HOME

Being a world traveler by profession for more than half my life (aka, flight attendant), many times "Home" has been were I hung my hat, or uniform if you will. But what does home mean? The place we sleep at night, where we live, where our family and friends are, where we feel safe.

As I was riding the subway yesterday after having been out all day in the pouring rain with a huge load of items needed for our upcoming "Dancing With the Stews" fundraiser and feeling like I couldn't get home fast enough, a man rushed to the subway and said "I am always rushing to get home, I can't wait to get home".  I couldn't help but think about the homes our children at Fresh and Green Academy don't rush to get to.

You see the children, when they are at school from 8am to 5:30 or 6:00pm, are safe, fed, and happy. It's when they go home and are not under the watch of Muday and her caring staff, that the kids are at risk.

I spoke with Muday earlier in the day and she told me one of our little kindergarten boys had been raped by a man in the neighborhood. It turns my stomach and fills my whole body with pain just to write this. This is not an isolated case either. We have a 9 year old girl who is in constant pain and has trouble walking due to her recent fistula surgery because she was raped by a worker in the home she and her mother and sister were staying. The mother worked there as a domestic.

The majority of the homes our children live in are not like the homes most of us know. There are no windows, no electricity, no pluming, or indoor toilet, and no sturdy locks on the door. It is basically, flimsy, 12 x12, corrugated tin walls and a roof with a mattress that the whole family sleeps on. If the mothers are not part of the cooperative at the school, they are usually out trying to make money to feed themselves and their families in anyway they can, which often leaves young children alone and vulnerable to rape. If that is not bad enough, often the rapist is a family member!
So it can really be hard to keep the children safe.

Muday has taken in several children who were living in such unsafe situations but we don't have the resources or finances to guarantee the safety of all the children after school hours. This is why a big part of the Friends of Fresh and Green vision is to build a new school with a boarding facility.

Boarding schools are not permitted inside the Addis city limits, so to build our dream school it will have to be done far from the current school. We had hoped to purchase the land the school currently sits on but the deal fell through. I do feel everything happens for a reason and I always felt if it were meant to be it would happen, it was just very disappointing when it didn't. So maybe the boarding school can still happen. It will take a lot of money to relocate but I believe nothing is impossible.

I will continue to dedicated my life to giving these children a safe home on top of the food and education so many of us have helped to provide already.

One day the children will be safe and happy at "Home".

Four Years of Darkness

Can you imagine being in the dark for the fist four years of your life?

That is exactly how Yesuneh Aserat spent his first years.
Yesuneh may have been born with a learning disorder and his uneducated mother did not know how, or want to deal with it so she left him in their one room dwelling, which has no electricity, plumbing or windows. Being malnourished herself, she had little to offer in the way of nourishment to any of her children. She did not take him with her outside so he literally was left alone in the dark by himself until the age of four. That is when he came to Fresh and Green Academy.

Unfortunately, Yesuneh’s story is not that unique. There are millions of children in Ethiopia who are malnourished, abused, homeless and unloved by anyone other than God. This is why Muday has answered her calling turn her school into a haven for these children and I have found my calling to help her. Muday Mitiku started Fresh and Green Academy in 2000 as a private kindergarten but soon turned it into free school for some of Addis Ababa’s poorest children.

On a volunteer trip in 2008, I fell in love with the children, their families, Ethiopia, and Muday so I founded Friends of Fresh and Green Academy Inc. In those five years the school has grown to serve 140 children age 3 to fifth grade and provide three meals a day. We also help their mothers through the promotion and sales of their hand crafts made at the school.

But back to our story. Because of Muday’s generosity, people in the community are seeking her out for help and are constantly trying to enroll their students in the Academy. (If we took in every student who’s family asked, and was qualified, we would have thousands of students by now.) While we would love to admit every student that approached the school, we just don’t have the funding. (We are  a small grassroots organization that provides all the funding for the school.) Muday usually has her staff tell the destitute families who come by, that she is not in and there is no room. Her heart breaks every time she turns someone away, but the day Yesuneh’s aunt brought him in, and she heard the story from her office, she could not turn her back on him.

So now we have the added expense of a full time nurse/therapist, diapers and the extra food he needs to bring him back from what the neglect has done to him.
He does not see although he has been to doctors who say that physically, there is nothing wrong with his sight, it is a mental problem.
He is learning to walk but his muscles have atrophied, so this is not an easy task either.
We now have an added $300 month expense on top of the $4,000 we already must raise each month to feed the 140 children three meals a day and run the school.

The great thing is, he now receives love and attention that is priceless.

Fresh Water Comes to Fresh and Green

Water

A basic necessity most of take for granted every day is a luxury for the majority of people in Ethiopia.
Drought and politics are two leading causes of water shortage. A study conducted by Water.org found that "42% of the population has access to a clean water supply" and only "11% of that number has access to adequate sanitation services"

Many of the students at Fresh and Green Academy suffer from intestinal problems due to the quality of the municipal water at the school and the stream water many of the families use at home. There was also a recent outbreak of Hepatitis A at the school that was thought to be caused by contaminated water.
This should no longer be a problem, thanks to the generosity of "A Child's Right" and their donors, Fresh and Green Academy now has clean drinking water, triple purified to kill 100% of harmful bacteria. The students will drink clean water at school and will also be taking water home for the rest of their families.

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy, along with the help of others is making the Kotebe neighborhood of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia a better place to live.

Tweet

Follow @FoFaGAcademy

Human Trafficking Hits Home

Being an international flight attendant brings me many opportunities. One being my calling in Ethiopia. Another perk of my job is the exposure I have to a multitude of hotel rooms around the world and in those rooms I often watch CNN International. Currently CNN is running a campaign on stopping human trafficking. I have to admit, I was not aware of the many means humans are trafficked. I was under the impression it was mainly women and children being kidnapped and forced into the sex trade. I have learned that it is so much more than that and that some of our mothers in the "Friends of Fresh and Green Mothers Cooperative" have fallen prey to trafficking.
We work very hard to sell the Mother's goods and we send the group, which consists of fifty women, 100% of the money made but it is still not enough for them to feed their children who do not attend Fresh and Green and themselves and pay the $20-$25 a month rent. So a few of them have gone to work in Yemen and other Gulf countries to work as live in domestic help. They feel this is the only way to provide a better life for their children, who are left behind in Ethiopia.
Unfortunately four such children have had to leave Fresh and Green to stay with family outside the area of the school. These children may not be attending school or eating regularly the way they were while with us.
The other major issue with these women leaving is the abuse many suffer.

While I was told stories of abuse I thought they were isolated situations, I did not understand how wide spread and severe the situation really is. Human trafficking is hitting very close to home!

If you would like to donate to the Mothers Cooperative visit our website. We will also be featuring some of the items the mothers create on our site very soon.

www.friendsoffreshandgreen.org


Below is an excerpt from a story by Marina de Regt of the Netherlands, that explains the situation well.

Ethiopian women increasingly trafficked to Yemen

by Marina de Regt

Few know about the large numbers of Ethiopian women who migrate to the Middle East to take up domestic work.

“May what happened to me not happen to you,” begins a letter sent to Gebetta, a magazine for Ethiopians in Yemen. Many women have written to Gebetta with testimony of how they were trafficked to Yemen to be employed as domestic workers. They speak of deception, isolation, maltreatment, heavy workloads, unpaid salaries, confiscated passports and physical and psychological abuse. Many regret ever deciding to leave and advise other women not to follow in their footsteps. But the flow of young Ethiopian women desperate to improve their lives and those of their families continues to grow.

Until the early 1990s few Ethiopians – except those of Muslim/Arab origin – were interested in going to the Middle East. After the overthrow of the authoritarian regime of Mengistu Haile Meriam in 1991, Ethiopians were given the right to free movement. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have subsequently become major destinations for Ethiopian women in search of a better future.

Even a relatively poor country such as Yemen attracts many female Ethiopian migrants who take up paid domestic work. Changing family structures, the increased educational levels of Yemeni women, the growing number of employed women and changing attitudes towards domestic work explain the increased demand for domestic labour in Yemen. Socio-cultural constraints prevent Yemeni women from working as domestics – so migrant women meet the demand. Wealthier Yemenis prefer to employ Asian women but middle-class families predominantly employ Ethiopians because they are available and seen as good domestic workers. Somali refugee women also work as domestics but, unlike Ethiopians, do not generally ‘live in’.

Many Ethiopian women come to Yemen on tourist visas and find work via relatives and friends. Those illegally recruited by agents and employed on a contract basis are particularly vulnerable. All of the many recruitment agencies that arrange Ethiopian women’s employment as domestic workers to the Middle East are non-registered, they can be considered traffickers. Women are approached by the traffickers themselves or are introduced to traffickers through friends, neighbours and relatives. Trafficked women themselves are sometimes even involved in recruiting other migrants. Traffickers are often either of mixed descent – having a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother ­– or areYemenis born or brought up in Ethiopia. The Yemeni authorities lack the capacity to control the activities of illegal recruitment agents and it is often the case that traffickers are able to use influence with people in power to ensure that any legal actions against them are halted.

Women who have borrowed money from the agent or broker may end up in debt bondage, required to work long periods before they are able to pay off their debts. Many women have great difficulty leaving their employers and agents and physical abuse is common. Employers and agents often confiscate the women’s passports and forbid them to leave their place of employment unaccompanied. This makes it impossible for women to look for better jobs, to escape or to have contact with other Ethiopians. Trafficked women may, however, become aware of their rights and decide to run away and find better jobs. Some families therefore prefer to employ young rural Ethiopian women as they are thought to be more malleable and less likely to leave. As a result, traffickers in Ethiopia are purposely recruiting young uneducated women from poor families in rural areas, convincing them with stories about high salaries and educational opportunities. 


Please spread the word, tweet and post to your Face Book page. We can not ignore what happens to our fellow humans, we are more connected than we realize.

Tweet

Soul Server

Time and time again I talk about how fortunate I am to know I am on the path that was intended for me. It may get old, but I truly feel it to be.

I just watched the movie "Soul Surfer" for the second time. (The first time was in Ethiopia) It is a very inspiring movie. The true story of a 13 year old girl who had her arm bitten off by a shark and how she found the strength to return to surfing and carry her message to the world. This girl happened to have a very strong Christian upbringing and an emense faith in God and Jesus.

I too feel I have a very strong "spiritual" side and it is getting stronger every day. I do not necessarily believe that there is any one religion, or maybe any at all that will "save" me or bring me to heaven. I feel our higher power will take care of us regardless because he/she/it is good, not because we are. I also believe that all religions are based on goodness and it is people that get confused. I know my Higher Power has led me to Ethiopia and I am doing the work not for myself but for the greater good. I am just a vechiel for that good.

I often struggle to do the job the universe has assigned me to the best of my ability. It is not always an easy task, but that is the way of the universe, life is not always easy. I am sure Bethany Hamilton (The "Soul Surfer") did not think her job of loosing her arm and carrying God's message was easy either.

I sometimes find it hard to believe that I have been trusted with such and awesome feat. But somehow I have, and I do not want to let the children, Muday, and my HP down. Many days I am stressed to the point of stomach aches worrying about how I am going to get the money to feed the children each month but somehow it always works out. Fornutatly, the Universe has sent the help of some very special people as well.

I believe we are all working as one to make the world a better place and I am happy to do my part.

Tweet

How Peace Came to Be

by  Trish Hack-Rubinstein

I am blessed and honored to be able to help the wonderful children at Fresh and Green Academy. I have grown to love all of them and their families as well. I consider the director, Muday, one of my closest friends, the sister I never had.
Recently I was given the highest complement I could ever receive. I was asked to be the God Mother of Muday's newest baby and apparently that means naming the child as well.  I was so touched but at the same time pretty stressed out. (I actually thought, and kind of hoped she was kidding about the naming part.) Gregg and I do not have our own children so I have never had to contemplate what it takes to name a child.
I, of course, wanted the name to be meaningful and beautiful while respecting culture.
I looked up Ethiopian names, and enlisted the help of friends and family. I sent a list to Muday to choose from and in return, I got am email saying "you have to choose, even if it is an English name".
The stress mounted, I could not sleep. At this point the baby was a few days here on Earth already and she had no name. I wanted it to be perfect of course, I did not want to let my friends down.

Sooo... I turned it over to the Universe/God/Higher Power, if you will. I wrote a request for a name on paper and put it a very special box. Two days later, while getting on the subway to go to work an amazing feeling came over me. I started to cry and knew I had her name.
Shanti!
The word is Hindi for peace. I also offered my middle name, Lynn, which means waterfall in Gaelic. It was also the name of my Grandfather and Uncle who have both passed, as well as a childhood friend of mine who passed when we were teenagers and whom I believe to be one of my Guardian Angels.

I am so grateful for where I am in life and for the friends I have.

I have found "Peace" in Ethiopia.

With my great friend Muday, while she was pregnant.

Shanti!

With two of my great loves, Shanti and Gregg.

Tweet

A Shift in Consciousness

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy Inc. has been in existence for over three years now and the change I have witnessed has been unbelievable. The change in my life has been pretty amazing too.
We have gone from three Flight Attendants who did not have a clue as to how to run a non profit to a small board of professionals with the connections to help us with what we have yet to learn.
I have read lots, attended seminars, done research, asked questions, and have received tons of advice. I am also currently taking a course on non-profit law and ethics by some highly respected people in the non-profit world.
I have finally learned how to ask for help and what kind of help actually is needed. 


I have begun a daily meditation and yoga practice that has truly helped center me. I still stress out a lot but I am better able to handle it. I can only do so much and as long as I am doing the best I can, the Universe will take care of the rest.


I have had some very spiritual moments lately.
-While at the school, I felt a moment when everything was in perfect order.  Dr. Gregg was adjusting the children, Lyuba was teaching yoga to the pre-schoolers, Elyse was working on a press release and Muday and I had just gone over the books.  I walked outside and I had an overwhelming feeling of joy.  All was right with the world at that exact moment.
-While on vacation in the Outer Banks of NC, I was making a point to not check my email before my morning routine. (when I do it seems to throw off my whole morning) So I went for a run, meditated, and did some yoga.  After my morning self care I finally checked my email on the iPhone.  I received the best news! We had done an online interview with CNN Online and the story was out!  We had such great response. I was answering emails for the next two days and watching the donations roll in. This was great exposure for us and it has gotten us some more child sponsors and a proper water purification system will soon be installed!


Things are going wonderfully and while it would be great to get that one big donation to take our worries away, I am very happy with all the support large or small. I trust that things will be what they will and am enjoying the journey. 

Tweet

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy Inc. has no opinion on the reposted story below. We only work for the betterment of the children and their families through education and nutrition.

I do want to bring your attention to (if you are not already aware of) a huge project in Ethiopia. Their leader says it will be very beneficial for the country and it's people.

Ethiopia's Grand Millennium Dam would be the 10th largest in the world

nazret.com - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has officially laid the corner stone for Ethiopia's Grand Millennium Dam project to be built on the Blue Nile river. The project which is expected to generate 5,250 MW will cost $4.8 Billion dollar and will take four years to complete. Italy's Salini Costruttori is the prime contractor.

This massive project will be Africa's largest hydroelectric dam and the world's 10th largest. It will have twice the generating capacity of Hoover Dam in the United States and will have slightly lower than Robert-Bourassa, Canada's largest hydroelectric power plant which has 5616 MW generation capacity.

The Grand Millennium Dam would be by far Ethiopia's biggest infrastructure project to date. If all goes as planned, we certainly hope it will, it will be hard to overstate its importance to take Ethiopia out of poverty.

Hydroelectric power contributes 88% of the generation capacity in Ethiopia and 11% comes from Diesel and just 1% from Geo-Thermal. Ethiopia has a total generating capacity of 2,060 MW as of April 2011.

In the past 10 years, five hydroelectric power plants have been built and put in service with a total capacity of 1,437 MW, several more are under construction.

Reposted from Nazret.com

You Can Help by Sponsoring a Child

Monetary donations are a crucial part of the existence of Fresh and Green Academy and the “Child Sponsorship Program” helps guarantee the school will operate and the children will be fed. Every month barely enough money is sent to cover the costs of teachers salaries, food and rent. With your generous donations all the children will receive three meals a day and a quality education.

During the month of April the school expenses were as follows:

Rent-$313.00

Salaries-$250.00

Utilities-$70.00

Food for 111 children three times a day-$1380.00

For $25.00 a month, the price of a dinner out, you will help all 111 students of Fresh and Green Academy eat three nutritious meals a day, have access to medical care, and continue to thrive in a loving and caring learning environment. You will receive periodic updates on the specific child you have sponsored but will be helping all the children.

Visit our website at www.friendsoffreshandgreen.org to sponsor a child today!

Tweet

FRIENDS OF FRESH AND GREEN ACADEMY INC [26-2966463] GuideStar Report

FRIENDS OF FRESH AND GREEN ACADEMY INC [26-2966463] GuideStar Report

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy's photostream

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy's photostream on Flickr.

On March 24th, 2011 Friends of Fresh and Green Academy hosted it's "Good Karma" Spring Fundraiser. Over $5,000.00 was raised for the children and a great time was had by all!

Jetting to Ethiopia; Volunteer Trip with Friends of Fresh & Green Academy

Jetting to Ethiopia; Volunteer Trip with Friends of Fresh & Green Academy

by Lyuba Halkyn

Thanks to an interesting career that I have chosen, I am able to travel with my job while on the clock and on my days off from work. Throughout this year, I have been to London, Amsterdam, Thailand, just to name a few.

By far, the most inspiring and heartfelt trip that I have taken was to Ethiopia just a few weeks ago. The main objective of my trip was to volunteer with a non-profit organization called Friends of Fresh & Green Academy. This organization raises money for a private school, Fresh & Green Academy, located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The 110 children that attend this school range from ages three to ten and are among Ethiopia’s poorest children. These children are not orphans, but live in conditions that would be unimaginable to most people living in the United States.

Fresh & Green Academy is able to provide three nutritious meals a day for the children and a nurturing environment for them to learn. The director of the school, Muday Mitiku, added a dinner meal for the children after overhearing a conversation between two of her students. The children discussed how hungry they were the night before at home, and how they could not wait to come to school that day to eat breakfast.

I was able to spend three full days with the amazing and bright students of Fresh & Green. These children are intelligent, and eager to please. They are patient, and full of love. The director of the school, the teachers, and the entire staff are extremely dedicated.

I was fortunate enough to travel with my good friend, Trish, who is the President and Co-founder of Friends of Fresh & Green Academy. Along with a non-paid board and many other volunteers, this organization raises money through fundraisers, donations, and child sponsors to keep this school afloat.

The advantages of Fresh & Green Academy versus a government school in Ethiopia are many. At this point, I must say that I have not personally visited a government school in Ethiopia, so all of what I say is based on conversations with highly regarded sources. Some of the benefits that these children receive at Fresh & Green are nutritious meals, clean clothing, and a place to take a shower, including soap and a towel. Their educational curriculum besides basic studies includes English, art, music, and a creative form of physical education. I was able to observe the children in these extra curricular activities where a music teacher and physical education teacher came to the school to add a creative touch to learning.

Also, in Ethiopia, kindergarten is not mandated. Fresh & Green Academy began as a kindergarten and has expanded to include a prekindergarten. The school now can accommodate many of the siblings of the older children.

While visiting the school, the kids taught us games and songs. We worked on a project with them. We also spent some time introducing the kids to some basic yoga, while Muday's husband translated for us. The kids had fun and were very patient with us. They are natural born yogis!

Muday Mitiku has also created a mothers’ cooperative. The children's mothers are able to come to the school one day a week to make local crafts, which provides a small income for them. Most of the children live with their mothers only. It is very common for fathers not to live with their families and in many instances to leave the mothers once the babies are born. Also disease and sickness is prevalent among the moms, including HIV & AIDS. Some of the children also suffer from similar issues but according to Muday, proper nutrition helps these kids to stay healthy.

I cannot explain in words, the joy that I have felt since returning from Ethiopia. In our daily lives as Americans, I feel that sometimes perspective is lost by the life of convenience and privilege that many of us lead. I will speak for myself when I say, I do not know what it is like to be hungry or poor.

My friend Trish told me before I left for Ethiopia, that this trip would be life changing. It is not that I did not believe her. I have traveled to poor places before. My travels throughout the last decade included a trip to visit family in Ukraine in which some of them did not even have indoor toilets.

With that being said, I believe my friend was right. The gifts that I have received from this trip are immeasurable, truly a unique experience. I noticed that while I was in Ethiopia, I was very present not thinking about the next moment, but truly engaged in each present moment. What a gift, not to be obsessing with unnecessary chatter in my head. I felt clear and happy the whole time I was there. I have found a hidden treasure in a school in Ethiopia with 110 plus smiling faces.

The kindness and generosity, which was shown to me by my new Ethiopian friends, was genuine. The food at Fresh & Green, that was prepared in a kitchen with not one modern day convenience, was delicious.

My adventure continued with a weekend excursion to Northern Ethiopia where I saw my first hippopotamus, not in captivity, but on Lake Tana, the source of the Nile River. We visited many small islands and interesting Orthodox monasteries with ancient artifacts. We hiked to the bottom of the Blue Nile Gorge Waterfall accompanied by local village boys who were very interesting and very eager to speak with us.

I was told many interesting stories, including how coffee was discovered. A goat herder, named Kaldi, noticed that his goats would come back from grazing everyday extremely happy. Kaldi followed the goats, and saw that they were eating an interesting plant, which made them very excited. This turned out to be what we today know as the coffee plant.

I was also privileged to eat at one of Addis Ababa’s most premiere Italian restaurants located in an area called Piazza. Ethiopia has an Italian influence due to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930’s, under the reign of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.

My trip was rich in culture, history, and adventure. Most of all, I was able to see with my own eyes, what a difference one school can make for some children and their families.

I plan on returning to Ethiopia to visit Fresh & Green Academy. I urge everyone to volunteer and find a cause to support, even if it is right in your own community.

For more information on Friends of Fresh & Green Academy, please visit www.FriendsofFreshandGreen.org.

Thoughts from Dr. Gregg, Chiropractor.

The Flight Attendant leaned over me as I sat in my first-class seat, and asked whether I'd prefer the shrimp scampi with risotto or the rack of lamb with mashed potatoes for dinner. The question was disconcerting, and it wasn't because I didn't know what I'd rather eat.

It was because, 12 hours earlier, I'd been in Ethiopia, one of the most poverty-stricken countries in the world, completing my second mission trip to its capital city Addis Ababa. Somehow, the menu choices didn't seem all that important anymore.

I'm truly one of the lucky ones. I live in the United States, have a home and office in New York City, enjoy three meals a day, have access to health care and food and water, and get to fly anywhere I want at a 90% discount because my wife works for the airlines.

But even more than all that, what makes me one of the lucky ones is that I'm a chiropractor and have been able to help thousands of people throughout my career. More recently, I've learned to give, serve and love out of my own abundance, as Dr. Sid Williams always taught us to do.

I've been a practicing chiropractor for just under 20 years and it's only been recently that -- thanks to some fellow chiropractors and most importantly, my wife Trish -- I've learned to actually follow Dr. Sid's advice.

My first lesson came shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Living in New York City, I felt the impact of "9-11" personally and professionally. Doctors from the New York Chiropractic Council set up volunteer stations and I joined them in the Javits Center adjusting rescue workers staying there. It gave me a bit of inner peace to know I was doing something for the people who came from all over the country to help our city.

Later, other volunteer opportunities presented themselves. I worked at a soup kitchen in Chelsea run by one of our Council doctors. The two of us worked side-by-side with a third DC and adjusted patient after patient after patient. By the end of the day, we had seen about 200 people who might otherwise never have had a chance to receive chiropractic care.

You get a totally different feeling about giving chiropractic in that situation. People don't have a "fee-for-service" mentality; they're not complaining about their bill or their insurance company or the lack of instant results. In fact, they don't complain at all. They simply thank you as you encourage them to keep getting their spine checked and keep coming back.

About two years ago, at the request of another flight attendant, my wife, Trish, volunteered to go to Ethiopia and help keep a school there from closing. She brought two 50-pound duffel bags full of shoes, clothes, powdered milk -- and some much-needed funds.

This school is special because, unlike regular public schools in Ethiopia, is has a free meal program for all pre-kindergarten through third grade students. Families in this area are so poor they can't always afford food, so children often skip school to beg on the streets for food or money. This school gave them an education AND a meal -- it was worth saving.

Trish returned from that trip on fire to make a difference in the world. As happens so often in life, the timing was providential. The woman who organized the volunteer trip could no longer continue her efforts on behalf of this school and Trish stepped forward to take over.

Shortly afterwards, we made our first trip together to Ethiopia, recruiting six volunteers from the airline. We planned to bring as much food, money and clothing as we could carry. After talking with a few DCs who'd gone on mission trips to the Dominican Republic and Cuba, I decided I'd bring a table and offer free chiropractic care as well.

The day after we arrived in Addis Ababa, we traveled to the school, distributed all the clothing and assessed the situation. We decided to open my "clinic" the next day.

The people at the school didn't know what to make of us. I was a doctor, but had no white coat, stethoscope, instruments, or even pills! Just an odd-looking table. Even the director of the school was unsure about what I did.

They did understand the concept of back pain, though, for they have plenty of it in Ethiopia. People are forced to carry water, food and supplies great distances to their homes (when they have money to buy anything). Walking two miles to fill an old, yellowed five-gallon oil jug with water and then carrying it back with an infant tied to your back can definitely cause a subluxation. I had my work cut out for me, and I loved every minute of it. My only regret was that I wasn't able to get them to fully understand the true meaning of chiropractic and why it's for more than back pain.

I returned to Ethiopia this August and this time, I worked with a translator to write a simple message explaining chiropractic: "Dr. Rubinstein is here from United States. He performs treatments without medications to help the intelligence/power inside you keep your body strong, healthy and resistant to disease."

People lined up and watched curiously, laughing at my attempts to give instructions in the native language of Amharic, and the sounds and reactions of the other patients. A few were hesitant at first, but when word got out, all the mothers of the school's students started to line up, along with the workers hired to improve the school, our driver and even the security guard.

Finally, the entire student body and lined up and I adjusted them all over the course of about three hours. Seeing the smiles on those 82 children, I knew why I had traveled 24 hours to give, serve and love. It truly was one of my best days in practice

I'm not going to lie and say there were no sad moments during the trip. But even in those moments, chiropractic can lift the spirit.

I recall the day we walked two miles from the school through some of the poorest conditions I had ever seen to a student's one-room home. His mother's HIV was progressing to a more symptomatic stage and she was unable to get out of bed. We brought food as well as money for rent and cooking fuel, in hopes that she could soon feel well enough to eat and thereby qualify for HIV medicine. (In Ethiopia, the government distributes HIV medication only to those who can prove they are able to eat.)

Before leaving the home, I did the one other thing I knew I could do for her. I helped her sit up, checked her spine and adjusted her. When we left, she smiled, thanked us and whispered "God bless you." She looked as if she had regained at least some hope.

Before I departed Ethiopia, I spoke with the director of the school to see what more we could do. She told me that if we gave her a few months' notice she could put the word out and have thousands of people come for adjustments. She said the government would probably be willing to provide a space for us to work and local radio stations, churches and schools could publicize the visit.

I know many DCs want to get involved but aren't sure how or where they can make a difference. Ethiopia is one place, but so is the soup kitchen in your city. You might choose to spend several days in Addis Ababa or an hour at the local homeless shelter. Whatever you do, you'll feel -- as I do -- like one of the lucky ones. For there are few gifts greater than helping someone who will never be able to pay you back.

(Dr. Gregg Rubinstein attended New York Chiropractic College and completed post-graduate studies in orthopedics and treatment of the low back including a lecture/study certificate program in advanced clinical radiographic studies. He runs a thriving practice in midtown Manhattan. If you have questions or are interested in helping on his next mission trip, contact him through his website 57thstreetchiropractor.com, or e-mail him at DrGregg225@aol.com.

Ethiopian School for the Impoverished

New School Video

Friends of Fresh and Green/Something to Offer Interview

Friends of Fresh and Green/Something to Offer Interview

Left Behind and From the Field

Well, I did not make it to Ethiopia and it truly saddens me. Due to the volcano in Iceland, flights were disrupted around the world and a group of 8 flying stand by without disruptions of ant sort is hard. The volunteers were able to make it out on 3 waves and our new VP and a veteran volunteer were part of the second wave.

Muday, being the wonderful person she is, left me no doubt that everyone would be taken of so I felt completely at ease sending everyone on ahead of me.I have complete confidence things are going well and this has been confirmed through my phone conversations and email.

While I know I am not the keystone of Friends of Fresh and Green, the organization and work we do is my passion and, I feel, my life's purpose. One of the great joys I receive from doing what I do is seeing how people react on their first visit to the school. Kathleen, our new VP has been so excited and full of energy for this trip and has had so many of the same expectations I had before my first trip. I was hoping to blog and send pictures just as she was, and she too has discovered that is next to impossible in our situation there.

One thing I can do to help on my end is post a blog for her. So the following blog is a portion of a heart warming email from Kathleen. I had bitter sweet feelings reading it for the first time. I has so many of the same feelings I had my first time and reading it made me miss everyone so much, and I am so very sad that I didn't get there this time. But I am happy beyond belief Kathleen and the rest have been so touched and Kathleen paints the picture that is "our Ethiopia" so well.

KATHLEEN'S BLOG

Hi Friends and Family!

Well, I've learned that "blogging" from Ethiopia is a bit of a pipe dream -- electricity is off unpredictably and all Internet is dial-up. So pics will have to wait until I get home and updates will have to come via email or Facebook.

I've been thinking all day how to describe the indescribable. Rainy season has started, and we are close to the Equator -- so ... when it rains, it really rains.

Today we visited an "average" family home, one like most of our students live in when they are not at the school. Eleven people sleep/live/eat in a room about 6' x 6' -- four tin corrugated walls and a tin corrugated roof -- no electricity or plumbing, rocky dirt floor, the 3 foot wide, rock-strewn path is both entry and sewer. The rain on the roof drowns out all noise and you have to shout just to talk to the person who is six inches away from you.

The school is truly an oasis, a haven for the students where they can get fed three decent meals a day, get an education and medical help when needed. We took one of the student's brothers to the hospital today, he'd been having stomach pains for five days. No money = just tough it out in Addis Ababa.

It really opened my eyes to just how vital it is to keep the school up and running and to keep the Mother's Cooperative going. It's the only thing that allows the siblings who aren't in our school to get fed.

I worked with the moms today, making some new jewelry projects -- eyeglass holders and watch bands. Now, having seen how they live, I think -- they don't even know what these things are, nor would they have any use for them if they did.

"Stuff" -- these people don't have nick-knacks, their children don't have toys, not everyone on the house even has a blanket to sleep under much less a mattress.

It's truly a different world, and experiencing it firsthand has changed me forever.

Muday, the woman who started and runs Fresh and Green Academy, is a beautiful, energetic, dynamic woman with an amazing vision: to lift these people up and ... I have to say, it is working.

I can't wait to share my pictures with all of you.

Lest you think my trip has been totally dismal, I have to let you know that it's been just the opposite. The people are amazing -- so generous, wanting to offer you tea and hospitality, sharing the little they have. The children are bright and funny, constantly hugging and giving kisses. AND ... my fellow volunteers are the icing on the cake: dedicated, lovely people who could spend their vacation going anywhere in the world, and they come here. And man, do they make me laugh!! We are constantly cracking up, sharing stories, laughing, it's really a blast. That may seem hard to believe but it's true!

OK, I've gone on for quite awhile now, and who knows when the electricity will go off, so I'll sign off for now. If all goes as planned, I will be back in the US on Sunday. But believe me, I plan to come back in August and I know I will miss this place in the meantime. It just gets into your soul.

Love and hugs,

Kathleen

On our Way!

We have been trying to get to Ethiopia since Friday, today is Monday, things beyond our control have postponed us. The volcano that erupted on Thursday prevented us from going through Europe on Friday so we came to Washington DC on Saturday and 3 of the volunteers got out. Two of our volunteers rushed to actually get out through Israel on Thursday. So there are 3 of us here at the airport hoping and praying to get on the flight this morning.

There was no flight on Sunday so we were able to enjoy a day in DC and took in a museum. I love my job as a flight attendant and all the perks that go along with it but there is a huge down side to all that free travel. Stand by can be brutal! I can handle it, but when I bring loved ones into the picture I feel responsible, though I know I am not, I can't help but take on the stress. That is my nature.

I am so grateful that most of the volunteers are already there and I can relax in knowing Muday is taking good care of them.

We are saying all the prayers we can, and hope to be with the children in about 20 hours!

Please send out the positive energy!

Thoughts on the Next Trip to Ethiopia

For the past two weeks I have been working on a volunteer hand book to prepare the people who will be joining us this April. I really want to give them an idea of what is to come, but how do you tell someone to expect their life to be changed in a monumental way? It is something that has happened on every trip so far. People come back affected, and I love to see their eyes being opened to the warmth of people who have so little and appreciate so much.

My life has not been the same since my first visit to the school. I have a greater appreciation for what and who I have been blessed with and I have been shown how to truly love and care for my fellow human beings. I have learned to respect all beings and I know that one can never really imagine what it is like to walk in another's shoes. All common sense thoughts but easy to lose sight of.

I am looking forward to this trip not only because I miss the people I have grown to love in Ethiopia, but because I will have the opportunity to open the eyes and change the lives (hopefully for the better) of a great group of volunteers.