Tag Archives: wheelchair

Max’s travels in Ethiopia – Part 2

Max Levene

Upon our return from Mekele we had a couple of lazy days around the house. One of these days I decided to leave the confines of the house with my helper Haile, to not only meet our local neighbours and see the area, but also to practice some Amharighna (the local language).

Outside the house is what some would describe as shanty but you soon realise it is rather better built then the slum areas; people dry their spices on the streets and sell vegetables, and there are numerous small shacks selling groceries.

The trip was interesting seeing the ‘local stores’ however the Amharighna
did not go so well as I pointed to Lucy (our Ethiopian street dog) and said,” Habesha woosha”, which to my understanding meant ‘local dog’, however it turned out I had insulted the old Lady I was talking to, calling her a dog. Haile later told me adding the word ye in front of my phrase would have worked! Oops!! Read more…

Tigre or Bust – on the road in Ethiopia

Max Levene

 

Day 1: After being hoiked into the car and positioned on my new cushion the Levene charabanc sets off, the land cruiser packed to the rafters (mostly my stuff, including a wheelchair, a shower chair and a spare set of wheels and medical supplies; oh the joys!).

We left at 11:00 to meet Leul, a well respected Ethiopian army
colonel and  war hero, who helped fight off the Dergue and is now our Tigrean fixer, translator, negotiator. I was greeted in usual Ethiopian fashion with a kiss on the cheek – something hard to get used to, but in Ethiopia it’s a rather rather warm gesture of friendship.

The day consisted of driving through the beautiful countryside of Amhara, passing through many villages which each curiously seem to specialise in one product, with one village solely selling oranges, the next onions and the next offering car washes.

Read more…

http://ksafricajournalism.wordpress.com/