【Adventures in Ethiopia and Djibouti】-上集 楊達倫

1.Adventures in Ethiopia and Djibouti

During 1983–1985, ENSCO Inc., the company I was with, subcontracted to Luis Berger Group to do an assessment of the infrastructure and the operation of the Djibouti–Ethiopian Railway. A couple of other companies were also on the team to provide specialists in different disciplines. At the time, we were dealing with the old railway that was completed over many years during the early 19th century. Ethiopia was one country that was not colonized by European countries, except for five years by Mussolini of Italy from 1935 to 1941. The French assisted in the initial design and during early-stage construction. Subsequently, the British assisted in completing the construction of the entire line. The D-E Railway was a meter-gage, single-track rail line that ran between Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Djibouti, which is the capital of the independent country of the same name. Djibouti is a seaport at the southern end of the Red Sea; Addis sits on a high plateau at 7,726 ft. The rail line is close to 800 km long and lies on a steep incline that rises from sea level to almost 8,000 ft.

Figure 1: Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway

The results of the study were to be used to support the application for an international loan to fund the desperately needed repair and upgrade of the railway system. A total of six of my colleagues from ENSCO traveled to Ethiopia and Djibouti for different periods to support the project. About the same number of people were on the team from other partner companies. We all had different assignments and worked separately during the week. I made two separate trips to Africa and spent a total of about two months in the two countries. Team members often formed small groups to travel together to cities where the railway reached. On weekends, we would venture out of the hotel to explore the city and interesting sites nearby. The small group would go out together to improve safety. No matter where we went, our small group would be surrounded by a larger group of beggars, mostly children and young adults. Every beggar makes the standard gesture of hand-grabbing something to put into the mouth. We created a name for the begging gesture: the “Ethiopian salute.”. In reality, they are not begging for food; money is what they want. As a background, just a few words on the history of Ethiopia leading to the time of our visit. In 1974, a revolution overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie, who was relatively close to the West. The new rulers were socialists backed by the Soviet Union. Ethiopia was converted from a monarchy system to a Marxist-Leninist system. During our visit in the mid-80s, Ethiopia was in a desperate situation. A famine was ongoing in the area due to drought and war. A revolt was on the go in the north, which later ended up creating a separate country,

Eritrea. The years of war with Somalia have just subsided, with significant infrastructure damage in the war zone, including segments of the railway and bridges. The drought, the military conflicts, and the government policy missteps have caused a major famine in the country. The socialist/communist government in power at the time was antagonistic towards the West, especially the United States. Our team was somewhat surprised to be awarded the study contract. The office space in the railway headquarters assigned to us has anti-American cartoon posters on the

wall. We asked, and they agreed, to remove them while we were working there. In fact, my limited exposure to Ethiopia was probably during one of the worst time periods in recent years. I have been writing about the memorable experiences since returning from the trips to Ethiopia and Djibouti. By now, it has been some 40 years. Many things have changed since then, and a lot of my memories have partially faded or distorted. I have done the best I can to describe the unusual and vivid experiences from my best recollection.

Figure 2: Old Coach Fitted with ENSCO’s Track Inspection Equipment

Figure 3: ENSCO Portable Track Inspection System

Figure 4: Typical Passenger Train at a Station Stop

Figure 5: Ta-Lun Inspecting Repairs on War Damaged Bridge

Figure 6: Kevin, Rick and Ta-Lun Waiting for the Test Train

2.Preparations for the Trip

Aside from travel documents and flight arrangements, each of the team members had to follow the recommendations of the world health organization to get vaccinations for the target area. There were several vaccines, I only recall a multiple injection for Malaria.

For spending time in Africa and to carry out the specified work, we got suggestions from out experienced international consultants on our team. One of unexpected item is toilet paper, which we were so pleased to have learned to bring with us. Two early-day portable computers were purchased for writing reports. These were small suitcase sized, and vacuum-tube powered machines that ran on DOS 1 with a word processing capability. We also brought a teletype machine and rolls of paper for printing the outputs.

For my personal survival, I bought a battery-operated “Boom Box” that had a radio and can play cassette tapes which I transferred from CD’s. I also brought a high-end Sony shortwave radio to receive international broadcasts. It turned out that these gadgets made my trip much more enjoyable and interesting.

3.Alex

3.1Mutually Beneficial Relationship

Our project team arrived in Addis Ababa from different parts of the world. We were all booked into the Ras Hotel, a reasonably nice local hotel but less expensive than the American chains like Hilton or Sheraton. Each tourist hotel was surrounded by a wall of barricades guarded by armed security personnel. A hotel guest inside the barrier will not be bothered by anyone; you are on your own outside of the barricades. Alex, among hundreds of other local hustlers, would be waiting around the boundary of the demilitarized zone to accost deep-pocketed foreigners willing to venture beyond the protected zone.

Alex was one of the hustlers. He is an Ethiopian who knows Addis Ababa (Addis for short) and speaks reasonably good English. We got to know Alex quite early on our trip. Being “smart” travelers, we negotiated with him on the terms that:

·       We pay him no cash for his services.

·       We will cover the cost of his meals, transportation, etc. while he is working as a tour guide for us.

·       He can earn commissions from the merchants we buy things or services from.

·       He will help with exchanging US dollars for Ethiopian birr in the local black market. The exchange rate is quite a bit better than the official bank rate.

We had an easy handshake on this verbal agreement.

Figure 7: Alex, Rick and Ta-Lun at a Roadside Bar

Things went reasonably well for several weeks. We had Alex with us wherever we went (outside of our business duties). He did exchange money for us on the black market. The rate varied daily but was always better than the official rate at the bank.

Alex took us to his home to meet his wife and children. Lovely people live in essentially ghetto conditions in Addis Ababa. We treated him as a real friend.

Kevin and I wanted to try a real Ethiopian restaurant. Alex took us to a restaurant in a top-rated local hotel. The attendant took us upstairs to a private area. The table and stools were made of woven straw. The tabletop was circular and about four feet in diameter. The edge of the tabletop curled up to make the whole table look like a huge dish. Injera breads (a giant gray and slightly sour pancake) were piled on top of the table in layers. All the dishes were poured on the bread in piles. Lamb, chicken, vegetables, etc., plus bottles of local beer. You use your fingers to tear the bread and wrap it around the meat and vegetables. Delicious.

Figure 8: A Nice Ethiopian Dinner