Word: massawa
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...problems begin at Massawa, the Red Sea port where hundreds of dock workers labor night and day to unload grain and other food destined for Ethiopia's hungry millions. Cranes are in short supply, as are trailers to store the grain. While wheat from the U.S. and Canada usually comes in bags, much of the grain from Europe does not and thus takes longer to unload. Grain sometimes arrives soaked with water; a recent shipment of milk powder was contaminated...
...Beyond Massawa, the problems multiply. With truck convoys that deliver the food to regional distribution centers frequently harassed by antigovernment rebels, the government's only solution to the problem is to close the roads -- and no food gets through. Airlifting is far more reliable: the giant C-130s can fly across the bone-white moonscape from Massawa to the interior city of Mekele in just half an hour. The unloading crews at the airstrip are a sight to behold. "Move it, move it, go ahead forward, go ahead forward, time is passing, time is passing," chanted a group...