An Unforgettable, Mesmerizing Journey
Lorenz Menendez, Grade 9
As a lifer at the French American International School I have been
on many school trips, but nothing compares to what I experienced in
Ethiopia. This trip was not the first time that I had been to a developing
country. I have visited El Salvador many times with my family, so I was
not shocked at the sight of poverty, pollution, and over-populated cities
like some of my peers were. I was surprised, however, at the overall
mood in Ethiopia. Wherever we went, we saw people with bright smiles,
bestowing upon us pleasant waves in response to ours.
When we drove into the rural Ethiopian village where Tana School is
located, a hoard of children started running alongside our bus. Many of
them were dressed up in tattered blazers or had put on their cleanest,
neatest t-shirts to welcome us. When our bus arrived at the entrance to
the school, we perceived a small gathering of church elders with polychromatic robes and matching multicolored umbrellas. One had an
ornate silver orthodox cross in his hand, glimmering in the light as he
waved it to the beat of the drum a man was playing in the middle of the
procession. We were all stunned to witness such a wonderful and welcoming reception, but we were even more astonished at what we
saw next.
We followed the procession to a large field the size of a city block,
which the schoolchildren use as a recess yard and soccer field. The
field was filled with hundreds of students, parents, elders and teachers,
assembled in a circle stretching around the entire rectangular field. The
procession thrust us into the center of the circle. I was dumbfounded,
perplexed, mystified, and flabbergasted by the sight of the immense
gathering of hundreds of rural Ethiopian villagers staring at us as if we
were famous. For me, this was the highlight of the trip, witnessing the
exhilaration and excitement in anticipation of our arrival. Our group was
then instructed to sit down in the center of the circle as Azeb, our beloved chaperone, translator and cultural ambassador, made a speech. All
the students and chaperones were then presented with gifts of red, gold,
and green scarves, representing the Ethiopian flag. For the rest of the day,
some of us helped reinforce classroom walls, while others distributed
laptops and taught English to eager students.
The following day we returned to the school, accompanied by a group
of schoolchildren who followed our bus through the village. We volunteered for the whole day,
cementing walls, configuring
laptops, teaching English, and
playing soccer. We also taught
some little children how to play
duck-duck-goose. At the end
of the day, we departed for the
final time, leaving the rural village and the adorable children
behind. Many of them followed
our bus all the way to the village again, helping us when
our bus got stuck on a few
rocks. A few hours after we left,
the sun started to set on the
horizon and a light rain turned
into a drizzle. As our white
minibus drove into the night,
all of us felt as if we left a part
of us behind at the school.
