| Out of Africa [message #77038] |
Mon, 25 July 2011 10:01 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Folks,
I've returned from Ethiopia and just wanted to give a short
report on my adventure of teaching IDL classes in Africa. As
usual in third-world countries, it is a combination of good
news and bad news.
First of all, let me say that I think *everyone* should have
the opportunity to travel to a third-world country. It is
eye-opening, to say the least. Ethiopia is booming, at least
in Addis Ababa, where much construction is going on and the
economy is growing in double digits. Alas, inflation is
out-pacing the economy.
One of the problems with global markets in poor countries
is that farmers find it much more lucrative to export their
products to richer countries who can pay more, and the poor
in their own countries find it harder and harder to afford
food and other goods. Government tries to help by implementing
price controls and other measures, but the governing power
there, as in most countries, resides in land-owners and
businessmen whose wealth depends on growing the economy, not
feeding the masses.
Eastern Ethiopia is suffering from a 10-year drought. Little
or no help is coming from the government. Rather, the government
relies on International Aid efforts to help with the problem.
When I toured the Afar region east of Addis I saw cows that
couldn't possibly be any skinnier. If rain doesn't come soon,
I don't see how the pastoral Afar people, and many like them,
can survive.
Education has recently become a government priority, and
the good news is more people are being allowed to attend
the universities. The bad news is there are no additional
teachers, facilities, or support for the additional students.
I had lunch with the directors of the Institute of Technology
at Addis Ababa University, and they told me they had planned
for 750 students and had received 3500. They have NO idea
how they are going to teach this many students with their
current staffing budget. Their current plan is to video tape
a lecture in one class, and show it in 15 others!
I was teaching IDL in a classroom that could perhaps hold
20 students comfortably. I had 47 students in the classroom.
Each had a laptop that needed to be plugged into one of the
three outlets in the classroom. If any of us moved, we were
in danger of being electrocuted. Add to this the certain
power outages whenever the thunder and lightening started
(it is the rainy season in Ethiopia!) and you have conditions
for a most interesting and challenging classroom!
Still, the students in the new Institute of Water Resources
were terrific! Very engaged. Very hard workers. No one complained.
Everyone just got on with it. We moved slowly, but we moved steadily.
Addis is an incredibly safe and interesting city. I moved freely
in it and never felt the least bit threatened. I didn't move around
too much after dark, but not because I felt afraid of people. Rather,
there are few street lights in Addis and there are gapping holes
in the sidewalks that lead directly to the sewer 10 feet below.
There are no barriers or warnings to alert the unsuspecting walker
to these holes, so walking at night in unfamiliar territory
is *extremely* dangerous!
Ethiopians are invariably friendly and open people. But, be careful.
The most friendly of them, especially those who engage you on the
street when you are walking along minding your own business, are
hoping you will repay their friendliness and helpfulness with money.
You get a sense for this after you have accumulated a couple of
especially good friends you hope you don't run into again!
I had many interesting experiences in Ethiopia, but two stand out
in my mind. I stayed at the Bilen Lodge east of Addis in the Afar
region, along the Awash River. This is dry, dusty country, but
perfect for birds, which is what I was after. The "Lodge" is
slightly misnamed. It is a primitive place with screened-in grass
huts, basically, to stay in.
One night, about 2AM, I was awakened from a deep sleep by a
lion roaring about 15 feet from my unlocked screen door!
Goodness! I jumped up and looked out my window in time to
see him moving away from me (thank goodness!) in the light
of the full moon.
In the morning, I wondered if this had just been a dream, so
I went out to investigate. No, sure enough, it was a lion, as
big cat prints were everywhere outside my hut.
Later that morning, I also saw a cheetah moving in the dry river
bed below the Lodge, along a path that during the day carried
a never-ending stream of people, cows, and goats. Before I left
the area I had seen spotted hyenas, a jackal, and a crocodile
in the river.
And, of course, birds. In four days I had identified about 40
new species I had never seen before in my life time, and probably
saw two or three times that number, which I wasn't able to identify.
The other interesting experience was attending a local Muda
celebration in the Bale Mountains. Ethiopia is about evenly
divided between Christians and Muslims, but a surprisingly
large number of local people still follow their traditional
African religious celebrations. The Muda celebration is one of
these.
It appeared to me to be a combination of a Southern Baptist
revival meeting and a rave. It was held in a two-room smoky
hut, about the size of my kitchen here at home. There were
60-70 people in attendance, all dancing and singing around
the small fires set on the dirt floors in the center of the
rooms. Two drummers provided the trance-like atmospheric
effects. The idea, it seemed to me, was to sing and dance
yourself into an altered state of reality, or maybe just
religious ecstasy. It brought my own Pentecostal religious
upbringing back to me in a very real (and surprisingly
pleasing) way.
The celebration started about 8PM, with the singing, dancing,
clapping, and drumming being interspersed with short quiet
times where various individuals offered prayers and short
speeches. Occasionally there was a break for specially prepared
foods. The celebration went on until 4AM, when I was finally
able to catch a few hours of sleep. What a way to experience
the real Africa!
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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