WORKING IN ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is one of the most ancient countries in the world, officially known as Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. By area, it is the 10th largest in Africa with almost 80 million in populations. The Philippines is just 1/10th in land area yet with the same population as Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a very poor country with less water thus sanitation is a major problem.

When I was called for interview as Accounting Lecturer in one of the Universities in Ethiopia, I was very excited. Upon receipt of my flight schedule, I immediately packed my luggage. Mind you, despite the limited space, I manage to insert my pillow, my favorite pillow I bought from PureComfortLinens.com. I brought along my own pillow, pillowcases, and bedsheets.

I thought the temperature there is sizzling hot. I was wrong. It was very cold when we arrived at Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. There were five of us who arrived from Manila on that day of December 13, 2005. It was a cold, very cold December morning that I couldn’t sleep despite the deadening travel from one continent to another.

Have you ever experienced cold air getting through your nostrils while you breathe? It was compelling to cover my face with a heavy comforter to get some sleep, still I couldn’t. It was really hard to enshroud oneself in a comforter to get some sleep. I’d rather put some cotton balls in my nose. I remember when I was a kid it was hard for me to understand why cotton balls are inserted in nostrils of dead people. Now it’s easy to understand why people who are still alive wear cotton balls.

The educational system in Ethiopia is very much different from any educational system in the world. A classroom is composed of more than 200 students, mostly male. In my classes, there were only 3 to five female students. I was amazed, why? Women in Ethiopia are considered second class citizens. They work while their husbands study. Most construction workers are women. During Sundays, you seldom see a family with a mother eating in a café. Children enjoy the day with their fathers. Holdings hands are common in males, not with females. I was really surprised to see two men walking down the streets holding hands. Homosexuality is however, prohibited in Ethiopia.



Teachers in Alemaya University where I was deployed, only give lectures the whole session. If a session is for two hours, you do all the taking for hours, the students just listen. Quizzes, recitations, seat works and other classroom interplay are not allowed. It was a mess when I first handled my class in Auditing. After I lectured on a topic, I gave a short quiz and lo, everybody was complaining. Some boycotted my class and never came back; others filed formal complaints and hated my style. It was really a surprisal for me. I lack the necessary orientation before handling my classes. I later understood the reason for such proscriptions.

Students are not provided with the necessary materials like notebooks and ball pens, although they enjoy free board and lodging. Even these simple things, they cannot afford to buy. Dormitories were built to house all students who are all government scholars. Free foods are provided, but school materials are not. Accounting books in the library are obsolete. There are no textbooks only reference materials are available. They cannot take down notes, so the teacher must provide the handouts. I was teaching Accounting, so it was very hard for me. Worksheets and textbooks are indispensable in accounting subjects.

Indeed, Ethiopia is a wretched country despite its very large land area and fertile soil. I was endowed with curiosity, what could be the reason for such a pitiable condition? I guess, the main reason is disunity among the people. There are many conflicting ethnic groups, the Oromos, Ahmaras, the Tigres, etc. Campus riots are a usual occurrence among ethnic groups. When I was still there, a student died during a riot. Another reason maybe is resistance to change. I remember telling the University President in one of our conversations, I said: “a person, who cannot change his mind, cannot change anything”.

I did not stay long, six months thereafter, I came home. I came home with the same pillow I brought when I left for Ethiopia. My pillow, the only thing that comforted me, featherbedded my depleted mind and body. My pillow, my only soothing balm while working in Ethiopia.

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INSOMNIA IS NOT INCURABLE

Still wide awake. . . . awake to the dangers of the situation or not awake to the reality of this predicament? You must be suffering from stress or depression!

One of the most horrible effects of stress and depression is INSOMNIA. According to Dr. Thomas Yarnell, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, twenty five per cent of all adults have one form of insomnia or another. Where you find yourself having difficulty in falling asleep when you go to bed, you are suffering from insomnia. Likewise, where you fall asleep easily but wake up too early is also another form of insomnia. Some other form of insomnia is where you fall asleep easily or with difficulty but wake up frequently during the night.

Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together. Lack of sleep impairs our immune system. How much sleep do we need? There is no amount of sleep that is right for everyone. Surveys by the National Sleep Foundation account that most adults get less sleep than they need. Many others need more than depending on what type of insomnia they are suffering from.



Sleep problem is not incurable. There are solutions clinical psychologists suggest. But first, identify the need. How much sleep do you need to stay alert all day? The next step is to go to bed at the same time every night. Establish a bedtime ritual. This is conditioning the body to improve your emotional disposition.

Avoid caffeine, if possible no coffee, tea or colored soft drinks. Caffeine keeps you awake. No heavy meals before bedtime. Every muscle must be relaxed once on bed. Take a deep breath. Focus on your extremities and let them relax. A glass of milk thirty minutes before going to bed can help boost your serotonin in your brain that causes you to become sleepy. If they intervene with your normal sleeping pattern, avoid naps also.

Never ever use your bedroom as a place of work. Instead of being relaxed, it conditions your body to be alert and stressed. Keep it dark and well-ventilated with temperature cool enough to cool your body. Consider it someplace that is very peaceful and secure a sanctuary or a world of fantasy.

Avoid sleeping on your stomach. It results in shallow breathing and causes so much pressure on your lungs. Research indicates that the best position for relaxing is sleeping on your back. The deeper you breathe, the greater the relaxation.

Last, but not least, being physically uncomfortable can lead to serious wakefulness. Buy a comfortable mattress and pillow with matching linens and bedspread. Comfort makes a good sleep. Soft pillows serve as tricking balm to bleeding pains, cure your distempered mind and heal your fortunes.

After taking a warm bath, you are now ready to relax and sleep tightly.

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What kind of pillow will make you happy?

Many of us have experienced or maybe, are still suffering from backaches, headaches and stiff necks after sleeping for hours. Instead of feeling refreshed after a quiet slumber, we feel the other way around. This happens due to our sleeping habits that are not supported by the right pillows.

Those who have suffered stiff necks and headaches due to using wrong pillows may use bucket pillows that are easily shaped to support your necks. Firm or extra firm hypo down pillows offer you a buoyant pillow that provide proper spine alignment.

If you are a softy, petite and small-boned and usually sleep primarily on your sides, you will be happy with hypo down pillows with a soft and medium firmness. It will prevent your head from being raised too high, thus promote blood circulation by keeping your neck straight your sides.

For average size, who usually sleeps on your stomach or stomach and back, to keep the neck in line with the spine, your sleeping habits require a little more support; medium to firm hypo down pillows will suit you best.
For tall or large, you need a buoyant pillow that provides proper spine alignment. A firm or extra firm hypo down will comfort you.

Whatever, wherever, we always wanted you to be comfortable in your sleep. We, at PureComfortLinens.com never stop innovating to give you the purest comfort ever with our line of sleeping products. Please visit our site for more information at http://www.PureComfortLinens.com

PHYSICAL ATTRACTION OR SEXUAL AROUSAL, AND LUST

Many people don't know the divergence between physical attraction or sexual arousal and lust. They are not the same. Everyone of us is a sexual being. Attraction and arousal are the instinctual, self-generated, God-given responses to natural beauty, while lust is a deliberate act of the will characterized by conscious design or purpose.

Lust is a choice to commit in your mind what you'd like to do with your body. Without choosing to sin by lusting, you can be attracted or even aroused. Attraction is not lust until you begin to think anxiously about it.

Christian men oftentimes feel guilty when their hormones are working, especially when they see attractive women. They feel ashamed and condemned because they assumed the physical sensation is lust. But no, it is simply an attraction and nothing more.

Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it. Martin Luther once said: “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”