Living at Site

The name of the town I live in is Woliso.  Woliso is located in the Southwest Shoa zone of the Oromia region.  Woliso is located approximately 112 kilometers west of Addis Ababa.  I have been told that the population of Woliso is approximately 50,657, but I think that the population is much closer to100,000.  Oromifa and Amharic are both widely spoken in Woliso.  Amharic is the national language and Oromifa is the regional language and is also the working language of the town.  Ethiopian Orthodox is the dominant religion in Woliso, but Protestantism and Islam are also commonly practiced religions.

In Woliso, there is one big hospital called Lukas Hospital.  There is also a health center and other clinics that provide curative healthcare and other health-related services.  These services are provided for those in the town and the nearby communities.  The primary focus of the health office is disease prevention and health promotion and their primary goal is to improve the health status of the community.  The major health issues affecting the community include intestinal parasites, acute respiratory disease, typhoid fever and other communicable diseases, which result from poor personal and environmental hygiene.  HIV/AIDS is also a major public health problem affecting the community in Woliso.

There are a few Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) located in Woliso.  Two of the NGOs in Woliso are Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) and Marie Stopes International.  FGAE works on sexual and reproductive health services like family planning, safe abortion care, maternal and child health care, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS and associated opportunistic infection in the town.  Marie Stopes International is working on a family health program, providing family health clinics. 

One of the agricultural cash crops around the community of Woliso is “Teff.”  The second largest flower farm in Ethiopia, owned by the Indian company Surya Blossoms, had its official opening in Woliso on June 22, 2009.  There are also market days in town on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I can find a variety of vegetables, fruits, and many other things at the market.  Located around Woliso are Negash Lodge and Lake Wenchi (which are tourist areas).

I live in a very nice compound.  Others who live there include the compound family, another Peace Corps volunteer, and one other tenant.  The compound has a large grassy area and the compound family has two cows and a handful of chickens.  There is a working shower that only has cold water.  It is much nicer than the showers that many other volunteers have.  Rather than having a western toilet, most compounds (including mine) have what is called a shint bet.  It is basically a hole in the ground and is in some ways similar to an outhouse.

My house itself is also nice.  It is a concrete one-room home, but it is a large room.  There really is much more room than I need and really is a little nicer than what other volunteers have.  Keep in mind though that the compounds that volunteers live in vary from place to place due to region and the size of the town.  Also, other compounds that volunteers live in may be nice as well, but in different ways.  I have included a couple of pictures of my compound (yard and room) below.

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