Within days of returning from Ethiopia, I started getting WhatsApp messages from a lot of the people I met there. Are you alright? Where are you now?
The region I visited took a serious turn for the worse just after I left. Ethiopia’s had some pretty intense conflicts within the country, and those really flared up a few months ago. The internet was shut down across the region. The airports were shut.
War feels all over the place lately. And while I don’t know people in every region where it’s happening, I do know the feel of the WhatsApp messages. What about your family? Is it as bad as it looks from here?
If nothing else, it reminds me that Sudan and Armenia are no mere hashtags. They’ve got soul and people and people who love those people. These encounters make conflict a little less abstract, a little more human. I think we could use some more of that right now.