Personal Update

Hey guys,

I just wanted to clarify some things about my time here so far.

All the times I written about 'not doing anything' does not by any means reflect the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship program or World Food Prize Foundation. I am communicating with the internship director almost daily to see what we can get worked out for my remaining time here. There may be a possible switch in projects/supervisors to where I can be the most useful.

I simply want to be placed where I am most useful for ILRI and their projects. There has been some switching within the staff here at ILRI which may have set-back the preparedness of both Hannah and I.

I cannot deny the awesomeness of this opportunity. It is just taking some time to get fully organized here. While I wait to see what happens in the next weeks, I'd like to share some wise words of Norman Borlaug's that was recently shared with me:

(Dr. Borlaug's 5 Main Principals)

Give your best; Believe you can succeed; Face adversity squarely; Be confident you will find the answers when problems arise; and Then go out and win some bouts. 

I know that God has placed me here for a reason and I will fulfill that to the best of my ability. There is a reason I have a passion and drive for the improving the world. I cannot thank God, Dr. Borlaug, my parents, and siblings enough for seeing my potential to start reaching for my passion. While there will always be bumps in the road, it's life. Everything happens for a reason and this is just a little speed bump. I will continue to reach for my fullest potential to not only make my dreams come true, but others as well.

Thanks for following my blog. I love seeing your comments and I'm so thankful for my amazing support system back home! I am so blessed to have you all in my life.

Day 13: Friday

Hi everyone!

Last night, it poured and poured and poured. This morning though, you could hardly tell. Anyway, today has been very boring for me because it was yet again another free day. Hannah and I met at 9:30 for breakfast. I had toast and strawberry jam with coconut yogurt. It was interesting but good. We eventually walked over to Sululta and took our normal spots. Hannah was working on her blog from the last few days and I did various things on my computer and continued to work on my very serious game of 'Flow'.

Right before lunch, I emailed Dr. Jean Hanson asking if there were anything that Hannah and I could help with. She invited us to help after lunch. At lunch, Hannah and I both got the vegetable calzone with sliced potatoes. For me, I really liked it. But, I don't think Hannah really liked the vegetables in the calzone.

 

When we finished, we went back to Sululta to help Dr. Jean Hanson. She put us right to work. We helped organize a chart with all the different varieties of Napier Grass that belong ILRI. We also researched the yield loss of smut and stunt with Napier Grass. Our final task was to look up any information on the Mt. Cotton (sesbania sesban) plant/shrub. We actually were not able to find what Dr. Jean Hanson was looking for the Mt. Cotton but she really appreciated our help with the Napier Grass. She is a wonderful lady as I have said before, but her kindness really shows through. 

It started raining again, but I don't mind too much. It keeps it cool. Tomorrow, I set up a time to meet with Tigist Endashaw. She had Nardos' job before she left ILRI. Lisa Fleming the Internship Director really wanted us to meet her, so I look forward to doing so! She is taking us out to coffee/tea, I also hope that Nardos can join us as well. I'd also like to go to the mall tomorrow, if we are allowed, to see what they have to offer. Maybe I can get some Nike shoes for a good price! I'll keep you all updated as I always do! 

Day 12: Debre Zeit

Hello everyone!

This morning, I woke up excited for the day. Today was our visit to Debre Zeit. Hannah and I went to breakfast around 8:30. I had toast with apricot jelly and some sort of muffin. Not sure what kind it was, but it was pretty good. At 9, we met Dr. Olivier and shortly after Mikhel drove up to take us. We also picked up a Phd student who worked on campus as well. All five us were packed into a small Toyota for about an hour 20-30ish minutes.

We arrived in Debre Zeit (recently renamed to Bishoftu) and it was pretty similar to Addis Ababa except for a few things. Animals were everywhere. Goats, cattle, donkey's, and even ponies pulling 'carriages' acting as a taxi. It was a little overwhelming but for those people, it's just their everyday life. There was also less super big buildings but there were still a few. Traffic is still just as crazy though!

We walked across the road with two guys who worked with the chickens. They took us to the chicken house where the baby chicks were at. We had to wear white lab-looking coats and we had to dip our shoes in a water bath before we could go in. It was a very cool and modern looking chicken house. The first pen had the baby chicks from the highly crossed lines of chickens and all the other pens (there were about 30) had either a local breed of chicken (I think they said Horro) or there were types of white chicks and types of black chicks. Hannah received the information about her project. She would weigh the special breed every Monday, record growth rates, any physical changes, and mortality of the chicks. We then walked over to the building that housed the incubator. Before we could go in we had to put plastic covers over the bottoms of our boots. The incubator was massive! It could hold 150,000 eggs at a time. In the next room, there was what the workers called the 'hatchery'. It was also quite big. After touring the chicken facilities we washed our hands thoroughly and gave back our coats.

We made our way over to the cattle. Currently at Debre Zeit there are Holstein Friesan and Boran cattle. Unfortunately the people for data collection with these cattle were not around so I was not able to find out my project information. We will go back to Debre Zeit on Monday, so I am hoping to find out then when I get to begin my project. If I am unable to work there, another place was suggested that I could at. It is not far from Addis. Although, I know Olivier would rather I work at Debre Zeit so we would not have to use two vehicles for transportation.

We departed with the chicken workers and waited for Mikhel to pick us up and take us for lunch. Dr. Olivier had a place in mind but couldn't think of the name. So, Mikhel took us to where he thought Olivier was talking about. It was not the right place! So we piled back into the truck and took off to the Hotel called 'The Pyramid'. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was right on the lake with a large outdoor restaurant connected. We found a table and after we ordered, Hannah and I walked out to see the lake and scenery. It was so awesome! Hannah and I both ordered pasta with beef. It was pretty good! Dr. Olivier ordered injera and he insisted that we both try it. I have to say, it was very good and not what I was expecting! Neither Hannah or I could finish our pasta. I always feel bad leaving my food but I just can't eat it all. Olivier kindly paid for all of us and we made our way back to the truck.

On the way home, I began to get very sleepy and I may have fallen asleep. We made it back to ILRI and thanked Mikhel and Dr. Olivier. We went our separate ways. Hannah and I both went back to our rooms and took naps.

While I am disappointed that I do not know what my project is yet, I just cannot believe that I am here. I am the first in my family to travel abroad and of all places I landed in Ethiopia. It's just crazy to me but I am also so, so very thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Pictures

(To and From Debre Zeit)

  

(At Debre Zeit & The Pyramid)

 

Day 11: Hump Day

Hey all!

It's another beautiful day here in Addis Ababa. It was also so awesome to sleep in a bit today. I woke up around 6 am, 7 am, and 8 am when my alarm clock was set for 8:30. I got out of bed at 8 anyway because I was awake. Both of us went down for breakfast around 9:30 where I had toast with apricot jam and mini pankcakes with syrup. After that, we met up with Nardos and we finally have our stipend situation straightened out! We were told that we should be receiving those today!

At 11, we met with Dr. Jean Hanson who showed us a video about ILRI, the Genebank, and the people that are being helped. Once the video finished, she took us and one other graduate student on a tour of the actual GeneBank. That place was so, so, so cool. The technology is so very advanced and just the idea of it is ingenious. They take the seeds, dry them out to a very specific moisture level and then seal them so they retain that level. Once the seeds are sealed they are put in 'cool rooms' with specific rows, columns, and package numbers. The seeds in these cool rooms are said to last around 20-30 years. Recently though, some seeds have surpassed that length of time and are still highly viable. They have barcodes put on the package as well so they can be easily tracked within a computer system. Dr. Hanson shared that they are trying to move everything to an online system like tablets and not deal with papers or computers so much. She then showed us the 'deep-freezing' coolers. The seeds in those special coolers are said to last 50-60 years or more! The seeds eventually get distributed to worldwide organizations and some even to farmers. Dr. Hanson said that technically, the GeneBank is the worlds and ILRI simply houses it and they take care of those seeds.

Once we finished up touring that, Dr. Jean Hanson, the graduate student (I'm not sure of her name), and one of Dr. Hanson's colleagues plus Hannah and I all went out to lunch at the cafeteria. I got the baked pasta with of course 'chips' (fries). We walked back to Sululta afterwards and Dr. Hanson told us that if we ever need anything we would know where to find her. Also, if we were ever to get bored she would help us with that as well. She is very much an amazing lady and I hope in the following weeks while I am here, that I get to work with her.

(Half-eaten baked pasta and chips)

At 3:30, we had a skype call with the ILRI director in Nairobi (Nardos' supervisor). She just wanted to check in with us for our so-far experience. After the call, we were notified that our stipend checks were ready for us. We went down to finance, picked them up, and went to the bank to cash them. It was only 13,000+ birr (😂). I promise, I am not carrying all of it around! Soon, Hannah and I will go dinner. Neither of us are super hungry so we're going to share a plate. 

Tomorrow is the big day! We are going to the Debre Zeit research farm. I am super, super excited! I'll finally know what I am doing for my project! I am so pumped! Until next time! 

Day 10: Tuesday

Hi guys!

After battling a very large cricket in my room last night I had finally fallen asleep. (I killed the cricket on accident! But, it is not longer in my room!) I woke up at my normal time got ready for the day. Hannah and I went to breakfast where I had toast with strawberry jam, a 1/2 cold waffle, and breakfast potatoes. I think the toast with jam is becoming my favorite.

Once we finished, we walked up to Sululta to see what was on the agenda today. Olivier informed us that we would be going to Debre Zeit research 'farm' on Thursday. Otherwise, neither Dr. Tadelle or Dr. Olivier had given us anything to do. Dr. Tadelle pulled Hannah into his office and went over the basis of her project. Comparing three certain breeds of chicken in growth and mortality rates. In the time being, I checked out my college expenses, read some of my book 'One Second After', and just killed the morning time.

Around lunch time, neither Hannah nor I were very hungry so we decided to go for a walk around the compound's trails. The trail was very pretty and we even saw a few more of Dr. Jean Hanson's fields that had been planted. The brush is also very pretty to see. I didn't get any pictures but, I will sometime soon!

We came back to Sululta to see if Dr. Tadelle was back from his lunch. Unfortunately, he was not so I asked Olivier if there were any idea for my project. He told me it would be planned out fully on Thursday on our visit to Debre Zeit. They are not sure what is there for cattle at the moment but he guessed that I would be measuring growth/production through nutrition. I will be very excited if that is my project. I am becoming very interested in nutrition side of things along with my long time interest of reproduction.

Next, we started to go on a hunt to figure out how to obtain our meal stipends from the World Food Prize. No one really seemed to know what we were looking for or what we were doing here. One man in finance did tell us that they still had to prepare some paperwork. He told us to come back tomorrow, so we are hoping that the money is ready tomorrow! We went to dinner afterwards. Hannah got the Club Sandwich and I got the Egg Sandwich with cheese. It was really good but the proportions are getting the best of me! They are big and neither of us are always able to finish.

After dinner, Hannah and I came back to our rooms for what has become our 'daily nap' and chill out time. The weather was fair all day except around 4 pm when it started to rain and stopped around 6 pm. Tomorrow, we are touring that actual Gene Bank with Dr. Jean Hanson. I am super excited to see that!

Day 9: Free Day

Happy Eid al-Fitr! Aka end of Ramadan.

Even here in Africa, they celebrate this Muslim holiday. It's great but also a downfall for me. Because yet again, I have another free day. This morning after my breakfast of toast with strawberry jam and breakfast potatoes, Hannah and I walked to Sululta to see if Dr. Tadelle and Dr. Olivier were there yet. We sat at our desk and paddidled around waiting for them for about 15 minutes.

Both of them arrived around 9:15. Dr. Tadelle greeted both of us with a handshake and a hug. Dr. Olivier arrived shortly after Tadelle and both of them met in their offices. I presumed they were talking about our projects. Olivier told Hannah and I that he had a skype meeting at 10 but afterwards he would meet with us.

Once he finished up, he pulled Hannah, another graduate student working on chickens, and I into his office. Olivier, as I said before is such an intelligent man. He told us about the history of African chickens and the project that is currently being conducted here in Ethiopia. He shared with Hannah that she would be measuring/observing the growth of one of the newest and 'fanciest' chicken breeds around. This breed is a highly crossed breed of chicken of just about all historic chicken breeds. The wanted result is an elite chicken in production, disease resistance, etc.

Olivier also shared with me that I would be doing a similar project but with cattle in terms of overall production, whether it be in milk or beef production. There is a research facility/farm that ILRI works with in Debre Zeit where there are cattle and chickens. He said that we would visit this farm almost daily to monitor and record our findings in our designated areas.

Hannah and I stopped in Dr. Tadelle's office before we took off for lunch. We asked if there would be a schedule for us so we would know how to plan for the next few days. He said yes but tomorrow. That's when he informed us about Eid al-Fitr being a 'Bank Holiday' and few people here choose to work on those days.

Around 12:30, Hannah and I went to lunch. I ordered the vegetable sandwich and actually got the right thing this time. It wasn't as good as I expected unfortunately. Too many carrots and broccoli for my taste. The fries are always good though!

We came back to Sululta to fill up our water bottles and feel as if we are doing something productive at our desks. We hope later on this evening someone can take us out to coffee. That is all Hannah has wanted all day! I suppose that we'll enjoy yet another free-day though. Probably go to the gym later, take in another Netflix movie, and start formulating plans for other activities outside our projects.