Closer to town, the trucks with relief grain drive towards us. On top of the precious load are four soldiers, happily cheering as they return home. The war against Eritrea seems to be extremely popular - even here in the South where people traditionally do not have very warm feelings for the ruling group, the Tigrineans from northern Ethiopia. We have lost all our cattle and we can no longer feed ourselves. Usually, we would help each other cope with hard times but everyone is under this pressure so we all have to fend for ourselves.
Every day is a fight for survival and for food.
If you're strong enough you can try to find work. Or go to the woods for firewood to sell. If we do not find any we'll just have to starve. The village harvest has been steadily reduced over the last three years because the rains failed. We have always known hunger but not like now.