Liya Kebede-The Ambassador, The Visionary, The Super Model

She is a Super Model. She is one of 15 richest models in the world. She has graced the cover of many famous fashion magazines. She is the first black face of Estee Lauder. She is an actress. She has a mission and her own foundation. She is WHO's Goodwill Ambassador for maternal, newborn and children's health. She is a mother herself and married to an influential Ethiopian- Kassy Kebede. She is a leader among her people. She is known for being a visionary and a humanitarian. Her name is Liya Kebede.



Liya was interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey show. She has been presented on many Ethiopian news sites and blogs. One blog presented some quality pictures of her that you can view here. She is noted for being one of the most beautiful women in the world but her beauty is not just on the outside. She is also said to be warm and gentle really caring about the mothers and children of Ethiopia. She could not stop at being a Super Model. She is passionate about her cause and started her own foundation, the Liya Kebede Foundation. Please join me in making a donation to help mothers who are dieing at a young age, due to giving child birth or newborns and infants who are dieing from malnutrition and preventable deseases.

Below I have included three series of videos by CNN honoring Liya and her foundation. I want to prepare you that one or two of the videos can be difficult to watch as Liya speaks to the families and gathers information from the health workers about the severity of poverty in her country.

Commands for helping the poor

Deuteronomy 15:4 There should be no poor among you, for in the land your Lord God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you....

Deuteronomy 15:7 If there is a poor man among your brothers, in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted towards your poor brother.

Deuteronomy 15:11 There will always be poor people in the land, therefore I command you to be openhanded towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

Ethiopian Comedy

With all the seriousness of life, sometimes we need to take a breather and just laugh. That's one of the greatest gifts you can give anyone. This skit features the well known Meskerem Bekele and is in Amharic, the language spoken most in Ethiopia. It was translated to me so I will do my best to paraphrase for the English speakers. Apparently, the gentleman in the skit was thought to be dead. The first lady is explaining what has happened while everyone thought he was dead. The second young lady who comes in thought he was dead also (they were dating before his "death") and she has moved on with her life as she gets married to someone else. Now she sees him and can't believe he is alive. My favorite part is when the second lady awakens from her fainting spell and say's, "Where's the Kinche?" I have been using this line throughout my everyday life, of course with the right timing, it still cracks me up.

The New Oil

I was reading about what is called the "new oil", another national resource in demand by millions of people-Safe Drinking Water. I read about the "Water Wars" that exist in India and China; relative to conditions in East Africa. I read about possible facts from well known organizations to get a better picture, such as WHO and UNICEF. You can also see more on Nazret.com. After reading and seeing a few videos I remembered visiting many of these places first hand; Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. I've watched as people had to transport water to get to their families instead of the water flowing through safe piping.

Then I thought, there are people killing themselves around the world to acquire gems and oil, while others are fighting to acquire clean drinking water. Now with "advance technology" there is the treatment of water, as we do here in developing countries, is made so simply abroad. Filtration has also proven effective yet slow in distribution and can be expensive. The lack of water is more severe in the Sub Sahara regions, and global warming has been identified in accelerating the drought areas. For these regions more water is simply needed. This is where we will always go back to the basics of donations from people like us. I looked up some great sites if you are interested in donating with me. CHF International funds Ethiopia and is registered in Maryland. There is also Global Giving and a really cool site that has an interesting beginning, charity:water. If you have other sites you would like to post, please feel free. Donations can go far. I also know this first hand.

Maxwell-Help Somebody

"Help me to be a helping hand that makes a dream come true...Help Somebody". Tomorrow go out and help someone you don't know. Help someone you see frequently and have been meaning to help in some way. Help someone who you consider your neighbor, whether elderly or they have children. Help someone you feel guilty about not helping. Help someone that reminds you of yourself. Help someone who wouldn't expect your help. Help someone you don't want to help. Help someone in a different part of the world. Help someone who is a relative but you don't get to speak to them often. Help someone at your job who could use your help. Tomorrow, whenever you read this message, Help Somebody.