John Deere, Village Elders, and Excuse My Nakeditity!

Some interesting and exciting things have happened on the farm lately. First, a baby was delivered by two very young and inexperienced Americans last week. There are a few women hereabouts close to delivering their babies. The news came to Alyssa that one of them was in labor the other evening around 11:00 p.m., I think. She sent her sister Kate who is 18, and Nate Petersen in the Land Cruiser to the village south of here to fetch the mama to the clinic so she could deliver the baby here at our clinic. Nate and Kate got to the village and got her loaded in the land cruiser along with half the village who they shooed out. They did let the husband and two older women come with her – they must be mothers or something. They didn’t quite make it back to the farm before she delivered a very cute baby boy in the back of the land cruiser. I kept thinking yesterday, what a very fun thing for Kate and Nate to both relate to friends and family. They delivered a baby in Africa. Also what a cool thing for the baby as he grows up. He will be known as the boy who was delivered by two young forenjees. I got to see the baby twice yesterday. He was very cute, but it looked like they had already greased his head up with something. Maybe Vaseline or grease. The two old ladies were hovering close by as I went into the clinic to see the baby. Mama was doing fine and she and the baby and the two old ladies made it back to their village yesterday evening. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the new arrival, I'm sure the old women would have ripped the camera out of my hand and stomped on it.

OK – small interruption. I was just called to the clinic to see a little boy who was kicked in the face by a donkey last night. His right eye is swollen shut and leaking pus. All the right upper side of her face is black with bruising and crusting blood. I called Alyssa and Nate who will deal with this situation better than I can.   Alyssa has cleaned the wound and could see that there was a large gash on the bridge of his nose which needed stitching.  She bandaged it with butterfly bandages and sent him home.  He needs to see a doctor.

Last Tuesday, just around 11:00 am we had chaos and bedlam on the farm. The village elders from Goorooraayaa somehow got into the farm compound and started yelling and screaming for the people who work here to leave and go outside the fence. If they wouldn’t go, they would beat them with sticks. They had guns and our workers were very scared and afraid. Most of them left with the village elders, but some of them hid and we put them nside our houses. I had a grip on Ashrecka and told her to go to my house. She wouldn’t because she was scared of the village elders. So I yelled at her to get into her tent. They came and got her and all the other maids and were screaming and threatening them. I tried to stop them from taking Ashreka, but one of the old men started shaking his stick at me and yelling, so I let her go. As I was going to find Alan, who was about ½ kilometer awaym I found Wubishet and four other mechanics. They were all hiding behind the land rover. I grabbed Wubishet and we quickly walked down to find Alan and tell them what was happening. When we got back with Alan, all the workers had been herded outside of our compound and were being taken to the west of our compound to the tarp village. We didn’t know what had happened for sure.

Our workers being taken away by the village elders

 They were looking for specific people who they felt were taking advantage of their people from Goorooraayaa. The people had to stay outside the compound for about four hours. I went up to the west fence and yelled for Ashreka.

A picture of the village elders meeting withh our workers.  This would be illegal in our country. 
Some men noticed that I was yelling and they went and found Ashreka. She came over to the fence and I asked her what had happened. She didn’t know what was happening either. I gave her 1 birr (about 10 cents) so she could buy herself some lunch. Then all the village elders came into our compound and held a conference with Mark. We were hiding Nahom (our translator) and a few others from them, so Haile, Alan’s assistant was the main translator. I was told later that all the people herabout respect Haile very much.  He has a cool head on his shoulders. The elders said that there were nine people in our employment who were extorting the people from Goorooraayaa. According to them, these employees would get jobs for the people from the village if they would give them half their pay. It could have been happening. We don’t know our Ethiopian employees all that well. The elders also didn’t want people who were not from Goorooraayaa to work for us. According to them, they were promised that we would hire most our employees from Goorooraayaa, but according to our company policy, we were only required to have 20% of our employees from Goorooraayaa. Right now over 30% of our employees are from there. During all of this, the police were brought from Beltu, and they didn’t really do anything. After several hours of discussion, the village elders left and some of our employees were let back in to the compound. Ashreka came back, only stayed for a little while before she had to catch the bus to Beltu. She knows she is one of six people working for us that is not from Goorooraayaa. I think she is feeling scared that the people are mad at her for having a job here and that we might fire her. I assured her before she left that she is OK to work for us and Alan and I would not let her go.  If we had to we would hire her ourselves, and not through the company.

After the bus left for Beltu, Mohammed, a man who works as a go-between for us and the government, took off for Beltu on foot. Mohammed is from a village close by here, and he has a lot of clout. The people from Goorooraayaa saw him and started to chase him. I’m not sure if they wanted to hurt him or talk to him, but he saw them and started running from them. We saw from the compound what was happening and Wes hopped on a motorbike and took off to save Mohammed. One of our security guards was beating on him and Wes grabbed him from them. According to Haile, the people just wanted to talk to Mohammed and weren’t going to hurt him. Mohammed was brought back to the compound and was taken to Beltu in a tractor by Haile. It was late when they got there, so Haile decided to stay in Beltu for the night. At about 9:00 pm Haile was awakened by some of our security guards who wanted to get down to the farm so they could collect a per diem. He said they could take the tractor, but no one knew how to drive the tractor and they wanted him to give them permission to take the bus. Haile said he didn’t have the authority to give them the bus. After some heated discussion, they took Haile and threw him in jail because he wouldn’t let them have the bus. Then they hitched a ride from someone and came back to the farm where they told Wes they had thrown Haile in jail and to collect a per diem. Wes was amazed at the stupidity of our guards.  He sent for Mark who is in charge of all this security guard mess, but Mark was sound asleep and no one could wake him. Wes took off for Beltu to get Haile out of jail and brought him back to the farm. In the morning Alan talked to Haile to see how he was and he is OK. Haile thinks there are many, many misunderstandings between us and the villagers and the security guards.   for the two days after we didn't have any workers on the farm except the maids and the grain cutting crew.  Everyone else could not come to work until there was a better understanding from the vilagers.  Ashreka came back and finished doing the laundry that she had begun yesterday. Then because she was so worked up about her job I gave her a cinnamon roll and then she took a shower in our bathroom. Both are a treat for Ashreka. She loves to use our shower and afterward she cleans it so well and she smells so flowery and fragrant that I like to encourage her new showering habit. Then she put on lotion on her face and hands and arms and was happy for a little while.
One day this week, Bracken was down at the area where they are loading the grain into long white silo bags. Alan and I had left – me because I was getting sunburned and Alan because he needed to get his camera card so he could take pictures.

While we were gone, Bracken saw a man, stark naked, running through the field toward the barbed wire fence which we have around the compound part of the farm. Bracken said he came up to the fence and climbed over it – a tricky thing to do when you’re naked. An old woman , three teeth on the left side of her face, who was working with the grain crew ran over and started yelling and berating him. Bracken just watched all the craziness - he didn't say so, but I imagine Bracken was laughing his head off.. Soon the man ran over to the guard’s little tarp structure and found himself some tarp and wrapped himself up in it. The lady was still yelling. The guy left and came up to the main part of the farm. Funny though – I never saw a man dressed in an orange tarp yesterday, and I was outside the whole day. Alan was sure disappointed that he didn't get pictures of the whole fiasco.

The old lady who was shoveling grain with Alan and the crew and yelling at the naked man.

Below are Said and Bracken.   Said is a Muslim and also he is a licensed tour guide.  He has offered to take us to the Sof Ommar Caves.  We hope to do this soon.

Wednesday morning as I was walking up and down the airstrip, I saw a man out bathing himself. Yes, naked and he didn’t seem to be too worried about me seeing him. I think that nakedidity (family joke) is not an issue around here. The old lady that was helping Alan in the grain saw me and motioned for me to come over and talk to her. We met each other and she asked me something. I think she wanted to know where I was walking and I replied in the only Oromifa I know, “Wakee dema jira.” I’m sure she didn’t understand what I said. I said she was a very hard worker and she smiled at me with all three of her teeth. We need to get to know each other, this good old lady and me. She’s probably around my age, but obviously looks much older.

 I continued my walk and came back to the house and found that two of my zuchinni and some of my lettuce and pea seed have sprouted. Yay!

That evening, Alan took the old lady home to her village with 3 quintals of grain – more like 5 - that she was going to use for feed. When he told her he was going to take her home she was going to hop in the back of the land cruiser, but Alan made her get in the front with him. She was surprised and happy that she was getting to ride in the front, but she was too scared to drive with Alan alone, and she made Said come with her and Alan. In the back were about 10 young men. Alan didn’t know who they were, but thought maybe they were relations or friends of her and they needed a ride home. But when he dropped her off at her village he was surprised that most of them came back with him to the farm. I think they just like to have rides anywhere.

July 31 and August 1 were big grain cutting days.  It has stayed dry for about five or six days now and so the harvest is continuing.   Dat ees goot. Dat ees vedy, vedy goot.  Yesterday afternoon after church, Haile was driving down out of the large field in a land cruiser pick-up.  He doesn't know how it happened, but one of the 20 odd guys riding in the back was bumped out onto his shoulder.   He began howling and thrashing around so Haile brought him in for us to check him over.  Abdul and I had a hard time getting him to sit still so we could look at him.  There was no blood, but he was very hot and large beads of sweat were popping out of his head.  We though he might have a broken bone, so Abdul, Haile, Elvis, the patient, and about 10 other guys all loaded into the land cruiser to take him up to Beltu.  Haile came back about 4 hours later and told us there was nothing wrong with the guy and that he just wanted a ride up to Beltu.  I don't know what to think.  am I so easily duped that I can't tell when someone is in shock?  As Haile said before, these people will do anything for a ride in a maquina (car).

Thursday July 29, a contingency of six John Deere technicians came to the farm to put the new drills together and give training on the new 8320R tractor which came with them. Two of them are from here in Ethiopia, Udo Knapp lives in South Africa, Rolando Gamino, Issa Elkass  and Bryan (last name?) are from the states.  We were glad to see them come, but I don't know how happy they were to be here.  We have little in the way of amenities and nothing when it comes to evening entertainment. It was good for them that they brought their own supply of beer, for it is hard to find when you're amongst so many mormoms and muslims. The drill was assembled, and everyone ooohed and ahhhhed over the new big tractor. The Ethiopians , have never seen anything like it.

Nahom and Haile in front of the tractor.

 

Udo Knapp, Brian, Issa Elkass, and Rolando Gamino the men from John Deere. 

  Issa and Rolando.

Alas, the seed carts which go in front of the drills were delayed in Addis, and the John Deere technicians have decided to fly up to Addis Tuesday Aug 3 and assemble them there and then secure them onto a truck and send them down to the farm. Thank You John Deere men for coming and putting up with our crazy accomodations.  Thanks to Clair and Julie they didn't starve to death while they were here.  What good sports you all are!

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  It was a bad hair day.  But then here on the farm every day is a bad hair day and how do you like my Africa glasses?  They are so if a leopard sees me he might think I'm friendly and not eat me.
Have a good day and saludos a todos.