After the ‘official’ Prints for Prints workshop wrapped up
in Bahir Dar, our team split up for some more exploring. Steve Bloch and Bill Purcell headed up to Lalibela and I headed
south to Arba Minch with Constance Spurling. Each pair packed along a printer in case
there were more opportunities to spread the Prints for Prints love along the
way.
Constance and I stayed at an absolutely magical place
outside of Arba Minch – aptly named Paradise Lodge. I was anxious to explore a new part of
Ethiopia and top of the list was to go to the Nechisar National Park to see
some animals (Zebras! Crocodiles! Hippos!)
Little did we know the highlight of the trip would be the people we met along
the way. We hired a boat, a guide
(Temesegn aka Tom) and a guard/scout (armed with a rifle, but mandatory for all
visitors to the national park) and set off across Lake Chamo. Hippos?
Check! Crocodiles? Check!
All within 10 minutes of our journey.
Constance with our guide Tom and the scout.
After about 90 minutes, we finally were getting close to
land and noticed a couple papyrus rafts along the shore and a couple men came
down to shore to wave to us. Tom
directed the boat to pull in and we hopped out. We climbed up a narrow little path and
passed some signs of a rustic campsite – a couple tarps, a chicken, some
plastic bottles and containers. Several
men welcomed us in to a clearing where there was a large platter of fish
(mainly raw) and bread. Constance was
brave and ate the fish, which was fed to her by hand by the men, as is often
the custom in Ethiopia. I (the wimpy
vegetarian) ate some bread. They generously
shared their food with us and allowed us to take a few photos.
The fishermen were ‘squatting’ on the National Forest
land. They would leave their village for
2-3 weeks to come to this spot and set up fishing nets. Guides like Tom serve as a ‘ferry’ service
for the fish they catch and bring it to market. After a couple weeks, they return home for a
week or so, then begin the cycle all over again. It’s an extremely dangerous and hard
occupation. In fact, two fishermen were killed
by crocodiles in the weeks prior to our visit. Clearly the small, lightweight papyrus
rafts offer little protection from the crocodiles.
Note the crocodile in the foreground.
Both Constance and I had the ‘aha’ moment as we were sitting
and talking to them that we would love to be able to give them prints to take
back to their families in the village. Given the perilous nature of the work, they
truly didn’t know if they would safely return after each trip. It was a powerful reminder of how something
as simple as a photo print can provide comfort for the family left behind. Luckily, Tom runs this route on a fairly
regular basis and agreed to deliver the prints to them. So we rushed back to the lodge and cranked
out some prints on the Canon Selphy. I
wish we could have gone back to deliver them in person. Yet another example of the hospitality of
Ethiopians – people who have so little by American standards will graciously
share everything they have with random tourists who come tromping in to their
campsite. And expect nothing in
return. A print might not be much but
it is at least a token that we as photographers can give instead of just
‘taking’ a photograph.
This is just one small example of Prints for Prints in
action. I don’t think I will ever
travel without packing along a little printer!
Constance wrote a great blog entry (with more pics!) about our day in Nechisar. Check it out!
