A Street Tour of AA

I intended to write about my work today, what I’m doing. But on my walk over to get my internet “fixed” (ok it turns out I had no money on my mobile modem) I got bombarded by street children. Like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Even if you’ve never met me (and cool, that means I have followers) you should be able to tell from this blog that I like kids and tend to be compassionate to anything that affects their livelihood. I walked past numerous kids having to shake my head no, when I passed a mother and young daughter just sitting on the street. Neither asked me for anything, the little girl just looked at me and sort of reached out her hand. Spotting a nearby fruit stand I went to buy some bananas for her. Apparently I had been spotted, because in the 15 second interaction of picking out bananas I was surrounded by about 15 kids, many who were bigger than me, jostling for food. Someone had once warned me I would grow to hate the street kids here. I thought they were just jaded and cynical. While I don’t think I will ever hate these children that are looking for someone to eat, a walk down the street here does make it easy to loose a feeling of compassion and replace it with annoyance. I’m not sure what the answer to this conundrum is. I don’t think I can turn a blind eye to poverty, if I could I probably wouldn’t be here. At the same time, I really don’t like being bombarded. I ended up feeling horrible the other day. I didn’t have enough to give everyone. Plus I felt as though I was “expected” to give, which didn’t really feel right.

It’s odd, because in contrast to all this poverty is a great deal of wealth. I’ve mentioned it before, but I can’t help but pointing out the contrasts yet again. The street child incident was on the way to get a wireless modem fixed, a contrast if I ever saw one. Perhaps even more notable was a drive down EU road. The street is lined with large hotels, but by night is also lined by sex workers, waiting for potential customers. I’ve seen the sex work industry before, most notably in Thailand, and it never seizes to upset me. This felt even sadder. The women seemed so exposed, waiting on the streets with no protection at all. And speaking of protection, in a country and city with such high AIDS rates, I can only hope that condoms are widely distributed and used. But based on what I’ve read and learned, I fear this isn’t true. As I drove by, I realized all the young girls were working a job that is almost inevitably a death sentence a fact that later brought me to tears in the solitude of my room. The next day I found myself at a yoga class. Yes, Addis has MULTIPLE yoga offerings, a treat that delighted me when I first heard. This studio was located on the same road I had driven down the night before, just up the block. As the sun set during the practice, I found myself distracted, looking out the window at ever opportunity. How could I be here, enjoying this peaceful practice, when such sadness raged right outside? There doesn’t seem to be a correct answer. I know I could drive myself crazy. And my enjoyment of a yoga class won’t alter the lives of the sex workers I passed. And I know I am doing good work here with CARE. But of all the challenges this city offers, contending with the daily poverty may be the toughest by far.

Just an FYI- My blog seems to be illegal here. I can post on it, but I can’t see it. So if you’ve commented, I haven’t read it. And please, if you want to comment, please message me directly.