A Moral Dilema... Who Pays to Repair the Car

Written by Lonny (April 10, 2010)

I was exhausted after a stressful couple of days and a short night’s sleep last night so I slept very well and for a long time.  I woke up at 6:00 but went back to sleep until 7:30. 

Getu came over to give me my Ethiopian driver’s license and talk about the car repairs.  It is going to cost about 17,000 ETB ($1300) to get the car fixed.  I am struggling to know what I should do with this situation.  He did not have insurance on the car so either he pays to fix it or I pay.  Joe talked to Duche about it and he said that it was their responsibility because they should have had insurance on it.  Joe asked him to look into it further.  I was the one who wrecked the car so I want to take responsibility but if he was responsible to have insurance on it then I think that he should shoulder some of the costs.  I have been praying for guidance and direction to know how to approach the situation and to know what to do.

I spent the day doing office type work, filling out forms answering emails, writing reports, etc.  It has been good to get caught up on that work.  I went over my finances and made sure that I had everything accounted for and balanced.

For lunch today I made a zucchini tortilla for Joe and me.  It was pretty good.  This evening I cooked up some rice with some spam.  The rice was getting old so there was a slight off flavor but it was still edible. I have found that when I am in Ethiopia my tolerance for flavors has increased.