Brigadier General Marcia Anderson trains Ethiopian troops
A mission to Ethiopia
A mission to Ethiopia
Brigadier General Marcia Anderson at her
installation ceremony at the State Capitol
installation ceremony at the State Capitol
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 2 of 2
During most of her army reserve career, Brigadier General Marcia Anderson has been an educator
and administrator within the United States. Due to the nature of her role within the army reserve, there
is little chance that she will be sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other hotspot where the U.S. plays a
military role. Anderson was definitely a domestic career officer.
But an opportunity came along that she couldn’t refuse and Anderson found herself in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia for five days teaching a professional development course to members of the Ethiopian military.
After recovering from jet lag and teaching her course, Anderson had the opportunity to tour Addis Ababa
and the area surrounding it.
Addis Ababa is located in the midst of mountains. On her last day, Anderson went to the top of Mt.
Entoto just outside of Addis Ababa. “There is a church there that held the Ark of the Covenant,”
Anderson said. “It was built by Menelik the Second. One of those stone churches was there that is
carved out of rock. There was one that was very close to that church. I think there are about 14 of those
across the country. They aren’t big because they are carved out of rock. There’s a level of spiritual
devotion there that doesn’t exist here in this country. Maybe it does in some pockets, but it isn't so
Part 2 of 2
During most of her army reserve career, Brigadier General Marcia Anderson has been an educator
and administrator within the United States. Due to the nature of her role within the army reserve, there
is little chance that she will be sent to Iraq, Afghanistan or any other hotspot where the U.S. plays a
military role. Anderson was definitely a domestic career officer.
But an opportunity came along that she couldn’t refuse and Anderson found herself in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia for five days teaching a professional development course to members of the Ethiopian military.
After recovering from jet lag and teaching her course, Anderson had the opportunity to tour Addis Ababa
and the area surrounding it.
Addis Ababa is located in the midst of mountains. On her last day, Anderson went to the top of Mt.
Entoto just outside of Addis Ababa. “There is a church there that held the Ark of the Covenant,”
Anderson said. “It was built by Menelik the Second. One of those stone churches was there that is
carved out of rock. There was one that was very close to that church. I think there are about 14 of those
across the country. They aren’t big because they are carved out of rock. There’s a level of spiritual
devotion there that doesn’t exist here in this country. Maybe it does in some pockets, but it isn't so
widespread. It’s mainly an Orthodox Christian country. Obviously there are Islam and other religions there. But the dominant religion is Orthodox
Christian.”
Anderson was impressed by the religious devotion of the children. She was there during the Lenten season and people were observing fasts,
including the young children. As Anderson and her escort went through the streets of Addis Ababa, they ran into a group of school children who
approached them because they knew she was a tourist. “They liked candy and they were all learning English in school,” Anderson said. “We gave
them some candy and one little boy — he couldn’t be more than eight years old — scrutinized it because it had a picture of a cow on it. They aren’t
supposed to eat dairy on certain days during Lent when they are fasting. He handed it to Mohammed, our driver, because he wanted him to read the
ingredients and see if it was okay for him to eat it. I was struck number one by the fact that he didn’t immediately rip it open and start eating it. And
then he handed it to an adult to make sure it was okay. And when Mohammed indicated that it did have dairy products, he said he couldn’t have it. I
wouldn’t have done that at his age. So we gave him something else that clearly didn’t have dairy products in them.”
While she was there, Anderson became a huge fan of Ethiopian coffee. “They have a huge coffee industry there,” Anderson said. “They consider
theirs to be the best coffee in the world. I have to say that I don’t normally drink black coffee, but it was offered at the end of the meal, so I wasn’t
going to refuse it. I put a little sugar in it and I’ll tell you. After that — I don’t want to mention any coffee companies’ names — the stuff we get here is
not coffee. There’s no bitter aftertaste. It was wonderful. It was just amazing. There’s a rainy season. I don’t know if it is the soil where they grow it or
what. But it was just some amazing coffee. I brought some back with me and I guard it jealously.”
While Americans often look upon the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, it was a terrorist attack that
was felt around the world. When Anderson was at the top of Mt. Entoto, she visited the Ethiopians’ 9/11 memorial. “A lot of Ethiopians worked at
Windows of the World, which was at the top of the World Trade Center, and were killed when the towers collapsed,” Anderson explained. “So they
feel a real strong connection. They built the memorial at the top of the mountain and it has a wonderful view of the city and it is very pretty.”
The Ethiopians were also very interested in the recent American presidential election. “Our driver told us that a lot of the restaurants in the city
gave away free food and put up big screen televisions and offered drinks,” Anderson said about last November’s election. “People came, sat and
watched our returns. I though that there were people in our country who didn’t bother to watch our election returns. There were lots of kids running
around wearing Obama t-shirts and they were selling them in a lot of the shops. They had several magazines with pictures of him on the front talking
about something. They are still very excited about that. When the election was over, they were in the streets celebrating.”
And while Ethiopia is a democracy, they hold the American system as the ideal. As Anderson’s driver put it, “‘We have democracy, democracy
by force,’” Anderson said. “They just have a different way of doing business.”
Christian.”
Anderson was impressed by the religious devotion of the children. She was there during the Lenten season and people were observing fasts,
including the young children. As Anderson and her escort went through the streets of Addis Ababa, they ran into a group of school children who
approached them because they knew she was a tourist. “They liked candy and they were all learning English in school,” Anderson said. “We gave
them some candy and one little boy — he couldn’t be more than eight years old — scrutinized it because it had a picture of a cow on it. They aren’t
supposed to eat dairy on certain days during Lent when they are fasting. He handed it to Mohammed, our driver, because he wanted him to read the
ingredients and see if it was okay for him to eat it. I was struck number one by the fact that he didn’t immediately rip it open and start eating it. And
then he handed it to an adult to make sure it was okay. And when Mohammed indicated that it did have dairy products, he said he couldn’t have it. I
wouldn’t have done that at his age. So we gave him something else that clearly didn’t have dairy products in them.”
While she was there, Anderson became a huge fan of Ethiopian coffee. “They have a huge coffee industry there,” Anderson said. “They consider
theirs to be the best coffee in the world. I have to say that I don’t normally drink black coffee, but it was offered at the end of the meal, so I wasn’t
going to refuse it. I put a little sugar in it and I’ll tell you. After that — I don’t want to mention any coffee companies’ names — the stuff we get here is
not coffee. There’s no bitter aftertaste. It was wonderful. It was just amazing. There’s a rainy season. I don’t know if it is the soil where they grow it or
what. But it was just some amazing coffee. I brought some back with me and I guard it jealously.”
While Americans often look upon the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001, it was a terrorist attack that
was felt around the world. When Anderson was at the top of Mt. Entoto, she visited the Ethiopians’ 9/11 memorial. “A lot of Ethiopians worked at
Windows of the World, which was at the top of the World Trade Center, and were killed when the towers collapsed,” Anderson explained. “So they
feel a real strong connection. They built the memorial at the top of the mountain and it has a wonderful view of the city and it is very pretty.”
The Ethiopians were also very interested in the recent American presidential election. “Our driver told us that a lot of the restaurants in the city
gave away free food and put up big screen televisions and offered drinks,” Anderson said about last November’s election. “People came, sat and
watched our returns. I though that there were people in our country who didn’t bother to watch our election returns. There were lots of kids running
around wearing Obama t-shirts and they were selling them in a lot of the shops. They had several magazines with pictures of him on the front talking
about something. They are still very excited about that. When the election was over, they were in the streets celebrating.”
And while Ethiopia is a democracy, they hold the American system as the ideal. As Anderson’s driver put it, “‘We have democracy, democracy
by force,’” Anderson said. “They just have a different way of doing business.”
