As soon as we left the city, we noticed that poverty is different. Again, people are poorly dressed and live very easily, but the existence is guaranteed because of the agriculture there. A good example of the friendliness of the population was shown at the first mishap. We stopped beside fields of various crops to wait for the repair of a jeep. Within a few minutes, about ten locals came to us, who seem to emerge from nowhere with every stop. One of the older people then showed us with help of the translation of the driver Tahlahun, the different cereals and explained which dishes are prepared from it. The hospitality is also remarkable, everyone seems to strive to make the stay as comfortable as possible.
One of the first things we learned after we arrived in Addis Ababa was to drink water only from sealed bottles, as the germs and bacteria present in tap water, if present, have extremely unpleasant consequences on European stomachs. This was something that some members of our project group were allowed to experience, since a complete renunciation is difficult. It is enough to take some water while showering, but after about three days it is over. Also, the power supply here is moody. While in Addis a relatively stable network is available, which can be reliably used apart from minor interruptions, Chencha can expect a few hours of interruptions every day. Devices with higher power cannot be operated, so that the huts of the population are usually equipped only with light, TV and stereo, if this luxury even exists.
In Chencha two cooks were hired for our meals, which provided us with traditional dishes in the morning, at noon and in the evening. The typical Ethiopian dish is "Indjera". This refers to a sourdough cakes, which consists of Teff, one of the local cereals, which was also shown to us on the roadside. These pancakes are laid out on the plate, to which then a variety of vegetables, meat, cheese and gravy varieties are served. It is a piece of Indjera demolished and eaten with the right hand as a side dish to the dishes served on the plate. In the morning there were always delicious scrambled eggs, rolls and guavas, plums and mango jams, from Ecopia production, served.
The cooking here is sometimes very hard to get used to, because the hygienic conditions have a different status here. So a goat was slaughtered for us, the meat which was not consumed that evening, was stored over days in a covered bowl. This does not seem to hurt like the water of the local population, but has spoiled one or the other of our group's appetite.
A highlight of each day is the traditional coffee ceremony. Our cooks roasted the coffee beans freshly, crushed them and then made them in a clay pot and served them in small cups. I can not remember ever drinking a comparable coffee. There are various herbs that can be added to taste and alleviate stomach aches. During the coffee ceremony, there is always some incense in the embers. At the latest when this smell is in the air, everyone gather around the fire to enjoy the coffee.
Other highlights of our trip were the visit to the Dorze, a tribe near Chencha and the boat tour to the crocodiles and hippos.
The village of Dorze is a few kilometers downhill from Chencha. On Johannes birthday we visited a guided tour, where we got a sense of their way of life. The Dorze used to be warriors who now settle down and live from agriculture and crafts. They live in special huts, reminiscent of the shape of an elephant's head. These are made from the leaves of the "false banana" and bamboo and can persist for up to a hundred years, getting lower and lower as the branches and leaves resting on the ground are destroyed by the rain and termites. The false banana is the most important crop for the Dorze. From their roots, pancakes can be made after their fermentation. In addition, the leaves are very fibrous, so ropes can be made. We were also shown the traditional cotton spinning, weaving of cloths and pottery. Many of the production sites have been funded by EU projects, so that a higher appreciation of the products is now possible. After the tour, we made a short stopover in the village pub, there was a lot of music while drinking honey and dancing before we went to the traditional food. Here as well, there were Indjera with different, sometimes very hot sauces. Then, when the fire started, the Dorze let us in on traditional dances, which really took everyone by storm. After that they showed us another ritual in which the teenagers had to jump over a stick held over the fire. The first hurdles could be understood even brave from our group, but after the stick was held at about 1.50 m, we could only admire watching as they flew over the fire.
The boat trip on the "Krokodilsee" was just as spectacular. After we had organized our maps for the park, as well as the guides, we were split on two boats. We drove about 15 minutes over the lake, before we steered into a side arm. Here crocodiles of various sizes lay on the shore, the largest was estimated 3,50m long. It was really a unique opportunity to see the animals in the immediate vicinity in their natural environment. A little farther on we could see hippos from a distance, but they swam in deeper waters and did not seem to like watching them.
All in all, one of the memories is worth embarking on a trip to Ethiopia and accepting one or the other hurdle. The open and friendly nature of the people, as well as the different cultures in the country (there are 81 languages) offer a variety that is more than rewarding to explore.
(Max Warmuth)

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The people on the streets or in other places, such as restaurants or hotels, ask one, even though they do not know you, how you are or what you do. If you come as a German with his familiar and upper living standards to Africa, one notices that the ethopian people dont take anything too serious. In Ethopia aggreements aren't aggreements which is meaning that everything will happen either later or tomorrow or never. The Ethiopians take the freedom to take everything very relaxed. An example of this is the man who has gone to sleep in the blazing sun at a meadow near the road in Addis Ababa. Soon it's clear that people depend on the sun or the light which is meaning that they rise with the sun and go back to bed with her. We also realized that if there is stress because the gouvernement is visiting us, the people get in a rush you would not have previously anticipated. In the morning when the government was coming, all the people were suddenly building a huge tent for sun protection during the period of two hours. But this was the only time that we have seen people working quickly in this country. Otherwise these people see no reason for a fast and efficient workstyle. While staying in Chencha we always had a big children gathering around our working place. The children inspected all our activities and commented on them with calls as "Ferenchie" (French => Europeans) and / or "Highland" (water bottles). Often the children were verly lucky when we reached them empty bottles through the barbed wire fence. While we were in Chencha therealso took place a village meeting. This meeting was about the support of Ecopia for establishing the power supply of the slums in Chencha. It was impressing how much respect and attention was paid to the opposite side or to the speaker. The people let finish everyones talk and listened to everyone who had something to say without interrupting them. Such a language culture seems to have been completely lost in Europe.
(Jonas Giersberg)

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The separated areas were completed with self made furniture. We also renewed the existing furniture and utensils and we also cleaned and painted them. The outer wall of the main building was also painted with our common logo "Ecopia Waldorf School". In addition to the main house there is now another small house with three rooms that serve as storage rooms or accommodation possibilitys. A greenhouse, which was completed this year can be found on the opposite side of the main house.

The skeleton of the greenhouse was completed with a solid plastic tarp and is now protecting the dried fruits and herbs from the rain. Our big project this year consists of the installation of a solar water pump which was mounted near the creek. A overland line is transporting the water in a large water tank which is placed in front of the main house. The pump, which is driven by solar energy, provides a constant water flow until the 1000 liter water tank is filled.

The shower was improved enourmously by this new installation because we have now a constant and strong waterflow. The toilets were in good shape and due to that we only needed to do little improvements there such as cleaning or little reparations.
(Marie-Theres Renner/Anna Warmuth)

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After tiring six hours of flying and constant ringing for the "juice pushers" who where slowly annoyed by bringing us water, cola and orange juice, we were quite happy to reach Addis just before midnight.

There we were greeted by Anna, who had arrived two weeks before, and Johannes, the marketing manager of Ecopia. Then we where shaken to the Headquarters with a rust red taxi column. The route had several holes that had up to 1m diameter and 1m-2m depth, which is normal for the Ethiopian road conditions. On the morning of 20/10/12 our luggage was fixed in complete chaos to the more or less stable roofs of the Jeeps. Then we went off. While driving through the streets of Addis we learned rule number one in Ethopian traffic: Who honks, wins. Persons who are slowing down, giving signals or are stopping, surely missed the horn. We think that the horn gives a warning that the vehicle will speed up, giving blocking vehicles or persons a maximum response time of 0.5 seconds. On the trip to Chencha over the ethopian highlands we noticed that the "Super Jeeps" had some more or less small defects, such as loose doors which shook while driving and which are hanging out of the hinges. In addition, the suspensions were kept together only by rust and a 0.5 mm thin metal loop. Additional to this the windows couldn't be opened and there was no air conditioning available which was leading to severe heat and sweat flushes. During a severe rain the driver was asked whether the wipers would work, which was answered with an short "No?!". Not only the heavy rains but also the constant spitting attacks from the driver ensured relatively wet conditions. The drivers tried to blend out typical ethopian street sounds witch scratching and squeeqing sounds from a radio. Apart from some package losses we noticed that one of the wheels had burst as we had to stop again to pick up the luggage again.

This problem was quickly resolved by changing the tire. The trip to Chencha did lead us through the frequent gatherings of humans and animals, such as donkeys, goats, sheeps, zebu cows which are changing road sides regardless of the traffic at the road.

In Ethiopia, the streets are not only used as transport routes, but also seen as public meeting and trading rooms. Shortly after 6:00 clock we reached our interim target Sodo. Here we investigated, as well as in the previous year, one of the most Spartan furnished hotels in Ethiopia. For just 4 euros a night "accordingly furnished rooms" are waiting for us (with showering boots (waterproof)). Nevertheless, we got served a decent meal. After the next day's ride on a partly paved road which was partly interrupted by construction sites, we reached the roughest part of the route that took us to Chencha. This last part of our journey took us about 1 hour.

In the middle of the last road was the residential area of the Dorze. Here were a lot of children who tried to get money by dancing. At 14:00 o'clock we finally reached the land of Ecopia where we were greeted by children who called all the time for Birr and Highland water.
(Johannes Sturm/Thilo Stümpfel)

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