Friday, February 4

On Friday the team once again split into several smaller groups and had a variety of experiences. The largest group had the opportunity to visit the Roggie Village where the MPPC Christmas offering will go to build a new school. Here are some of the highlights from team members:

Roggie Village – a new Hope school
On Friday a smaller group was afforded the opportunity to travel south of Addis to a town called Roggie. It is at this site that Hope Enterprises will build a primary school with the funds raised from MPPC's Christmas Offering. We met the members of the village in a church constructed of mud and sticks with a corrugated metal roof. It was a pleasure not only to meet the leaders of the village but to get out of the scorching sun! Zenebe, the leader of the Ladders of Hope and our host, spoke to the congregation, followed by Doug, Rick, and Kim. All but Zenebe needed two translators, as our English was first translated into Amharic, then Oromo, the local language of the people in Roggie. Two outspoken members of the community informed us of the extreme conditions there. We could see God's hand at work, not only bringing these people together as Christians in a town that was completely Muslim, but also lifting up a community to give them hope for the future.

We were able to meet the members of the incoming kindergarten class, as well as see peoples' homes in the village. It was tough to pull Susan, Alissa and Kim away from the many children! Just before our departure, a number of the women in the village performed a wedding dance for us, and invited the women of our group to join in. We felt uplifted by meeting our brothers and sisters in Roggie. Not only are our gifts making a difference, our relationship with them will enrich all of our lives.

Urban Renewal with Sister Jember
Kathy Welsh returned to Dr. Jember's slum rehabilitation ministry on Friday with JD, Christine, Grant and Tracy. This time it was possible to be more involved, being a smaller group. Dr. Jember's whole staff had lunch with us. They are all amazingly saintly people, very capable and loving. And their work is having a significant impact on the communities they rebuild. Dr. Jember says it's a drop in the ocean, and I can see how she feels that way because the slums of Addis go on and on like an ocean. But what is so remarkable to me is the method they use because it is sustainable development that involves the community unlike anything I have ever heard of. We got a great sense of the before and after this morning when they took us through a slum that was about to benefit from their program. The living conditions are just beyond belief, but the people there are beautiful and dignified and why shouldn't they be? We were invited to come in and see the inside of some of the homes. I found a Reader's Digest on the coffee table in the first place I entered.

We broke into three groups and I was with the group that visited the clinic where people can come for simple medicine, mostly non-prescription drugs. It's also where they come for AIDS testing and counseling. There were two HIV+ women who waited to talk with us. They are able to get a special benefit to receive nutritional food support for themselves and their families and they were both very healthy and able with beautiful smiles. I spoke to them in English (of course!) and our driver, Leul, translated into Amharic. We all prayed together and it is so good to be able to reach to God for hope for these women so that I don't find myself stuck at the end of my own ability. We did the same thing when we went to a few homes to visit HIV+ women who are not able to get around. They were very eager for us to know which children were theirs and I know the greatest fear they must have is that they will not be able to raise their own children.

Business Development
Don Phillips and Michael Dittmar had a very different day than most of the team. Coffee is the biggest single contributor to the Ethiopian economy and we met with two coffee companies and the Federal Agency responsible for foreign investment. We were astonished to learn that of Ethiopia’s 70 million people, over 25 million are employed or supported by the coffee industry. Coffee production is a multi-step process and it was fascinating to learn more about the true meaning of “Fair Trade” and “Certified Organic”. Did you know that ALL coffee in Ethiopia is organic by default? It is all grown the same way and the only difference between organic and non-organic is having a “certified” label. Currently, while Ethiopian coffee sells at Peet’s for $11/lb, the price to the original farmer is $.07/lb. While some larger coffee plantations are starting up 95% of the coffee from Ethiopia currently comes individual small farms.