Greening Ethiopia – the road from London to Rio

This morning it was pouring with rain when I first looked out of the window. So I was pleased that it had cleared a couple of hours later when my Brazilian colleague Isabel and I stood on a hillside overlooking Addis Ababa in our wellington boots. Actually, it was perfect conditions for tree-planting, and we were there to do just that – as part of a nationwide campaign to green Ethiopia and also to mark the first anniversary of London 2012 and three years to the Rio Olympics and Paralympics Games.

We were accompanied by some specialists but also a large group of Games Makers who had been trained by the British Council (following the model used to recruit and train volunteer helpers for London 2012) and participants in the International Inspiration (II) programme (the London 2012 legacy programme to mainstream quality sports education in 20 countries around the world). There are now some 400 Games Makers in Addis (900 throughout Ethiopia) and 15 II partner schools and altogether we planted over 400 indigenous trees this morning. Mine was a juniper fir and Isabel had a couple of pepper trees (also found in Brazil). It was a reminder that London 2012 was the greenest Games ever and that we want environmentally-friendly activity to be another aspect of the legacy.

A little later we sat down with an inspiring group of Games Makers and II participants to talk about what these initiatives mean to them and how they see the future. They also put a range of difficult questions to us! We then addressed a packed audience of their colleagues on various issues including the London 2012 legacies and how we and Brazil are working in close partnership and sharing knowledge and experiences in the run-up to Rio 2016. And we were joined by some of the members of Team Ethiopia from London 2012 who are now in training for Rio – they included Yanet Seyoum, Ethiopia’s first Olympian swimmer who had joined us for the tree-planting (and runner Mohamed Aman, who together with Yanet starred in two short films about the Olympics and Paralympics we produced last year).

Isabel and I have pledged to return next year and see how our trees are doing. In the meantime, the best of luck to members of Team Ethiopia who are competing in the 2013 World Athletics Championship in Russia. And I am expecting even greater things from them at Rio 2016, building on one of Ethiopia’s best ever Olympic performances (and first ever Paralympics medal) at London 2016.