To answer some questions:
1. I am back home
2. I am safe and healthy
3. I did get really sick on the trip
4. The trip was an amazing experience
Sorry for the lack of post and pics. Internet was very slow in Ethiopia (read dial-up) and, especially when we were in the villages in the South, not always available.
Suffice to say, I have taken a few photographs.
I will be putting together a photo essay and submitting it to a few magazines. Also, some of the photographs will be made available to Hope International and Save Lives Ethiopia (SaLE) for their use. In addition, I would like to see if I can get a coffee shop/gallery to put up the photos.
I am in the process of editing them now and I will put up a couple when I'm done. I'll also put up information about any show/event involving the photos or presentations about our Broken Wing trip here and on my upcoming website.
Salamni,
Ed
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
I wish that I could drink...
I wish that i could drink. I can't. No moral objections, it's just that my body just can't handle it. I drink something - beer, scotch, wine - sometimes I can drink a little bit more than usually but it's not very much regardless. I go red, get tired and fall asleep. I could more than likely have some reaction and have a hangover headache sometime in the night. Brutual, blinding headaches. I might be allegric to alcohol, maybe it's my genes, maybe it's cause I don't have the enzymes to break down the alcohol.
Today, I photographed a girl who came to the SaLE HIV/AIDs clinic to get get tested because she was raped by someone who lives in her house.
I wish that I could drink...
Today, I photographed a girl who came to the SaLE HIV/AIDs clinic to get get tested because she was raped by someone who lives in her house.
I wish that I could drink...
Monday, March 26, 2007
into the pit
i went with some care workers to visit the people who they call their beneficiaries. These people are the ones with AIDs and are given first priority for the anti-viral drugs.
Incredibly sad places that these people live in. A little shithole that is at most 8'x8'. It contains a mattress (maybe) and some sheets for sleeping. There maybe a small makeshift table &/or shelf. And in the corner, there is some type of cooking utensil. The walls are made out of mud and corrugated sheetmetal on a wood frame (they use branches and thin trunks), pieced together in a haphazard fashion. 5-7 of these home are joined together in a common area, usually with a common "courtyard" and washroom. There is also usually enclosed with a gate. A gated community, I suppose...
But what hits you is the smell. The air dusty, heavy and thick, pungent with an accumulation of sweat, garbage and spices. At first it repulses you. You suppress the urge to gag. After awhile, it just becomes part of the fabric of the landscape.
The poorest of the poor in Addis Ababa. Because there is such a stigma and miseducation regarding peoples with AIDs, they are highly ostracized. These are the people that SaLE help.
Many of these people had been occasional or full-time sex trade workers. They may have come from the country, &/or work in a job that doesn't pay enough. They may have had a baby or be pregnant with a kid by some guy that has taken off. They try to make some more money by hooking. Lots of men with AIDs that are too scared to be responsible and get tested, or, maybe they know. They're still horny as hell, so nothing like shelling out a few burr (Ethiopian currency) to get laid, usually without protection. Women are still more susceptible to contracting the disease so they get it. Maybe they're breast-feeding a baby and pass it on to their kid through the milk. Or maybe they just give birth after they contract the disease. They die, kid's left with the disease and no one to take care of them. Orphans that SaLE also tries to take care of.
It's sickening and depressing. It's not just me that feels that way. I asked some of the SaLE staff about that and listen to some of the kids.
The beneficiaries, the orphans, they suppress emotion around me (or any foreigners - we are too much of a novelty to them), but they are angry. One girl said that she can't talk about it because it just makes her angry. Well, I hope she does get angry and is able to process somehow. Shit! The ones that aren't angry seem to have lost hope and just accept their life with AIDs. I can see it in their eyes when I photograph them, when I come to their door and first see them. They have shit all and live in society where, lack of medical care aside, they are cast out because of their disease. Lepers of our generation.
But that wasn't the kicker for me today. Nope. Two things just kicked my ass and tore at my heart.
I met this one SaLE orphan kid when I first came. Great guy. Always smiling, always wanting to do things with me, wanting to get to know me. Positive and lots of energy. Once he knew my name, he always asked for me. Steve met him the last couple times he was in Ethiopia. Love being with the kid. Love him. SaLE orphan.
I found out he was tested for being HIV positive a little while ago. I didn't know the people that visited and photographed today. But I knew this kid.
It also dawned on me that some of these orphan kids and kids in the neighbourhood that come to use the SaLE facilities (library, study centre), the ones that I've gotten to know over the last week or so? Well, they just might be hooking at night to make ends meet.
I just stop thinking about and feeling it after a while. Even if a little part of me dies when I do.
Incredibly sad places that these people live in. A little shithole that is at most 8'x8'. It contains a mattress (maybe) and some sheets for sleeping. There maybe a small makeshift table &/or shelf. And in the corner, there is some type of cooking utensil. The walls are made out of mud and corrugated sheetmetal on a wood frame (they use branches and thin trunks), pieced together in a haphazard fashion. 5-7 of these home are joined together in a common area, usually with a common "courtyard" and washroom. There is also usually enclosed with a gate. A gated community, I suppose...
But what hits you is the smell. The air dusty, heavy and thick, pungent with an accumulation of sweat, garbage and spices. At first it repulses you. You suppress the urge to gag. After awhile, it just becomes part of the fabric of the landscape.
The poorest of the poor in Addis Ababa. Because there is such a stigma and miseducation regarding peoples with AIDs, they are highly ostracized. These are the people that SaLE help.
Many of these people had been occasional or full-time sex trade workers. They may have come from the country, &/or work in a job that doesn't pay enough. They may have had a baby or be pregnant with a kid by some guy that has taken off. They try to make some more money by hooking. Lots of men with AIDs that are too scared to be responsible and get tested, or, maybe they know. They're still horny as hell, so nothing like shelling out a few burr (Ethiopian currency) to get laid, usually without protection. Women are still more susceptible to contracting the disease so they get it. Maybe they're breast-feeding a baby and pass it on to their kid through the milk. Or maybe they just give birth after they contract the disease. They die, kid's left with the disease and no one to take care of them. Orphans that SaLE also tries to take care of.
It's sickening and depressing. It's not just me that feels that way. I asked some of the SaLE staff about that and listen to some of the kids.
The beneficiaries, the orphans, they suppress emotion around me (or any foreigners - we are too much of a novelty to them), but they are angry. One girl said that she can't talk about it because it just makes her angry. Well, I hope she does get angry and is able to process somehow. Shit! The ones that aren't angry seem to have lost hope and just accept their life with AIDs. I can see it in their eyes when I photograph them, when I come to their door and first see them. They have shit all and live in society where, lack of medical care aside, they are cast out because of their disease. Lepers of our generation.
But that wasn't the kicker for me today. Nope. Two things just kicked my ass and tore at my heart.
I met this one SaLE orphan kid when I first came. Great guy. Always smiling, always wanting to do things with me, wanting to get to know me. Positive and lots of energy. Once he knew my name, he always asked for me. Steve met him the last couple times he was in Ethiopia. Love being with the kid. Love him. SaLE orphan.
I found out he was tested for being HIV positive a little while ago. I didn't know the people that visited and photographed today. But I knew this kid.
It also dawned on me that some of these orphan kids and kids in the neighbourhood that come to use the SaLE facilities (library, study centre), the ones that I've gotten to know over the last week or so? Well, they just might be hooking at night to make ends meet.
I just stop thinking about and feeling it after a while. Even if a little part of me dies when I do.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Process
Had breakfast and had surprise. Roach in my coffee… loved that they wanted to give me more protein with the coffee. No, I didn’t drink it.
Went to SaLE in the morning.
I shoot a bit, but mostly hang around and talk to people once in a while. Make sure they are comfortable with me being around. It’ll be a couple days before I “intentionally” shoot or know and get a feel for what I need to shoot.
Creatively this has always been my M.O. I always do a project with a big leap, get myself in trouble and stress out, get slightly despondent, then out of that confusion and despair, I start “seeing the light” and pull it together. Used to always get so stressed out, now I just ride with it. The story and photos will come as I get a feel for what I need. Crazy, huh?
I like to be inconspicuous and eventually be a fly on the wall that they don’t notice. Hard to be that when you’re an Asian in Africa. They are even more rare that Caucasians. So I am a great novelty.
Anyway, lots of SaLE stories emerging. Sport events they put on, AIDs/HIV visitations, sex trade thing with Nick, the clinic, the library/community centre.
Going to have to think and narrow down eventually.
Steve and I started getting the gurglies in the stomach. Between that and jetlag and no sleep ‘cause of the elevator… It’s not too bad and I don’t need to take pills for the runs. Steve is a little worse for wear though.
Oh, I have to tell you about Masfen, our driver. He’s a really cool guy and helps us get around from the hotel and SaLE. His son Yusou is 3 years old and rides with him in the evening. Very cool.
Went to SaLE in the morning.
I shoot a bit, but mostly hang around and talk to people once in a while. Make sure they are comfortable with me being around. It’ll be a couple days before I “intentionally” shoot or know and get a feel for what I need to shoot.
Creatively this has always been my M.O. I always do a project with a big leap, get myself in trouble and stress out, get slightly despondent, then out of that confusion and despair, I start “seeing the light” and pull it together. Used to always get so stressed out, now I just ride with it. The story and photos will come as I get a feel for what I need. Crazy, huh?
I like to be inconspicuous and eventually be a fly on the wall that they don’t notice. Hard to be that when you’re an Asian in Africa. They are even more rare that Caucasians. So I am a great novelty.
Anyway, lots of SaLE stories emerging. Sport events they put on, AIDs/HIV visitations, sex trade thing with Nick, the clinic, the library/community centre.
Going to have to think and narrow down eventually.
Steve and I started getting the gurglies in the stomach. Between that and jetlag and no sleep ‘cause of the elevator… It’s not too bad and I don’t need to take pills for the runs. Steve is a little worse for wear though.
Oh, I have to tell you about Masfen, our driver. He’s a really cool guy and helps us get around from the hotel and SaLE. His son Yusou is 3 years old and rides with him in the evening. Very cool.
SaLE
Not getting much sleep. Keep waking up because there is some weird sound that I think is coming from the elevator room of the hotel. Loud enough to wake me up. Irregular enough to keep me from adjusting to it.
The Ethiopian coffee is good though. Strong and smooth. I’m now starting to do the Ethiopian thing of having several of these a day. Helps keep me going until I can adjust to the time zone.
Headed to SaLE and spent the day there being introduced to people that work there. Nick, a grad student from Duke, helps with the introductions. He’s there doing some research regarding the sex trade workers and AIDs/HIV in Ethiopia. I might go out with him to the area the sex trade workers are and shoot some training/educational events he might have next week. Very interesting.
Steve and I meet with Freihwot again and explain the vision of Broken Wing. Being a pilot project, there are equal amounts of anticipation and trepediation. We don’t know where the kids are at with computers, there are language and culture barriers, etc. But we forge ahead.
Ben, Lindi and Steve’s son, is along as well and he brings a football (soccer) ball. This is great as football is always played, but the “ball” that is played with… let’s just say that “ball” is a very generous term. Ben also had this great idea of providing lots of footballs to them and raised some money before the trip. Going with Lindi and a SaLE person they go get about 8 of them. The kids there are seriously going to be surprised.
Anyway, first day of Broken Wing goes pretty good. Kids seem pretty interested. But, it seems to me, that as with all high-school age kids, the laissez-faire look and the shyness always masks their enthusiasm. It’s almost when they catch themselves inadvertently having fun with something, they actually allow themselves to go forward.
The Ethiopian coffee is good though. Strong and smooth. I’m now starting to do the Ethiopian thing of having several of these a day. Helps keep me going until I can adjust to the time zone.
Headed to SaLE and spent the day there being introduced to people that work there. Nick, a grad student from Duke, helps with the introductions. He’s there doing some research regarding the sex trade workers and AIDs/HIV in Ethiopia. I might go out with him to the area the sex trade workers are and shoot some training/educational events he might have next week. Very interesting.
Steve and I meet with Freihwot again and explain the vision of Broken Wing. Being a pilot project, there are equal amounts of anticipation and trepediation. We don’t know where the kids are at with computers, there are language and culture barriers, etc. But we forge ahead.
Ben, Lindi and Steve’s son, is along as well and he brings a football (soccer) ball. This is great as football is always played, but the “ball” that is played with… let’s just say that “ball” is a very generous term. Ben also had this great idea of providing lots of footballs to them and raised some money before the trip. Going with Lindi and a SaLE person they go get about 8 of them. The kids there are seriously going to be surprised.
Anyway, first day of Broken Wing goes pretty good. Kids seem pretty interested. But, it seems to me, that as with all high-school age kids, the laissez-faire look and the shyness always masks their enthusiasm. It’s almost when they catch themselves inadvertently having fun with something, they actually allow themselves to go forward.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Stranger In A Strange Land
Coffee - you have not had coffee unless you've had it in Ethiopia... That, my friends, is coffee.
Steve, Ben and I walked around the city in the morning. Lindi still had to do some homework for a course she's taking back in Vancouver. We met a guy named Solomon, who is the gardener at Wabe Shebelle. He decided to walk with us and play tour guide.
My senses are always heightened when I travel. You get an edge, an awareness of all that is around you. Things lodge in your brain quickly - how people do things: what's the dynamic between local people, between you and them, what are the customs. In a microsecond, you size up the situation and hope you're right.
It's the eyes that reveal the most. Looks of confusion (who is this guy? Does he speak English? Mandarin? Japanese?), looks of suspicion, perhaps. Mostly I think they are shy. A smile closes the divide. My few words of arhemic also help. Shows respect and respect is universally acknowledged.
Then there are the sights, sounds, smells.
overload.
Sights - soldiers with AK-47's, beggars with deformities. People everywhere - doing nothing, doing everything. Traffic is insane, ordered by insane by this Canadian’s standards. I can see what Vancouver traffic is becoming like though…J. Sounds of a big city - car/truck horns that signal frustration, presence and intent, air raid sirens for something, talking everywhere, but I can't understand. I'm in a sea of sound that I have no meaning for me or mean something else to me. Smells that I don't smell in Vancouver - cigarettes inside, exhaust from all cars/trucks (and they definitely need a tuneup), spices in foods I've never smelt before.
assumption. context. confusion.
My girlfriend would be overwhelmed, especially the people with deformities that find the most... pragmatic way to cope. Being in the health profession, she would see the need everywhere and wonder why it is the way it is. I do too, but perhaps my heart is hardened, because I want it to be.
plan. justify. think.
(just don't feel. not yet.)
We have lunch with Tibebu at the Hilton. Nice lunch. Chicken Tikka by the poolside. Not something done everyday, but it was Hope International’s traditional way to welcoming donors, etc.
juxtaposition.
We're off to SaLE, the orphange/school site and meet with Freihwot and her staff. We tour the facilities and I see the warmth of the people there. I introduce myself to Freihwot, the person who started SaLE, and explain what I'd like to do there. I'm looking forward to it.
Steve, Ben and I walked around the city in the morning. Lindi still had to do some homework for a course she's taking back in Vancouver. We met a guy named Solomon, who is the gardener at Wabe Shebelle. He decided to walk with us and play tour guide.
My senses are always heightened when I travel. You get an edge, an awareness of all that is around you. Things lodge in your brain quickly - how people do things: what's the dynamic between local people, between you and them, what are the customs. In a microsecond, you size up the situation and hope you're right.
It's the eyes that reveal the most. Looks of confusion (who is this guy? Does he speak English? Mandarin? Japanese?), looks of suspicion, perhaps. Mostly I think they are shy. A smile closes the divide. My few words of arhemic also help. Shows respect and respect is universally acknowledged.
Then there are the sights, sounds, smells.
overload.
Sights - soldiers with AK-47's, beggars with deformities. People everywhere - doing nothing, doing everything. Traffic is insane, ordered by insane by this Canadian’s standards. I can see what Vancouver traffic is becoming like though…J. Sounds of a big city - car/truck horns that signal frustration, presence and intent, air raid sirens for something, talking everywhere, but I can't understand. I'm in a sea of sound that I have no meaning for me or mean something else to me. Smells that I don't smell in Vancouver - cigarettes inside, exhaust from all cars/trucks (and they definitely need a tuneup), spices in foods I've never smelt before.
assumption. context. confusion.
My girlfriend would be overwhelmed, especially the people with deformities that find the most... pragmatic way to cope. Being in the health profession, she would see the need everywhere and wonder why it is the way it is. I do too, but perhaps my heart is hardened, because I want it to be.
plan. justify. think.
(just don't feel. not yet.)
We have lunch with Tibebu at the Hilton. Nice lunch. Chicken Tikka by the poolside. Not something done everyday, but it was Hope International’s traditional way to welcoming donors, etc.
juxtaposition.
We're off to SaLE, the orphange/school site and meet with Freihwot and her staff. We tour the facilities and I see the warmth of the people there. I introduce myself to Freihwot, the person who started SaLE, and explain what I'd like to do there. I'm looking forward to it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
