Our trip to Ethiopia was fantastic. We all had a great time. We got to see a lot of things around Addis Ababa and got to visit a few resorts. I really wanted to go up north to visit Lalibela but there wasn't enough time. We know what to do on our next visit, we have to hit the ground running. It took us almost a week to start getting around. There were a few family and friends that I would've loved to spend some time with but didn't get to. I'm hoping to get some information and maybe some pictures from the two organization we donated the money to. I would like to send that out to the people who donated.
I am totally stunned by what happened in Haiti. I have friends and co-workers who are affected by the earthquake. One of my co-workers who has lost a number of family and friends has set-up a disaster mgmt website for missing persons (http://www.zandolit.com/) to try and help. It is going to change Haiti forever. Some people say the reason Haiti is affected so much by the earthquake is because it's a poor country. Yes there definite truth in that but I don't know how any small island can cope with such utter devastation with or without good infrastructure. Such a disaster will render inoperative the best infrastructures on the planet. If NYC got hit with a major Tsunami, which the city isn't prepared for or has never experienced, there will be a major loss of life and will take the city years to recover. My prayers and hope are with the people of Haiti.

Mike

Hope Worldwide in Haiti

Hope worldwide is the organization that has sent and taught us about helping the poor. They have been our inspiration for our trip to Ethiopia. I received an email last week that was simply amazing. It was an update on their involvement in Haiti. Turns out that our fearless leader, Mark Ottenweller, a medical Doctor from the US, who lived in Africa for the last 20 years, met with a powerful Brooklyn minister who will serve as Marks translator, went to meet another powerful minister in Dominican Republic named Angel Martinez. Angel and I used to attend the same college and I tell you he really is one of the nicest persons you ever want to meet. With the Financial help of the San Fransisco and DR Church, they were able to fly to DR and drive across the boarder with supplies and medicine donated to Hope worldwide. The Church in Haiti and their friends and family were so happy to see them that they began to cry aloud in gratitude. They cried louder when Mark attended to their wounds and started giving out the supplies. I was so happy to have gotten this email. I was so touched and inspired by their love and humanity. Here is a new song created for Hope worldwide by Brian Craig. You can also listen to the song on Hope worldwide's website as well.

Receipt 2

This is the receipt in a form of a thank you letter from Welfare for Mothers and Children (MCMDO). They were given $350. They have an after school program, a program for sponsorship, hands on trade training and the mothers learn entrepreneurship where they learn how to grow and sell there own produce.

USA ID has been a recent sponsor as well as the First Lady of Ethiopia and private donations from abroad. They are a small, humble but grateful organization who were very pleasant and friendly. The first time we visited was just a site visit, no donations were mentioned. The second time we brought donations of toys and clothing donated by the boys and their friends. On the third visit we gave the the monetary gift.

*Thanks again to all the contributors.

Receipt 1

These are the receipts for the donations collected. A total was $650 contributed by coworkers and friends. Please see a list of contributors to the right of the page. I would like to acknowledge everyone who contributed. I may forget someone so please feel free to contact me if I have left anyone out.

For Ethiopia Reads (EBCBF) $300 was donated. The Founder was featured on the first episode of CNN Heroes. There are two branches in Ethiopia. It was difficult to find on both trials, we almost gave up. The third time we brought a friend who also found the organization difficult to locate. Upon our departure he found it But it was Ethiopian Christmas and so it was a holiday weekend. They finally recieved the money and were overjoyed.

The Story of Our Trip

We had the best time in Ethiopia. I do not know where to start. We started the week by visiting family and eating good food! One week of adjusting and getting over jet lag and enjoying ourselves. The boys loved their grandma's four dogs and allowed one of them, Fluffy, to sleep in the bed with them. Two others were white puppies named orange and lime in the Amharic language and the guard dog who is short but does his job well, loved the boys. We took the boys to the Zoo as their first adventure. The lions were so close and there was a cute little monkey who thought he was in show business because he knew how to entertain the crowd. In the same day we went to Addis Ababa University that was converted from the Emperor Haile Selassie's Palace, at his request. Here, there was a Museum of Ethiopian culture and history of music and religion ranging from the BC era. We then visited Sodere where there are bath houses and showers of hot spring water that continually comes from the earth. It never runs out. It was awesome being one with nature as the showers are outside in nature above the Awash river. The boys went swimming in the pool (which of course was nice and warm from the spring water) for two consecutive days and after my husband gave me a few quick lesson to improve my swimming I dived off of the diving board for the first time; exhilarating! Then we visited a beautiful lake called Langano. I was surprised at how beautiful it was. At sunset the water is purple. They say it is due to high calcium deposits in the water. white horses freely roaming around, an array of bright colored flowers and trees that I had not seen before, camp fires for families to sit around and chat under the moonlight on the beach water and of course the beach with black sand and mountains, literally 40 to 50 feet away. The restaurants were fabulous. Friends took us to Fasika Restaurant with traditional cultural dance and live Ethiopian music and of course good food. American Christmas and Ethiopian Christmas (1/7/10) was good. They were spent with more family who put together a feast! I wish I took a picture of the food spread. We went shopping for sulveniers the next day and that was fun seeing all the art work and beautiful scarves.We eventually, on more than one occasion, visited only two of the Donation Sites as one of them was difficult to find and way out of reach from where we were. So we were able to give the money collected from friends and coworkers to the other two organizations. They were so happy. Happy does not even describe their gratitude. It was like someone rich finding you from the other side of the world and handing you money to continue your good works. They probably thought how did you even know our little organization existed. They were such sweet people and the children so behaved and eager to do homework. I will post the pictures, the receipt and thank you letter within a few days. We all have tans and jet lag. I had culture shock with the cold weather in NY. I was at work today daydreaming about being under a hot spring.