It’s been about a week since we entered Ethiopian ground and finally got to the border with Kenya. A week’s time is not even remotely enough to get to see a medium size town, let alone a whole country. Northern Ethiopia is a blessed place, blessed with green, water, food, life and every little bit of beauty all together in one place.

UNICEF this

Interesting things happened in Ethiopia. Controversial, yet interesting on an intellectual level. If you ever find yourself driving down Ethiopia you are likely to come across people on the side of the road. Ethiopia is filled with people, filled to the neck with people of all ages and kinds, so many people chances are you will never find yourself alone. Especially if you are the white man. This is not necessarily a bad thing, not if you like company and being surrounded by people looking in the keenest of ways. Ethiopia is far far different from those dramatic UNICEF ads back from the 80′s. In fact it’s so different that I have started believing that UNICEF was actually trying to make Ethiopia look like their posters. The NGO melting pot. The cream of the crop of “non-profits” is there for them. A whole list of collectives trying to “develop” the poor Ethiopians, the mecca of volunteerism, all staged at 2500 meters above sea level. If you are an aspiring volunteer or if you feel you can offer to the greater good of Ethiopia and you are not african then Ethiopia is the place for you, starving children, sick men, pregnant women, ill elders, dental issues, flooded huts, a proving ground for donators, volunteers and well…I don’t know…maybe I’m just ranting or maybe I’m just crude. Truth is we have put Ethiopia on stilts, we shot it with an AK and kicked it when it’s down, but we sent doctors and *aid*. All different kinds of aid, food, medics, teachers, professors, specialists, organizations, everything. And now we’re developing it, or at least we’re trying, we’re doing our best to sell tractors to the rural Ethiopians, pesticides for their plantations, get them hooked up on electricity, petrol and detergents.

AK free

Going back to the stilts we put this country on, if you do find yourself there, there is no way you will miss the kids asking for money. And I say asking, not begging because they are not beggars. They *ask* for money, pens, shoes, clothes, your trash, an empty bottle, your car, your sunglasses, half a napkin, *anything*. Literally, anything. Kids will run after your car shouting “Give me something!” which is in it’s own perverted way hilarious, not “Hello” or “Hi” or ask for your phone number, they will ask you to give them something. Funny thing is that older people, brothers, sisters etc will try to put them back in line but kids will always be kids and the vicious circle continues. Needless to say kids copy behavior, a 3 year old kid does not have the capacity to comprehend money nor asking strangers for it. So the question is…if Ethiopia in 2010 is underdeveloped and completely rural how the heck a 3 year old knows what money is?

Kenyan Sunset

I object to the slaying of this country by NGO’s, NPO’s and all sorts of initialized bullshit cover up crap we have invented to take advantage of their unlimited wealth and resources. I object to the conversion of generations and generations of people into UNICEF whores, we should seriously consider voting for taking each and every one of those blood sucking scum out of this country, stop teaching people to depend on a specific way of life. The biggest help we could offer is let them be, they don’t need you or me to be happy, wealthy, healthy or prosperous. What we could do is mind our own effing business or at least be straight forward with our intentions.