An Insah Allah Airline. Review on Ethiopian Airlines

In 1976, I was invited by the International Council for Adult Education, to attend an International Seminar on Adult Education and Development at Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. I was anxious to attend the Seminar for two reasons; One, to see in person and listen to President Julius Nyerere, who was to present the Working Paper for the Seminar, and two, to see Tanzania, about which I have read so much. Dr. Malcolm Adiseshaya, President of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), based in Toronto, Canada, was to preside over the Seminar. My motivation to attend the Seminar was so strong that I borrowed from my Insurance Policy enough of money for the ticket. In Dar-es-Salaam, when the ICAE people came to know that I have come there after borrowing money from my Insurance Policy, they provided me free hospitality during the week-long Seminar.

My Itinerary

From Bhubaneswar, I flew to Bombay by the Indian Airlines. From Bombay to Nairobi, I flew East African Airways, and from Nairobi to Dar-es-Salaam, I flew Ethiopian Airlines. It was about eight in the evening, when we arrived Dar-es-Salaam. All our baggages were put on the top of a Bus, and we took our seats in the Bus. From India, besides myself, there was Dr. Amrik Singh from the Indian Adult Education Association, New Delhi, Dr. V. S. Mathur, former President of the Indian Adult Education Association, and of course Dr. Malcolm Adiseshaya. Since my arrival at the Dar-es-Salaam Airport, I was finding the Officers of the Ethiopian Airlines to be rough and rude with us, and also with their own staff. I found the Air Hostesses of the Airlines to be really beautiful, possessing copper coloured complexion, seducing busts and very attractive eyes.

At the Seminar

The Seminar was inaugurated with the beating of Tanzanian drums and Tanzanian Folk dances. President Nyerere with a Mwalimu style half sleeve coat and a baton in his hand was following the Drum and Dance Parties. ( Mwalimu in Swahili means Guru or Teacher ) In the Dias were President Nyerere, Dr. Adiseshaya, Mr. Paul Mhaike, Principal of the Kuvokini College and others. Mhaiki later became his country's Ambassador to France and then he joined UNESCO as the Chief of Adult Education and Literacy. A very soft spoken, but shrewed man he was. President Nyerere's address to the Seminar was titled 'Adult Education and Development', and it contained many sub-themes like 'Education for Self Reliance', Ujaama and Tanzanian Society. The address was highly illuminationg. When I became the Director of the State Resource Centre for Adult Education in Orissa, the first thing I did was to translate that piece into Oriya and publish the same as a monograph titled' Mukti O Pragati Paeen Proudha Siksha' or Adult Education for Liberation and Development. It sold like hot cakes.

The Seminar was a success, with brilliant presentations in the Plenary and Group Sessions and excellent Tanzanian ( almost like Indian ) food.

The Return Trip

We left Dar-es-Salaam in the morning and reached Addis Ababa around eleven. We had to make a night halt at Addis Ababa, as no plane was available. The hotel, where we stayed, was good and the staff was also courteous. I have never seen so much poverty, as I saw in Addis Ababa. I can imagine what it was in the interior. Girls of pre-puberty age were engaged in the flesh trade. It was just for the asking. The next morning, luckily, the plane came and we took leave of Ethiopia. We had to make a brief stop over at Jibouti. It was for purpose of fuelling. We arrived Bombay by evening. What a difference ? Ethiopian Airlines, according to me, is an 'Insah Allah' Airline.