The End Of An Era
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Cindy and I in front of Kaldi's-the Starbuck's of Ethiopia
I feel like a chapter of my life in Ethiopia is ending. Cindy will be leaving Ethiopia for good before I come back next time. It is strange to think of her not being there when I get back. We tended to call each other and or get together about once a week after we stopped being roommates and finished our teaching jobs. She has become a dear friend to me, and some of the best family I have had in Ethiopia thus far. I will miss her a lot but am hoping to stop by Holland again some time on my way to or from Ethiopia so I can visit her and her boyfriend Andrew. Love and miss you, Cindy!
E’s FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
The Cake
playing with the toy I gave him
We had a little party for E on his first birthday. He was his usual happy self as you can see. I really enjoy being E’s Auntie Ruth. He’s such a joy to be around. What more can I say? I think the pictures speak for themselves!
Florida Team–Thank you!!!
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Florida Team--second from left and far right with WAR staff
We had two very helpful ladies from Florida spend a week with us and help Seble and I with the day care program. They cleaned all of our toys for us, organized them into weekly bins that will be changed once a week, helped us organize our nutrition program for the kids, decorate our day care room, and over all just were a great encouragement to us. One of them is in charge of the preschool program at her church and it was wonderful to talk with someone who has much more experience in early child development. I realized that I had been approaching the day care more from an elementary child development perspective, but now that I have learned more from this team, I feel much better and at ease about what we are doing for the day care program. I was making it more difficult than it actually was. Thanks Florida Team! Please come back again soon!
Fortuna–My Starfish
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
There’s a story about a man who was on a beach. There were thousands of starfish that had been washed up on the beach and without being thrown back in the water, they would die. So this one man, picked up one starfish at a time and threw it back into the water so that it could live. Along came another man who asked him, “How can you throw those starfish back? There are thousands of them that will die anyways. You will never make a difference.” The man throwing starfish into the water picked up one starfish and as he tossed it back into the ocean he said, “It made a difference to that one.”
I often think of this story when I am in Ethiopia. This is what helping people is like here. We only serve 20-40 women a year and there are statistically 150,000 prostituted women on the streets of Addis. We could get so easily overwhelmed by the numbers of women who we are not helping or we could count our blessings and celebrate and try our best to help the women who are currently in our care. We choose the latter.
Fortuna is a baby in need of much care. She lives in poor air quality conditions in a mud hut with her mom. She has been fed the local cereal in a bottle from the time she was born and has had a cough for over two month now. So, I’ve decided to help her to improve her situaion. There are many more babies like her but I know that at WAR we are making a difference for her and her mom and that makes it all worth it. Jesus cared about the one in the multitude and as Christians so should we.
E’s First Haircut/Mohawk
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments
Before the haircut--not sure what to make of it all
Before the haircut, from the back
Getting Ready and looking a little scared
Getting shaved
Adding lines
Afterwards with a smile on his face
Since E was turning 1 year old soon, it was decided that he needed to get his first haircut and not just any hair cut–a mohawk! Although he didn’t seem to like the whole process, he didn’t cry and as you can tell he was his usual happy self afterwards. I’m glad I got to be there for this special occasion!
Obama Cafe
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
About a 1 1/2 years ago I posted something about how people in Ethiopia reacted when Obama won he presidency. They LOVED it! In Addis, there is at least one Obama Cafe and this is one of them. It makes me laugh because regardless of what we think of Obama in the states, most people probably wouldn’t think to start a cafe in honor of him.
Some people in Ethiopia tend to think that because Obama has some African blood, he will make a huge difference in Africa itself. I try to tell these people that Obama has a very big job already dealing with the needs of the USA and not to expect this. Sometimes when I mention that I’m from America the next word out of people’s mouths is Obama because many people here are definitely his fans. I tried to tell one taxi driver that Obama might do some good things and some bad things but he is definitely not the savior of the world. The taxi driver smiled and nodded, agreeing with me. Then I told him that only God can fill that job.
E In The Tuperware Cupboard
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I haven’t posted anything about E lately, the cute little boy who I live with in Ethiopia. He can take six steps by himself now and I’m sure that when I return to Ethiopia in September he will be walking all over the house by himself. I will miss having him crawl across the room to me in the mornings and getting nice 1 year old hugs. He’s a very loveable kid.
The only cupboard E is allowed to play in is the tuperware one. Hope you enjoy the pics!
A Trip To Bahir Dar
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments
An Ethiopian Boat on Lake Tana in Bahir Dar
The view of Lake Tana from a restaurant I went to
The 2 1/2-3 1/2 year old class
Learning shapes and colors in Amharic and English
The babies outside with their caregivers
I went to Bahir Dar for two days last week. The main purpose of my trip was to see The GRACE Center and perhaps see the Blue Nile Falls, which is about 30 km away from the town. I went to the GRACE Center but decided not to see the falls since I heard they were quite dried up. It was the end of the dry season and the water is used for hydroelectricity. Plus, I know I’ll be going back.
Bahir Dar is in the northern part of Ethiopia and is a major hub for tourism as some of the major historical and religious sites are in this area of the country. I’m hoping to take some or all of my family there some day soon. It’s very relaxing and layed back and has a large body of water which I really appreciate as a Californian.
The GRACE Center was lovely to visit. It’s always wonderful to meet other people who share the same passion you do for helping those in need in Ethiopia. The GRACE Center offers free day care to the children of single parents, a food program for those who are out of work, job training and programs for those in need of employment, and constant follow-up with a social worker on all who are benefiting. It is a wonderful program and certainly very similar to the kinds of things we have been dreaming up for the children and women at Women At Risk. It was wonderful to see that someone’s dreams had become a reality.
Ciao for now Bahir Dar! Be Back Soon (I hope)!!!
A New Day Care Facility For Women At Risk!!
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Our new day care room!!
Two of our cute toddlers!
My co-worker Seble found a house that Women At Risk is now renting. It’s about a five minute walk away from the main office. Unfortunately, because of how crowded the main office is, we are only able to use one room for our office and one room for the kids but we are planning to build another room soon in the front yard that we will also use for the kids. Sometimes this feels like a bit of a disappointment, since there are so many other things that we want to do with the children that require more space, but for now we are counting our blessings and thankful for a much larger area for the children than we had before. We even have a backyard and a front yard that they can play in now!!
Above you can see four of the cute children that we’ve been helping to take care of while their mommies are working or in the recovery program. It has been fun for me, being a single woman without children, to get in touch with my maternal side and help to take care of these lovely ones whenever I have time to get away from the office and be of assistance!
A Bit Of A Brain Drain
Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
The two friends to the left of me are leaving or have left.
When I tell people in Ethiopia that I’m from America, most people make some comment about how America’s a great country and they want to move there. In some ways I can understand this. America is much more wealthy than Ethiopia and from the outside it looks like the better place to be, but is it??
Recently, I was on an airplane where I met an Ethiopian man who had lived in the states for the last 30 years and was planning to return to Ethiopia for good once he retired. He started asking me for advice about the changes that he should be prepared for when moving from America to Ethiopia. I felt a little strange giving him advice, but I guess he figured that I had more information than he did since it had been so long since he’s lived in Ethiopia. Strange.
Sometimes people in Ethiopia seem to think that America is heaven, that the lives of Americans are easy, that we always have enough money and have better lives. For this reason, some of my friends are trying to leave Ethiopia and or have already left to find a “better life” in a wealthier nation. It makes me sad to see them go. It’s hard to make friends here and then say goodbye. As much as I’m excited that they have received a better opportunity for themselves in the way of a job, there are many things here that they will miss…like the sense of community, the warmth and hospitality of the people here, tasty injera, a sense of connection to a culture and a language that they have spoken since they were born, etc. They will also miss out on giving back to their own country which is in such desperate need of intelligent people like themselves.
Good luck my friends!