Oblivious to the military action taking place next door in Tigray, morning brought only a vaccination campaign for the goats. They were given a de-wormer and were vaccinated against coccidiosis. The clan that hosted us overnight had no camels or donkeys (presumably those were lost in the kirempt floods) but had at least 100 goats … More Afar Off Place: Way Out There and Back Again (Part III)
A little relieved that I wasn’t heading into the hills on a pregnant woman rescue mission, and feeling a bit guilty from the relief, I was happy to be wherever we were for the night. Our host was one of the APDA health workers, Abdulla Ahmed Mohammed, and his extended family. We heard again the … More Afar Off Place: Way Out There and Back Again (Part II)
The first decision was whether to take the MCC Landcruiser or to rely on APDA’s Toyota “Buffalo” an older, more rugged version of our vehicle. We met with APDA’s driver and it was decided that our car was a city car and not suited for this off-road adventure. So the six of us–APDA’s co-founder Valerie … More Afar Off Place: Way Out There and Back Again (Part I)
An early morning start to 12 hours on the road, driving from Addis to Semera. This is our first trip out of Addis in forever–well, since the lockdown in March–except a short visit to our preschool to see a COVID relief food distribution. We were ready! We had visited our partner APDA before. That stands … More Afar Off Place
Lying on my camping mat in our grass hut, I woke up to a strange noise: a sloppy, sloshy sound. I squeezed out of the hut–bend over double, one shoulder then the other, one hip then the other. And discovered the source of the sloshing. Asia Hassan Ali, 6, was churning goat milk into butter. … More Our house is a very very very fine house: Day 3 with the Afar Pastoralists
In a land without water, even the simplest things need a second thought. How do you clean the milk container? In the Afar, many things are cleaned and sanitized not by soap and water, but by fire and light. That’s why the milk tastes smoky. The wooden or grass collections bowls are smoked between milkings, … More Got Milk? Camel, goat, sheep, or cow: Day 2 with the Afar Pastoralists
We’re visiting the nomadic pastorialist people in the Afar region of northern Ethiopia. We get to do this because of our partner APDA–Afar Pastorialist Development Association. MCC has supported APDA since 2006 with emergency water provision, goat restocking and feeding, and in the near future emergency veterinary services. APDA was founded by an Australian Christian … More Valerie, Queen of the Desert: Day 1 With the Afar Pastorialists
Mystery and Wonder--The Journey Continued 