If in any way, a 17-hour flight can be described as a positive experience, then our flight yesterday from Washington DC to Addis Ababa went well. And after the fairly lengthy process of procuring our visas, claiming our bags and getting through Customs, Catherine and I were met by Woiny and a group of enthusiastic friends, making it quite miraculous that we were able to get all of us and all of our suitcases into the waiting truck. Thank goodness for roof racks!
Our first project this morning was to tour four possible sites for the EMDR Training and determine which one we would use this weekend. After this unofficial, whirlwind tour of Addis and a shared Ethiopian lunch with the Hope For Children staff members, we drove up to the mountain that overlooks Addis. The view was quite beautiful (pictured), but the only place to take our photos was on the shoulder of a tight curve in the road, so we did not linger long.
The area at the top of the mountain is known as Entoto and is the home of 5,000-7,000 people who are infected with AIDS, as well as to hundreds of homeless children from throughout Ethiopia. There is no housing for most of these children, little food and no schools, and it is a pretty sobering experience to visit this
community.
There is, however, a large Orthodox Christian church at the top of the mountain called St. Mary’s which is doing everything it can to help these people. St. Mary’s has given Woiny a large, abandoned building (pictured) to turn into a school and 250 children have already signed up. Only a fraction of these children will be able to attend this small school, but Woiny will begin with the 4 and 5 year olds, and look for adults to tutor the older children in homes or other locations.
Our last project of the day was to pick up the training manuals for the weekend. The print shop (pictured) was only slightly larger than their copier, yet the manuals were as professional as you could imagine. The lack of space in Addis and the ingenuity of the Ethiopian people to survive are strikingly illustrated by these women and the pride they have for their small shop.
Dorothy
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Hi, D and Catherine! I imagine you are having many adventures with preparations of the site for the trauma training. I love the picture of the copy shop and the lovely "sisters" who prepared the manuals so professionally. Thank you for the note about the children on top of the mountain. I'm so glad Hope for Children is moving to create the 4 & 5 year old school!
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Hi Dorothy an Catherine. I was very happy to hear you were joking about the plane!! What wonderful work you and Catherine will be doing in this faraway land and it appears there are others trying to make headway in various other ways....Bless All of You!!
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Dorothy – I was gratified to see that you actually travelled on the second plane picture and not the first. I know that you are giving it “your all” but I would have to draw the line at the prop plane. I have read about Entoto and it is really heartbreaking as the unmet needs of the people in Ethiopia have no bounds. But the work that you and Catherine are doing is so important and it is meeting a critical need that is currently totally unavailable to the general population. Additionally, the trauma therapy that the people will eventually receive will be a life-changer for them. Hope things continue to go well as I know that the “training the trainers” will be starting soon. You have our full support.
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