Field trip to Adama

The landscape along the way (new highway in background).

Today we headed 100 km east to Ethiopia's third largest city, Adama (with a population between 250,000 and 300,000 depending on the source). Compared to the massive, sprawling capital, Adama seemed quite small and navigable. Adama is also known as Nazret (or Nazreth). The city was given this Biblical name after the Second World War by Emperor Haile Selassie, but in 2000 the city officially reverted to its original Oromo language name.

Our journey was meant to take under two hours, but we turned out to be traveling on the only major road out of Addis toward the east and one of the busiest corridors in the country. It goes all the way across the Rift Valley into Somalia and also links up with the major north-south route that connects Ethiopia to Kenya. The drive took over two and a half hours going and almost three returning. There is a new 6-lane express tollway under construction - and due to open ahead of scheduled April 2014 completion date. Reportedly, it will cut the distance between Addis and Adama by 20 km and reduce the travel time to 40 minutes.

Traffic!

The two lane road was packed with a steady stream of cars, buses, and trucks. We passed through a couple of towns and some significant industrial zones, and all along the way - in and between these developed areas - the roadside was full of people walking and waiting, livestock grazing, and small settlements.

The welcoming reception at Seeds.

 Our destination was a pre-K/kindergarten and after-school support program called Seeds of Africa, founded by a former Miss Ethiopia (2005) Atti Worku. Here is a Tadias magazine interview with her. We were there with staff from Changing Our World, a fundraising and philanthropy consulting firm that is helping ILEA raise money.

The environment rules posted at Seeds.

The students gave us an enthusiastic welcome and then put on some performances to demonstrate the learning that they are doing at Seeds. We were also treated by Ms. Worku's mother to a delightful traditional meal (and coffee) for lunch.

After the LONG drive back to Addis, we ran one last fateful errand and ended up caught in gridlock. At perfect storm of rush hour traffic, construction, and heavy rain, trapped us for another hour in the vehicle - which we finally abandoned and sought refuge in a restaurant for dinner.

I'd like to go back to Adama, but may need to wait for the new expressway to be done.