Tuesday 20th Oct 2009

7am start today so we can film in Korem and get back to Mekelle to make a start on compiling everything. Last nights hotel was interesting. Although very hospitable as usual, it did somewhat resemble a prison. Rooms around the perimeter with a balcony in the middle. The slamming doors echoed with a firm clink. When I paid for the rooms, they guy proudly showed me a dollar he had. Not to be outdone by the Americans I dug out my English coins and gave him a selection, of course pointing out the Queen.

We headed straight for the fields where thousands of people flocked to in 1984.

It was quite strange to be stood in the fields where thousands had died in terrible conditions only 25 years ago. There is nothing here to mark this. Ethiopians don't hang onto death, a funeral will take place on the day of death and then they are buried with no markings.

We did some filming that will link our sequences together and headed back to Mekelle. On the way we stopped to film some farming on the mountain. The farming methods haven't changed for many years, ploughing is done by cattle.

The crops are picked by hand and placed in a circle on the ground. They then tie three cows together and walk them over the crops in a circle to break them down. It's also worth pointing out that every single inch of usable land is seeded.

Current winding back down the mountain, think of the opening sequence in “The Italian Job”.

Back at the hotel, an afternoon of admin starts, we need to interview some people tomorrow morning and find a place to do our live broadcasts from.

I opted to stay back at the hotel for a few hours, as I was well aware of the workload ahead so I wanted to get started on the website films.

I did catch up with Mike a few hours later to meet a few people. Tebereh Woldegabriel from Mums for Mums, a charity based in Mekelle. Mike then went to meet some more people in town to chat to them about our story and get their views for the website pages.

Back at the hotel, after some dinner Mike and I split. He set about writing the website pieces and scripting the TV package whilst I edited the two website films.