Monthly Archives: January 2010

Manufacturing consensus?

Interesting post on Owen Barder’s web-site about “protecting development from party politics“.  I’ve stuck my oar in, with appropriate caution! Owen is a fellow (if longer term) resident of Addis and his blog is well worth a read. More vocal … Continue reading

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An Ethiopian Epiphany

Today is Timkat (or Timket, depending how you pronounce your as and es). Ethiopian Epiphany. In western christendom, this marks the time when the wise men visited Jesus, and the day when you’re supposed to get rid of your Christmas … Continue reading

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A day out of Addis – Bishoftu and the crater lakes

I’ve had a busy week, what with being dressed up as a Tigrayan shepherd, seeing a leopard, and making some good progress on various things that I am working on (I am actually working, it’s just that I’ve decided that … Continue reading

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When in Rome? or What the heck am I doing in Rome?

People who work in development sometimes say things that are bleeding obvious and pass them off as profound without really exploring what they mean or what the implications are. I may not be immune to this practice. Saying that “context … Continue reading

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Teddy Afro – an Ethiopian experience?

Thursday night – Christmas Day – was the night of the long-awaited Teddy Afro concert in the grounds of the Ghion Hotel. I went with a bunch of people from the Embassy. There were big crowds. To explain … Teddy … Continue reading

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Another Christmas

It’s Christmas Eve here in Ethiopia. In this deeply religious country Christmas is a very big deal, but a big deal in a rather different way than in the UK.

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