Home Improvements

Each month Peace Corps pays me a living allowance through my Ethiopian bank account. It is a nice wage for an Ethiopian life style, I have never run out, even with my regional travels, but converted to US Dollars you could not get far in America. On top of my allowance, I am given monthly rent money. Each volunteer’s rent is different depending on the city, and I would say mine is just about average at USD $60 a month. I think my rent is pretty high actually for my small town, considering I have just two small rooms, but I don’t complain, especially since I don’t actually pay it! Peace Corps found our houses and they also negotiated our rents, so I really had no say in the matter. A few volunteers have switched houses for various reasons since arriving at site four months ago, so I could always move if there was a problem, but I really love my compound and neighbors. I have noticed lately the abundant amount of home-improvement projects happening on my compound. In fact, it seems that my landlord takes my rent every month and puts it right back into the compound. I have a feeling he’s not short on cash, and I’m not complaining as I get to reap the benefits of these projects! As I was moving in, four months ago, the new double bathroom with showers was just finishing being installed. Since that time, we have gotten a new water tank, a new fence was built in the backyard, and recently gutters were put in! I didn’t know Ethiopians even knew what gutters were. A man actually pounded and welded the gutters together from sheet metal, so it may have been a pioneer project. I’m not sure if I inspired these improvements or if this is an on-going trend, but I definitely appreciate the new additions! I should add that water problems are continuing even with daily rains, and the water tank hasn’t been filled in over a month now (for reasons that are lost in translation), which also means the showers aren’t working either (although I prefer a heated bucket bath anyways).

Most recently, after arriving back home from traveling last month, I came home to find the electricity out in town. All of Ethiopia has been having major electrical problems, for reasons I’m not exactly sure of, although rumors are abundant. Electricity here is all from hydro-electric power plants, so I’m hoping it is going to improve as the rainy season progresses. Dangila right now has electricity every other day, and talking to other volunteers I think that is pretty typical. Well, I came home that day and my landlord’s son, Yenebeb, tells me in Amharic that they now have a generator. I was confused at first, as a generator is something only one hotel in town has, but I didn’t think much of it. Right around 7:30pm, I heard a motor running and the lights popped on in my house! Not only did the landlord get a generator, but it runs electricity to the whole compound, not just the landlord’s house like I assumed! I am surely the only volunteer in the country with access to a generator, and it is probably the only residential generator in my entire zone. Like I said, I have no complaints about my relatively high rent. As I was writing this on my computer in my dark house, the generator popped on to recharge my dwindling computer battery!