Catch the Vision! (Part 5)

Well, I just about dropped the end of this story, didn't I?
We had a couple hours to burn, so Kasaun and Andreas took us on a tour of the Wonchi Project. Wosson stayed behind to catch up on some work.

Every time we stopped the truck to take a picture, children came running.
Over and over again, I heard "Question in language I don't understand."
Answered by, "Wurld Vishin."
Translated, "I asked them who gave them their sweatsuits." or "I asked them if they went to school and who paid for it."

It became apparent that it was more than just dramatic effect, too. We drove up to Wenchi Crater Lake (conveniently on the project), where there was a cord raised to block out path. Andreas leaned out the window and said, "These are World Vision sponsors." The cord dropped.

Kids came up to us with hands out, Kasaun would say, "Who gave you your clothes?" (Wurld Vishin) "These people are World Vision, ask them for no more." Hands drop. Pose for photos. Hand out cookies. Kids grin.

Teens waylay us and try to charge us to take a picture of the lake. Guides ask the kids, "Did you go to school? How long? Which school? Who paid?" (Wurld Vishin) "These people are world vision. They have already helped you." Teens back off. We pass out crackers. Everyone disperses. No harsh words are spoken.

Everyone within 400 sqkm knows what World Vision has done for them. Or what they can and will do. And they are thankful.

Beyond thankful.

I've never seen anything like it.

I wished I has some new sweatsuits for them.

More kiddos coming running. By the time we came BACK down, they just stood at the side of the road and waited to see us.

Oh look, another child running to see us.

35

Yesterday Brent planned a surprise date for me that he had to tell me about since I pretty much skipped a shower yesterday, had agreed to babysit for a friend, and was getting ready to put supper into the crock pot. After abundant joy and frenzied scrambling, I righted all my wrongs and got dressed up for him.

Just before we left, as I was putting on guilt inducing jewelry--that I still really, really like, but do feel a little more than guilty about owning--I asked him, "Do you think we can, for one night, forget that there are people starving in the world?"

Antony is a 14yo boy in Zambia. He has 8 siblings and works his family farm. He likes math.

 "In what way?" He asked me.
"Well, for starters, eat at Bonefish."
"Yup," he said, "that's what I want, too."

So we went. The bang bang shrimp was excellent. As was the corn chowder with chunks of crab, the kobe burger, and the chocolate creme brulee. Delicious.  And then the check came:

$35.

Aradhana is a 1yo girl in India. She is an only child whose father is a daily wage worker.

 When I got out to the car I asked if he noticed the price of our meal. He asked if I was thinking about how much food that would have bought in Ethiopia. My answer? "Well....no. Thanks for that. But it was $35. We could have fed a child" (he joined me) "for a month."
Yeah.

Asemahle is a 5.5yo girl in South Africa. She lives with her grandmother and two siblings. Her job is to carry water.

 We went from Bonefish to the liquor store (sorry mom) where we bought our once a year splurge Raspberry and Peach Sparkeltinis. (and now I feel I need to apologize to people who drink real wine)
Our total?
$35.

Edward Samwel is a 10 yo boy in Tanzania with five siblings. His job is sweeping floors. He likes math.

 We peeked around the furniture store to see if we could find a dresser for our boys room (Maybe) and then proceeded to Target. Once you deduct the t-shirts I bought for my friend's Dresses for Kechene project, guess what we spent.
$35.
And it wasn't on necessities like TP and soap. Chocolate was involved.

Mirriam is a 7.5yo girl in Uganda. She has five siblings and her work is to wash dishes. She likes to jump rope.

I'm not exaggerating, friends.
It's everywhere you look. Every time I think I have stretched my budget as far as I can, I discover one more frivolity that I easily drop $35 on.
But here's the deal: though our budget could accommodate another sponsor child or, apparently, three, we can no longer stretch our time to give each sponsored child the time they deserve. Now that we've met two of them, we realize how very important that communication, that prayer, that love is.

I keep seeing those 35s pop up in my spending and every time I do, I think, "There's another child." Maybe this is an excuse, but I want to dedicate myself to the five we already have. I want to be supportive to them and to my four at home and to the one on the way. I'm not saying I won't dilute the waters again, but right now my God is asking me to advocate. To share the love with others. I can't save them all. I can't love them all. But I know I have more friends that can. And those friends have friends who can.

So I'm asking you, my friends if YOU have something else in you for a child who is in desperate need of an advocate to do more than pay for their school, for their parents to learn about health and sanitation and for their community to learn about their value beyond how much water they can carry, but to also love them, write to them, pray for them.

 Do you?

If not, do you have $35 a month to throw at them to make me go away? I'll work with that because I know that eventually you'll come around to loving them like I love mine.
Each of these children is available for sponsorship. I have their cards.
Let me know.

Catch the Vision! (Part 4) Also entitled Wurllllld Vishin

I don't have photographic evidence for much of the next portion of my visit to the Wonchi project.

If I had it to do again, I would take lots of pictures. But I'm an In The Moment girl and like to absorb things with my eyes and not through a lens.

Besides, I'd been warned that Ethiopian people don't like their pictures taken and/or want to be paid when it happens. However, our guides were more than enthusiastic about stopping so we could take pictures, so why I didn't take many at the main Wonchi headquarters is beyond me.

In apology, I give you this boy who spotted the ferengi in the back of the Land Cruiser when we were driving in to see a school World Vision built. (Photo of THAT later.)

Doesn't he have a beautiful smile? If you ask him who gave him his sweater(a school uniform), he would probably tell you "Wurllld Vishin" as we heard time and time again. 

So...

Less than five minutes from Alemnesh's house, we come upon the World Vision Wonchi headquarters. Remember how I told you that it was likely that Alemnesh was one of the first children in the area sponsored? I have reasons behind my belief. Like the fact that her family is so close to the headquarters. It only stands to reason that they would start with the kids nearest them and expand out. That, and we soon found out that World Vision Wonchi began in 2001, the same year we began sponsoring Alemnesh.

This sign just thrilled me. I can't explain it. How any envelopes have I gotten with this emblem on it? It was just surreal.

First stop: bathrooms. Mens to the left. Women's to the right. After the restaurant squatty potty fiasco, I expected another. I had incorrect expectations. Though the first room I glanced into was a hole in the ground (on later, further inspection, I discovered it was a shower and had to laugh at myself), the one I entered had a genuine, first class, flushing toilet. Did I get locked in the bathroom? Yes I did. When I got out, did they have soap? They did not. But they did have running water, I did scrub and, by now, I never left my bag or its contents (TP and hand wipes) behind.

Regardless, when our guide took us to the restaurant, he first directed us to sinks with SOAP. (I know. I am so American.) 

So we headed to the "restaurant" which was a buffet of Ethiopian food (injera, chicken wot, salad, and :) shoestring french fries), that was less "restaurant" and more family style communal eating. We'd been forewarned of a presentation, so when they turned on the TV, I expected the presentation was happening during lunch. It was not. The workers gather together to eat and, it seems, watch the noon world news.

By my understanding, all the Wonchi staff lived and worked together. I saw people coming out of bunkers that appeared to be their private living space. I believe I used the only bathroom on the lot. They ate together for all meals. They live very modestly. Much more modestly than even the local subsidized housing or Women's shelter here in the 'Boro. Did they eat well? Yes. But the furnishings were basic. The linoleum was chipped. The tables were standard folding tables. The couch was well worn. The offices were simple. There was no unnecessary furniture. No unnecessary.....anything.

And on to the presentation. Which was power point and which he downloaded onto my camera chip, but which I don't know how to get off. So I'm glad I took this picture:

 

ADP: Area Development Project
Woreda: To my understanding it is kind of like a county. It is a region, space, larger than a community, smaller than a state. Wonchi is 400 sq km.
FY: founding year, in this case 2001
Supported by World Vision USA
Source of funds: first by sponsorship, second, and a much smaller percentage by private non-sponsorship grants.
Total RC: Total number of children in the project. In this case 5000. That is 5000 children who are covered by World Vision Wonchi. 5000 children who get to go to school. 5000 children whose families are trained in sustainable farming, sanitation, health education, vaccination, and much more.
Staffed by 40 people. And so accountable that they even count in the "office girl" (whom I met). I don't remember what the CDWs were. I would say that during lunch, we probably saw fewer than 20 people, so...that would probably account for the "regular workers" the "guards" and the "office girl." The CDW must be off site.

Don't let the "Land Cruiser" fool you. This was a very well used vehicle. I rode in it all day and it was brought into question more than once whether it might not get us home.

Wosson told us SO MUCH information in that presentation, I didn't retain even half of it (hopefully, my dad will be able to get the presentation off my camera chip if I ever get around to asking him). One thing that stood out, though, was how proud they were of training communities to not poop in public.

I know. But someone has to do the educating. Sometimes the status quo goes even if it doesn't make sense.

In fact, our family was now, after 10 years of sponsorship, a "model family." World Vision brought people from the nether reaches of Wonchi in to see the family's homestead. To see how to live in such a way that disease was not spread. First by digging latrines.

They have awards for communities--and these communities compete--for making their communities Outdoor Defecation Free Zones. When every home in the community has its own latrine (a hole with a fence) and the community has built approximately 10 latrines for the travelers that are walking through (and someone is ALWAYS walking through), they get a clock and a sign at the entrance of the community that indicates it is ODF. (Sadly, no photo. But I did see them. The signs AND the public latrines. I will never complain about a lake bathroom again.)

When Wonchi began in 2001 the area was 0% Christian. I think they said they are now 25% Christian. And my prior posts on this will indicate the truth of a faith growth.

They went from the children basically not being vaccinated to 100% vaccination rates.
Their live birth rate has gone up.
Their OB mortality has gone down.
The number of schools in the area has gone up.
The number of clinics in the area has gone up.
The number of vet clinics in the area has gone up.
And on, and on and on.

Seriously folks, my jaw was hanging open. I've gotta find that power point presentation.

Here we are at the headquarters. The only extravagance I could see was in landscaping. You can see a bit of it there under Brent's elbow. And it was far more basic than my landscaping. The trees smelled like Florida in the spring. I would have loved to have bottled that up and brought it home.

Wosson finished his presentation and, of course, encouraged us to send our friends to pick up the slack between the number of children actually sponsored and the number of children who are covered by World Vision Wonchi. (5000 covered. The power point said 4444 sponsored, but I'm pretty sure he told us the actual number was 4465.) I didn't make it clear earlier, but when you sponsor a child, they do get funds directly, but part of the monthly sponsorship is pooled to do community education, etc and ALL children in Wonchi who sign up to get a sponsor, get the benefit of school WHETHER OR NOT they actually HAVE a sponsor. After our tour of Wonchi, which I will tell you about in another post because it was more touristy and less lessony it was pretty clear that HAVING a sponsor benefited you more than not, but that they still covered all the children to a degree....well, I like it. I always wondered about the kid down the block that wasn't chosen, ya know?

Anyway, today I'll leave off with some photos of some of the stuff WV has built. In Ethiopia, if you build a school, Ethiopia will staff it. Same goes for a clinic. And vet clinics. So WVE builds them, govt staffs them and they are all well used.

Yes, I'm fascinated by the circular mud hut with the clean yard. It was probably in an ODF zone, too.

Here is a World Vision built vet clinic up near Wenchi Crater Lake. You can't see it in this photo, but the sign over the door has the WV symbol on it.

Here is a wide view of the many buildinged high school WV built so that the kids wouldn't have to live away from home in Wolisso to go to high school as they had to even just a couple years ago. It is the same school the boy with the lovely smile escorted us to see.

 

Different/closer view of the high school. 

And, because I love them, more happy children running to see us from the circular mud hut.

We also saw clinics. I can't find a photo in my 2000 pictures, but I'm sure it's there.

And just in case you are thinking about being inspired to sponsor, I give you Antony:

He lives in Zambia and is 14 years old. You have the opportunity to be a light in his life. $35 a month. How easy it is to blow $35 a month. But $35 a month will CHANGE HIS LIFE. You could be a part of that. If you are interested, let me know either by commenting or emailing me and I'll give you the details. Let's put a smile on that face and the faces of the boys and girls in his community.

Catch the Vision! (Part 3)

Part 1
Part 2
Alemnesh

As the next hour progressed, we found out many details about their daily lives. That Alemnesh has another syllable in her name, that her father's name is pronounced with a ch rather than a K, that coffee ceremonies consist of three rounds of coffee (the best I have EVER had), no more, sometimes less, but always three for the honored guest. We found out that our Alemnesh wants to be a doctor and will test into or out of college in May. We discovered that in Ethiopia, if you go into the biological sciences, you learn the whole of biology but not anything of the other disciplines (they were quite surprised that with my background I wouldn't know what type of tree they were talking about even after they gave me the scientific name (I replied with Microbiology, not Botany--conversation ensued)). I found out that Alemnesh would go to a nearby town on Mondays and stay until Friday in order to go to school. There was something lost in translation, so I'm having difficulty remembering if she would no longer have to do so because World Vision built a new high school near by. Though we visited the high school, I can't remember if it was any closer than the town she would walk to on Mondays.

We learned that now they cook on an energy conserving coal stove rather than using firewood which improves air quality and, apparently, uses less energy since a wood fire would have to be maintained all day and this would not (?). They made bread in a communal oven that was off site. We were served some of this bread that was made from their own wheat. It was cooked in a round and served in thick squares. It was a very hearty bread.

When we asked why people were sitting along the wall in the dark on the far side of the room from us, we were told it was giving us proper honor. When we asked why Alemnesh's parents weren't joining us, we were told we were being honored. When we begged them to join us, they did and good conversation ensued.

We discovered that Alemnesh has three brothers and three sisters and that she is somewhere in the middle. We discovered that the reason her family thinks of themselves as rich is because before sponsorship they hand farmed about an acre of teff and now they farm eight hectacres (17ish acres) of teff, wheat, corn, tomatoes, coffee--which they picked, roasted, brewed and served to us, false banana, onion, a cherry-like fruit, and more. Much that they are able to sell at market and all because WV has taught them farming techniques, provided seeds and seedlings, and taught them fertilizing techniques as well as easing their financial load so they could purchase more land.

When we discussed with Achalo that Brent's family farms and the many, many acres they farm, he made that whistle sound and asked if they had many oxen. We shared a good laugh after we told him we used "cars," "big cars." How do you explain a tractor to a person who has likely never seen one?

Alemnesh's brother came home from seminary to meet us. Or maybe he was home for Genna. Either way, he had a friend along who wanted to share some scripture with us. After the third cup of coffee, he did. He took us to John 14 where Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for his them. The speaker then extrapolated to us, "Don't look at our home and pity us. We have Jesus and he is going before us. This world in temporal, but life after is eternal." He said more, but that was the gist. And then he asked if he could ask us a question. "You have so much. Why share it with us?"

I said, "We have been given much. To whom much is given, much is required."
Brent said, "We believe Jesus told us to."

He sat back, shocked. Leaned forward. Brent asked if he had another question. "We have been told America is falling away from God."

We assured him all of America has not left God. It is dividing along the lines of believers and unbelievers and where we used to all pretend to be believers, we now pretty much have to make a choice.

A theological discussion followed wherein they told us that because of World Vision, they are now Christians where before they had no hope. They were trying to share their hope with us. It was beautiful.

That done, and after the opening and drinking of Pepsis (which they REALLY wanted us to have but had great difficulty opening) we toured their homestead.

 Alemnesh presented us with fruit as well. Directly to the right of this picture is another hut of similar size that shared the fence. The fence had another opening onto their false banana groves. Brent remembers more huts than these two. As he tends to be observant about such things, I will cave to his opinion.

 Their false banana groves. They don't need much water, but produce lots of edible bark. I presume it is also roofing material.

 These are their tomato plants. Tomatoes have become a staple in their diet. They can now plant enough to eat AND sell.

 Here we are being escorted through the corn.

 And being followed by children. :)

 Coffee plants. And they proudly showed me that they fertilized with manure.

 Teff fields, hand cut.

 The teff kernel. Small like a grass seed.

 And after Alemnesh's mother asked if she could cook us lunch and the World Vision guys told her that WV was cooking us lunch at their headquarters, they escorted us away. It was hard to walk away from them. They dropped off one by one. Alemnesh's brother and his friend led us, Alemnesh walked with us, but the rest walked about halfway and waved us away. Her friends were coming home from school, so we caused quite an uproar on the road.

She's such a shy, gentle girl, my Alemnesh. And so grateful. I miss her.

But it wasn't the end of the day, not by a long shot.

Catch the Vision! (Part 2)

To read part 1, go here.
To read about Almnesh, go here.

Let's see....we've driven into Wonchi Project, yes?

Let me back up.
I don't know exactly WHEN we drove into the project, except at one point Kasaun pointed out that we had entered. Mostly, I just noticed World Vision signs peeking out at me.

And that it was clean.

Don't hear me wrong, it was still dusty. It was still grimy. I still was breathing dirt and my hair was still filmy. There were still people walking and they were still the color of their surroundings because you can't help but be. But there just wasn't the refuse everywhere, ya know?

There was a widening in the road and Andreas swung into it and threw the vehicle into park. It was picturesque so my natural thought was that he wanted me to take a picture. It had become norm for them to hear me clicking from the backseat and offer to pull over. I guessed that he had just tired of asking first.

"Well, we're here," one of them said, and threw open the door.

Wait, what?? I knew this was what this day was about, but I wasn't prepared yet. We'd just driven into the project. And it was gorgeous. And where were we going? How far would we need to walk?


About 200 meters, it turns out. Back there, behind that "shrubbery" is a compound (for lack of a better word).

We heard them before we saw them.

(Again with the lack of camera. I'm such a dork.)

We could hear chanting and clapping and the distinct sound of rejoicing coming from behind a fence made of poles lashed together with another organic material (false banana bark? grasses? reeds?). And we ducked through an opening in the fence and stepped into a place most Americans don't really know exists outside of folk tales.

Why yes, that IS a circular mud hut with thatched roof that my sponsor child DOES, in fact, live within. Many of those people are, in fact her family, and do, in fact, live in it also. The rest of them live in the hut that shares the fence and yard with them. The yard where chickens roam. You can't really see it in the picture, but they've scattered reeds throughout the courtyard so you are no longer walking on dirt.

We stepped into a swarm of people dressed in their best clapping and singing....all for us. (They are not all in this photo. It was taken later, when I regained my senses.)

First we were greeted by Almnesh's father, then her mother, and then her. Kisses all around.

Ethiopians kiss greetings. I don't think I've mentioned that. Right cheek, left cheek, right cheek. Accompanied by a shoulder bump, while holding right hands. Three, not four. Though if you go for four, they forgive your Americanism and might proceed to six.

Almnesh handed me that gorgeous bouquet made of who knows what (false banana bark/leaves, grasses, palm, silk flowers is my guess) and then we were invited inside their home.

Again, we had to step up and over while ducking down to make it through the opening.

I'm not sure I can emphasize adequately how the next hour went. I know we were ushered into seats of honor at the table that was prepared for our coming. I felt like royalty.

They had gone above and beyond to make sure we felt welcomed. There were flowers. Cushy seats. Soft drinks. Popcorn. And candles.

The poor flash setting explains a lot of these photos, but they are precious to me, so you have to deal with some blurry mess.

If you can look, you will see that the floor in here is also strewn with grasses. It is dirt. The chickens do come in. The walls are mudded, and whitewashed. And covered with newspapers, I think to keep out the drafts.

I know I look stoned in this picture. There were no peace pipes being passed around. There were no lights aside from the candles and my pupils were reacting.

They only had one "closet" which was mainly shelves with their few possessions stacked on them. You can see that their injera baskets are hung on the wall with their few clothes and bags. Their beds (a very few foam mattresses) were stacked along the back wall. The room was probably 15-20 feet in diameter.

If you gaze over Kasaun's shoulder, you will see people squatted along the back wall. They came and went. We were the main attraction that day. They didn't dare join us, or try to speak to us. Just sat in our presence, but not quite. It was interesting, to say the least.

The ceiling. Amazing, no?

We were told before we went to Ethiopia that we could "bring gifts" but weren't really guided as to what that meant. Some missionary friends suggested fruit, so we went armed with fruit and a few other things. Brent's grandma had made dresses for us to hand out "where we saw need." We brought those with some shirts for boys, expecting to meet village kids. When we asked about it, though, our guide told us that it was best to give them to Almnesh and let her distribute them to the village kids as it would be a great honor for her. So we left those. But while I was digging around in the bag for the gifts we brought for Almnesh, her mother began talking.

A little background which I will expand on in my next post:
A) We have sponsored Almnesh since 2001. The Wonchi Project was formed in 2001. We were one of the very first sponsors. She was probably one of the very first children sponsored. A LOT has happened in Wonchi in 10 years. We were only a very small part of it, but we were in on the ground level.
B) This family has 7 children. There are probably six more sponsors.

(Insert very formal greeting that I don't remember exactly but probably went "Thank you so much for coming today. It means a lot to us that you've come. You have been very generous with us...." yadda yadda yadda)

"Before you sponsored Almnesh, we were very poor. We had nothing. We ate only teff. We lived day to day. And now we are rich."

(insert many more details and much more gratitude)

I was stunned. I am squatting in the dirt in a 15 ft circular room of a newspaper covered mud walled hut with 6 chairs, lit only by candles, where chickens are coming in and out and the lady of the house is crediting ME for making her.....rich.

Yes, there is a part 3, 4, and probably 5.

Catch the Vision! (Part 1)

I've discovered that a lot of things that are important to me are never written because I don't want to get them wrong.

At the risk of getting it wrong, I simply must force myself to write this because I fear if I don't, it won't ever be written. And, since it was one of the highlights of my trip, that would be a shame.


I've written before about Almnesh. Well, after many calls and much string pulling (they prefer three months warning and we had three weeks), Brent and I were able to finagle a visit with her while we were in Ethiopia for court.

What an amazing day.

At 7AM, our World Vision hosts picked us up at our guest house for an hour and a half drive southwest out of Addis Ababa. The scenery was so varied.

Yes, those are highline wires.

 What you've got to understand here is how we were in the city for a week at this point, where people were stacked upon people in an unending mass of people. There were concrete houses and tin shacks and dirt roads and people, people, people. But once we drove out of Addis, there were open fields, horse carts, boys walking cattle through fields, children walking miles upon miles to school (you could tell when schools changed based on the uniform color), people harvesting by hand, those incredible flat topped trees, circular mud huts with thatched roofs, lots of people walking and a funeral procession. Among other things. And I was struck by how much the landscape looked like home.

 Minus the mountains.

We drove through lots of small communities and before we knew it, we were at Wollisso where we stopped for breakfast. (Why I have no pictures of this, I do not know. I guess I need a spy camera, because I seem to hesitate to pull out my camera and look like a tourist, as if there was any question in this situation.) We had an wonderful omelet--best I have EVER had--with, of course, delicious Ethiopian coffee. Our hosts had more traditional Ethiopian foods. Tibs. Wot. And something that looked like minced meat. The guy with tibs (Wosson) offered to let us try his food (we did, it was good). So Brent asked to try Kasaun's minced meat. He took some and as he raised it to his mouth, he asked what it was.

Stomach.

Anthony Bordain would be proud of my innard eating honey.

He didn't have a second bite.

Andreas, Kasaun, Wosson

We all shared a laugh over coffee. And then, I think Brent and I had the same thought.

This is our last best chance for a real bathroom today.

So we asked to use it before we left. Wosson took us out the door, around the restaurant, past some sinks and pointed towards some doors. Brent took boys, I took girls.  Shocking, I know.

Oh dear. My first squatty potty. I had a nice tile floor that cupped into cement that ended in a hole. There was a broom (I presume to sweep solids towards the hole) and a bucket of water.

Yup.

The upside? Soap at the sinks. (Soap was in short supply in all parts of Ethiopia.)

Anyhoo...I'm game. There was a door. And I still didn't know that when I got to the World Vision compound that they would have running water. Frankly, at this point I didn't know I would see the World Vision compound and a hole in the ground behind a door was far preferable to a field of grass and I didn't yet know what wonders the day would hold.

Together we left the hotel/restaurant and turned off the last paved road of our journey. We crossed a bridge where I marveled at the trash strewn down the banks of the river/stream where people were bathing and filling their gas cans with what I can only assume was their daily drinking water.

Horrible.

And then we drove into Wonchi Project.

More soon! And it gets far more interesting! After squatty potties, the stories can only get better.