Markmedia

Supper with a super blogger

Just back from a great evening with Andrew Heavens, the blogger behind Meskel Square.
Amongst other things he told us about his launch of the The Big Issue Ethiopia. The first printing of 2000 sold out in a day and the second printing of 3000 sold out at the Great Ethiopian Run.

Being there was fun, getting there was a nightmare (though fun in its own warped way). Addis is the original town "where the streets have no name". Our instructions were to drive to Siddis Kilo then turn left, straight along till the road starts to curve the take a left just before the curve gets very curvy, up the hill and look for the big white wall.  Then take a left just before the wall.

We got lost. Way lost. Way way lost. As we passed the Kenyan embassy and the 15 minute mark a certain nervousness set in. No street names, no street lights, shit - no actual street at one stage.
So we stop and ask someone. A scaly dude says he is just on his way there and can show us. OK. He hops in. We set off. He points we drive. And yea! we are back where we started. After giving our benefactor money "for my sick mother" ( she must have taken ill as we drove, but he was worth every birr) we tried again. This time we made it, but the van almost didn´t. The lane to Andrews house is just a number of connected mine shafts masquerading as potholes. Horn was honked, gate was opened and there he was smiling on his porch.

So thanks Andrew for the good lasagna, great company (and adorable baby) but lousy directions.

lunch

  lunch 
  Originally uploaded by markmedia.

Back from lunch. Three Four people had burgers, club sandwiches, eight  (yes eight) maciato coffees and coke and fanta. And cake. All for 63 birr (about the same in Swedish kronor).

Getting a sim card

Off to the Hilton Hotel to get a sim card. They now have an ATM which takes Visa and is one of several new ATM;s in the city. Anyway, to get your sim card you have to first make a copy of your passport. So, off to the business center. The guy there says that the copying machine is not working but id we come back in half an hour then his boss can copy it in another room. No, he can not do it, he hasn´t the authority.
OK, to the bar for a beer.
Its the Hilton so a beer cost about 20 birr (20 skr) which is about three times the cost anywhere else.
Rich prices for rich guests I guess.

Back to the copying place. A copy of your passport? No problem she says and makes one. Right there. On the "broken" machine.  Well, no biggie.
To the sim card shop. Again no problem. After filling out a number of forms, depositing the copy of my passport and paying the 370 birr the card cost, I put the card in my pocket anf off home. Bad move.
Card in cell phone, switch on, see network! Great. Try to ring. Get long message telling me (I assumed) what to do. In Amharic.
WTF! How stupidly arrogant do you have to be not to realise that the messages will be in the working language of the country you are in! However much that is, I am.
So, I ask the gate guard.
-No money on the card, he says.
Back to the Hilton.
The very helpful lady looks at me with a mixture of pity and exasperation. Takes the phone and does some magic things with nimble fingers and gives me back the phone. Working. Loaded. Ready to be rung.
So please, someone ring me!

First class

I have just had my first session with the class I will be teaching. The levels differ vastly but the enthusiasm is uniform. It will be interesting to see how and for what they use the net.
Here is a picture of them.

Morning in Addis

I was woken this morning by the sounds of the call to prayer from two religions.
Both the Orthodox and  Islamic Church have a sunrise call to prayer and they follow each other at about 05.15.
Which goes first and how have they decided the running order? I assume there must be some arrangement so that both calls do not come at the same time.
Anyone know the answer?

It is a beautiful morning, already warm at 08.00 and birds song and traffic noises fill the air.
We will soon be off to the University, braving the Addis morning traffic.

As usual I managed to get a bit burned by the sun and am sporting the traditional Irish tourists colors - a fetching lobster red. This contrasts perfectly with my blindingly chalk white legs and feet.

Ethiopian government blocks bloggers

There have been reports that the Great Ethiopian Run was used as a platform for protesting the governments policy on the threatened war with Somalia.
I can say that I saw groups of runners showing the V sign and chanting. The V sign is typically used by the opposition. To my ears the chant sounded like "thief, thief" but my lack of Amharic means that I can not say what other slogans were chanted if any.

What I do know is that all there is a blocking action against a large number of Ethiopian blog sites [both on and from]. I can not access any of the internationally hosted blogs from here in Addis. This is a strangulation of the freedom of speech and an obvious attempt to stop the flow of information on and about Ethiopia to its citizens.
It is not the first time this tactic has been used.

This is not surprising perhaps in a country where sending SMS/text messages  has been stopped since the protests after the 2005 elections.

As the Ethiopian government and its economy rely to such a large extent on international donors, there needs to be pressure brought from them to see that a democratic right to information is both required and enforced. The International Federation of Journalists might also let their voice be heard.

This might also be a good time to remind ourselves about the Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents published by Reporters Without Borders.
Included in the book are chapters on circumvention of the sorts of blocking systems in place in Ethiopia.

Great Ethiopia Run

Just back from looking at and thoroughly enjoying the  Great Ethiopia Run.
Up to 25,000 runners raced (or in some cases paced) through the morning sun. The atmosphere was wonderful. Shouting, dancing, clapping and sweating the runners made their way through the city finishing at the truly huge Meskel Square.
There were kids, old men, lots of guys in masks and big hats.

There was some great music and amazing dancing from groups along the way.

I took some pictures which I have on flickr and some video on Youtube.

In ethiopia

I have just arrived in Addis Abeba, capitol of Ethiopia. I will be here for three weeks teaching a couple of courses at the Department of Journalism at Addis University.
The plane journey was boring and felt a lot longer than its 8 hours, but a one hour stop on the tarmac at Rome will have that effect. But watching Addis appear as the plane flies into a rising sun is such a pleasure.
The visa process at Bole Airport is an example of a great idea ruined by bad execution
There is a quick visa line which feeds into a narrow corridor like area with four computers manned by smart looking staff. You start at the top of the line by handing in your landing card and passport. This is labeled and bar-coded. Then to the end of the line to pay your (quite reasonable) 20 USD fee. Then to the second or third station (you have to guess where your passport has landed - a bit like the three card monty game) and watch as the visa is cut out from a stack and fed into a printer. Then back to the first station to get the visa pasted into your passport.
As the crowds push forward it starts to get as full as a sketch in a Marx Bros movie.  Pushing, elbowing dragging of backpacks, cursing in several languages all occur. Harresed looking travelers shout "do you have my passport?" at the visa staff. 
But in the end you get your visa and off to baggage collection. The airport is great. Everything works, the architecture is modern and spacious. The taxi help system is friendly and non-threatening.
I was met by one of the other teachers (South African ethicist and journalist Franz Krüger) and we drove into the Addis traffic. As in most African cities (and not a few European - Rome comes to mind) driving is an acquired skill. There are lots of kids selling tissues (used as toilet paper and very necessary) newspapers and other things. Crossing lanes would be a nightmare if there were any lanes to cross. Horns are honked, fingers waved but the atmosphere is stressfully friendly.

The streets are teeming with the distinctive blue and white taxis known as 'blue donkeys'. Battered and packed with people they constitute the backbone of a surprisingly effective public transport system. The Addis based photographer and  blogger Andrew Havens has even named the crowded back seat of one of these taxis as one of his favorite places in Ethiopia.

And so to the flat where I will be staying for the next three weeks. It is in the Casa Inches area of Addis and within the compound of the Norwegan School. Guards on the gate which is usual in a bigger house and a wifi internet network which is not. Its slow but oh so great to have.

Enough for now

 

world bank report on youth employment

New report from the World Bank on how  youth are faring in the labor market of developing countries.

Summary: This paper uses a new standardized micro database for a large set of developing countries to (1) describe the patterns of labor market outcomes for youth, and (2) explain the contributions of supply and demand factors to youth outcomes. The paper shows that youth face various difficulties in transitioning to work. This is reflected in their relatively higher unemployment rate, higher incidence of low paying or unpaid work, and a large share of youth who are neither working nor in school. This is especially true for young girls who are found outside the labor market, some engaged in home production. Finally, the paper also finds that cross-country estimates show that changes in the youth relative cohort size is unlikely to have a large effect on how youth are faring in the labor market.

excellent list of Open Access Journals

Jan Szczepanski, a librarian at Göteborg University, has collected links and information on Open Access journals for years. His lists contain over 4500 current OA-journals and 757 historic. You will find more information on the OA Librarian blog