My daughter's apartment building, Bingham Academy

During our visit to our daughter at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa last December we stayed with her in her apartment on the school campus. In the photo above her apartment is the three windows on the top floor on the left of the ramp going up to the door. This was just a few metres across the car park from the teachers’ preparation offices so it was very convenient.

Staff apartments, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

In the second photo above are more staff apartments in the lower part of the school. We only went in one of these when we were invited to dinner to the home of an Australian family we got to know quite well while there. The housing for teachers at Bingham is quite comfortable without being over the top. All the teachers I spoke to seemed very happy with their accommodation. I observed that some classrooms were somewhat less than ideal, some needed maintenance and some were filling roles for which they were not designed. The administrative staff and governing board are very aware of these shortcomings. There is currently a strong fund raising effort to enable a completely new secondary school building to be built in the next year or so. This will ease the shortage of classroom accommodation in the rest of the school.

Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

The above photo shows several of the classrooms, a part of the playground for the younger children and to the lower right the car maintenance sheds. The photo is taken from the balcony leading into the school library. The library is at bursting point and in serious need of expansion and upgrading. I think this is also on the plans for rebuilding.

Eucalyptus forest, Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

One of my favourite spots within the campus was the eucalyptus forest near the oval. This was a very peaceful area and good birding there as well. I am a little sad that a part of this small forest will be removed in order to accommodate the new secondary building. I know its necessary for the future of the school and the students, but I hope some of the trees are retained as a very useful and pleasant amenity.

Overlooking Addis Ababa from Bingham Academy

From the library one has a limited view over neighbouring houses, as shown above. It shows the style and diversity of housing in the district. In another view – one I didn’t photograph – there is a prominent slum area. This is quite common in Addis Ababa: good housing merges with slum zones with very little separating the two.