My Trip to the Remote Benishangul-Gumuz

My journey to the far western Benishangul-Gumuz region was probably the height of my experience as a journalist in Ethiopia.  Being in such an isolated and obscure place was exactly what I was looking for when I chose to do this.  At home, when I watched or read about journalists reporting from these places in far off and poorly studied regions of the world the Tom Sawyer in me became filled with excitement. When I got the opportunity to do this, I simply couldn't refuse. 

Originally, I only planned to see Bahir Dar and Gondar with fellow volunteers when I set out from Addis Ababa on the 2nd of June.  This was the case until a Canadian man approached us asking where we were from - our various accents sparked an interest (French/Ethiopian, English, Dutch, German/Danish). As conversation ensued the Canadian man came to talk about what he was doing here. He was from a Canadian charity called devxchange that was funding a project in the 200km away Benishangul-Gumuz region with three others.  They told me how they had been there and how successful this project had been, how the cultural mindset of the people had been completely turned around.  This got me very interested and they agreed to let me write an article about it and gave me the number of Feru, the director of the project.  Feru showed particular interest, as I would be the first to write about his program in the 8 years of its existence.

Chines road construction

Still a lot left to pave!

The trip to the Gumuz is about 200km west of Bahir Dar but takes about 5 hours due to difficult road conditions. Only the first 100km are paved and on many dirt roads, maximum speeds only reach 30km/h. Currently, huge road construction is underway to pave the road all the way to the far off Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the border to Sudan. This will eliminate a major logistical hurdle for the many truck drivers delivering materials there. All thanks to the Chinese of course. But despite the slow pace, the drive goes past such remarkable country side that it is really a good thing.  The contrast between the lush green and the freshly ploughed deep brown of the soil is spectacular. Heading closer to Sudan also brought us in a region of Muslim majority. In the town of Injibara, what will supposedly be the largest mosque in Ethiopia is currently being constructed. In what was perhaps some sly joke towards religious diversity a ranting Jehova’s witness also gave us some flyers. Of course these were more of a source of comedy than anything. It was however in this town that I began to feel the extent of how far away from anything I was going.  I felt like in whatever direction I could have walked, I would have experienced the same hopeless result.

Mountain separating Gumuz
from Amhara

Gumuz lowlands

The border between Benishangul-Gumuz and Amhara couldn’t be more geographically complete. A large and steep green mountain oversees the underlying Gumuz low lands.  There the oppressive heat and the lethal authority of malaria make the land nigh on inhospitable. It was of course tribal warfare that lead to this separation of these lands.  The militarily advanced and traditionally elite Amhara drove the Gumuz away and took over their territory.  The Gumuz have historically been enslaved to the Amhara and as such have been discriminated and kept on the edges of society and country as a backwards and neglected people. This illustrates only a fraction of the difficulty of uniting a country of 80 unique tribes all carrying their own languages and dialects.

Gumuz farmer Andargie

Gumuz farmer Gisa

It was well over 40°C when we reached the town we would stay at. For all my attempts to recall it, I can’t remember its name. It was a small town but growing due to its location on the way to the dam as well as a center for the urbanizing Gumuz. The hotel I stayed at was minimal but better than I expected. The rooms had toilets and even fans for the inescapable heat. Upon arrival we had lamb tibes (Pronounced t’ehbs (harsh T)) for lunch, which tasted alright-ish. That evening I found out that this was actually a trucker’s motel. Here passing truck drivers partied late into the night and brought prostitutes back to their rooms. Luckily I was so tired that my ears were spared of most of it. 

Lamb tibes

And suddenly.. hailstorm!

In any case, following an hour’s rest in our rooms, my investigative work would begin.  Feru introduced me to the model farmers I would interview and showed me their farms. What ensues is all in my article, “The Historical Turnaround of the Gumuz”. 

I was truly impressed with all that I saw. Feru has built a sustainable operation and the results were to be seen everywhere. In the way everyone greeted Feru as a close friend or the way farmer Andargie’s eyes gleamed with pride as he told me he is sending all 12 of his children to school.  While anthropological laments of the loss of their ancestral culture are real, I feel that this shouldn’t stop the way of progress, which is finally arriving. The people are poor, rely on deprived nutrition and suffer from preventable diseases. Who is to blame them if reaching a higher standard of living is followed by wearing western clothes and perhaps having a smoke now and then. Listening to Feru’s visionary plans for the future, I see great things coming from these people. The land they live on is extremely fertile; it only requires the necessary investment and belief to make things happen.

Me with the man himself, Feru