Exhibits in the museum range from paleonotology and pre-history (our Lucy! also known as Dinknesh, meaning "wonderful"...what a gal!)), archaelogical findingsdating to the 16th century A.D. and ethnography of the various tribes that have long inhabited Ethiopia.Although some areas of the museum were closed for renovation, we still found plenty to capture our attention for over an hour. Simply said, it was quaint and charming with appropriate ambient lighting for clear visualization of the many fossils as well as less ancient artifacts such as robes, crowns, thrones and semi-precious jewels. We noted that the entry fee for "non-Ethiopians" was almost 4x the basic price for Ethiopians, around $1.20.
Lucy was discovered in 1974 in the Hadar region of the Awash Valley. Lucy (and "cousin" Ardi, who happens to be about 1 1/2 million years older but was not discovered until 1994) was widely recognized at the time as being the oldest upright "homonid", over 3.2 million years old. This country continues to be rich in its bounty of archeological treasures.
Darling Lucy was only 3'7" tall and was calculated to weigh about 64 lb, not much different than a common chimp. She was discovered by Don Johanson, an American anthropologist, curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and his team, and was named after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", a tune frequently played in the camp.Under an agreement with the government of Ethiopia, her skeleton was brought to Cleveland for reconstruction and then returned to Ethiopia some 9 years later, where she now resides in a hermetically sealed safe area. The "real" Lucy was deemed too fragile for display so plaster replicas were created from the original, and these are what one sees at this museum, as well as "on tour". Several hundred pieces of her skeleton were discovered and based on one complete sacrum and pelvic bone, it was determined that lovely Lucy was a "lady"! The structure of her knee and pelvis indicate that she walked upright on two legs, like us, which is the single most important distinction between humans and apes.
After taking in the museum, we walked to the neighboring Italian style building where Fekadu Ayalew, a well-known Ethiopian artist, was having a showing and much to our surprise, we found him to be another interesting speciman! After viewing his paintings we introduced ourselves to the artist himself, who leaned uncomfortably by the doorway, selling postcards of his work for $1. each "to raise funds for medical care". It was clear this was a very pleasant but also very ill young man who had lost function of his extremities. He walked with great difficulty, needing canes for balance and was clearly no longer able to hold a paintbrush. He wore a cap to cover the scars on his scalp.When questioned, he stated that he had had several operations for a syrinx (a rare, fluid filled cavity within the spinal cord or brain stem which causes cyst growth and obstructs the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid) and was now uncertain if another surgery would improve or worsen his sad state.Fekadu was quite flabberghasted to find that, by chance,he was relating his medical history to a visiting American neurosurgeon. David surmised that this syrinx was a component of a Chiari 1 malformation ( a downward displacement of the cerebellum which controls the "balance" part of the brain). After much thought and exchange of email addresses, David felt Fekadu's best chance would be to make an appointment with Rick Hodes, M.D. Extraordinaire, who had a clinic here in Addis. Rick was Ethiopia's "Last Chance Savior" for those with horrendous spinal afflictions.
As I write this, today, April 5, 2013, our friend Fekadu is scheduled to see Rick in his office tomorrow morning. It would be much too optimistic to say "help is on the way", but if it IS "on the way", Rick is the man who will get it there.
I'll write more about Rick soon, but why wait, check out his website
http://rickhodes.org (or any of the other 98,000 entries about him on google). He's for real!
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| Entry to the National Museum |
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| Fekadu felt his shunt was not working but David assured him it was functional. |
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Lucy!!! |
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Fekadu has had 3 operations for his syrinx and stated that after each surgery he was worse. Syrinx are well-known to be very difficult to manage and the symptoms (weakness, atrophy, loss of sensation) usually increase over time. Fekadu, 34 years old, was desperate to slow or reverse his symptoms and return to his beloved livelihood. Fekadu Ayalew Oil on canvas |
