Traveling

Hey All!

After a very long journey and an unexpected overnight stay in Washington DC, I finally arrived safely in Colombus, OHIO. Yesterday I was fitted for my bridesmaid dress, which actualy fit me far better than I had anticipated. We also decorated the church and I met up with my parents. It was a busy day but great to have my feet on US soil. I think the best thing was the hamburger I ate for lunch and the tacos I ate for dinner. Well today was busy again- with a bridesmaids lunch and more running around. It's really hard to believe that my little brother's getting married tomorrow. I'm excited for him and excited that I get to be apart of it all!

Oh-- This is a picture from Frankfurt, Germany. I spent the day roaming around the city. Behind me is the Opera House, which was rebuilt after WWII.

Back in Addis

So I'm spending my last few days in Addis before I head home for Josh & Abby's Wedding! It's Sunday afternoon and Bemnet (my Ethiopian sister) and I are at one of my favorite places to eat-- the Lime Tree. It just so happens that some building around here has high speed wireless internet--- I just found out and I had forgotten how fast the internet really is. So this is a pic of Bemnet checking out my blog!
Hope you have a great day!!

Bye-Bye Bicycle

I bought a bike for getting myself around Zeway. It was nice while it lasted because it's already gone. We had 4 days of meetings all in Amharic. Needless to say I was exhausted by the end of it. On the last day I came home late from the office, made some dinner and went to bed early. Unfortunately, I completely forgot about my bike. The next morning I soon realized that I left my bike outside and it was gone. Bummer for me!! The crazy thing, is my compound is locked at night and we have a high wall surrounding the compound. Either the thief came climbed over the wall then had a friend help lift the bike over the wall, or the thief was a friend of one of my neighbors.

I went to the police office with my boss and we filed a report about my missing bike (something I never would have done if I were in the US). So now, the theft of my bike has been the talk of my neighborhood. And it's been embarrassing explaining that I simply left it outside, unlocked. It is absolutely incredible how fast news can be passed around. I guess I'll be looking for a new bike when I return from the US… but given that I ride my bike with skirts all the time… this time I'll buy a "girls" bike. Now I'll be styling!!

When it Rains it Pours….

A few days ago I was traveling with some of my colleagues from Addis Ababa to Zeway. It had started raining the night before in Addis and I was surprised to see that it was also raining outside of Addis. The roads were wet and flooded in various places. Flash floods are common in the rift valley as there will be a torrential downpour in one place, then that water will flood a place where there was no rain. On our way down we saw many flooded houses and rivers in places where there should be no river.

That afternoon we received a phone call from a government official in Abossa (one of our sponsorship sites). Outside of this town, there had been massive flooding. Many houses were flooded, stored food was destroyed, and even some cattle drowned. I was given the opportunity to join Food for the Hungry and some government officials to visit the village. We were met with people in shock from what had happened. As we trudged through the water and mud we saw first hand the aftermath of the events that had taken place.

Although houses can be restored, the biggest loss was that of the food that is saved and rationed to last through the year. This food that was destroyed had been the previous season's crop. This crop was their livelihood and a devastating loss for the people. Apparently, this was not the first time for this village to be flooded. They were moved to this area during the government's relocation program about 4 years ago. I wonder what will happen as the long rains will be beginning in just a few months. Please pray for them as they rebuild once again and slowly recover. Also pray for creativity as FHI looks into working with the community to take preventative measures against disasters such as this in the future.

This is a photo of a man showing his ruined store of corn. the water level was over a foot in the little hut. The other photos below are from the flooded village that I uploaded while in Zeway.

P.S. It's now stopped raining and the sun is shining!

Pictures bring things to life

I saw many sights, including this man dragging a dead cow to dry land. Something I have never seen in my life.
This other picture is of a woman walking away from some of her food storage containers. She later showed us all of her destroyed maize. Once again I cannot express how devastating this flood was for the people of this village

Work equals :)

Can you see why I love my work???? I get to look at all these faces EVERY day!!! What a lucky Gal am I!!!

Choices

So in my very first blog here, I went on an on about the day I was going to be spending at the Sheridan with a good girlfriend of mine. Well, even though I fell asleep with thoughts of me laying by the beautiful pool, we woke up to a miserably cloudy day. Not only was it cloudy but it was drizzly too. It was a bummer. Well, Sarah and I still packed up our suits and headed hopped on a taxi to head to the pool. We drove in circles as the roads all leading to the main square (Meskel Square) were closed down. Instead of being a short little trip it took us nearly an hour to get there. Of course the sun wasn’t shining.- but we sat down and had lunch, still complaining about the weather. I could complain more about all the bad things that happened that day--- but I’ll spare you.

What I do want to share is that I feel blessed that I actually had the opportunity choose to pay money to go to a pool & and I had a day free to be able to relax with my friend. As I walk down the streets here, I am reminded that very few people have the options and choices that I have. I mean, I have a new computer that my supporters sent me, I can afford to drink bottled water and buy my Addis family treats for Easter. What a blessing is that!!!! In the end I feel guilty for my little bit of complaining when things don’t go my way.

A Rock Hewn Church of Lalibela

Josh and I are in front of a small passage way leading the way to one of the 11 rock hewn churches at Lalibela. This was during our whirlwind trip to the northern part of Ethiopia

Happy Easter!!!

Vacation in Addis! Last night I debated do I stay in Zeway or go spend a day a day at the Sheraton hotel lounging by the pool with a good friend..... well you can guess what won out. So here I am typing on this thing and dreaming of my day by the pool tomorrow.

So what do you think of the name of this dear blog? My co-worker Rob and I took at least a half an hour to come up with something halfway decent. You should have heard some of the rather silly things we came up with. Rob said that I have to explain the name. So here it goes: Treasures in Zeway: There are many treasures in Zeway-- me for one (but more seriously), my co-workers, the youth that we are working with, our vulnerable and orphaned children-- the hope of them and their future. Life. Flowers & Acacia trees. Those affected by HIV/AIDS and doing more than living. More birds than you can imagine...

Happy Easter! I hope that in this season you can remember the love and the miracle of what Jesus did for you, me, and every heart in the world.