I recently returned from a magical 10-day trip to Ethiopia with an extraordinary group of people – friends and supporters of A Glimmer of Hope who dared to embark upon an adventure and step into another reality.
 |
| Team Trip October 2009. |
We arrived at the end of the rainy season which was a treat. The countryside was alive with vibrant colors and incredibly lush – certainly not the image most people have of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa, the capital, was buzzing with activity, construction and development.
Most of our time was spent in the Amhara Region in the northern part of the country, famous for its history and magnificent 17th century castles. We spent our days visiting recently completed projects as well as observing desperate need and extraordinary hardship. We shared our time with the people in the communities who expressed their love, deep gratitude, their critical need but mostly, their joy.
 |
| Standing next to a woman, the first time she gets to draw clean water from a well, is always an awesome experience. |
I used to feel embarrassed when inaugurating a school or water well as the celebration and ceremony that went along with it was often overwhelming. This time, I began to deeply appreciate being present with these beautiful people and, by sharing in their joy, we could all celebrate together, creating union and connection. Their appreciation that we would travel where strangers don’t often go, for them to feel that they were not forgotten and alone, that others from a different country, a different world, would care enough, to simply be with them, was a gift in itself.
For me personally, there is no greater happiness than standing alongside an Ethiopian woman who has been bearing the weight of her burden on her back for her whole life and finally, she no longer has to walk for hours every day to collect water from an unprotected, filthy, stagnant river or pond.
A miracle occurs. We start to pump and like magic, clean, potable water fills the jugs and the jerry cans, and life is no longer the same. It’s a beautiful moment, for encapsulated in it are massive and empowering repercussions. Her children will have the opportunity to go to school (especially the girls) as they won’t be needed to spend their days helping to fetch water. The health of the whole family and community will be greatly improved. Women can focus on their families and contribute to other activities that improve their lives rather than deplete it.
 |
| Elsa, a teacher, wants nothing more than a better future for her students. |
In Ethiopia alone, 3.7 BILLION work hours are lost every year due to water gathering and 80% of all illnesses are a result of dirty water. It’s not necessary and it’s not right.
We visited and inaugurated several Glimmer school buildings being welcomed by children in their hundreds with burning lights in their eyes, full of promise and wonder – singing, dancing and clapping often having waited several hours for us to arrive. We wandered around the old school buildings, decrepit, foul smelling, filthy and dusty where rocks on the floor serve at chairs and leaky corrugated iron roofs as ceilings. Children cramped together knee to knee, elbow to elbow, often 80 or more to a tiny room. We leafed through the one textbook that each child receives, worn out, incredibly old and often shared with another child from a different shift.
At one of these schools, we listened in awe as a young English teacher named Elsa spoke of her dreams to change the world for her students. We would listen as the children described their own dreams, no different from those of our own children. Strangely and sadly, no different at all. We rejoiced together as we wandered through the new, beautifully constructed school buildings, with new desks, chalkboards and large windows that let the light shine through – an environment that encourages children to attend school.
If the school environment is no better than the home one, which is a mud hut with a dirt floor, then why would any child want to go there? In this country, where 30% of children in the rural areas do not attend school and six out of every 10 children between the age seven and 14 have to work, there has to be engagement in education to end this cycle of poverty. Without providing every school-age child the simple and deserved right to an education, how can we ever address the core issues of poverty?
I met a woman named Bosena. She was so proud to show me her home and tell me how her life had been transformed through microfinance.
When her children were still young, Bosena could not afford to take care of them and she was forced to send them away to live as servants for other families. Around this time, she took out her first microloan in the amount of $89 so she could start growing oranges to sell at the local market. By the time I met her, she had just taken out her 5th loan in the amount of $317 to buy an ox to help grow her business.
 |
| Bosena, whose life has been transformed through microfinance, is one of the richest people I have ever met. |
She had done so well that she had been able to save about $1,000 as well as pay for her children to return home. Today, they work alongside her on the family farm and live in adjacent houses that Bosena was able to build for them.
I was able to share with her that in America, families are oftentimes scattered far and wide gathering together only a few times a year if they are lucky. Through the blessings of microfinance, not only had her life improved significantly in a material sense, but the riches she had accumulated by being able to have all of her children and grandchildren living around her were priceless.
The more places we visited, the more I began to notice that with every village where Glimmer has a presence, hope and excitement for the future are very much alive. Through our integrated approach to development, that includes the people in the process, we are building a trail of hope. It’s as if A Glimmer of Hope is now thousands of Golden Glimmers connecting water wells, schools, health clinics and microfinance loans from village to village, people to people across the country.
The impact is tremendous and obvious. Lives are radically changing through this simple and strategic approach that supports the people from the ground up. Where there is hope, there is purpose.
Honestly, it makes me swell with pride and my heart overflows as I think of how many lives are being improved. Upon returning I feel even more inspired, re-energized and rejuvenated to reach more, engage more donors with the core messages of our 100% Promise, engage more deeply in development and microfinance (particularly for the women) and continue to spread the golden glimmers of hope.
There are thousands upon thousands of villages scattered throughout this strikingly beautiful country, each with tragically painful contrasts of life-threatening deprivation and exquisite majesty. As I visit them, I ponder the simplicity of such a life.
I am deeply touched by the inherent joy of the people. Their lives are focused and deeply connected.
They are there for each other in times of feast and famine – mostly famine. They live within the true beauty of community and communion and they share riches uncommonly felt or seen in the West.
They are gentle and graceful people who build their lives upon deep faith and great humility.
They are my teachers.
