Day 4 in Africa

Here is our Day 4 recap of some fun and interesting adventures!

Day 4: Waking up to our second day in the country town of Debre Berhan was exciting. We had a great long drive out the night before and shot late into the night at Dereje’s, but the team was ready for another day with him and his family. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we wanted to capture Dereje and his family during their normal Sunday activities, which were going to church and spending the day together as a family. We loaded our faithful bus with gear and began traveling the couple miles or so to Dereje’s house.

As we unloaded, we caught his family walking the dusty road to the paved road where they would rent a horse drawn carriage for the rest of the way. Although we drew lots of looks as we followed the family, I could tell they just loved being together. As we turned from the main road onto smaller neighborhood streets, we were amazed by the variety of materials used to construct the homes (or shelters) in which people lived…corrugated metal, sticks, mud, blocks, scrap pieces of wood, and the list goes on. Arriving at Dereje’s church, I soon realized it was the same church we had visited the year before to interview the men and women who were in LIA HIV programs.

The church service to revved up with the sounds of prayer and praise. As I sat among the parishioners and experienced the service, I felt a definite difference in energy versus my typical experience back home. Afterwards, we filmed the community and their interaction in fellowship. We had a quick interview with Dereje’s wife in her office (she is local social worker) and headed back to the hotel to give the family at least a few hours before we interrupted their life again with our cameras and questions.

After everyone caught a quick nap and had some food, we hauled our gear to a bus to catch a ride back to Dereje’s. But after 30-40 minutes of waiting, it became evident that we needed a Plan B. Justin Narducci, LIA director, decided to rent five horse drawn carts to haul us all to Dereje’s. Even though this may sound like a reasonable plan, it really wasn’t. The construction of these contraptions isn’t not overly rugged by design. Put on us westerners, who are probably 80-120 pounds heavier than the average Ethiopian, and we are in trouble from the word go. Throw on the gear and we are truly challenging the likelihood of getting to our destination safely.

As we all jump on and go I have to admit I was excited for this little adventure. We began clanking along but our driver struggled to steer, stop, and just to keep us going period. As the whole team went screaming through the rocky side roads, we were laughing nervously and hoping that the feeling of being out of control was just a feeling. For a sample video peek go here.

When we finally made it Dereje’s we had been lost, bottomed out several times, and nearly driven off a small cliff. To top off this little adventure, Justin, in all his haste to get us to the shoot site, forgot his money. So here are our drivers who barely got us there, and now we had no cash. After working out that little predicament we had a great night shooting the family being together and interviewing Dereje on his background and why he does this amazingly huge and daunting job. For that story, you will need to see the film coming out this fall – so stay tuned!

For a recap of our adventure up to this day check out: Day 1-2 | Day 3 | 2008 Trip | LIA website