Back from Ethiopia

Well we're back from Ethiopia. Every one I talk to has asked the same, very valid question..."What was it like?" I am still trying to find words to describe the people, places, and experiences we encountered, but I cannot find a way to talk about my emotions of the trip. There is so much poverty, starvation, and uneeded death because of an accident of longitude and lattitude and an uncaring government. I cannot help but think it could be me over there, and one of them over here living the "high life."

Though I cannot find a way to get people to understand my experiences in Ethiopia, I can communicate the need through pictures. The people are majestic, royal, and the most polite group of people I have ever met. Out of their poverty, they gave me everything.

I write this sleep deprived, with a terrible stomach bug that has me 20 pounds lighter than when I left, and contemplating what my role is in helping these people.

Our last night in Zeway, they threw a party for us.
Out of their great poverty, they gave us everything. They slaughtered a goat for us, and made an incredible dinner (it made us sick, but so did everything we ate). Afterwards, we all sang and danced around the campfire. Truly a generous people.
School children sitting in desks we just donated. Before this, they sat on a dirt floor.
A muslim girl at one of the village schools.
There are school with children but a lack of teachers. All the children desire to go to school, but many have to drop out to feed their families or they have become orphans to AIDS.
The feet of a 4 year old school boy. Many children walk over 4 miles a day to school - school without text books, black boards, or pencils.
Building a house for a crippled woman.
A high school student at one of the local schools.
A Dutch nursery came in and built a greenhouse on an ethiopian cemetary. They promised to build a hospital if the town would move their dead. They built their greenhouse but refuse to build a hospital. Meanwhile, they are making millions while the town lacks medical care.
A church member playing a new keyboard we bought them.
A young girl during Worship.
Children have nothing except their faith - which sustains them.
A small girl walks her family's fields. This field is green just because they an irrigation pump. Many farmers rely on the rain, which will bring food or starvation.
A young farmer girl.

A small village boy. The spots on his head are Tinea, a form of fungus that most small boys have. It clears up by the age of 14.
A small girl walks miles a day just to fetch water that will not make her family sick.

A candy bar and soccer ball are his only posessions as he waits for medical care.
A broken down ambulance at the low medical clinic in Zeway.
Sick child waiting for medical care.
A newborn baby getting wrapped.
Above: A mother for a second time and her baby.

A starving village boy.
An AIDS mother spends time at the clinic each week educating women about AIDS, motherhood, and how to live with the virus.
A young girl at the clinic.