at all like paying bills, being on time, drama, 50-hour work weeks and the general stress and pressure of “keeping up” with everyone around me.  However, one thing that I miss the most is a very simple event that took place every single day in my previous life. That is- waking up in the morning, rolling out of my big, comfy bed and walking barefoot into the bathroom.  It’s a routine that my body did instinctively every morning with very little thought.  You’ve probably done it yourself, hundreds of times, without appreciating the beauty and simplicity of the act.

Let me tell you what it’s like in Ethiopia when I have to go to the bathroom first thing in the morning.  I wake up, roll off my uncomfortable little cot, untangle myself from my mosquito net, put on a bra (‘cause no one needs to see everything jiggling around!), put on pants and maybe a sweater if it’s a cool morning, put on shoes, grab toilet paper, unlock and open my front door, walk outside to the back of the compound, use the shint bet (literal translation “urine house”), walk back inside my house and wash my hands.  I’m not so good with math, but that’s like 438% more work than my old morning routine in America.  And unlike America, this morning routine actually requires brainpower.  Since it is very typical that if I’m in my house alone, then I’m not wearing pants (a new habit that I blame completely on my mom!), it was just last week that I had to poop so badly that I almost ran outside without any pants on.  I had my hand on the handle, about to open the door when luckily I looked down at my naked legs just in time.  That would have shocked the neighbors considering the one time I answered the door in shorts I nearly gave my landlord a heart attack! (Kneecaps and shoulders are not acceptable body parts to be shown in public in this neck of the woods

Shint bet

“What exactly is this ‘urine house’?” you may ask.  Well, I welcome your inquisitiveness. The shint bet is a dark little mud room with a hole dug into the floor. Under the floor is a deeper, cleared out area sort of like a septic tank, except when this septic tank gets full there may be an unfortunate splash back affect when you squat over the hole and drop a deuce.  Depending on circumstance a shint bet may or may not have a door that closes.  It may or may not have a light. If there is water in town that day, there may be a bucket of water and pitcher to wash the area.  If it is shared by multiple people, it may have random poop on the floor from someone who missed the hole.  It certainly does not have toilet paper so bring your own unless you want to drip dry.  If you’re really fancy, it might have a porcelain basin built in. It is probably smelly.  It’s probably full of flies.  You basically want to get in and out as quickly as possible.  There’s no reading the newspaper on the toilet scenario happening here.  Luckily, according to the internet, squatting to relieve yourself is a more natural and healthier position than sitting, so generally things just flow better and it’s a fairly quick process. 

There is a certain art to successfully peeing or pooping into a little hole in the ground, especially for us ladies who are used to sitting down to do our business.  As someone who loathes camping (or really any activity that boasts of fresh air) I never had an occasion to practice my “squatting to pee skills” before coming to Ethiopia.  Early in my Peace Corps experience I was cautioned to “never touch the walls in a shint bet” as they would miserably fail a CSI-eque black light test.  When I was young I earned the nickname Grace, for my inability to walk without falling, tripping or knocking into something, so naturally I was a little worried about my lack of balance.  In my first few weeks of adjusting to using a shint bet, I would cautiously press one finger against the wall in order to stay in an upright position.  Once I dared to take my finger off the wall, I actually did lose what little balance I had and was about to fall over with my pants down when I had to make a split-second decision to either reach out and hold onto the forbidden wall or wind up face down on the infinitely more disgusting floor.  I chose the wall and promptly washed my hands with extra soap when I was done.

Another tip for successful shint bet use is to avoid unknown shint bets whenever possible.  In order to avoid the potential horrors of a shint bet I’ve never seen before, I usually dehydrate myself all day long until I know that I will be returning home to my familiar, semi-clean, at least I know what I’m getting shint bet.  Sometimes, however the unknown shint bet is unavoidable.  Once, I was in a very small town with some Ethiopian friends, and we had stopped for some lunch.  In case you don’t know, I’m pretty famous in some circles for my amazing bladder control, but in this instance it had been several hours and I just couldn’t hold it any more.  I cautiously asked a young girl working at the restaurant if there was a shint bet.  She led me back into a field where there were four poles sticking out of the ground with a plastic tarp roof overhead.  In the middle of this contraption were 2 holes in the ground, but no doors or walls.  With my lack of language skills, I gestured to the little girl to ask which hole I was to use.  She pointed to the hole that literally had the most massive pile of poop just behind the hole where apparently a blind man had missed his target.  After seeing the horrified look on my face, the girl ventured closer to see for herself and kindly pushed the giant turd into the hole with a stick.  Now that I was free to do my business, I was so worried that someone was going to wander back to this shint bet without walls and see the white girl peeing that I rushed the process and ended up peeing all over my purse which was hanging cross-body.  As I walked back to my friends with my urine-soaked purse, I couldn’t help but laugh at what a disgusting person I had become.

 I am proud to say that after 2 years I’ve greatly improved my aim, balance and over-all shint bet skills.  Some Peace Corps volunteers become true shint bet aficionados, proselytizing the virtues of shint bets over toilets, but not this girl.  No way.  I will be happy to return to the land of flush toilets.  I think it’s funny when American women complain about public restrooms, having to squat in order not to touch a toilet seat that has been used by an unknown number of butts.  My squatting days will soon be over.  Until I contract a strange butt disease, I will joyfully sit on any and every public toilet I come across.  Bring it on, America!  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to put my shoes on and go take a poop.

Information from highly credible internet doctors

A Prayer

About five years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Sierra Leone on a short missions trip.  This trip was, as cheesy as it may sound, a life altering experience that directly affected my decision to join the Peace Corps.  Sierra Leone was my first encounter with poverty.  It was jarring and heartbreaking and ultimately eye-opening and humbling.  In travels to other countries like Nicaragua, Ethiopia and India, I have come face to face with similar conditions, and those experiences always draw me back to one question.  My question is this- if the true essence of a person is one’s soul and our bodies are, in a way, random catalysts for that unique soul, then why was my soul born into a body in America?  If my soul inhabited another body, say if I was born in a place like Sierra Leone or Ethiopia or Haiti or Iran or Cambodia, how different would my life be?  How is it that I was afforded a relatively privileged life while other people live in a constant state of struggle?  Some might say that it is a random act of the universe to decide.  Others may state that it is simply luck.  Some may believe that it is fated by a higher power.  For me, I strongly felt that the consequence of my soul being born into a body in a place like America left me with a responsibility.  I can’t unsee the things that I have seen, and I can’t ignore the feeling that part of my purpose is to do the little bit that I can do to serve others.  I hope that when I return to my life in America I am always mindful of all the souls all around the world who don’t have the opportunities that I have been given simply because of location.

 

A Prayer 

 

Dear God,

Thank you for providing me with a loving family. Although there were times when I took their love for granted, it was never a thought in my child mind that I could be cast out because my parents could no longer afford me or sold as a child bride or into a life of prostitution.

 

Thank you that although I was born a girl, my parents still saw fit to educate me, and I grew up knowing that I could accomplish anything I could dream.   Thank you that I was brought up as equal to my brother.

 

Thank you that I have always had a safe and comfortable place to call home, and I have never had to worry about where my next meal was coming from.  Thank you for running water that isn’t filled with dirt and bacteria.

 

Thank you for life saving vaccines and readily available medical care.  Thank you that my mother was given prenatal care and gave birth to my siblings and me in a clean hospital with a trained doctor in attendance so that we didn’t have to grow up without her.

 

Thank you that I have never had to experience war first hand.  Thank you that I have never had to cower in a corner while a rebel army tore through my neighborhood leaving death and destruction in their wake.

 

Thank you that I was able to be a single woman with a career supporting herself without those choices making me an outcast of society.

 

Thank you that I live in a place where I get to cast a vote on who should lead my country.  Thank you for the privilege of being able to speak out against my government when I don’t agree with their policies without the fear of imprisonment or death.

 

Dear God, please keep me forever grateful for the blessings you have bestowed upon me.  Please let me live my life in appreciation and with a greater sense of the world around me.  Help me to be mindful of others, and when I meet someone in need of help, please give me the grace to accept them not with judgment but with an open heart.  Please don’t let my 2 years living in Ethiopia become a memory of something I did once, but instead be a consistent reminder of my responsibility in this world.  Please help me to live with gratitude and humility.  Amen.

 

“Let me learn from where I have been

So keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn”

Mumford & Sons “Below My Feet”

Mo & Bo Visit Ethiopia

View of the mountains in Lalibela

I was so excited to have my first (and only) visitors from home come to see me in Ethiopia a little over a month ago.  I feel very blessed to have parents who are brave enough to travel halfway across the world to this crazy place to visit their firstborn and favorite child.  I am so happy that I got to share my Ethiopian life with them, and that they could see firsthand all of the things that I have been talking about for the past year and a half.  It was wonderful to introduce them to my friends, co-workers, and students- the people who have become my family away from home.  Even I was overwhelmed by the welcome that my mom and dad received in Ambo.  The generosity and hospitality shown by my community for me and my family was lovely and affirmed to me that my life and work here in Ambo is appreciated.  The following blog was written by my parents about their time in Ethiopia. Enjoy!

Exploring the ancient rock-hewn churches in Lalibela

We will always remember the day in March three years ago when Alicia announced to us that she had decided to join the Peace Corps... Once we got over our initial shock (I think that Bob and I were both speechless for a few minutes) we encouraged her to pursue her passion, and we told her that we would find her and visit her wherever she was sent. Well, that is exactly what we did!

We left Boston on December 21, 2013 for Ethiopia and spent 12 amazing days visiting with Alicia! We celebrated Christmas, Alicia's birthday and New Years together! We were blessed with the opportunity of learning about a new culture, meeting so many wonderful people and getting such an insight into their schools, workplaces and their everyday lives.  We traveled from Addis Ababa to Debre Zeyit to Ambo to Lalibela to Gonder and back to Addis. We enjoyed visiting museums, shops, restaurants, the country side, rock-hewn churches, palaces, schools, and hiking the Simien Mountains.

Preparing coffee at our Welcome Party

Our favorite part of our trip was visiting Alicia's town of Ambo, where she lives and works. We visited two of her schools, and we were overwhelmed by the kindness and love shown by the students and the staff.  Each of the schools gave us a Welcome Party complete with cake, soft drinks and coffee made in a jebena (a traditional clay coffee pot) over hot coals. In addition, a few teachers and Alicia's landlord invited us into their homes for lunches and dinners.  It was interesting to observe that the hostess did not eat with us, but waited on us hand and foot.  As soon as our plates began to look empty, she was quick to add more food. Luckily, Alicia taught us the word “bak’a” which means enough.  Although, the hostess may or may not accept that you have truly had enough food, and she will most-likely try to persuade you to add more.  All of the food is so good, and we really appreciated being invited into these folks homes!  It was so wonderful to get an everyday view into the lives and culture of Ethiopian families.  When walking through Ambo, we also got to meet a few of the shopkeepers that Alicia does business with.  It was clearly made known to us how well respected and loved Alicia is here!  They appreciate her for living and working with them, learning their language and treating them with respect as well.

country side home

We also got to meet some other Peace CorpsVolunteers. They ranged in ages from 22 to 62 and come from all over America. It was interesting to talk with them and discover what motivated them to become PCVs, and to discuss their living and working conditions, their goals, progress and frustrations. We are in awe of these people who volunteered to move so far from home, willing to go without necessities we take for granted (electricity, running water...). Each one has such an amazing attitude and is so sincere in their belief that they are making a significant difference in their community, that it is worth it all. We know that they have made such a positive impact on our lives and we are so grateful for them!

Ethiopia is a beautiful country blessed with a rich heritage and people, but like every country it has its share
of problems. Poverty is a way of life for so many people.  It is both overwhelming and heartbreaking to see. Every day is a struggle for so many people living in Ethiopia.  But, progress is being made. Roads are being built, a new train system is being developed, the importance of good health and nutrition is being taught.  The country is poised to continue to make great strides, economically and developmentally in the coming years.

Us with some of Alicia's students

Getting mobbed by kids at the private school

Fasilidas's pool, Gonder

Lalibela

The most famous- St. George's Church, Lalibela

Overlooking the churches in Lalibela

Thanks & Giving

Thanks

This past September during my Peace Corps Mid-Service Conference, my fellow volunteers and I had a chance to read a letter that we had each written to ourselves one year prior at the end of our Pre-Service Training as we were about to head out to our permanent sites.  One line that I had written was to remind myself to “give thanks to everyone and everything that has kept you here.”  Over this past Thanksgiving weekend, this little reminder continued to run through my head as I reflected on the things that I am thankful for.

I am eternally grateful for my amazing network of family and friends back home.  I feel so blessed to have parents and a sister and brother who love me and support me through every crazy moment of life here in Ethiopia.  I appreciate that they care enough to ask questions and take an interest in my life and work.  And I am super-thankful to have two parents who are just crazy enough to want to come to Ethiopia! (See you in 20 days, Mom & Dad!!) I am also grateful for aunts and uncles and cousins and friends who email me, write letters, send cards and care packages.  I cannot overstate just how much that all means to me.  Peace Corps service is challenging, and life in Ethiopia can be difficult.  It is easy to feel alone and depressed, so something as little as getting a card in the mail from a loved one or a simple Skype call can really brighten my day.  So I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has ever written me a letter, sent a card, answered my phone call, emailed me, or sent a care package.  Your thoughtfulness has made a difference in my life, and you have made my time in Ethiopia just a little bit easier!

Celebrating Thanksgiving with friends.

It is a rare thing to walk into a room full of 70 strangers and instantly feel a connection to those people, but that’s what happened to me in June 2012.  Those 70 strangers were my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, and the connection I felt was that clearly we all had a couple screws loose because we had all agreed to move to Ethiopia for the next 27 months.  70 of us started this journey, and 60 of us are still here a year and a half later.  I feel so grateful for the amazing friends that I have made among my fellow volunteers.  I know that I can call them up crying when I’ve had a bad day, or excited when a project has been successful, or frustrated when something hasn’t gone according to plan.  I know that they will instantly understand me because they have had the same experiences.  We can cry together, laugh together, share horror stories and gossip, and give advice, all without judgment.  I know that these friends will be friends for life, and I can’t wait to hang out in America when we’ve all showered and our clothes aren’t dirty and falling apart at the seams.

Grade 8 English Club students

I am thankful for the students at my school who attend my clubs and programs.  I really love these kids.  It has been an incredible experience to watch them learn, and to be a part of their lives.  I don’t know how I would manage in Ethiopia if my job was only to work with adults.  Having the kids at my school be excited to see me and interested to learn feels validating, and makes me believe that maybe I am having some small impact here, at least for these kids.  I am also thankful for the teachers at my school who care about me.  There are a handful of teachers who I know support my work in the school and who I can go to for help when I need it. 

One teacher at my school said to me a few weeks ago, “I think that you are very brave.”  “No,” I told him “I am not brave. Most of the time I am afraid, but I am alone and I have to take care of myself.”  Thinking about it now, I realize that in a way, yes, I am alone here, and I have been afraid plenty of times, and I’ve had to figure out a lot of things on my own.  But the truth is I’m not really alone and there are kind and generous people here who have helped me and taken care of me.  I know that God will never give me more than I can handle, and I guess I’ve learned that I can handle a lot.  It’s easy to lose sight of the good things I’ve experienced here, the things that keep me here.  This Thanksgiving I am truly thankful to everyone and everything that has kept me here.

Giving

My mini-library, stocked with donated books

‘Tis the season for giving.  This is just a little reminder for anyone who would like to contribute to my book project.  I am collecting donated books to improve the library at my school.  If enough books are donated, I am also hoping to start a library at a new school here in Ambo.  English fluency is extremely important for students in Ethiopia because starting in grade 9 through university level, all subjects are taught in English.  That means that students cannot learn science or math or any other subject unless they have a solid foundation in English.  Very few homes in Ethiopia contain any books at all.  Students in primary school have very few resources to improve their English skills.  I believe that reading is essential for these kids.  I let the students in my English clubs borrow one book at a time, and there is usually a line for books.  They absolutely love reading these books!

If you would like to contribute to the improvement of 2 school libraries here in Ambo, you can purchase used books from the website betterworldbooks.com   You can also reference my blog post from April 3, 2013 for instructions.  I’m looking for any books beginning with children’s picture books through simple chapter books, up to about a 4^th or 5^th grade reading level would be best.  Many thanks to those who have already sent books, and it’s not too late for anyone who would like to participate in this worthwhile project.  Books from this particular website are inexpensive, in good condition, and ship for free.  So far, all the books have arrived quickly and without any problems.  Feel free to email me if you have any questions.  Thanks in advance!