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10 - Orono Weekly limes, Wednesday. March 1. 2000 )■ Top speakers from each class at Centennial Public School in Kirby told their stories and performed performed speeches before a group of parents, peers and judges last Thursday morning. Front row, left to right - Erin Coldin, Alexandra TrowsSe, Colleen Kennedy, Heidi Brabin, Meaghan Ball, Lindsey Dalzell. Back row - Robert Kay, Michelle Neal, Jennifer Kennedy, Claire Dalzell, Laura Kay, Erika Lewis. Robert Kay's speech.titled, 'Who Wants to be Popular?' received the highest marks and Robert had the opportunity to perform it again at the Legion competition last Sunday. Out of Africa - Part 6 by: Aubrey and Keren Kassiser Faranji Fever For two Canadians, Ethiopia is an odd place, beautiful and different, illogical and troubling. 'Although typically African in difficulties with infrastructure and government government bureaucracy, and the large disparity between urban 'and rural life, the government apparently turns down assistance when the aid does not suit its agenda. Despite the infamous famine of 1985 and the need for' annual assistance regarding food supply, Ethiopia is actually relatively relatively green and fertile in the populated highlands. Still, millions of desert nomads are at risk of starvation starvation this year if the rains do not arrive. Ethiopians do not actually actually consider themselves African. First, Coke does not appear to have a monopoly here, although it is still more prevalent than Pepsi. Second, they call themselves Ethiopians, while everyone else in Africa with coloured skin is a Black African and the white-skinned people are "Faranjis" (foreigners). But the most obvious distinc tion comes from never being colonised; the Italians did leave a legacy of gelato and Italian restaurants restaurants after their Fascist World War II occupation, but the lack of colonial rule has resulted in a populace completely unaccustomed to the white skin of the Faranji. . We are currently living behind gates with a guard. This is not jail, but rather a pleasant paradise with a wonderful woman (who works for CARE) and her son. Embassies and a small art gallery are around the corner, while nightfall apparently brings the prostitutes prostitutes to our street. Travelling as a backpacker backpacker can get tiring - mostly on account of the grueling, pace and the sensory sensory overload we seem to encounter when we arrive in an unfamiliar place. As our stomachs seem to be in questionable shape at the moment, it has been nice to have a safe place with a soft bed to regroup and recqup. Also, we have really been enjoying our little snippet of expatriate family life in Addis Ababa. Yesterday, having already enjoyed the cultural museum and found a replacement camera (not an easy feat in Ethiopia), we decided to take a day trip within the city. This particular particular stone church, carved into the rock from the top down, required a hike into the hills on the edge of the city. Unfortunately, the guidebook directions were not nearly detailed enough, and the shack village behind the cemetery from which we began our two- hour trek gave us our Faranji Fever initiation. • One persistent older boy, a self-appointed guide,, refused to heed our polite requests for privacy and eventually followed us throwing rocks at our heads and screaming obscenities in English. The remainder of the children were merely annoying and unconscious of the notion of privacy. A football game came to a dead halt as 'we passed, with ty pical. catcalls of "you, you, you" and "money, money, money". Other children just followed followed us and pointed out the obvious: "Faranji." Responding with "Habbishat" (Ethiopian) usually got a laugh and some temporary relief. Most adults, when asked, pointed us in the right direction, and we made. it to the church in time for lunch. The man who kindly approached us to ask where we were going and talk about the church wanted money to allow us entrance. His friend showed, us the keys in his hands. Our books did not mention, entrance fees to this church -in the middle of nowhere, there was no sign posted, and no one looked very official. We were uncomfortable with their approach, including including his warning about two Americans robbed at knifepoint knifepoint in the forest we had just walked through, which did not help our already shaken confidence. Unwilling to risk bringing out the large bill required to pay the hefty fee they demanded, before heading into an underground church while outnumbered, we offered them what we had in our- outer pockets. We considered this an act of negotiated extortion, as we highly doubted this lock and key operation was any thing official. Apparently what we had in our pockets was not enough; they told us to go home. And so we did, hoping we would not get lost backtracking backtracking through the same forest, village, and cemetery. cemetery. By the end of the day, we had enjoyed an excellent excellent hike, some quiet reading reading time, and then enjoyed dinner out with our host. The highlight of the evening was a midnight 'hour of traditional, shoulder-wagging, shoulder-wagging, chest thrusting, thrusting, head bopping Ethiopian dancing with a bunch of Ethiopians just having fun late on a Saturday night. Travellers either love or hate Ethiopia, a country difficult to travel independently. independently. The continuing war with Eritrea has made northern communities inaccessible. inaccessible. We know it has wondrous people and places to see. We know a month is not nearly enough time here. And we have not yet ventured out of Addis Ababa ('New Flower' in Amharic), the big-city capital, to the rural areas where Faranji Fever will reach its heights. We hope we will love it here in Ethiopia. Ducks Unlimited's wetlands provide clean, fresh water for people and wildlife. Ministry of Ministère des Natural Resources Richesses naturelles First Public Notice Meeting About the Orono Mill Pond Dam and Orono Forest Land Property Thursday, March 23rd • 7 to 9 p.m. at Orono Arena and Community Centre 2 Princess St., Orono, Ontario The MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES is holding a public meeting to discuss the future of the Orono Mill Pond Dam located on the Orono Creek in the village of Orono, Municipality of Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham. This meeting and planning process are in accordance with the approved Class Environmental Assessment for Small Scale MNR projects. Various options will be presented for discussion including DECOMMISSIONING of the structure, and REPAIRING the dam. Any one who feels that environmental concerns remain unresolved after consulting MNR staff, may request that the project be subject to an individual environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act. Comments and information collected regarding this proposal will be kept on file and unless otherwise requested, will be available for public review. You may direct any inquiries, comments or requests about this proposal to Greg Bales, Project Coordinator, by March 31st, 2000 at the addrebs shown below. Final notice of this project will be sent to those who reply to this notice and to those who are most directly affected. The Orono Forest land management planning process will also be introduced at the' meeting. Public input on issues and strategies strategies for management of the Orono Forest Land Property (formerly part of the Orono Tree Nursery) would be appreciated. MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AURORA .DISTRICT OFFICE 50 Bloomington Road West, Aurora, Ontario L4G 3G8 Phone (905) 713-7395 • Fax (905) 713-7361. © Ontario