The Adoptees

As you know I love a good story about "giving" and "the less fortunate". They usually have adventure, fear and hope as you root for the underdog. These stories get me every time. And yes, if you catch me, I may be shedding a few tears, okay maybe even crying my eyes out. What's more, don't let it be a true story.

Well I found such a story as it is so inspiring to me. Especially when the story continues after you have "left the scene". So picture being in Africa....You are sitting at a long dinner table and the spread of food is magnificent (yes in Africa) . Roast lamb, stewed beef, potatoes and carrots in butter sauce, fresh greens, Ethiopian style BBQ, the spread of Ethiopian Wat and Ingera, line the table before you. The decor is reminiscent of a fine hotel and people you care about surround you.

At the table are three people you have just met on the trip; a young guy and two young girls. The first time you were introduced you learned that the young man is a nephew of the person whose house you are staying in while on your travels. When you met him you found out that he was also on vacation and lives in Canada. He is Ethiopian and works for a major oil rig in Canada. He is to travel to the most popular ancient ruins of Ethiopian civilizations with a tour bus to leave in a few days. The young ladies are his friends and they came for the adventure. One of the young women you meet has been looking for volunteer work to which she will be able to live in the city.

At the table you learn that the host's wife is a wonderful cook and you cannot eat enough although your stomach is giving you the red light. Turns out the host owns a business that was passed down to him by his father. Even the home where you are eating was a gift to him when his father past away. After dinner you discover that the host has also been taken under the wings of the same woman who cares for her "nephew" (the young man) and who has been caring for you as you live in her house.

A year after you travel back home, you have a conversation with someone about your travels and wonder what happened to the young man from Canada. You learn that he was adopted due to the loss of his parents when he was a minor. The girls (who were European) were also adopted and orphans as well. Somehow they found each other. They did go on their amazing trip and get an internship to work helping children.

Six months after that a message comes to you through the daughter of the woman whose house you were living in. In your conversation with her she states how much her mother thought so highly of you and that you were a wonderful person. She said to please say hello to you. That's when it hits you.......... everyone was basically "adopted" and you were included.

Have you seen Lulit?

We met on the subway in New York City. She was clearly Ethiopian as her striking features were strong and so beautiful. I am by nature a friendly person who goes against the grain by New York standards and struck up a conversation with her. We had such a good time talking and I impressed her with my knowledge of her culture. It was almost her stop and we exchanged contact information. I came home and told my husband all about my encounter with a new friend named Lulit (pronounced luleet) to which he stated, "that's my wife for you".

I called her and we planned to hang out in the mist of our busy lives. She took me to an Ethiopian Restaurant I had not visited before, and I thought I had visited all of them. I learned a lot about how she came to this country and discovered how funny, talented and intelligent she really is. I told her of my experience of moving here from the West Indies and growing up in the US as a child. I learned of her living arrangement which didn't appear to be a comfortable setting. But it struck a nerve in me and I felt slight pity for her.

Our conversations continued and her living arrangement came up again. For now she was not working and her roommates were treating her worst than ever before. It really surprised me as they were Masters students at a very prestigious college. Life became difficult for her and I asked my husband if we could let her stay in the extra bedroom in our apartment. (I know). She was great. She made Ethiopian food and we had the best conversations. She paid her last months rent on her old apartment and I helped her to move her clothes out. The children loved her and she was nice to them. She stayed with us free of charge.

It was now summer time and she had never been to the beach. We went as a family and enjoyed ourselves. We did a lot of other activities as well. After a few months I started to see signs of depression. She was still not working and I became concerned. As a big sister figure, I had a talk with her that she did not like and she decided to move to Massachusetts to start a business. Three months later she had no where to go and she returned. She stayed another three months and I saw the same pattern. This time both my husband and I tried to help her but again she became angry, and she left to stay with a cousin in Texas.

So many things happened and we had more good times than bad. I remember that she gave me her cousin's telephone number and when I called, her cousin told me she saw the same pattern but found out she is now working in her new home state and doing well. I called the next time to check on Lulit and her cousin said she has not heard from her. It has been about three years now and I often wonder what happened to Lulit (Which for confidentiality sake I did not give her real name).

I really do miss her and wish her the very best life has to offer. We had some good times. I hope she is doing well and knows that I didn't mean to hurt her in anyway but has always been concerned for her well being and sometimes I guess that is as much as you can do for a person and then they move on. I hope all the best for her and if you see Lulit, Please, send her my love.

Petrina,
(Hirut)

Sell the Dream

GoBigNetwork

Business Funding Series:
Sell the Potential, not the Present

So there you are on day one of your new venture. You’ve thought long and hard about your new idea and you’re ready to build a great company that is going to change the world. Now it’s time to attract customers, employees, and investors. No problem, right?

Except for the fact that you have absolutely nothing to offer anyone because your company does not have an office, a product, or a single employee! So how do you get started with this world-changing vision if you have few assets to leverage? The simple answer – sell the dream, baby, sell the dream!

The vision is the asset
A startup company has only one asset – the vision of what the company might be someday. Today it’s just some poor guy burning through his life savings hoping all his hard work will pay off. No one wants to quit their job to go work for that vision!

Yet employees will jump out of bed to work for a vision they believe in, even if the paycheck isn’t there just yet. Investors get excited about the idea of making an enormous return on a single investment. And customers are always interested in the next best product from the next best company. You need to become all of these. While you cannot completely ignore where you are today, you should not let that define the prospective opportunity your company offers. From a practical perspective, most startup companies evolve so quickly that they’re not even worth describing in current terms. Your focus should be on getting the company to where it will be, not dwelling on its position today.

The Stars Will Never Align

*I am on a email list for Go Big Network and wanted to send you some helpful information for starting and owning your own business. This is one of their Funding Tips series.

GoBigNetwork

Business Funding Series:
You're Already Ready

Entrepreneurs often ask themselves when the right time to start a company might be. They hang around waiting for the stars to align, for their moment of inspiration to hit, and for their career to prepare them for something big.

Well I have some bad news for you. The stars will never align. The brilliant flash will probably never come, and nothing you will learn or do working for someone else will make you more ready to start your own company.

Now here's the good news – none of that matters. The truth is that you're already ready. There's absolutely nothing to hold out for in order to start your company. You really just need to get off your butt and get started. If you still aren't convinced, and think you've got a few more excuses under your belt, let's get rid of those right here and now.

You don't need more education

No matter what you're about to learn in school (short of becoming a surgeon) it's not going to make a lick of difference in starting your company. Sure, you may learn how basic accounting and bookkeeping works, but who cares?

You're not going to do so much revenue in your first year that your bookkeeping skills are going to make or break you. Even if you do, you can hire a professional bookkeeper for peanuts and never think about it again.

Anything you don't know now you can either figure out when you need to or find someone else that knows the answer. More importantly, there isn't a class in any school's catalog that will teach you how to take huge risks and always succeed. You'll learn more in your first year of running a business than you will in your undergraduate and MBA tenure combined.

Highlighted Ethiopian Centers and Foundations

I have been having a great time interviewing Ethiopian centers and foundations for presentation in the upcoming year. I am amazed at the stories I have heard so far. You are going to enjoy hearing about these organizations in the trenches of non-profit battlegrounds. They are leading the way, throughout the United States, in humanitarian work, while they all hold full time jobs and some with families. Below are a list of candidates for the interview series (note there is no specific order to the list). Here's the line up:

• Ethiopian Community Center in Sacramento (ECCS)
• Ethiopian Dream Center (EDC)
• Wegene Ethiopian Foundation (WEF)
• Kidmia Foundation
• Ethiopian American Foundation
• The Praxis Ethiopia Foundation
• Marium Orthodox Church's Center

*Presentations will be featured on The Ethiopian Foundation's website.

The Ethiopian Foundation

The Ethiopian Foundation is here! As a result of contributions, hard work and great friends, TEF can continue it's work in helping Ethiopians abroad and coming in 2011, those here in the United States. This has been a dream for along time and it's exciting to see it take fruitation. My next goal is to give TEF the wings it needs to become large enough to take on its own entity, becoming self sustaining. The members of TEF want to build a connection between the work in Ethiopia to the Ethiopian community in the states. Here are our priorities:


The Ethiopian Foundation:

• Providing Scholarships
• Integrative Education and Training
• Crisis Intervention

We will keep you updated on our progress in the weeks to come.
All the best and Happy Holidays,
Our Trip to Ethiopia &
The Ethiopian Foundation

*We will be presenting the a Center in Sacramento as the next highlighted organization for the month of December.

Fundraising Efforts for OTTE

For the month of December we will be be interviewing different organizations who are helping the poor and needy. I wanted to start with "Our Trip to Ethiopia" (OTTE). OTTE is now incorporated under a new name. I will give more detail at the launch date. Until then, we have started our fundraising efforts for next years projected date for delivering funds to the children of Ethiopia. Hopefully, next year will bring more opportunity to help Ethiopian families here in the states.

We started our fundraising efforts using this blog as a voice to our humanitarian work, documentation for giving and encouragement for others to do the same. It's about finding your own voice and making a difference. This year is a new challenge as we have moved. I have been researching new ideas and prospects for raising donations. For now I came up with the idea of winter scarves that I started crocheting in October. I made 10 and they were all sold in one day. I am so happy but have to make 10 more to replace by Christmas, for my original targeted customers. I will be able to make it so I am not worried. I will be shipping them next week. I wish sooner but I want them to be quality work. I will probably sell more after the holidays. You can see a sample of a few below.

Funny I never thought I crocheted well enough to sell. I used to have heart disease that kept me in the hospital for two months, when I was a 11 years old. A nurse taught me how to crochet and the first thing I made was a yellow and green blanket. I rarely crochet now and picked it up as I had an eagerness to make something. I started with one scarf and couldn't stop. Ideas and creations continue to fill my mind. I want to start knitting also. I am a little rusty but inspired. Who would have known, hidden talent so small could help make a difference?