and then the sky BURST into flames

Ridiculous. Simply ridiculous.
Coming in from a walk on a calm evening, the winds picked up and then clouds started flying ridiculously fast. Then the weirdest light happened. Reds and oranges, but so intense. SO INTENSE. So sudden. This is a raw image, nothing changed these are the colours out on the river. Breath taking.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This Friday I am leaving for Ethiopia, for any regular readers who know that this blog has been updated daily with a photo, this may not continue to be the case due to connection difficulties in Ethiopia. I ask for your patience and understanding during this point, as it could mean days or even weeks without new photos. I will still be taking a photo each day, and writing about it. However it will not be posted every day (naturally).

Here's a little about the trip, just a letter I have been sending out to friends and family.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hi Everyone,

I’m just posting this to let people know about my trip to Ethiopia. On May 7th, 2010 I will be on my way to Jimma, Ethiopia. I am going on a three and a half month work term for a project entitled Post Harvest Management to Improve Livelihoods (PHIML), sponsored Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) and McGill University.

Post Harvest management is a critical practice within agriculture. Post harvest management is basically the way that people take care of agricultural products after they have been harvested. Ethiopia, is a nation that is highly dependent on agriculture. Approximately ninety percent of Ethiopia’s GDP comes from Agriculture, however Ethiopia continues to lose a huge amount of crops due to problems with post harvest management. These losses may come from; rodents, microorganisms, moisture, fungus or other factors.

McGill and NSAC have partnered with CIDA and an Ethiopian University (Jimma University College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine JUCAVM) to start a project, developing a program at the university to increase the resources regarding post harvest management. As students from across Ethiopia, and other parts of Africa study at the school they can bring back what they have learned to other communities and reduce the amount of harvest losses by implementing the knowledge from the program through community based education. The projects goal is to create programs for post harvest management at the undergraduate and graduate level at JUCAVM.

I am one of two students from NSAC that will be working in Ethiopia this summer, as well as various members of the faculty that will be in and out throughout the summer. My roles as an intern aren’t completely clear to me yet, but they will become so as I begin my placement upon arrival. However, it is fair to say that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I am beyond ecstatic to have been selected for such a great first step; a first chance to experience international development, an interesting and new way to learn about the importance agriculture in both a local and international context, and finally finding out a little more about what I want with my life.

I leave Canada on May 7th, 2010 and will return the 20th of August, 2010. I’ll be gone around 100 days. It is a possibility due to unforeseen circumstances that communication between me, and my friends and family back home in Canada may be infrequent and sporadic. I am hoping to compile a list of friends and family email addresses. So that I might be able to send out a mass email when I do have news, a few minutes to write and access to internet.

I will be living in dormitory style residence, and it is unclear at this point whether or not I will have a roommate. It is highly likely that I will be sharing a room with my friend David, who is the second student intern going. I will be sleeping, and eating at JUCAVM.

One of the tasks that we are asked to do while away, is keep up a blog. Where internet connection is limited and unpredictable, this may prove to be difficult. However, I hope that our blog will be up and running soon after arrival. I plan to send out the URL of that, so if interested people are able to check it out.

I also took on a project for 2010 which was to document the year in photos, one at a time. This is hopefully going to continue in Ethiopia. However, once again because of internet connections and problems this might not be the case. I will still be taking a photo each day, and I will continue my resolution of a photo each day. I can promise this.

If you’re interested in hearing about my trip, as it progresses. Just drop me an email to manningp@nsac.ca, this should be a fairly reliable server that doesn’t take too long to load. It will serve as my main connection to communicate with others. I will add you to the list, and my wishes are to send out periodic bulletins of how the summer is progressing, what I have been seeing, what I have been doing, who I have been meeting.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and understanding for me as I take on this new adventure. I wish everyone a happy and healthy summer.


Sälam,

Paul