Field Visit 3

left town of Debre Tarbor early Thursday morning, after waking to find the electricity was back just in time for me to leave. The drive back to Bahir Dar was once again beautiful. It was a market day so there were even more people than the drive there, something I hadn't thought would be possible. I spent most of the drive chatting with CARE's driver while taking high-speed photos from the window.
I arrived in Bahir Dar and was happy with what I saw. The third largest city in the country is known as "Ethiopia's Riviera". While I probably wouldn't go that far, there is no denying the city's charm. With palm trees lining wide streets, the areas slow pace seemed like a welcome improvement on Addis Ababa. And the presence of many restaurants, bars and fruit shops (as well as electricity) felt a welcome change from Debre Tarbor!

I went immediately to CARE's Bahir Dar office, where I was immediately whisked visit some of our field partners. We happened to arrive during a woman's group meeting, and although it wasn't our target demographic, I did a quick focus group discussion to find out a bit more about life in the city. The women were friendly and spunky, chiding me for not being married (so old at 26) and encouraging me to tell my friends and family in the U.S. about life in Ethiopia! Lunch time meant I could check into my hotel, and take a much longed for hot shower! After 4 days without hot water (which for me means not washing my hair) I was wishing I had taken up my bosses offer to get my hair braided! Feeling refreshed (and well nourished thanks to food and a machiato at the hotel restaurant) I continued with more partner visits in the afternoon.

Five o'clock finally arrived, which meant Paul arrived in Bahir Dar! Since the upcoming weekend was 3 days, he decided to meet me and spend it at some of the beautiful sites Bahir Dar has to offer. Tales (and pictures) from this trip will arrive in my next entry.

Friday meant one more day of FGD and interviews. I spent the morning with an amazing group of "youth" (which is defined here as 15-29) who run an anti-AIDS alliance in one of the poorest slums of the city. I met with founders and members of the group, all who were about my age. I was awed and inspired by their dedication to their community, even when it means they often risk stigma and discrimination themselves. Most are college students who managed to make it that far even though they all grew up in poverty, in the very same slums. While they pursued careers in IT, pharmaceuticals as well as other income activities, they spend their free time educating the community about HIV. Commercial Sex Work (CSW) is common in the area, and they run activities to reduce the stigma of buying and using condoms. They also create programs to allow people to talk about what they know about HIV, which allows for misconceptions to be acknowledged and corrected.

One of the things I was tasked with doing on this trip was some "positive case studies" of urban female youth. One girl in the group was a founder and clearly a great leader. I took her aside after the group and asked if she minded if I told her life story. She agreed, and began to tell me how her mother highhandedly raised 5 daughters in the same slum we were currently sitting. I won't tell her whole story here, but at one point she broke down into tears, and I felt horrible for asking her to share such an upsetting tale. But at the end she thanked me, because she is happy more people will know of her mother's strength and dedication. Currently she is in college, dating a boy who cares and respects her, and is "very grateful and happy" with her life. I was honored to be able to hear her story.

The day winded down with visits to a few more neighborhood groups. The visits were a great learning experience but the trip was amazingly draining! I met Paul for another amazing fruit juice, exhausted but excited for our 3 day weekend trip!