Ethiopia has Skateboards!

Click here to see more photos from our Ethiopian Skateboard Park Project skateboard session!

On Thursday, Tom Noonan and Dawit (from Addis Ababa) drove out to Asko to pick up the skateaboards from me at Mercy Ministry; that was a huge relief and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get them into the city. As they left, we discussed having a session in Addis that Friday since I would be there anyway working at the feeding center.

            As promised, Tom called Robin’s Ethiopian phone around 2:15 on Friday afternoon. Robin and I were eating lunch and grabbing a quick Internet connection at the Churchill Hotel across the street from the feeding center, where we’d just helped to feed about 700 homeless men and children. He and Dawit and a skater friend of theirs, Ebenezer, were going to bring some of the boards they’d put together to a place near the Canadian Embassy around 3:00 p.m.! Yes! We finished our meal (I had my mainstay, minestrone soup—boiled water and nutritious, and Robin dared a double-decker hamburger) and crossed the street to negotiate a “contract taxi”: when you hire a private taxi—easily available throughout the city and in small towns—you negotiate a price before you leave for your destination. It’s common fact that it’s more for Westerners, sometimes a lot more, who are viewed as rich. We’ve told some drivers that we’re volunteers and they’ve cut us a break. This journey, to a part of the city we’d never been (the more “cosmopolitan” part of town, Tom mentioned), cost 120 Birr ($6.82).

Ebenzer is a star and GREAT with kids.
Would do great at Woodward (Dish Dog).

            We arrived in front of the Canadian Embassy just before 3:00. There was no obvious skating area within view so we called Tom; we were only a block or so off and started walking in the direction he described. Within just a few second, I noted a kid walking toward us—this kid was a skateboarder. Ha ha! I’ve walked past thousands of humans in Ethiopia, but this one stood out to me as
“familiar”: tight jeans, earphones swung over his shoulder, a beanie … we made eye contact and he immediately stuck out his hand to introduce himself. Yep.

We immediately sensed that we were in a place in Addis (in Ethiopia!) like we’d never seen the likes of … the streets were clean, the sidewalks generously wide and uncluttered with vendors. Various embassies proudly announced their country and we didn’t notice any animals moseying about. Ebenezer led us to a 4- or 5-story building that struck me as some sort of “mall” and, better yet, we were heading to a coffee shop (Kaldi’s), whose logo resembled Starcbucks’ enough to quicken my step.

Dawit, Debbie, and Tom

Tom greeted us outside Kaldi’s and led us to their table inside where we met Dawit, his wife Wossene; and Tom’s girlfriend Sara (from Australia, as is Tom). It took me 2.6 seconds to notice that someone had ice cream … ice cream … ice cream … My sweet tooth has been STARVING here. Ice cream. Noted. Their menu board offered frappucinos! Machiattos! Score. Happy happy. We sat and chatted for a while, which was also nice and friendly and easy … NOWI could begin to see what Tom and Jon Burns were talking about when they said they would like to live here. Ahhhhh … yes … we were in a part of the city that was “easier” in every possible way and I felt it in every inch of my being.

I’d just finished my macchiato and looking Dawit’s iPhone photos of the 1930s Fiats he restored (!!! iPhone photos … car restoration … Fiats … holy monkey) when Ebenezer indicated that it was time to skate (I think we may have been waiting for kids to get out of school). We left Kaldi’s (where they have ice cream), grabbed 8 completes from Skate After School (thanks, Tim Ward) out of the trunk of Dawit’s car, crossed the street (where I noticed a teenage Western girl smoking as she walked with an Ethiopian girlfriend … we didn’t seem many Westerners, let alone Western kids. Forget that she was smoking …), and headed to a long parking lot where school-uniform clad kids were gathering. Ebenezer dropped his board; the session had begun. J

Tom handed out stickers that Tim and
Neal Hendrix sent.  

The pictures probably do more justice to happy kids than any words I can write. I had FUN. Tom, Dawit, Sara, and Wossene totally “get” it; they helped kids stand and ride; they took pictures; they made sure that girls got to ride; they were conscientious about sponsor logos and ensuring I got a photo for Brandon of the Team Ream sticker on one of the decks. WAS AWESOME!!! Also made me realize that we really have been living in poverty, as do the kids we teach. Not complaining at all, but a healthy reminder that just like anywhere else in the world, there are different ways of living happening ... doesn't mean everything is what you're experiencing.

Yep ... we went back to Kaldi's to get ice cream. J

Sara (hazelnut) and Wossene (kiwi).