The early morning taxi ride over to Concern takes us round the new city ring road, which Eshetu tells us was – or rather is, as its not completed yet – being built by the Chinese. I wonder if this is another old argument resolved after the fall of the communist regime from the 1970s and the severing of those ties. I assume ‘being built’ to mean that China provided funding, and wonder – perhaps a little cynically – what the pay back is for all the generous donors that are at work in this country. Maybe my limited knowledge and memories of EU, IMF and other international organizations’ condition bound donations colours my judgment. I really hope lessons have been learned and things have changed since those days when aid was truly a double edged sword that sometimes reached the target it was intended for and sometimes ended up financing a war or in the private offshore bank account of some greedy unethical ruler or international dealer – and the finger points in all directions in the latter case.
This comes to mind particularly because the level of development going on around this city is quite astounding against the backdrop of poverty, patchy social services, homelessness and limited opportunity. Books have been written on the subject, including ‘Geldof in Africa’ serendipitously found in the Devonport Second Hand Bookstore just before I left, and subsequently ‘devoured’ on the plane. There is a lot of experience to learn from, suggestions of of corruption at both ends of deals and some excellent recommendations contained. The Commission for Africa Report titled 'Our Common Interest' (2005) found on a later visit to the same shop takes this a step further with representation from a number of African states as well as ‘donor’ countries and organizations. (Another serendipitous moment and a typo turned this into rog(ue)anizations – I like the term and believe it could stick!). While I applaud the effort of the governments and individuals involved, my one concern is that the word ‘should’ occurs way too many times without any reference to how the value shifts will happen to make ‘should’ into ‘how to’, ‘when’ and by ‘whom.’
The paragraph above offers a one sided view of a society that has some real strengths and positives. What I described above is the side that needs attention.
Thought streams are interrupted as we reach our destination. The Concern National HQ in the capital is like the regional one in Kombolche - a modest compound of small portable buildings clustered behind a barbed wire topped wall and high gates. A rather different interpretation of the village compounds viewed a few days ago on the journey back to Addis.
We are ushered straight through the maze of workplaces into a small private office similar to the one occupied by Regional Director Ato Endalamaw. The National Director is welcoming, a serious man who is well informed of our purpose as we were told he would be. There is no debate about him signing our MoU on Concern’s behalf, it is indeed a formality and our final prize is awarded without fuss or ceremony. A simple signature, a stamp on paper accompanied by the advice that we need to have every page of the document endorsed by all signatories. Another small hurdle we could have done with knowing about earlier, but better late than never. I have confidence that it can be achieved.
As I write this and reflect on earlier events, it seems to me that when we hand over the ambulance might be time enough and good opportunity to complete this task. There has been such public discussion of the intentions and acknowledgment of the terms that no one is likely to deviate from them according to the cultural mores that I have witnessed and had explained in these past days. Somehow it all seems absolutely honest and plausible; there is no hint of any deception. A couple of times we have been advised to negotiate in a certain way, or to alter the terms of our agreement to avoid a situation where people might simply agree at the time, then do something different after we have gone. This advice has pointed to terms or conditions that we need to know are unreasonable in the local context, rather than opportunities for people to feather their own nests once the donor’s back is turned. Direct interaction with life is how Bob Geldof described his experience in Africa, and although this situation is quite different to the context of his comment, I feel the same rule applies here. No one is aiming to do anything other than improve on a bad situation and we are able, without fuss or confusion, to work together across cultural boundaries to serve this purpose.
Advice on funds transfer and duty free import of vehicles are further important details we pick up here and later at the Toyota dealership. The experience of the people we talk to is like gold. We need to know that the value of the duty free vehicle must not be more than 10% of the total value of the project it is gifted to or the concession will not be granted. We also need to know that delivery of the vehicle at this time may take four to six months from the date of the order and payment of 50% deposit. At one point the assumption hovers that we might be handing this amount over today. I really wish we could, but know that in front of us now is the task of raising the entire cost of a new long wheel base Land Cruiser - about UK20,000 - cif Addis Ababa.
The process of signing and the discussion complete, we gain some more local experience waiting outside the gate for our transport. There is a busy local market with a labyrinth of alleys forming a maze around a square. Clothes, household goods, meat, vegetables, music, travel goods all have their designated lanes. It’s a wonder that so many traders of similar goods can co-exist and survive. I bargain not too seriously for some traditional white cotton woven shawls with decorative borders as a substitute for a style I cannot seem to identify or find. The man in Degan whose wife is being treated for TB wore a gorgeous deep green woven shawl of a kind I would love to find. No one can tell me its origins or where one can be found.
After the fifth stallholder digging out pieces of fabric from the lower end of huge piles, I feel obliged to buy some of a different kind to repay the trouble of looking.
There is a bus stop across the road from where we are standing waiting for the taxi and watching people come and go is a sight I could study for hours. Its also an opportunity for discrete use of my camera which proves to be just as capable for shooting video clips as stills.
Music is blaring out from a shop, there is traffic noise, including blaring car horns and bleating from herds of goats being shunted down the road.
Sam is on the phone (again) and I use the opportunity to grab some short video clips of life passing by on the street.
Two men hold the front hooves of a sheep that is walking on its back legs like a child between its parents, though presumably to a rather different fate.
Again I appreciate the discretion of a long zoom lens, though at one point two young men spot my camera, look me in the face and in easy to understand gestures, ask me to take their picture. Naturally I oblige, and this not being a tourist spot, they ask for nothing in return.
Another opportunity grabbed is a picture titled ‘Taxi crumbs’ by Sam. The fleets of blue and white Lada taxis look like they have been in service for a very long time. Probably they have, as the brand is suggestive of communist nation affiliations of the 1970s. One has dropped a wheel in the middle of an intersection and is about to be towed away, but not before my shutter button captures its plight.
The interlude ends when our slightly aged green and yellow Toyota cab (as opposed to the vast majority of blue and white Lada) transport arrives to take us back to base. Now we are on a countdown to 5am when it will come again to deliver us back to the airport.
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