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- a love letter to Ethiopia
January 2023:
The first time I went to Ethiopia.
When I went there I knew zero about the country. I literally just went because my friend moved there and he told me I would like it. That’s it.
But what happened during that time was so drastically life-altering (more on that in a bit) that I decided to go back a 2nd time end of last year And I’m glad I did.
November 2024 I went again and stayed until mid-February. I had a very different experience this time but equally as amazing.
So in total, I spent 6 months in Ethiopia and it truly shattered my Western thinking.
For people who haven’t been to Ethiopia, it’s hard to explain why I like it so much. Most people I talk to in Europe think of famine, war, and poverty when it comes to Ethiopia.
And I’m not here to deny that. I saw street children, extreme poverty, and disease - but that’s not the whole story of this country.
Ethiopia is characterized by:
an amazing jazz scene
coffee ceremonies that make your heart melt
unique food choices you won’t find anywhere else
breathtaking nature with mountains, deserts, lakes, vulkanos
an extremely in-depth culture with beautiful honorable values
diverse ethnic groups with many tribes and different cultures and customs.
ancient churches that will make you feel connected even if you don’t believe in God
And MUCH more.
I’ve been to other African countries and 40+ countries in total all over the world and I can say:
There’s nothing like Ethiopia. Ethiopia will change how you look at the world and I believe the Western world can learn a lot from that beautiful country.
While I could write a book about my experiences in Ethiopia, today I want to talk about one particular experience.
The first time I came to Ethiopia in 2023 I spent 1 month teaching English in a small village in Finote Selam.
(it’s funny cause I thought I’d come there to teach them, but they taught me more about life than I could ever teach them. I don’t say this lightly: They changed my life.)
A few hundred people, no supermarkets, 1 orthodox church, 1 school and kindergarten, and extremely remote.
300km ride. 4 buses. 14 hours of travel. It’s safe to say: Nobody goes there…😅
And these 30 days changed my life path.
1. Religion
The majority of Ethiopians follow the Orthodox Christian religion and I saw how much it was uniting everybody in the village.
In the West, we shame religion.
In Ethiopia, religion is the anchor of life.
Every Sunday, the village gathers at the local Orthodox church.
While Atheism creates separateness, anxiety, and nihilism, God creates a feeling of oneness. God creates unity and unity heals everything.
2. Nature heals.
In the village, we spend the whole day outside: We eat, sleep, work, cook in nature.
In the West, we live in artificial environments, completely removed from reality.
Our mind, body & spirit are craving.
Craving for sunlight.
Craving for movement.
Craving to see the trees.
Craving to touch grass.
Ethiopia taught me that nature and humans are one.
3. Loneliness is foreign.
I came to the village to teach English.
One day, I tried explaining "loneliness" and was met with confused faces.
The concept simply doesn’t exist here. Connection is the default.
4. What’s the Rush?
In the West, we rush through life—ironic, given all our time-saving innovations.
In Ethiopia, washing clothes takes hours, in the evenings we have campfires with areiki (local alcohol) and drinking buna (Ethiopian coffee) is an hour-long ceremony.
Time moves slow here. People don’t cram their days; they value connection.
5. You never eat alone.
Nobody in the village ever had a meal alone.
Meals are always shared—you don’t even get your own plate.
We gather around a big plate of enjera with toppings and eat with our hands.
We talk, laugh, and share. We even do “gursha” - feeding each other with our hands (especially when you eat slowly…😅).
6. Connection with Food.
One day, I gifted the village a sheep before the fasting month started.
I bought it at the Saturday market (the only day you can purchase goods).
That same evening, we slaughtered it and shared the meal with 25 people around the campfire.
For them, eating meat is sacred - in the West, we are completely removed from our food.
7. Meet my friend Banchu.
I had tears in my eyes when I took this picture.
Banchu is one of the women working for the village and her presence is healing. One day a baby fell and started screaming - she stood up, picked it up & said nothing.
Within seconds the kid stopped crying. Didn’t say a word. She just sat there. I’ve not seen a kid cry while in her presence.
8. School in the west is broken.
I realize that the education system in Ethiopia is not the best.
But we made an effort to keep the kids as active as possible - trips to the waterfall, playing football in the grass fields, horse riding, etc,...
Kids are not meant to sit for 6 hours.
9. What masculinity really means.
When I came to Ethiopia, I was confused about my masculinity.
The red-pill right & the left-wing agendas definitely don’t have the answers.
Those Ethiopian men dedicate their lives to protecting against outside threats, building homes, and solving conflicts with respect.
They honor wives, sacrifice themselves in times of war, are physically fit, and dance when it is time to dance and work when it is time to work.
Thank you Ethiopia for everything you have given me. Thank you to everybody I met on my travels. Thank you for opening my eyes to truth.
It wasn’t always easy, but it was the most life-altering experience of my life. So it definitely won’t be the last time I visit you.
With love,
Heythem