Working in Gambella

The flies are ridiculous, the mosquitos carry malaria, the roads are terrible, the food is strange, I have to wash my clothes by hand, the power goes out all the time, the showers are cold, and it is way too hot, but Gambella has still found a way to grow on me quickly. The complexity of the region has peaked my interest. Numerous tribes that all speak different languages reside in the region. They posses a history of intense conflict, and turmoil still brews close to the surface. Contributing to the unrest is the fact that the region is fertile, but the economic situation of the people remains dire. To put it into some sort of perspective, the hotel in which I am staying is the nicest one in town and costs $12.50/night. A meal here runs about $5. These prices put the hotel and restaurant in a realm well out of reach for the local population. So I have been feeling odd about not wanting to live well above the population I am working with so I can more easily gain their trust and respect, but also not thinking that the situation I am in qualifies as living anywhere near a luxurious life. I will have to see where the summer leads me here in Ethiopia, but at the moment I would not be surprised to be making another trip back to Gambella in an effort to obtain more funding to expand and continue the leadership trainings that CCL is conducting here.

The following is a story that I will be submitting to CCL for their website, and should give you a glimpse into who the trainings here are aimed at and why…

We met Samira while trying to kill some time in the town of Abol, about 25km outside of Gambella Town. She was operating a small café on the side of a small dusty road that we had stopped at for a cup of coffee. Through the lazy conversation that ensued, we discovered that her story was quite intriguing. Only two months prior, Samir had been living in a different village with her family. She was unwilling to tell us where this was or why she left, but she made it clear that she ran away from her family and did not want them to know where she was even though she was their only child. As our coffee ran dry, my Western reaction was to ask her if it was okay to take a picture of her running the café she had started to support herself before we left. To my surprise she did not want me to, and I obliged to her request. Her reasoning for not wanting her picture taken, though, alludes to why CCL has been working hard to equip women in the Gambella region with leadership skills that serve to boost their self-confidence. Samir, an absolutely stunning 18 year-old girl with a quick smile and big brown eyes that demand your full attention, told us that she did not want her picture taken because she was not beautiful. My heart broke.

This is just one of many stories I have collected during the past two weeks in Gambella and why I hope to assist CCL in finding more funding to continue their work in the region.