Archive for May, 2010
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!