Last Week Barjo, This Week Goshpa

Goshpa in Hamar means “to cause to look beautiful, to adorn.” Women are adorned with butter and red ochre, iron rings on arms and legs and around the neck, with ostrich feathers, beads, etc., and men are similarly beautified with beads, bracelets, feathers, special hair dress and so on. *

Fascinating to me, the term goshpa has also received a metaphorical extension which pertains to the social domain: you may adorn someone by accepting her or him. You beautify others by expressing your liking for them. Furthermore, goshpa has a reciprocal element because it applies both to the host and the guest. The guest gains by the good things the host does for her/him and the host gains by the good sentiment s/he creates in the guest.

I am often invited to huts for coffee chaff (discarded coffee bean shells that are boiled repeatedly). I crawl into the hut (imagine - a 62 year old arthritic woman who barely fits through the opening which is a foot off the ground), sit on a cow hide and pretend to drink the coffee. After 15 minutes, I crawl out of the hut and off I go. Learning the concept of goshpahelps me understand the significance of the event. The Hamar host “beautifies” me by giving me coffee chaff and I “beautify” my host because s/he can tell others of my visit.

I marvel that a starving Hamar family gives away their last bit of sorghum (grain) when an unexpected guest shows up at their hut. However, this is a culture where all people know each other and they are willing to give away all they have. To be ready to give is held to be of great value. But you don't count the returns, you don't think like a merchant.

I wish I had understood goshpa when we first introduced CBLA (Community-based Learning in Action) in Hamar. Our behavior change consultant warned us not to provide coffee or incentives of any kind to motivate people to come to our training sessions. Giving incentives prevents sustainability. CBLA specializes in internal motivation. Hamar elders argued repeatedly that we had to provide coffee – there was no option. We finally agreed that when they come to a session we organize (our house) we provide the coffee. When the community organizes training (their house) they provide the coffee. This process would have been much smoother if I knew then what I know now. Providing coffee will not inhibit sustainability...it is only goshpa!

*excerpts from “Do the Hamar have a Concept of Honor?” by Ivo Strecker

Why the Hamar?

I’m often asked, “Why the Hamar?” Until today, I answered by relating my discovery journey and how I became intellectually challenged to discover what could be done to help the Hamar adapt to their changing environment. Today, I discovered the real answer: my personal mantra and lifetime goal (to be the unending source of Love, Peace and Harmony) is congruent with Barjo, the most important Hamar value.

Reading an excerpt from “Cultural Variations in the Concept of Face” by Ivo Strecker* triggered my 'aha!' moment. It says,

“Barjo exists wherever there is well-being, harmony, good fortune. When well-being disappears, barjo has disappeared. Therefore the physical and social health of a person is a direct expression of his or her barjo. According to the Hamar, without barjo no development and continued existence is possible.

In their eyes, false humility is the greatest enemy of equality, and this is why they encourage boasting and self-elevation. Everyone should think of herself/himself as great and capable and act accordingly. At the same time, if s/he fails, if for some reason s/he does not reach the intended goal, s/he should not feel guilty or despised. This is why the Hamar have no concept of sin, shame or honor. A person should not be inhibited by the fear of losing face if s/he fails. The consequence of failure should only be positive, that is, the person does not continue doing what s/he is not good at. In Hamar people always make a clear conceptual separation between what someone is and what s/he does.

The practice of calling barjo is closely related to this: by calling barjo people bless each other. They do this especially after conflicts have occurred among them. When a bad deed has been done, it is not the offender who is condemned, but the deed, and both the offender and the offended are subsequently blessed. No one speaks of loss of face, shame, or sin in such situations. What counts is the barjo of people, that is, their well-balanced and harmonic power to live. If your barjo is rich, you will act well. You will be socially competent and able both to assert your own sphere of action as well as to respect the interests of others.”

Thank you, Ivo Strecker, for articulating this concept so clearly. And, as always, I owe heartfelt thanks to my Hamar friends who continuously enrich my life.

Click here for the story of how the Hamar graced my unknowing misdeed with barjo, instead of condemnation.

* (1993) In: Multilingua, 12: 119-41.

Straddling the developed world (USA) and the developing world (Ethiopia) is fascinating. Each has its unique advantages and challenges. In the USA, I can access anything and everything on demand. And, such choice! Fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, whatever I want. Unfortunately, with so much emphasis on activities and acquiring things, time spent really listening to each other appears limited. Zoom, bam, boom. The more, the better and quickly, please.

There are limited options here in Ethiopia. The electricity goes out-light some candles; internet doesn’t work-try again tomorrow; there is no garlic-buy more onions. But, pass someone on the street, make eye contact and say “salaam.” See a friend; greet them with three kisses to alternating cheeks. In a friend’s neighborhood, stop by for a cup of tea. Relationship is everything, possessions are yours to share.

I took the local taxi (very old blue VW mini-van that belches exhaust as it struggles up the hills of Addis) to a new 5 star hotel to exchange dollars to birr in order to recharge my internet wireless card today. The cost for a 2 mile ride . . . about 7¢. Unfortunately, the phone system isn’t working right now so recharging isn’t available. I call the recharge number every 30 minutes or so. Maybe tomorrow it will work.

I stopped at a vegetable stand and purchased carrots, onions, jalapeño peppers, limes and mangos for 29 ETB ($1.71). I’ll sauté the vegetables and add them to dry chicken noodle soup I brought from the US which will feed me for several days. Fortunately, I’ve learned to eat for nutrition vs. variety of textures and taste! I have some nuts that I’ll add to the mango and limes for breakfast. My beverage of choice is spiced tea water infused with a well used tea bag. Not fancy, but safe to drink.

Life is good. I love my Northfield home in the US where I’m close to family, friends and internet always works. And, I love being in Africa, slowly doing my life’s work. I am blessed to be in excellent health and privileged to enjoy such a variety of experiences.

A friend asked me a tough, but very relevant, question recently. “How do you feel about going back to Ethiopia after all these months?”

I have really enjoyed being home. I love living in my new (old) house in rural Northfield with my son, David. My daughter, Shayla, is able to come stay occasionally. My eldest daughter, Melissa, gave birth to a beautiful little boy, James Robert, in May and my granddaughter, Ella, is helping Mom take excellent care of him. Summer has finally arrived in MN, everything is so lush and green and the mosquitoes are very hungry! David and I now have two dogs, Charlie & Baxter, plus our wise old cat, Bucca. So – it’s tough to leave. I reconnected with old friends and have made some wonderful new friends. I’m delighted that Northfield is my home base in the US. I’m going to miss being here.

Nevertheless I leave for Ethiopia on Thursday. My Ethiopian staff reminds me I have been away too long! Email and Skype are a godsend but I’m anxious to interact personally with them (we’re up to 20 employees in Ethiopia now, you know), colleagues and friends. I love Ethiopians. They are so gracious and loving. I’ve never know a group of people who care so much about each other, including we “forengi” (their word for white person).

We have lots to accomplish both in Addis -new grant proposals, donor meetings, harmonizing activities with other organizations, etc., as well as in the field -three new wells are being dug, CBLA (Community-based Learning in Action) is starting in new communities, the Rotary project in Dore/Wassemu is phasing out, a new project is phasing in, the rural trading center in Minogelti is opening, etc.

The Hamar elders are asking, “Where’s Lori Jim?” They call me Lori Jim because my father’s name was Jim. In Ethiopia, each child receives his/her own first name, their second name is their father’s, the third name their grandfather’s. No one ever changes their name, unlike me who has changed my name three times (Lori Pappas, Lori Salewski, Lori Sweningson, back to Lori Pappas). Geez – what a confusing, dehumanizing process!

Conditions in “Hamar-land” are even more difficult these days. Have you seen the stories in the news talking about the severe drought and malnutrition in southern Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Kenya? Well – that’s what it is like in Hamar-land. It’s time for me to see firsthand what can be done to ease their situation.