A Year Ago

The last couple days have brought back fond memories of my trip to Africa last year.  Last year at this time I was embarking on a trip of a lifetime not knowing how much this trip would impact my life.

I was going through some of my pictures last night thinking about the adventure I had, tears welling in my eyes.  Remembering all the beautiful people I met and the friends I made.  It was an ahhhmazing experience, soul cleansing, eye opening, heart wrenching...but one I would do again in a heartbeat given the opportunity.

You want to stroll down memory lane with me?

Here are links to the posts I wrote while I was there (and a few after) on behalf of the people and the villages we visited, on behalf of Global Hope Network International.


February 22, 2012 Leaving Eden
February 23, 2012 Cruising at 35,000 Feet
February 24, 2012 African Village
February 25, 2012 Faces Of The Village
February 26, 2012 A Warm Smile
February 27, 2012 An Orphanage
February 28, 2012 Harar Coffee & Chat
February 29, 2012 By The Numbers & Shhh Listen
March 2, 2012 View From Here
March 4, 2012 Ciao & Goedenmorgen
March 7, 2012 Overstimulated & Jet Lag

What were you doing last year at this time?  Do you remember?


Off to Lincoln City for Tyler's Oregon Prep Basketball Tournament.  Far cry from Africa, but it will have to do.  LOL.

Have a great weekend!



Photo Credit: a_gonzalvo's flickr

Over Stimulated & Jet Lag

Sounds a bit like an oxymoron, doesn't it?

Home sweet home. 

I made it home yesterday after a very long flight.  I have jet lag.  I am way over stimulated, overwhelmed and exhausted emotionally.  I was back into mom mode within minutes of coming home.  It all finally caught up with me about 1am last night.  I am emotionally exhausted now.  I wasn’t able to think much, feel much while I was there in Ethiopia immersed in the day to day but now that I have had a few days of *western abundance* I am over stimulated and overwhelmed by.... 

Everything that we do. 

Everything that we have.

I was told I would probably feel this way when I returned.  And I do.  I look at all the options.  All the opportunity that we have and I almost get sick to my stomach.  We whine and moan because we can’t have this or that and think life isn’t fair because we can't keep up with The Jones.  Now grant it, I know we, most us anyways, work hard for what we do have but never the less, is it all really necessary?  All "they" want or rather need is water. 

I am now in reprioritizing mode yet trying to strike a balance which I know will be a difficult task but one that I feel certain we must do.

I want to live a more abundant life in the healthier sense of the word.  Not by accumulating things but rather building healthy and lasting relationships.  I want to give of myself and my family more so than we ever have.

Now the real work starts. 

My first to do is to find sponsors for Megaladi, the most poverty stricken village we visited in Ethiopia. 

Are you willing to help?

For $12.00 a month you can help transform a village to become self sustainable.  If you don't have an extra $12.00 per month in your budget, can you share my plea with others?

View From Here



Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

February 2012

Shhh Listen...

Listen to the sounds of the beautiful people singing.

I took this short video at the place where we fed the hungry in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. 

Ahhhhmazingly grateful for so little! 

By The Numbers

500 burros walking back from town.

250 families with 4 generations. 

150 school kids grades 1st-5th.  In 1 dirt floored room.

 1 mother.  1 child.

1 village of Megaladi.

With one hope

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Clean water

With clean water so much could change for this village.

They would have water to drink.

To irrigate fields of agriculture.

They can then sell food from the crops for income.
To cook.
For livestock.

They become healthier.

Live longer lives.

They become self sustainable long term.

No longer reliant on others.

They do not know what tomorrow brings.

They need help TODAY.

They don't want a hand out, they want a hand up.

1,972 of  you.

All I need is 25 sponsors of $12.00 per month and we can transform this village.

Will you partner with me and the GHNI TCD ?

You CAN be the change.  You CAN make a difference.

It is that simple!

Harar Coffee & Chat

Harar, one of the four holy cities. A beautiful city on the hillside. Located about 1 1/2 hours outside of Dire Dawa.  The city is known for commercial production of Harar coffee. Unfortunately, another small town just outside of Harar is also known for chat. Chat is a narcotic much like marijuana (but legal) that is sold to many in Ethiopia and although it takes more time to grow and harvest chat, it makes more money than selling coffee beans. Many fields that once were coffee fields are now fields of chat.


On Monday we had the opportunity to visit a coffee bean plantation. Hilu, the plantation owner, was gracious to have us. We were able to meet with him and all the families that lived in the village.

Jeff Power, one of our GHNI leaders, recorded a video with the plantation owner to put on his blog about how the exporters of Harar coffee need to pay more money per kilo to the farmers so they are no longer reliant on chat to help make ends meet. The average income of the families in this village is 6 to 10 birr a day which equals to less than $1.00 USD. The current exchange rate is 17 birr to our $1.00. Imagine supporting your family with that little amount of money.

One of the families shared with me their twin babies.

Batam konjo! (Very beautiful).

One thing all of us women noticed while we were on this trip is how loving and affectionate the people of Ethiopia are. They have no problem showing affection whether that be hugging, holding eachother around the waist, holding hands, putting their arms around another. They were not shy.

And they love their pictures to be taken. After taking each picture, we would show the child or adult what the picture looked like on the camera screen. Many in the far of villages had not seen a picture of themselves. Mirrors are unheard of as is vanity for that matter.

You can see the coffee trees behind in this picture. I never knew that coffee actually grew on trees. I always thought that they grew on bushes.

After visiting the village we were able to go into the City of Harar and visit the spice market. We also had a traditional dinner and participated in a coffee ceremony. I will post more about this later along with some more pictures.

Tomorrow we will be going to Megdali again. Thursday we will be in Garmaam and Friday in Hurso.

Do you have any questions you want me to ask of the people in the villages?

An Orphanage

On Sunday our team went to a local orphanage in Dire Dawa. Unfortunately, due to safety reasons I can not post any pictures on the internet.

The orphanage has children from the age of 6-19. Many of them have been abandoned by their parents for various reasons. A few live their because their parents are deceased; having been persecuted for their Christian beliefs.

The orphanage provides them with the stability that so many of them need. They also provide them with a warm bed, food, clothing, education and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

This is one of the smaller orphanages in Dire Dawa and it was not what I expected. This was not the typical orphanage that many people think of; that I thought of. When I think of an orphanage I think of many children packed into a *dark and dingy* large room with one *mother* to too many children. Children eagerily vying for your attention, anyones attention for that matter.

This orphanage was not like that. It was more like a large family. The children there were actually a bit apprehensive when we arrived. Not knowing what we were there for. Unsure of our intentions.

They were happy. They were settled. This was their home.

After taking a tour of the orphanage we were able to partake in their church service.

The church service was held in a large empty room. Upon entering we had to remove our shoes. We sat on mats throughout the room. Their service was very similar to ours. They started out with several songs of worship. At one point we all stood up and sang Father Abraham. This was great fun. The children loved this. Their faces lit up as we all danced to the song. Some of us not knowing all the moves and looking silly.

Before moving into the verse that we studied, we were able to tell them what brought us there and how the LORD has worked in our heart. I shared with them how truly blessed I felt to be there with them and how this had always been a dream and now that I am here immersed in their culture it was more than I dreamt and thanked them for having me.


And from there we read several passages from the bible. We studied Matthew 5 and discussed conflict resolution. Many of the children chimed in on how to resolve conflict. It was very impressive some of the ideas that they shared. They were very open minded. More open minded than I would say some of the American children I know. They *get* forgiveness. They know the LORD wants them to be humble rather than righteous. They know that is is ok to swallow your pride. To love those that have even done you wrong.



Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

A Warm Smile

As I surveyed the villagers as we were exiting the jeep I felt an overwhelming instant connection. Many of the women that stood before me were mothers, mothers of all ages of children. Small babies, toddlers, grade schoolers and a few tweens. They were just like us. It didn't matter that we couldn't understand them nor them us. A warm smile is all it took.


Since there was an obvious communication barrier we decided to show them photos of our own family. This really helped break the ice, they could now see that we were just like them.

After leaving the village and processing my feelings for a little bit it *hit* me.

It doesn't mattter where in the world you are. People are people. We all have the same needs, wants and desires. The people of Megaladi they want to be sulf sufficient. They want to be able to support their families. They want their children to be educated. They want to have clean water to drink and be able to provide them with food. Things that seem easily attainable to many but are not so easy for them.

This is where Global Hope Network International comes in to bring help and hope to the hidden and the hurting by TRANSFORMING these villages step by step in these 5 key areas.



Water - enough clean water for drinking, cooking and hand washing
Food - sufficient nutritious food to mitigate chronic hunger and malnutrition
Wellness - demonstration and training in critical sanitation, hygiene and disease-prevention measures
Income - startup resources for dignified and sustainable family income generation
Education – access to primary level education for every girl and boy


In the Megaladi Village they have a water pump that they are able to run about once a week which provides the villagers with water for consumption, for cooking and washing. Unfortunately, most of the water is high in salt so they can only drink the water so much before it effects their kidneys. However when this is the *cleanest* water you have especially during the dry months, they willingly drink it.

And because of current lack of irrigation or training for agriculture, food is scarce.

With the lack of clean water and proper nutrition, the villagers health suffers greatly.

They have no real sustainable income generation nor do the children have access to education.
Most of the children have to help the families haul water, cut wood to sell in the city, scavenge for food to clean and sell at the market and therefore do not have the opportunity to go to school.

As you can see Megaladi needs help. And if WE, you and me along with GHNI can get even just one of these items crossed off it would have a great impact on the other 4.

If they had clean water:

They can use it for drinking (without the risk of becoming ill).
They can use it for irrigation for crops to grow their own food.
They can use some of the food as a source of ongoing income.
No longer will the children have to help their families, instead they can be children and go to school to become educated...thus helping break the cycle of poverty.


Megaladi needs help.

Here is where you can come in. We need 25 donors to sponsor the village. To sponsor all you need to do is sign up to donate $12 per month and with your help you can transform this village.  $12 a month is all it takes. (That is the cost of a Starbucks Venti Mocha and a Breakfast Sandwich 2x a month).

Interested in being part of something that will transform the lives of many? Go here to sign up.

Faces Of The Village

African Village

Selam! (Informal hello in Amharic)

We made it!

We are officially in Dire Dawa*, Ethiopia. What a long trip so far. After two days of traveling it was time to relax and regroup.

Which is exactly what we did at our guesthouse, African Village. Our host is named Siggy and he is originally from Switzerland but now makes his home here in Dire Dawa. He built most of this guesthouse himself. It has tons of beautiful craftsmanship.

Check out the video to see where we will be calling home for the next week.

Not too shabby, huh?

We had a quiet day with lots of visiting and getting to know our leaders Jonathan and Jeff from GHNI, the other volunteers, Laura, Heather and Cortney and our hosts. Mapping out the next week of our African journey.

It was beautiful and sunny 85 degrees or so. Ahh sunshine. Love the vitamin D. We don't get much of that in the parts of the world that I am from at this time of year. This is a real treat.

We have an African Village Ambassador. Meet Lola. She is fluent in dog, cat and pretty much everything else. We have been joking that we were going to teach her, Copacabana.

I wasn't able to get any really good pictures in Addis Ababa last night or today since it was dark but on our way home we will have several hours before our flight leaves that we will do some exploring in the big city.  Here is a picture of the airplane that we took from Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa. Smaller plane. We were packed in there like sardines. I took this picture as I was walking into the Dire Dawa International Airport (lol) and I was questioned by a man holding an AK 47. Apparently, they don't like pictures taken of airplanes, government buildings, etc. Who knew? You bet I do now.

Here is a picture of the jeep that we rode to the guesthouse in and our driver putting all of our luggage on top.

The little blue car that you see in this picture is called a Bajaj and is like our taxis in the states. The cost varies depending on where you are going but since Dire Dawa is pretty small you can get from one side of the town to the other for hecka cheap.

We had lunch at the guesthouse restaurant. I had a dish with beef, carrots and potatoes in a tomato based sauce with injera. Injera is a spongy flat bread that you use to scoop up your food with instead of utensils. It was made fresh and so so good.

Tonight at dinner we went to a traditional restaurant in the city and had a family style dinner where we all shared the food off the same big plate.

On this plate there were several types of tib which is chunks of sauteed meat. You take the injera, dip into the sauce or charro (kinda like a refried bean) and then scoop up some of the tibs. There is also salad with an oil dressing that you can add into the mix. Mouth watering delicious. And all the food that we had which fed 9 of us, easily, only cost like $30 American dollars. $466 birrs. The exchange rate right now is 17 birr to our dollar.

This was taken right out in front of our guesthouse, packing mules, packing wood to take to a nearby village.

It is getting late here. I am 11 hours ahead so it is about 1130pm. I better hit the hay. Big day tomorrow. First day in the field.

I will post some more pictures tomorrow night which will be tomorrow morning for most of you.

Hope you come back to read more of this adventure of a lifetime.

Ciao! (Informal goodbye; taken from Italian)

*Dire Dawa is in the northeast part of Ethiopia.