Here is an example without rworldmap:
require(mapdata)
# get the names
cc <- map('world', names = TRUE, plot = FALSE)
take <- unlist(sapply(c("ethiopia", "kenya", "uganda"), grep, tolower(cc), value = TRUE))
# world
map()
# add the selected countries in grey to the plot
map('world', regions=take, fill=TRUE, col='grey50', add = TRUE)