Hayi from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!
I arrived at 1AM on June 1st and in seven days, I have absolutely fallen in love with this country. Every day here is an unexpected adventure full of new friends and experiences. Ethiopia has welcomed me with open arms and I can already tell I will be leaving a huge chunk of my heart here, with these beautiful people.
My team and I don’t have a specific ministry this month and arrived in Addis Ababa needing to find a place to sleep and people to serve. That challenge has proven to be one of my easiest on the race. Ethiopia has no shortage of people that need help and surprisingly, no lack of individuals willing to open up their homes and lives to us.
Day one began with a trip to the grocery store, which is where culture shock began. On our way, we passed numerous cows, horses and various other animals sitting in the road while traffic shuffled around them. Native Ethiopians covered the sidewalks and streets selling goods or just sitting in large groups. Unlike America, people here don’t seem to spend any time indoors. When the sun is out, the people are out. My friends and I bobbed and weaved through animals, people and cars for a mile until we made it to the grocery store. While in the store, the electricity went out three times – which I’ve come to find is a normal occurrence in Africa. Multiple power outages a day are expected here, and no one even bats an eye when their activity is abruptly disturbed by darkness. Luckily, we made it home from our trip with a bunch of fresh fruit and some meat that resembled baloney. One of the most exciting things about Africa (to me at least) is that avocados are sold in abundance here for a very low price. Blessings! My diet here will largely consist of multiple avocados a day and coffee (Ethiopians love coffee)!
We decided to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner and were so impressed with the delicious food served and traditional dancing that took place. I even jumped in and tried a few moves, video featured below! Our first night was so much fun and we went to sleep with full bellies and anxious anticipation for what was to come.
On our second day in Addis Ababa we were connected with a ministry called The Selamta Project, and they offered to house us for two weeks. After a little bit of research, we began to realize what an incredible ministry we were about to walk into. The Selamta Project is an organization that connects impoverished, down-on-their-luck mothers with orphan children and fosters a new family unit among these individuals. I had never heard of anything like this and was amazed at the idea. With finances raised in the United States, The Selamta Project funds not only food and housing for these new families but also emotional support and healthy communities to learn from. What they do here is not a temporary fix for these mothers and children, but a permanent new family that they will be with forever. Once a family containing one mother, one auntie and ten children is created, they remain a family until the end of time and new members are never added to the family. This is not a program but a new life and fresh start for the people involved. I had the opportunity to have dinner with one of these families and was served food and coffee by the mother while children ran around laughing, playing and enjoying each other the way any family would. The children are loved by their mom and the mothers care for their children. It is a beautiful new chance at family and love. I am humbled to simply be able to serve with such an organization. For more information visit: selamtafamilyproject.org
In addition to serving alongside The Selamta Project, I’ve had the chance to meet and spend time with some unbelievable individuals. I could write an entire blog about each person (and might still do that) but for now, I will briefly introduce them and explain why they are so amazing.
After volunteering at a Saturday music camp with The Selamta Project, we met a man named Kenny who is living in Ethiopia for a few years due to job requirements. Instead of simply existing here for the duration of his stay, he’s decided to dig into the people and community. He hosts Saturday music camps for the children of Selamta and teaches them how to play instruments, read music and string together songs. He dedicates his weekends to teaching impoverished children a skill they would never otherwise learn and showing them the joys that can be found in music. Kenny is our new friend, and after church on Sunday (which he invited us to) he treated us to lunch and asked intentional questions about our lives and journey.
Another new friend, named Philemon, has also stolen our hearts. He was born in Eritrea and forced into a refugee camp at a very young age. He lived in a tent next to a trash dump for fourteen years until his family was kicked out of the refugee camp and shoved into society without a penny to their name. Philemon decided he wanted more for his life than the path that had been handed to him and began to push himself far beyond what seemed possible. Through incredible hardships and challenges, Philemon started a coffee shop called Fili Coffee and has been in business for eight months. He is breaking impossible barriers and making a path for himself where a path could not be seen. I spent time at Philemon’s coffee shop with him and sipped delicious Ethiopian coffee while he told me about his life and story.
Last, but certainly not least, is an incredible businesswoman named Gelila, who I met my first day here and was immediately impressed with. As Gelila and I started to chat, she began telling me about her jewelry business and how she got started. Gelila was born in Addis Ababa and graduated from college with a nursing degree. Although her parents and friends were pushing her to become a nurse, she knew God had a different plan for her life. Nursing led her to discover the multitudes of people in Addis Ababa who lived in the local trash dump. That’s right, there’s a large number of people here who actually live in the city’s trash dump because they have no where else to go. When she discovered this, her heart broke in half and she knew she needed to do something. Four years later, she has a thriving jewelry business that employs people from the dump. She pulls people out of the trash and teaches them jewelry making skills. She is fixing the problem one person at a time and creating beautiful jewelry while doing it. Yesterday, we visited her workshop and showroom, and Gelila shared the heart behind her business with us.
Gelila’s website: lilaproducts.com
My heart is exploding as I write about all my new friends and the transformative impact they’re making on the country of Ethiopia. The past six days have been chock full of high highs and low lows as we learn about these incredible people but also the devastating problem they’re striving to solve.
I can’t imagine what my next twenty-one days will hold, but I will certainly keep all of you posted!
Sending my love from a tiny coffee shop in Addis Ababa <3
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” Isaiah 61:1
