Dream Year 3.0: Changes in the capital

Team Addis has a new home for the rest of our stay in Ethiopia. Our house in Bole is being torn down to make way for a new multistory block, like many other properties across the capital. The country's monumental growth in recent years is most noticeably reflected in the rapid expansion of Addis Ababa – at least for a visitor like myself. Wherever I go, I find myself surrounded by the noises of construction work and the sight of buildings shrouded in bamboo scaffolding. There is even a light rail system currently being built in the city, its tracks stretching further every day.

Many welcome these developments in Addis, especially considering the city’s important role as Africa’s political and diplomatic hub. However, such drastic change in a short amount of time has also been met with criticism, protests and accusations of land grabbing and discrimination. Some people and parts of the country feel excluded from the gains of development. Slum dwellers, farmers and others have been removed from their land to the outskirts of the city to support the construction boom. Houses, gardens and green spaces are gradually disappearing from the cityscape, replaced by parking lots, shopping malls and apartment blocks. Just a few of weeks ago, security forces killed several protesters during demonstrations against a plan to expand the boundaries of Addis at several campuses throughout Oromia and other parts of the country.

How does one move forward and respond to urban growth and increasing foreign interest without excluding some sectors of the population, damaging the environment and undermining a society’s diverse culture and traditions? The issue is certainly complex and our sudden need to move feels pretty insignificant in comparison, although it still of course constitutes one small example of the effects of the city’s expansion. While I was sad to leave the house on Bole and a little stressed due to the last-minute notice, I also appreciated the move as a great opportunity to explore a new part of Addis. We are now living in a house near Debre Zeit road and have been warmly welcomed by the lovely owner, her sweet maid, guard and even Jaffra the guard dog (apparently of Zimbabwean lion hunter breed, so a little intimidating at first but we’re friends now). We have also met some great new people as a result of the move, including a youth group who invited us to join them on an afternoon trip bringing food supplies to Mekedonia.

Mekedonia is a centre for the elderly and mentally disabled in Ethiopia, started by a young man named Binyam Belete in his childhood home a few years ago. The home now houses over 400 people, many of whom have been rescued from squalid living conditions on the street or abusive situations. Run by volunteers, Mekedonia makes sure their residents’ basic, medical and social needs are met and welcomes vulnerable people from all kinds of backgrounds and religions. The change many residents experience following their arrival to the centre is often remarkable, both physically and mentally. After a tour of Mekedonia and meeting the people who work and live there, we served everyone with the delicious food prepared by the youth group and eventually got fed ourselves – gursha style! A great day learning about a wonderful initiative in the middle of a constantly changing city. As I near the end of my stay in Ethiopia, I am grateful for the new connections and impressions over the past couple of weeks. I look forward to many more adventures before I leave this fantastic country!