ABSTRACT
In this chapter the author takes up a job teaching English in a secondary school in Addis Ababa during the time of Haile Selassie, but is soon attracted to work with street children. He leaves the school and joins an Ethiopian charitable association running hostels for street kids. His biggest problem is fundraising. The charity has a second-hand clothing shop and he persuades an American non-governmental organisation (NGO) to let him sell donated clothing to the association. He tries a variety of fundraising efforts – building playgrounds, puppet shows, satirical evening performances – then is given a small potato crisp factory by an Ethiopian well-wisher. He tries to make regular money for the hostels from it – with difficulty. The Ethiopian Orthodox Archbishop, chair of the association, finally secures a one-time payment from Haile Selassie’s government. Among the lessons learned is to keep your eyes on the prize – i.e. do not be diverted from your mission – and, secondly, that donor agencies are not helpful to civil society organisations (CSOs) that want to run a for-profit operation. The author also recounts stories of climbing in the Simyen, the evacuation of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, and meeting Jamaican Rastafarians in Ethiopia playing cricket.
