If it weren’t for our four-wheel-drive SUV crashing over potholed roads, nothing in the bush of southern Ethiopia would have left you thinking we were in the 21st century

We reported from this region in January, before this app was out, and it was our most popular content of the year. Because we couldn’t put it in the app then, we are running it here now

Ethiopia’s image is constantly changing. Until the mid-1990s, it was famine, war, misery. Then for two decades, it changed: Growth, opportunity, development. Then civil war broke out in 2020. Again: Famine, war, misery

Ethiopia’s economy has grown more rapidly than almost any other over the last 30 years. That’s lifted millions out of poverty in Africa’s second-most populous country and led to the construction of factories, toll highways, and even a Burger King in Addis Ababa, the capital

But that “development” remains shallow. The further you travel from Addis, the less you see. In the south, it’s practically nonexistent

There are no cities, no hospitals, and few schools. There are periodic dirt and straw huts. Occasionally there are market towns, which consist mostly of metal shacks where villagers trade goods, animals, and crops

Mostly, there is bush

The bush is scrubland. There aren’t really trees, it’s not used for agriculture. It’s flat and covered in shrubs. The bush covers much of Africa and its character varies depending on location and season

Here – in southern Ethiopia in January, the dry season – it’s yellowish-gray, hot, and vast

Driving through the bush, the most obvious question is: How do people survive here?

I was thinking this while we were pulled over on the side of a road lined with shrubs so dense you couldn’t see anything on the other side of them. Then, suddenly, a man emerged

He was skinny, shirtless, and had a cloth wrapped around his groin and a beaded band around his forehead. In one hand he held a machete; with the other he led a naked child in flip-flops

The man spotted me and began running, pointing at me and gesturing at his chest. As he got closer, I realized he wanted a t-shirt. I fetched one out of my duffle bag and handed it to him. In response, he turned to my guide – a local who spoke his language – and invited us into the bush

Hacking through the shrub, he led us into a clearing and then kept going. His child raced to keep up, stumbling over the dirt. The boy carried a plastic water bottle, which in these parts is life-altering technology: People have to walk miles to fetch water from a river. For millennia, they used bowls and buckets, which were prone to spilling and vulnerable to bugs and more

Then came the bottle: Suddenly, they could keep all the water and protect it from the elements

We eventually reached a circular log fence. In the middle were goats and a wooden hut with a pointed straw roof. This was the man’s home and he invited us inside. We took a seat on a goatskin on the dirt floor

Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I saw a topless woman in a leather belt and a skirt. Across from me, the man sat with three children – the naked boy, a toddler, and an infant – and told his wife to make us coffee. She lit a fire underneath a large clay pot

The woman had scars running up her arms, braided hair, and wore a thick shell necklace. These were traditions of the couple’s tribe – the Hamer

Hamer people intentionally scar (“scarify”) themselves to make themselves more beautiful. The hairstyle indicated that the woman was married and the single necklace signified that she was her husband’s first wife

Nothing in the hut came from the modern world. Everything was made of wood, dirt, or animal products. Above our heads was a wooden platform, from which pots made from stone, wood, and clay were hanging

The woman prepared the coffee by boiling the shells of coffee beans in murky river water and stirring it with a long wooden stick in a large clay pot over a fire. When it was ready, she poured it into a wooden bowl, from which the group each took two sips – as tribal tradition dictated – and passed around

In places like this, food and water are scarce. People therefore need to stick together

They do that through tradition: The way they dress, cut their skin, shape their hair, drink their coffee. Then there are traditions that are more dramatic, more violent; traditions that one must follow to be part of the tribe or ignore at their own risk

The next two installments will explore those

Back on the road, the man thanked us for visiting. He shook my hand, told us we are forever welcome, then disappeared into the bush, the naked boy still stumbling behind