Easter in Ethiopia is called Fasika, and will not be celebrated until the 2nd May 2021 as they follow the Eastern Orthodox calendar. Therefore this is still a time of fasting and eating vegetarian food for many. Dishes such as Azifa (lentil salad) and Misir Wot (lentil stew) which we made with Tigist at our recent Zoom event will be the main meal for many. Whatever your faith or beliefs we hope you all have a a sense of renewal this Easter as restrictions on socialising start to lift.
News in UK
We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in our “learn to cook Ethiopian food with Tigist and friends” Zoom event in February run as part of the “Small but Significant” group of charities working in Ethiopia. Over 100 families across 4 continents attended. It was a lot of fun and we have raised almost £1,000.
If you missed the cooking together evening, or you would like to learn to cook more Ethiopian Dishes our small cook book “A Taste of Ethiopia” is available for £5 including p&p within the UK.
News from Ethiopia
Covid in Ethiopia
Unfortunately community transmission of COVID-19 has increased by 66%. As of the 3rd week of March no spare spaces were available at any private or government run hospitals in the country, and no ventilators were free.
As a result all flights to and from Ethiopia in the UK have been stopped. This is deeply concerning for the FDAE staff and the community we support in Ejere. We will be monitoring the situation closely.
International Women’s Day
Everyone at FDAE and F-E were incredibly overwhelmed when the local Ambo telecommunications civil servants made a very generous donation to the scholarship girls of sanitary pads, soap and hair oil to mark International Women’s Day. It’s wonderful to work alongside supportive community members who advocate for girls to complete their education. Period poverty affects the majority of girls in Ejere and we are continuing to investigate ways to help alleviate this.
High School Leavers
Last year’s grade 12 cohort have finally sat their exams, and are now waiting for their results. It has been a very tense 7 months for them without any face to face teaching. This will have expanded the gulf between them and their urban peers who would have been able to follow the government-led classes on national television. While we were able to eventually supply the girls with mobile phones and a data allowance this may not have been enough to secure them a place at University. While we wait to see what options are available for last year’s cohort and if this year’s year 12 will be able to face their exams as normal we are formulating a plan to try and make the transition to further education less stressful. We hope to reveal further details in the coming months.
Ethiopian proverb
“Slowly, slowly, the egg will walk”
