April Newsletter

April 2011

Update - Vol#4

Up and Running - Just Not Fixing Wells (Yet)

When we first came here to Ethiopia, we thought within a few weeks we would be ʻup and runningʼ and fixing broken water wells. How naive we were! We are indeed up and running every day; from early morning until dusk but not in doing the things we once thought we would be doing. You canʼt just jump into a culture and expect to accomplish things without going through some on the job trainingʼ in establishing relationships and learning how they do things. At least, not if you want to be respectful of them and build lasting relationships.

Tom and I have been learning so much about these wonderful people and their culture. Indeed, THEY have been our teachers. For every thing that Tom has taught the men about tools, etc. they have in turn taught us so much more. God has blessed us with several people who have walked alongside us who are teaching us ʻthe ropesʼ of life in Ethiopia and inviting us into their homes for meals with their families. I often wonder if a stranger were to move into my neighborhood in Texas, if I would avail myself to them as much as they have to us here?

Some of you may have been wondering, when are they (the Rieders) going to start on the ʻmissionʼ? We want to assure you that this has not been idle time for us. There is a lot of groundwork that must be laid before we can start fixing water wells. We had to set up a ʻhome baseʼ for us - A place where we can come back to rest and refresh ourselves after working in the hot, dusty area of Turmi. Water is critical for us, too and we must have a safe supply of it so that we can continue our tasks. We donʼt want to ʻburn outʼ on mission work after only a few months. We are here, hopefully, to make some long-term changes for the better for the Hamer people of Turmi. So please be patient with the pace of our progress!

Early morning fog blankets the mountains on the way to Tikempt Ishet

Recently I had an opportunity to go on a trip to some remote tribal villages. It was in an area southwest of Addis called Tikempt Ishet (TI). I rode with our missionary friends Ben and Yemi. Ben is the one I told you about in earlier newsletters. Yemi works for SIM as the Childrenʼs Curriculum Director. She is a remarkable woman and has become a dear friend to us. Yemi goes out to churches both urban and rural, and teaches them of the importance of “training a child in the way he should go” using Bible stories, coloring pictures and teaching childrenʼs songs. It is a new and very important concept to a culture that does not usually cater to children.

Traveling with us was a young girl by the name of Esther, accompanied by her father, Bali. Because of someoneʼs generosity this 13-year-old girl had surgery in Addis to remove large keloids from her ears (keloids are masses of scar tissue/growths). Esther was returning to her home village minus those disfiguring masses on her ears and with a radiant smile on her face!

So, the five of us were on our way to TI, clapping and singing songs. The old LandCruiser we had borrowed had seen its better days, especially the tires, which had practically no tread left on them at all! So we were not surprised when after a few hours of bouncing along bumpy dirt roads we had a blowout! Thank the Lord it was on a flat stretch of road and not later on when we were much higher up in the mountains. Unfortunately, the spare tire was no better and almost flat, but we limped along until we finally came to a small town and filled up the tire.

Ben fixing a blowout.

There is only about 15 miles of asphalt in the entire country, I think. (I may be exaggerating, but not by much!) The lack of good roads has seriously impaired the improvements this country has needed. At the present time, the Chinese (hired by the Ethiopian government) are building new roads throughout Ethiopia. It is a monumental undertaking. The mountains are steep and remote, but the labor force is all Ethiopian men. They only speak their tribal language and maybe a few speak a bit of broken English. The Chinese foremen only speak Chinese and some broken English and yet, through gestures and broken phrases, they are somehow building wonderful roads for the people. After bouncing along miles of deeply rutted dirt roads we finally came to a stretch of road recently built and asphalted by the Chinese. We all cheered for them and made a point of thanking them when we saw one of the foremen. The roads are about the ONLY thing that everyone agrees is something GOOD that the Chinese build. Most of the products that are imported from China (to the developing world specifically) are just plain junk. It is terrible quality. Some goods that are shipped to the USA and other western countries are of good quality. It is maddening to buy parts that you desperately need for a project, paying twice what you normally would in the US, only to have them break on you.

The sad thing is that the people of Africa are the ones who need the quality the most because they are so isolated and parts are so hard to come by that when it breaks down they have absolutely no way of replacing those parts.

After a long day of travel (nine hours) we spent the night in a town called Jimma. The next morning we continued on until we arrived at Tikempt Ishet about five hours later. We spent the rest of that day visiting some old friends of Bensʼ and stayed the night at the SIM mission house there.

The next morning, bright and early, after we packed the truck and said a prayer for safe travel, we were on our way again. It was about a three hour trip to get to a very remote village named Banku. This was to be our destination for the next two days. Once we got off the main road, things began to get very dicey. It had rained the night before and the dirt roads were now very slick and muddy. Add to that, the tires on the old LandCruiser had virtually no tread. We were slip sliding all the way there. We forded two streams and prayed that the truck would have enough traction to get up the steep hills. Many times we were ʻhydroplaningʼ on mud; sliding sideways as we went. We were all praying that we wouldn't slide off the road! Thanks be to God that we had a very experienced driver in Ben behind the wheel. Several times it was only due to his experience and skill (and with some assistance from the angels sent to help us) that we were able to finally arrive at our destination.

And what a welcome we got! Over a hundred people were gathered, waiting for us. They were all smiling and laughing and someone was playing a ketar (an ethiopian version of a guitar). 

Traditional Instrument - Ketar

Yemi got right down to business and started teaching the first session; where she reads from the Bible and tells them of the importance of teaching their children about God and that, in fact, He has commanded us to do that very thing (see Deuteronomy 6). Yemi uses crayons and pictures, telling stories in a dramatic way that will capture their attention, and even writing simple short songs that the children can learn to sing. This is all old stuff to us from the west,but it is a new idea here. The people who were here in Banku were church leaders who had come from the surrounding churches for this conference. Through the dedication and love of missionaries Jenny and Andrew Sumptin, Sandra Sampson, Yemi Gashaw and a few others, this curriculum was developed, printed in quantities, and were being distributed. Because of their love of the Lord, and their love for the Meʼen people, these missionaries wanted the Meʼen to see how important it is to train and teach their children in the ways of the Lord, and to do it in a way that is fun and simple and will capture their children's hearts.

I really donʼt know if I can put into words all that I experienced on this 10 day trip. I will do my best, but itʼs kind of like trying to take a picture of the Grand Canyon. There is no way to truly capture the grandeur and beauty of something as magnificent as the Grand Canyon. Its the same way with what I experienced on this trip. Words fail to capture the emotion that was so prevalent and at times overwhelming in these churches we visited.These people had walked for days to come to this seminar. The worship service that preceded these training sessions were full of emotion and joy! They were actually happy to be in church!

Then it was time to hand out the materials and begin. Bali, who is the Vice President of the entire church conference, read the names of the 10 representatives from surrounding churches to come up and receive their packets. What a sensation that created! Everyone was so excited to get the teaching materials along with some scissors, glue sticks, tape and crayons! Their faces lit up and everyone had big grins on their faces! Then the fun started! Yemi demonstrated how to use scissors; how to cut paper; then how to glue paper together with a glue stick. Again, things that are beyond familiar to us in the West but are a brand new experience for these people who live deep in the bush. She also demonstrated each color and what types of things are those colors.

You should have seen those grown men doing their very best to color those Bible story pictures. They were all thumbs at first. But I was struck by the thought that if I were handed surgical instruments and told to stitch someone up, I would be all thumbs too! And before any of us start to think how ʻbackwardʼ these men are- can any of you make a fire using sticks or make a house using mud and grass or even walk 8 hours to the nearest town for some food? So we each have our own skill set and neither one makes the other more or less intelligent. After the last session, it was getting to be dusk. Music started playing because someone (amazingly) had a tape recorder. People were gathered around it and some men started dancing. So, I joined in with a few fancy steps of my own. (I know, you are really surprised at that, arenʼt you?) Well, the people loved it! They all laughed and giggled and the men started showing off their own moves. We were really 'getting down with our bad selves'. Yemi and I each grabbed the hands of some nearby women and pulled them into our circle dance as well.

What a wonderful time we all had! Singing at the top of our lungs (they sang in Meʼen and I sang in English) and dancing around in a circle. The stars were spectacular and more numerous than I have ever seen.What a night! Afterward they served dinner. We sat on a bench and they put our food on another bench in front of us. After pouring water over our hands to wash, they brought out big platters of injera and some type of roasted meat which they call ʻwatʼ (kind of like a stew.) As we were eating, suddenly a shot rang out! The music stopped, everyone froze. Then 3-4 more shots in rapid succession. I must admit, I was a bit nervous at that point.

My imagination started to take off. Images of old “Tarzan” movies running through my mind- AGGHHH!!!

But Ben never stopped eating, and after a few moments, everyone else resumed eating, too. So I decided there was no immediate trouble headed our way and relaxed.

We slept that night in a grass hut and had a bed made of fresh palm leaves. They had laid a woven grass mat over the leaves and made a pillow by laying a plank at the head of the bed and piling up extra leaves under and over it. Thankfully, I had brought my own pillow from home in spite of Ben's teasing that I was a sissy. Well, for once, I didn't care that someone had called me a sissy - I wanted my pillow!

The people wanted Ben to preach, so at 9pm he began. I went to bed. He finished up sometime around 10:30pm and then there was singing and then finally, everyone got settled in for the night. They all piled up inside the church or outside on the ground.

With my earplugs in place, I was sleeping peacefully until around 3:00am when I felt naturesʼ call. Nothing can make you extend your bladder capacity like having to use the toilet at 3am in the African bush! It was pitch black inside that hut...absolutely no speck of light anywhere and I was pretty disoriented at first. Where am I? Is this real or a dream? But there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to crawl out of that hut and go off in the bush toʻtake care of businessʼ so I went back to sleep until a rooster started crowing “Cockadoodle-doo! Get up!! Get up you lazy farenji !!” (foreigner)

The children. What do I say about them? They are so precious. Every one of them! I no longer see color anymore. I donʼt see dirty clothes or skin, or smell disgusting smells. I only see sweet little kids that are loved by their parents and loved by God. Yes, their noses are runny, and yes, there are flies on their eyelids and mouth,but they are all beautiful to me! They are, of course, SO fascinated by my blonde hair. They

just canʼt resist touching it. Sometimes I take off my cap and shake my hair and really give them a good look! I like to ʻbreak the iceʼ and play ʻgive me five, or high fiveʼ with them. They all love it and I add a couple of extra moves with touching our elbows and then I tickle them and they scream and run away, but they always come back for more.

I have tickled many tummys and made many new friends here. Except for the babies, they are all afraid of me. Without fail, every time I go up to one who is being carried on the motherʼs back, they take one look at me and hide their head and start crying. It really makes me feel bad, but I know itʼs just because of my strange white and scary farenji looking face!

The women all come up to me and give me the traditional greetings and they hug me close and I can hear and feel the love they are trying to express. I feel so inadequate by not speaking their language, but I try as best I can with gestures of touching my heart and pointing to heaven and saying God loves me and you and I look deep into their eyes and giving them kisses. I am learning about what it means to be a woman in Africa. What a hard life they have. The incredible amount of work they are born into with no hope of anything different. The life of a woman in Africa is one of hardship and pain and that is a story unto itself, as well. I will speak about that at a later time.

The next area we visited was Jemu. It is very different from Banku. The first thing I saw was a volleyball net! I was so surprised. The former missionaries apparently had brought them a volleyball net and ball. The ball had long ago worn out, so they made a ball out of plastic bags which they wrapped together and tied with some string. It was about the size of a softball. You should see them play! They were really good! Right in the middle of the game, a cow walked up to the ʻcourtʼ and laid down. I guess she wanted to be a part of the game, too! 

They were also good at playing ʻhacky sackʻ. One guy was the champ. We counted while he bounced the ball on his foot at least 104 times in a row without missing! Wow!

There were no grass huts for us to sleep in and Yemi and I sure didnʼt want to sleep in the church with 45 snoring men! So we set up a 2 man pup tent that she had brought. You should have seen the curious looks as they all crowded around watching us try to set up that contraption. Ben again started preaching around 9pm and since we didn't understand a word he was saying (he spoke in Meʼen) and we were exhausted, we excused ourselves and went to bed.

As we got to our tent, they were about 15 people sitting there watching us get in. Have you ever gone to bed, knowing that out there in the night there were many pairs of eyes watching and listening to you? It was kind of creepy at first, but then we just laughed. We joked about how much fun it would be to scare them by making noises and shining the flashlight and making shadow animals. 

When Ben quit preaching around 11pm they all came out of the church singing and laughing and talking right outside our tent. Again, I was very thankful for my earplugs and my pillow!

At 3am Yemi shook me awake and said that it was going to rain. Groan. Please, no......

So we gathered up our sleeping bags and stumbled in the dark to the truck. Just as we got settled in it, the rain came. And the lightening. And the wind. Thanks to Yemi, we were snug and dry in the truck for the rest of the night.

When daylight came, I raised my head from the back seat and looked out. Sure enough, there were 10 or 12 people standing under the eaves of the church watching and waiting for us to wake up. Have you ever tried changing your clothes in the back seat of a truck with people watching you? At some point you just want to say “enough already!!” 

Yemi wasnʼt sure my stomach could handle eating the typical breakfast the people normally eat, and when Ben came and cautioned us against drinking the coffee because he had watched them make it we decided to eat breakfast in the car. We each had a rather pathetic piece of bread, smeared some laughing cow cheese on it and called that breakfast. (where is an IHOP when you need one?) I took our teapot over to the area  where the women had had a fire going earlier and set it on the cold coals. The women stared at me for a minute and then they understood that I was wanting to boil some water for tea. They quickly showed me how to fan the coals into a fire and soon our tea was ready!

Yemi began her teaching sessions and the people really were excited about it. She demonstrated how to cut paper with scissors, how to color with crayons and how to write children's songs in their language. They took it all very seriously, but also joined in laughing at each other at each other's clumsiness with these new skills. The people took great delight in singing and the songs they made up for the children were really good! The fact that they had walked several hours (some of them days) to attend this training session was not lost on me. Would I be willing to do that? To make that type of sacrifice while living in Tyler, Texas? Would I hunger to hear the word of God so much that I would make arrangements for my family and me to travel for hours to attend church?

The hardest part is always in saying goodbye to our new friends. I had grown to love them in just a few short days together and I find my thoughts often returning to those precious children'sʼ faces.

We returned to the SIM compound at TI and there it was decided to go visit the Tara people the next day-and the only way to get there was by helicopter! Yippee!

My adventure in the bush was about to take a new twist- it was decided to have our HeliMission friend Markus come take us in his helicopter up to a remote mountain ridge to visit the Tara people. There are no roads to these people, the only way to reach them is by helicopter. But you will have to wait until the next newsletter to hear about THAT trip! 

- Teresa

March Newsletter

March 2011

Update - Vol#3

The Rieders Have Arrived at Their New Home!

As is typical of the Rieders, we always seem to get these ‘fixer uppers’, but once we get it finished, it will be home sweet home! The Kale Heywet Church is letting us stay in this house while we are working in Ethiopia. (It used to be the old SIM HeliMission station.) We have agreed to fix this house up so we have a place to refresh ourselves from the harsh conditions in Turmi- the village approx. 150 miles south where we will be doing most of the water well rehabilitations. It is our intent that after we are gone, the KHC will have a nice house for future missionaries that may come to work in the area. 

 

 

 

 

View of the mountains from our bedroom window

Front view of our 2 bedroom house

Tigalu, the head builder, patches the huge cracks in the wall with hand-cut pieces of ‘rebar’ and small rocks and concrete. The cracks are from the foundation settling due to sandy soil underneath.  Some were wide enough that you could see through them into the next room! However, the workers are very resourceful with what they have and exhibit an incredible work ethic!

After patching the cracks with a coarse cement, they follow it up with a very fine smooth cement that they finish filling the cracks with. Then they hand rub it with ‘sanders’ that they make out of brown paper.

The walls are completely smooth now and you would never know there was once cracks and crevasses in our walls!

Side view of our concrete house

Holding the cracks together with rebar

Work begins on Rieder KHC mission house

Well, we have finally arrived in Arba Minch; the town where we will station ourselves while working in southern Ethiopia. Arba Minch is a medium size town. It has a few roads, a bank, one ‘tourist type’ motel and restaurant, many souks and a market. Souks are tiny little shops that are usually jammed packed full of you-name-it. But talk about knowing their inventory! They know exactly what they have behind a box way up on the top shelf; it may be dusty, but they wipe it off and proudly hand it to you, happy that they did not disappoint you!

Tom has been very creative in trying to describe the parts he needs to the souk owners.They don’t speak much English (if at all) and Tom has less Amharic than I do (which isn’t much!) But he amazes me with how well he is able to communicate.Today he was trying to describe the difference between a ball valve and a gate valve-blowing into a pipe with great gusto and exclamations! They all seem to really enjoy Tom, and he clowns around with them and they all laugh together. I know it is frustrating for him in trying to obtain plumbing parts, but he is getting very good at inventing ‘get arounds’ when certain parts are not available. Where is Home Depot when you need one?

We have been so impressed with how hard the Ethiopians work. A young man, Afram, single-handedly dug a trench almost down to China with a pick made from wood and bone. He never stopped all day! We had to make him sit down for a few minutes and rest. He started at 9:30am and went until he was done at 5:30pm. I kept bringing him water all day and he would always bow and thank me with the biggest smile...

How could anyone not love these people?

The highlight of our day is our morning walk out to the main road.The road from the KHC compound is so extremely rocky that no bajaj can get there. (A bajaj is kind of a 3-wheel motorcycle-also called a tuk-tuk.)

So we trek the impassable road every morning and evening. In the mornings, the school children are passing us going in the opposite direction. They all want to shake our hands or try out their English with a shy “Good morning” or “Hello”.

There are hundreds of them and they are all just so adorable! They wear uniforms of blue and purple with such pride.Their parents have scraped together hard earned money to send them to school and they know it.

They are all anxious to learn and make a better way of life. Of course, boys will still be boys, no matter where they are-and there have been a few that we have already  recognized as little rascals!! Along the walk we are also accompanied by goats and cows as well. Since we still have no truck, we hire a bajaj to take us to the

outskirts of town where our house is. You should see the creative packing involved in tying on a ladder, mattress, pipes and other tools on top of a little bajaj!!! But we finally make it to our house.

And there the work begins...

This poor little donkey pulled heavy sacks of concrete 5 miles up a hill to our house

Teresa crawling out of our new water tank

Mene, our zebanna (guard). The compound is completely fenced in by barbed wire and thorn bushes

Have Suture - Will Travel

One of the things that I have been concerned about is the lack of medical care in the area where we are going. There are no hospitals or clinics. So I got a book entitled Where There is No Doctor (edited for Africa). It is full of illustrations and helpful instructions like how to cut worms out that are growing inside a persons leg, or how to make a splint using a tree branch, etc...

But in spite of having this helpful knowledge, I still felt inadequate in assisting Tom if he gets hurt during all this building and drilling that will be taking place.

So I enlisted the aid of a very nice Canadian doctor who happened to be staying here at SIM for a couple of weeks. He was giving the regular doctor a brief vacation.

His wife, who is a public health nurse, showed me how to give a shot. Her name was Twyla, and she was so patient with me- allowing me to practice several times! She assembled all the proper equipment; vials of water, syringes...and of course my first ‘patient’ Mr. Orange! I was soon shooting that orange up with lots of water and feeling very confident.

The next step was learning to suture. This time I went to the head man - the doc himself.

Dr. Glen was a very good instructor and diagramed how to suture as well as showing me how to do it. Then it was my turn. I approached my subject with confidence (again, Mr. Orange) and proceeded to sew him up with no problem. I don’t know what the big deal is! Of course, perhaps with a living, bleeding YELLING human being it will be a different story. But as for now I can suture up oranges with the best of them!

We took a day trip down to a clinic run by SIM in a place called Langano. It is about three hours south of Addis. After three hours we came to the turn off road where we proceeded 15 km down a bumpy, BUMPY road before we finally got to the clinic. There is a couple who lives there, Dan and Kim, and she is a Nurse Practitioner. When we finally pulled up to the clinic, we saw around 75 people patiently sitting outside in the shade of an old, gnarled tree. They were waiting to see the doctor. No TVs in the waiting room, no coffee, no magazines to read...just sitting on the ground, waiting their turn.

Patients patiently waiting to see the doctor at Langano

Some people were carried on crude stretchers by family or friends many miles to get medical help. Some came by mule or horse, but most just walked. The NP has a very busy practice. She sees about 145 pregnant women for prenatal care, delivers babies, treats for malaria and malnutrition, and a host of other ailments and diseases. She also helps run an adjoining building called “House of Hope”. This is for the babies who mothers die in childbirth. They must be fed and taken care of until a home can be found for them. Most babies are severely under nourished anyway- sometimes they need some supplemental formula or baby food. There is a drought and food shortage happening in Ethiopia and most people barely have enough food to survive-let alone thrive. Many times she rides by horseback out into the bush to make house calls; checking on patients that can’t get out. Now that's a good doctor!

The gratitude on these people's faces is striking. She is their only hope. They recognize that her medicine is good even though it competes with the influence of the local witch doctors and traditional superstitions and home remedies. It must be very frustrating for her to not have enough medicines for the people, knowing that with the proper medications she could cure most diseases. But she does the best that she can and knows that while she can’t save everyone she can save some. And so she keeps on..... If any of you would want to help out by sending prenatal vitamins, etc..I know she would appreciate it! For a doctor, I can only imagine what satisfaction it must be to help these people and what a fulfilling career this must be. It certainly doesn’t pay much now, but the heavenly rewards she and others like her will receive are far better than driving a new BMW or living in a big house (with an even bigger mortgage payment!)

This is Dr. Kim. Her smile is as sunny as her personality! I want to go back and get a picture of her in her white coat riding by horseback out into the bush making ‘hut calls’ (instead of house calls-get it?? )

This is a container bridge-a clever use of overseas metal shipping containers (we thought!) Sometimes they stack two on top of each other and make a house. Ethiopians are so resourceful!

Tom & Teresa update

***This is an update from Tom and Teresa. They were able to upload it successfully from Ethiopia. They were unable to do this for many weeks because the government blocks access to blogger. However, they have found a way to update without having someone to do it for them.***
Without further ado:


We have been in Addis for a month now. It has been a wonderful time and opportunity to meet all kinds of missionaries from all over the world. What an incredibly diverse group of people! They come from all walks of life, ages, countries-and it is so encouraging to see so many good people who are trying to make a difference in this world. But we are anxious to be off and headed south to Arba Minch. We are planning on leaving now around March 2 or 3rd. Our friend, Ben, has offered to drive us down there (since we still do not have a truck) We have purchased some supplies that we will need to start up a house-pots, pans, dishes, a table and chairs, screens to repair the windows, fans to circulate the air, a ladder, an axe, hammer and nails, shovel, etc....We have very carefully gone to many different shops to find the best quality-unfortunately, quality is not as easily found here as in the USA. And since it is all imported, the cost is much higher than in the states. It kind of grates on our nerves to have to pay so much for these things when the quality is so poor-but what can you do-you need them.....However, the things that are made here in Ethiopia-like beautiful textiles, rugs, wooden carved furniture and decorative items- these can be bought very cheaply here, so that takes some of the 'sting' off of paying such high prices on imports.

Today, I went to a crafts bazaar at the local church where we have been attending. There were so many wonderful handcrafted items there- I had a great time!

One of my purchases was some artwork from a young man with dreadlocks (He was a Rastafarian) He had beautiful acrylic paintings and also he had some unusual black and white sketches. Upon a closer look, I realized that it was black ink and wax. The wax is applied, then scratched off-ink is rubbed over it. Then some more wax is scratched off. It is very unique! I asked the artist what this particular art form/technique was called. He said, " I call it Scratch", or sometimes "Scratch wax" Hmmmm....I guess I should have thought of that!! haha

Well, it is 5pm now, and I was thinking about taking a quick nap before dinner. However, the Muslim chanting has started up on the loudspeakers all over the city. So much for a quick nap.......sigh......They also chant over loudspeakers at 5am. But the Orthodox church wants THEIR time too-so THEY start chanting at 4am.

A real 'Battle of the Soundsystems!!' (not to mention the disco that revs up from 8-1am every night right behind the SIM Missionary Guesthouse.) I guess that is the devils' way of getting back at all the missionaries that are here doing God's work. But- we just bring earplugs, so there!!!!!

Tom & Teresa Rieder

February Newsletter

Setting up the solar cooker at the SIM guesthouse

February 2011

Update - Vol#2



Solar cooking demo a success!

We decided to host a solar oven cooking demo here at the SIM Guesthouse last week. Many people were curious about the whole procedure. Even the head cook came out to give it a look. He was amazed that the roast, potatoes and carrots were done in 3 hours and cooked entirely by the sunlight from above. We had approx. 30 people sampling it and everyone was very complimentary. They asked where they could buy one. What an opportunity for someone to set up a business here in Addis-manufacturing them locally employing local people and mass producing the ovens at a price the Ethiopians could afford. What an opportunity to help the environment-clean, solar energy! Most people can’t afford electricity and are so desperate for cooking fuel, that they cut down all the trees and then burn them just to make charcoal.

Dinner is served!

What a difference these ovens would make in the lives of women here. Every day women shoulder heavy loads of firewood for cooking the meals. They are constantly inhaling smoke from the cooking fires, as are the small children. These ovens would not only save them time and back-breaking effort, but would also help to save the dwindling forests and reduce pollution in the air from hundreds of daily cook fires. If any of you are interested in getting a solar oven, go to http://www.sunoven.com/ and talk to Paul. You will enjoy the delicious meals and the ease of solar cooking. Have fun!

One of the most interesting things we have observed here is the traffic. There are several types of public transportation: bus, taxi, mini bus, and weyet. This is a picture of a typical weyet (means "conversation" in Amharic) so-named because in the back of these small pickups there are two bench seats across from each other and the people all crowd in knees-to-knees and face-to-face so conversation is a must. There are usually 12-15 people crowded inside, and the only limit to what can fit on top is the packing creativity of the 'backdoor' man.


Typical Weyet

  Another type of transport is the mini bus. What is unique about them is that they each have a 'yeller' (I don't know what their official title is but that's what we call them). They hang out the door or window and yell out the destinations to the people on the sidewalk. Whoever is needing to go in that direction gets on board. Usually 15-18 people on-board. For some reason, Ethiopians think if the wind is blowing on them they will catch a cold so if you want to open a window to get a breeze, forget it!

A 'yeller'

Of course, if you want to really live on the edge, you can get your own driver's license! It was quite the bureaucratic ordeal to get them. We first had to authenticate our Texas driver's license, then go to a different government agency to get our authentication authenticated, and then go to another to get the new license with our photo laminated and, you guessed it, get it authenticated once more!



Tom & Teresa are 'authentic'

 So, now we are authentic habesha drivers if we have the nerve to try and drive in Addis! Driving in this city is a white-knuckle experience, for sure. There are no traffic lights and seemingly no rules on the road. There is no such thing as a pedestrian right of way. Rather it is whoever is bravest goes first. We have been so amazed at the boldness of these pedestrians who walk right into lanes of busy traffic. They have no idea if the car hurtling toward them will stop or not. I suppose it depends on the mood of the driver. Horns are used often and loudly. The lane markers are merely suggestions that no one really follows and quite often they make a 3-lane-road into a 4 or 5-lane road. There are several traffic circles in the city and the way they work is whoever spots an opening scoots in as fast as they can, honking and accelerating all the way! It is not for the timid or faint of heart, but somehow, in the midst of all this chaos, it seems to work. However, we will wait until we are countryside with the cattle and goats before we try out our newly authenticated Ethiopian licenses.



Who needs a U-Haul trailer when you have an Ethiopian taxi driver? Yes, you are seeing this correctly. There are already three big, stuffed chairs on top of the taxi with a fourth one about to be added on top. Where were these men when we were packing to come over here?!



No words to describe this scene



We have seen incredible loads piled on top of trucks and vans. It makes us laugh with wonder and amazement.

Another type of vehicle we see often are the Isuzu trucks. They are cheaply made and are notorious for breaking down on the sides of the road. They are usually seen piled high with produce or wood and who else knows what. The drivers are unsafe as well believing that the road was made for them....and them only. The locals actually call these drivers "Al Queda" because they kill so many pedestrians on the road.



Well, that's all for this month. We hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about this wonderful (and sometimes confusing) country.

In His joyful service,
Teresa and Tom Rieder


Prayer Request:
Please pray for discernment with our decision to purchase a truck. As noted in our previous entry and newsletter we sent out via email, we are still in need of a truck and, yet, we are a bit uneasy about spending the (outrageous) amount of money to purchase one. We ask for your prayers in regards to our pending decision. Thank you all for your continued support.

January Newsletter - Arrival in Ethiopia

January 2011
Update - Vol#1

After a year of preparations, we arrive in Addis!

So, at last, here we are! During the previous year we took a Health and Hygiene class to learn simple ways to teach tribes about sanitation techniques that will greatly improve their quality of life and health. We also attended and participated in a Well-drilling class to learn the basics of drilling for water. Beyond that we also attended a Pump Repair class so that we would be empowered to repair the broken wells that are scattered around the Southern Omo region of Ethiopia, specifically the village of Turmi. Teresa, a true city girl, even took a Basic Poultry class. Eggs will become a large portion of our diet. However, she has drawn the line on wringing their necks for fried chicken dinners! (Sorry, Tom.) We prepared as best as we knew how and left the rest to God. Let the adventure(s) begin!

Tenayestellegn! (Hello in Amharic, but you can say "ten aspirin" and the locals will understand you. haha) We have been in the capital city of Addis Ababa for almost four weeks. It is a BIG city and full of surprises and contrasts. In some parts of the city there are new, tall buildings going up, while all around those buildings are mud-walled shanty houses and street people sleeping under a tarp on the sidewalk. It tugs at your heart to see so many of them.

Although there are many cars clogging the busy streets, it is not uncommon to see a herd of goats or donkeys walking down the road. I am amazed that they are not killed by the crazy drivers. The dotted lines dividing the roads are not lane markers, they are merely suggestions that no one seems to follow except the newcomers (or "farenjis" as foreigners are referred to here). Horns are heavily relied upon and pedestrians are fearless in that they step out in front of oncoming traffic. I am only now starting to keep my eyes open in the back seat where I am clutching both of the armrests in fear! haha There is no such thing as 'pedestrian right of way'; when you cross a street you are never sure if the car if the car that it is hurtling toward you will stop or not. It depends on the driver's mood, I guess. (If you have been watching us on Facebook then you already know of our adventures in obtaining our new Ethiopian driver's license.)

The noise of the city is constant and unending. We are temporarily staying at the SIM Guesthouse - kind of an old boarding school built by a wonderful mission group SIM (Serving in Mission). It is a place where missionaries working in Ethiopia (from all over the world) can come to sleep in a bed, have a shower (when there is water), and get refreshed spiritually as well as physically. The one snag in this "refreshing sea of tranquility" is the disco that has opened up right behind the guesthouse. The throbbing beat of the bass thunders on until 1:00am. At that time we finally fall asleep only to be awakened at 3:00am to the chanting over the loudspeakers by the nearby mosque. Needless to say, I am sooooo glad I brought my earplugs.

Meal times are family-style around big rectangular tables. The food served is Ethiopian-style Western cuisine. The head cook, Chafamo, has worked at the guesthouse for over 40 years! Most of the recipes are not written down, but are recorded only by memory. He makes a wonderful chicken pot pie but his interpretation of bean tacos leaves something behind in the translation. Meal times are a wonderful time of laughter and chatter and exchanging of ideas and helpful tips - especially for us "rookies."

Every day is laundry day at SIM Guesthouse

Living room where we share our meals.

SIM Guesthouse where we have been staying

We were anxious to leave the city and travel "down country" as they say and get started with our mission. But we were advised to not be too quick in leaving Addis and now we know why. The Lord is opening doors for us and preparing a way. We have met critically important people who will be able to help us in obtaining visas, work permits, among other things. We have met new friends, Habesha and ex-pats, that without their kindness and generosity, we would still be walking in circles.
It can be overwhelming coming to a different culture. For instance, one way of how I (or maybe you) may look at something can be looked at from a completely opposite point of view here. And we have to constantly remind ourselves that just because it is different from our view does not make it wrong; just different.
Frustrations can abound, but we are here to rise above those frustrations in order to share the love of Jesus with our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia. When you do not have the comforts of home and all the distractions of a busy lifestyle it is easier I think to listen to the promptings of Jesus in our hearts. We are praying for all of you at home that you will be able to hear the quiet voice of God as He talks to you. We are frequently moved to tears as we feel the overwhelming love of Jesus in our hearts.
Life is about to get much harder for us. Around February 21 we will begin our journey south to a more remote region. This is where we will be physically challenged as never before. Although it sounds (kind of) crazy with no water, no electricity, (and no pizza!) we are excited and can hardly wait! We will always try to keep you informed with periodic updates (as long as the spotty internet connection will allow). Thanks so much for your faithful prayers.

In His joyful service,
Teresa and Tom Rieder

Prayer Requests:
• A truck. We need one desperately. Vehicles are very expensive and hard to come by, even used ones. We need approximately $48,000.00 to purchase a heavy-duty, rugged truck and the proper paperwork so we can avoid the high duty tax.

Answers to Prayer:
• All of our luggage and totes arrived safely!
• Tom's Mac laptop was beginning to "crash". We asked around and there are no Apple repair shops in Addis. (Not many people use Apple products to date.) We heard a story about a missionary taking his Toshiba laptop to an authorized technician to be repaired, but when he got the computer back it was thicker than it had been before it was brought in.

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....."

Well, here we are-in countdown mode! Only 4 days until we leave for Ethiopia. Only 4 more days to enjoy hot showers...ice cold diet cokes....chicken fried steak... mashed potatoes and gravy...PIZZA!!...

But we are excited! We have prepared as best we can, and will leave the rest up to God.

After all- WE did not dream this up, or think where can we go to make ourselves miserable for 2 years? Nor do we want to be martyrs for a cause.

God has placed this desire in both of our hearts to go. Out of a sense of gratitude for all that He has given us. And since He has planned this, we surely have no reason to fret or fear...because the Lord has gone ahead of us to prepare the way. He has already started working in the hearts of our friends here to help-so many we can't count them all-and He is working in the hearts of people in Ethiopia-government leaders, tribal leaders, people who will want to help us to achieve God's purposes.

So....we may miss our hot showers, and our diet cokes and pizza-but what a blessing we are getting in return! We don't see this as a sacrifice-we see it as a priviledge. We will see and experience things that most people never get to see. And to have an opportunity to effect lives in a positive and longlasting way--well, that is way better than pizza!!