August 5th--The Saddest Day for All

August 5^th was a rainy day.  It was reflective of the mood of the YSEL family.  Like the clouds, the tears fell from our eyes as we packed our things, loaded the bus and said good bye to the YSEL staff and our friends from all over Ethiopia.  Some of us left early to catch morning flights to our homes, most of us went to Addis on the bus together, but when we got to Meskal Square and said our final goodbye, again the tears flowed from our eyes as the rain came down and flooded the streets of Addis.  YSEL camp was over but despite the tears, we still have each other and we’ll never lose our YSEL family.  Although we are far apart from each other, we are forever in each others’ hearts and minds. “This was the best time in my whole life,” said Daniel Workeneh of Kombolcha.  “I will never forget this month or my YSEL family.  I hope American Councils can give this opportunity to other students in the future.”  As this program ends, now we have the busy task of making it happen again for more students from around Ethiopia.  We shall see what the future brings!

YSEL Closing Ceremony

  It’s hard to believe that a month had passed so fast and the day came when we were holding our Closing Ceremony. The day before we all said goodbye and left our home in Debre Zeyit, we put on a big show to celebrate the culmination of all our work.  We had special visitors from the US Embassy, Peace Corps and USAID.  Molly Phee, the DCM who wished us well at the beginning of camp came to help celebrate our success at the end of camp.  Bob Post, the Public Affairs officer and Tahra Vose, the Cultural Affairs officer were also in attendance, as was Greg Engel, the head of Peace Corps and Michelle Chen of USAID.  We showed our special guests a typical day at camp from “Morning Song” to “Goodnight Ladies” highlighting all the things we learned throughout the month. Afterwards, there were speeches and we received our certificates of completion and some books from the embassy. 

  It was a very special day and yet somewhat sad because we had become so close with each other and now we had to say goodbye.  “Going home tomorrow is going to be really hard,” said Senait Zemenu of Bahir Dar.  “The YSEL family is like my own family and I will miss them a lot.”  Like everything in life, there is a beginning and an end.  There is the YSEL Ethiopia FaceBook page and everyone has each others’ contact information so it won’t be too difficult to keep in touch.  Before the last day of camp comes, we will celebrate and enjoy every moment together.  Long live YSEL!

Karate Club!

Everyday after lunch is Club Time.  This is a time for students to do non-academic activities and unwind a bit before the start of afternoon classes.  One of the more unique activities YSEL students have had for clubs are Karate and Capoeria run by Nzingha Uhuru, one of the Peace Corps Volunteer teachers.  The dining hall was full of eager campers interested in learning about martial arts.  Nzingha has taught karate and some capoeria in the US and wanted to give YSEL students an opportunity to try something new.  Students really enjoyed learning the basic steps of both forms of martial arts from Nzingha. “I really liked the karate,” said Daniel Workeneh, “It taught me discipline, how to focus on the moves and count in Japanese.” 

The last week of camp, Nzingha taught capoeria, the lively form of dance mixed with martial arts that originated in Brazil.  Students loved the vigorous dance moves intertwined with some martial arts move.  It was a rigorous club and really gave students a workout before heading back to class in the afternoon.

  Besides martial arts, other clubs included soccer, aerobics, art, poetry, song, dance, and computer.  Every week students changed clubs and were able to explore different activities that they may not get back home.

Culture Day!

Yesterday was Culture Day, the last of our Spirit Days at camp.  This day, everyone dressed in traditional clothing from the different regions of Ethiopia.  Overall, it was the girls who dressed up, leaving Sintayehu of the Fantastic 12 House as the only boy who managed to wear traditional men’s clothing.  Tom wore one of his traditional Afghan outfits to give students an idea of what men wear in Afghanistan.

   At lunch, the kitchen staff surprised us with a traditional coffee ceremony.  The dining hall was covered with grass, as per tradition, and Eyerusalem from the Fantastic 12 House had the honor of roasting the beans and making the coffee, or buna, in the traditional Ethiopian way.  Other girls joined Eyerusalem to fan the small fire to boil the coffee and serve it to everyone as well.  In Ethiopia, coffee is served with popcorn so Beza and Gnajuok of the 11 Geniuses House passed a giant bowl of it around the dining hall.  Lastly, another part of Ethiopian tradition with coffee is served a special kind of bread.  Being the most senior person at the YSEL camp, Tom got the honors to cut the giant, round loaf before it was passed around.  Afterwards, someone put on some traditional music and we all got up and dance different dances from around Ethiopia.  We were a bit late for Club Time but everyone was having a great time and enjoying the moment.  Tom wasn’t sure how Culture Day was going to turn out, whether or not students had brought traditional clothes to wear, but they surprised him and it seems like Culture Day was one of the best Spirit Days we had at camp!