English Stories • January 1, 2023

Children from Africa Reveal Life’s Greatest Lessons-Join the Journey

Children of Africa having a good laugh — Children of Africa taken from Pinterest

Children From Ether they came

Life’s antidotes come in funny packages.

Life’s antidotes come in funny packages and when it comes from children from far off land you write a story.

My now, rather confined life is annoyingly yet beautifully juxtaposed to my
ever-on- trot partner.

The surround-quite engulfed us.

My life-essential in health and in sickness.

From the period 2011 through 2015, tasked upon developing the Africa market, he was giving the continent regular visits.

One incident narrated then, forms the cornerstone of today’s post.

Tale-telling as ,was recounted:

“This time It was Ethiopia.

Armed with the imagery of rickety, famine stricken , skeleton-y , ‘human- like’ figurines from this seriously under developed country, I took to google to brush up a subject, I long left in school.

The search threw up some surprises.

Ethiopia is the fastest growing country in Africa with education and health care making the kill, in government priorities.

Intrigued by my recent findings,I prepared to explore this picturesque Country.

Chanced upon a serendipitous break, we, a team of three, set out to explore the virgin beauty of lake Assal.

Standing by the desolate lakefront, the arresting stretch of turquoise in view, we soaked in the moment.

The lilting harmony of water touching the shore, the travelling breeze, fluttering our attire stretched like rubber bands while starching our tresses, broke the quiet, sporadically

We lost track of time……

And, a whistling murmur brought us back.

The murmur grew loud as we located a collection of hazy, little, dark silhouettes running towards us, forming sand clouds, as their feet touched the loose sand.

The blurry, quivering vision took form, when the crowd pulled near.

A big group of scantily clad kids carrying big transparent packets,

filled with whitish granules, swiftly fenced us, leaving no room for escape.

Mis-adventurism ticked right, we instantly repented not having a local guide with us.

The kids clamoured all at once, as we started to secure our back pockets, for obvious safety measures.

Speaking in their local dialect and using interesting sign languages, the boy-band communicated that a complete buy-out of the packets is expected from tourists like us.

But our raised hands and rotating palm signalled unavailability of any local currency needed for the purchase.

Dark, disappointed eyes glued on our taut smirky visage, minutes passed in silence.

And then it happened. A lanky teenager, seemingly the band conductor, slowly collected six of those packets, and handed them to us in broken english,

‘this raw salt of lake. No find anywhere.Our gift to your.’

The thunderous, sand-cloud dissolved in the distance, as we stood there, holding our gifts, dumbfounded.

This raw salt, unique to this region is a vital cog in the meagre hand-to-mouth existence of the locals.

The packeted salt, we robbed the kids of, is actually their few days of earning, which they gifted us, believing we have ‘nothing’,without batting an eyelid.

Yes.

Gift from the Horn of Africa.

From kids to us.

Call it the perks of under development or investment in human indices.

Disturbingly silent, our vehicle wheeled out, as the stereo inside crooned:

Tsamina Mina eh eh waka waka he ae e

Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa…..”

🎼🎼🎼

Salt of Lake Assal, Djubuti — Salt of Lake Assal, Djibuti

Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world. Its total population has grown from 38.1 million in 1983 to 109.5 million in 2018.
According to UN estimations in 2013, life expectancy had improved substantially over time, with male life expectancy reported to be 56 years and for women 60 years.
Ethiopia’s population is highly diverse, containing over 80 different ethnic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromo, Amhara, Somali and Tigrayans.
According to the Ethiopian national census of 2007, the Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, at 34.4% of the nation’s population.
The Amhara represent 27.0% of the country’s inhabitants, while Somalis and Tigrayans represent 6.2% and 6.1% of the population respectively.
Afroasiatic-speaking communities make up the majority of the population.
Located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia covers a land area of 1,104,300 square kilometres (426,400 sq mi).
As of 2024, it has around 132 million inhabitants, making it the tenth-most populous country in the world, the second-most populous in Africa after Nigeria, and the most populated landlocked country on Earth.
The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates.
According to the 2007 National Census, Christians make up 62.8% of the country’s population, Muslims 33.9%, practitioners of traditional faiths 2.6%, and other religions 0.6%.
The ratio of the Christian to Muslim population has largely remained stable when compared to previous censuses conducted decades ago.