My thoughts for today

I just returned from an amazing 10 day ski trip in Utah! We had great snow, 2 feet of powder!
As we paid our $60 a day for a lift ticket I could not help but think of what that money can do for the kids and families of Fresh and Green Academy. ($60.00 is two months salary for a teacher at the school!) I often feel guilty for what I have when approximately 72% of the world lives in poverty. How did I get so lucky? (and I am hardly wealthy) For most people living in poverty, their only aberration was being born in a certain country. I know I am doing what I can to help and that is really all that is expected of me, but I look around realize I have so many things. I have purchased items frivolously that I have no need for and I feel ashamed. My friends in Addis Ababa seem to only need food, shelter, and a means to take care of themselves and their family. They have little in the way of material possesions, but they have dignity. (I ask myself, Do I?)

I try not to judge, but in theses times when the US is not quite on the high financial horse it was once ridding, I can't help but think that our priorities became marred somewhere along the way. I hope we can soon revert back to simpler times, when $10,000,000.00 apartments and private jets were not what was needed to make us feel like somebody. We should be proud of what we do, not what we have. I would like to see us look out for one another, not just our bank accounts. We are in a global crisis and we need to take stock in what really matters in our lives. We need to realize that we are not on this earth alone, and we should all do what we can (every little bit counts) to help our neighbors throughout the world.


Well that is my two cents for today. (which will buy a piece of gum in Ethiopia)

Thanks for reading,
Trish

A New Year

I am really looking forward to a New Year. Things got so bad for so many in 2008 that I believe things can only get better. I do still feel like we are so very lucky for all that we do have. So many people here in New York have lost jobs and that is terrible but I at least we have a right to education and a means to eat. We still have soup kitchens and welfare. I think of the friends I have in Ethiopia who do not have access to any thing like that and have to rely on hand outs daily.

I am so proud of the mothers that have formed a cooperative. They are volunteering at the school, (cooking and cleaning) making jewelry and working in a store that was donated to them to use for a year. They take turns selling items such as sugar, soap, water, and other nnecessities to the neighborhood residents. Their jewelry making is improving all the time and I have been selling it here in the US. I have been able to send over $600.00 back to them. The director of the school, Muday, has had them all (22 mothers) open bank accounts and she pays them in salary form instead of just giving them all the money at once, so they can budget. Most of them have never had a steady income in their lives.
On my last trip we brought about 250 small sets of sheets donated by an airline. What was not used on beds was made into clothing by the moms. I was so impressed!



The children are doing well. My partner Tim is on his way there now and a friend from Rome is there now as well. We got a donation of a mouth model and they will be using it to teach them how to brush their teeth. The traditional way to clean teeth in Ethiopia is with a special stick they have there, but the kids are now drinking powered milk that contains sugar so I am afraid the stick is just not enough any more.

I am planning to go back in April and can't wait. My husband will be going with me and I couldn't be happier. I am so excited for him to meet my new friends there and see what has become such an important part of my life.

Just back from trip #3

I just returned from my third trip to Ethiopia yesterday afternoon. I am still out of it. I guess I have jet lag. (thought I was immune) It did take me 24 hours to get home this time. Each trip it gets harder to say good by. I have made such wonderful friends. The school director, Muday is such a kind and generous person and I feel such a closeness to her. I also find I am feeling much more comfortable and at home in Addis, despite the vast cultural, social, and political differences from my own country. I really can't put into words the feeling. The people there are so kind and really care for, and respect each other despite the harsh living conditions and extreme poverty. They have shown me that we really don't need very much in this world to prosper. A strong spirit, love for family, the will to survive, and just the basic necessities mean so much more than a big house, nice clothes and an SUV.

More very soon.
Trish

The Children

Mothers Cooperative

Pictures of the new kitchen

I am blessed

I am truly blessed to live the way I do and to be able to help where I can. I have actually been home for a week. I wish I would have been able to write while on the road but I was unable to access this site. So many emotions pass through me while I am in Ethiopia, I sometimes find it difficult to put them into words. But here goes...........

This trip brought about a whole new wave of feelings. My role has changed from my first volunteer visit. Then I thought it would only be a one time visit. (Although one of my brother in laws told me that I would go again before I had even been the first time.) Now, I am one of the people responsible for the well being of the school, children, and some parents.
The first couple of nights I did not sleep to well because of all the thoughts going through my head. The school needs alot. We need to continue to raise money to feed the children and run the school, but we also really need to build a new school. Many of things in the school are functional but sort of pieced together. The new kitchen has been built and they are using it, but there is no floor (very expensive for cement) so they have been putting down plastic covering to try to keep the mud at bay. It is the rainy season now and it really rains hard!

I sometimes wonder what I am doing. Have I taken on too much? As I am using some less than desirable toilet facilities, I remind myself that I am doing what God wants me to do. I really do know this is my purpose in life. After 43 years things are right where they are supposed to be. I have a wonderful and supportive husband. My family and friends are amazing. And I love the people of Ethiopia. The children are wonderful. The mothers who have their after school craft cooperative are some of the strongest and most powerful women I know. They endure such hardships, and through absolutely no fault of their own, live in extreme poverty. The have been working so hard on their jewelry and finally have, many for the first time ever, an income. Muday, the director, school founder, and resident angel, helped them to all open a bank account with about $5.00 each!
Muday really is a saint. She cares so much for these children and parents. She has no problem taking any one of the family members that may be sick, to the hospital for care. She wants to add a grade level every year so the students don't drop out of the government schools once they leave Fresh and Green Academy. A huge percentage of the students do because the government schools don't have a food program and they don't eat at home, so they are back on the streets begging instead of in school. It is a terrible cycle. She would like to have sleeping facilities in the school for the students who sometimes get left at school by their parents. (Some of them walk over an hour to get to school. And uphill both ways barefoot in the snow isn't too far off! Ok, maybe the snow part.)

I do love Ethiopia and its people and especially the new "family" I have at Fresh and Green Academy. I know I have not taken on an easy task, there is great deal of work that needs to be done, but I also know with much help and prayer I will one day see these young children graduate from the University and live healthy and happy lives.

Thank you for you support!
Trish