Pictures!

You can check out the pictures from my trip at:  www.bebo.com/mwojoski

First day back in the USA

8-17-09

It is 10:40 am, and I am sitting at the airport in Dulles, Virginia. My flight to Columbia, SC leaves at 12:35. I made it through customs and all security checkpoints fine. I am sitting in a terminal much like the one I sat in prior to my departure to Addis Ababa. I just ate a fully loaded cheeseburger from Five Guys. I am so full; I have not had that much food at one sitting for about two and a half months. I am excited to make it back home to see my family and friends, but I will never forget the remarkable experience that I was able to have in Ethiopia. Goodbye!

Last day

8-16-09

Wow! My last day in Ethiopia is here already. The last few days of my stay in Addis Ababa have been close to perfect. The rains have seemed to suddenly stop during the days, and the sun has been shining almost every day this week. Cherokee House received a few more volunteers, and they have been serenading us with the smooth sounds of the acoustic guitar at night. I have said goodbye to most of my close friends over here. I have my bags packed, and I feel good about the flight back. Today am I going to go to a concert that some kids at a local orphanage are putting on. After the concert I am going to head to Piazza to buy some coffee to smuggle back into the USA. I will head back to the Cherokee House after that and make sure all my luggage is in order, then I will head to my favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Elsa, to meet some friends and eat my last meal of tibs and injera before I leave. After the restaurant I will head straight to the airport and do all the crap you have to do before flying internationally. I am taking the 10:15er out of Addis Ababa to Washington DC, then connecting to good old Columbia, South Cack. As I look back on the time I have spent here, I believe I have been grateful to receive this opportunity. I want to extend a BIG thank you to my grandparents, parents, and everyone else who supported me to make this eye-opening trip to Ethiopia. This internship abroad has taught me many things not only about international business and opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid, but also about how I view my own life and my personal beliefs. My buddy Danny asked me the other day what I enjoyed the most and what I did not enjoy at all in Addis Ababa. I told him that the first thing that stands out about my time here in Ethiopia was the people. All the people who live here are so nice and very welcoming. The people that I worked with day to day were just amazing, and I have learned so much from them. The thing that I told Danny I could do without was the pollution and insanitariness of the city. There are a lot of people in this city trying to go to a lot of places, and you need transportation to get there. The buses and cars in the city give off so much exhaust that it is hard to breathe in some places. The sewage of the city needs to be fixed also. When it rains you pretty much have a lot of waste running in with the water. These are both fixable problems, and if they are fixed it would do wonders for Addis Ababa. One value that has been instilled in my mind more clearly since I have been here is giving back or helping those in need. I believe that whatever you do in life, one of your main goals should be to give back to those in need. I have learned that the needs of others are far greater than the needs of myself. To put others before yourself is a value that the people I worked with understand very well and execute almost to perfection. No matter what you are going through, have been through, or will go through in life; remember that there are others who are suffering a great deal more than you have possibly dreamt of. I have seen some struggles here in Ethiopia that I cannot even begin to explain. I have seen some people over here who have to live with horrendous disabilities in unbearable conditions. I have seen some human beings fighting for their lives when they are infected with a disease that is slowly killing them. I have seen kids running around parentless begging for anything that will ease the pain of hunger. And out of all this that I see, every single person has a smile on their face and an unbreakable faith that makes me envy them. No matter what hardships these people seem to go through, they are always smiling on the outside and believing that everything will be alright. As the wise artist Bob Marley once said, “Every little thing is gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be alright!” Bob kept Ethiopia close to his heart and I think that anyone who travels here to witness this amazing country first-hand will have a special place in their heart for it. I know I will always have a place for Ethiopia in my heart and cherish the time that I was able to spend in this incredible country. I believe that the things I have learned here will be with me for the rest of my life. I just cannot believe that I was able to have this remarkable experience and my time here in this wonderful country is already finished. It was a fantastic adventure, and I hope there are more to come in this lifetime of mine. See you back in the states! Ciao!

2nd to last day

8-15-09
My last week in Ethiopia could not have ended any better. After a full week of giving exams and saying goodbye to the kids, I was pretty worn out. The plan on my last day working at SIM was to go back to the Lideta office to have a little celebration for the kids. I arrived at the Lideta office in the afternoon and sat around with the kids for a while. After a while Tsegaye had rounded up some prizes for the kids. I was able to hand out certain prizes such as sandals, t-shirts, and pants to certain kids who did well throughout our rainy season classes. It was a great joy for me to see the kids’ faces when they received their gifts. When our little celebration was over, I said goodbye to the kids and started packing my stuff up to leave the office and head back to the Cherokee House. As I was getting ready to leave, my friend Brian said, “Umm, you can’t leave yet dude.” With this new information I sat back down and used the internet for a while (one perk about being in the Lideta office of SIM – most of the time the internet is up and running). After a few minutes, Teddy, the main director, popped his head in and asked Brian and I to join him in the other room. I thought we were about to sit down and talk about the review that I wrote of the program or something like that. When I came into the other room, the whole SIM staff was standing up and Teddy gave a speech about how much they appreciated me spending my time in Ethiopia working for their organization. I was totally surprised by this and was not expecting anything like this. I thought the celebration had already happened with the kids earlier. All the staff thanked me, and then I thanked them for the opportunity to be able to work with them. They gave me not one, but two presents. The first gift that I opened was a very nice shirt that has the continent of Africa embroidered on it. The second gift was a really nice Ethiopian ring. I was overwhelmed by these gifts and told the staff that I could not thank them enough for the gifts and the time I was able to spend working with their organization. But that was not all; perhaps the coolest thing was a cake that they had made for me that said, “Thank You Wojo!” This was classic, and it made me think about how open and caring all the people are who work at SIM. So my last day working at SIM was just a surprising, overwhelming, and incredible joy. I really could not believe that everyone went through all of this just for me. I was truly blessed to be placed at such an outstanding organization, and I cannot thank them enough for all the things that they have taught me. Last night, two more volunteers left. Now it is only one other volunteer that extended her stay here another month, Brittany, and myself of the original summer volunteers left at the Cherokee House. This is my second to last day here in Ethiopia, but I will probably just treat it like any other Saturday in Addis Ababa. I have toured the city pretty extensively, and just about every day holds something new and interesting. Of course I will go play my weekly basketball at Bingham this afternoon, and I might start packing some things. When I start to think about flying out tomorrow night, I am really sad to leave the friends I’ve made here behind. It also is not too fun leaving the kids, the staff at SIM, or the leaders of Hulegeb behind. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with each and every person that I have been granted the chance to work with. I am sad to be leaving a country which has so much history and so much potential to grow. Also when I think about flying home, I am anxious to see my family and friends again. I am excited to eat a 5 dollar footlong and drive a car again. I am looking forward to finally finishing college. As I have said before, leaving Ethiopia will definitely be a bittersweet experience for me. Ciao!

Making an impact

8-13-09
I still cannot believe that this is my last week left in Ethiopia. I fly out, back to the states, on Sunday night. This week has been pretty cool so far because I have been able to see how the work I’ve done has made an impact. I made up an exam of all the things I have taught my kids since I have been here. Tsegaye wanted me to do this to evaluate the kids and our teaching. I have given the evaluation to the different students at the different SIM sites every day this week. I made the exam pretty difficult, and the whole test was in English. I was surprised at how well the kids did on the exam. I was not expecting them to do anywhere close to the amount of knowledge they displayed on the evaluation. I was very pleased with the performance of the kids on the test, and there were even a few perfect scores. One day this week, at the office, Teddy, the main boss of our project, gave me a huge compliment. He thanked me for the work I have done and explained to me that I being there made a huge impact on the kids. Teddy said that he had been to all the different SIM sites and evaluated my work there. He told me that I have done a really good job with the kids, and the kids enjoy the program and tell others about it. Teddy said that I did such a good job that he wants to continue the program. He asked me if Cherokee had any more volunteers to send to continue the work that I have started. Teddy believes that Cherokee brings really good quality people over to Ethiopia and wants more Cherokee volunteers to continue working with SIM. Teddy also asked me to write up a review of my time here and evaluate the program that Tsegaye and I created. He wants my advice on how to improve the program for the future. I was honored to write up such a report for SIM. Teddy was really happy about the way the program ran this rainy season, and he wants my advice so they can continue the program into the future. I was humbled by the praise I received from the leaders at SIM, and I am very glad that they want to continue the program that we started. I now know that the work that I have done here in Addis Ababa will be somewhat sustainable. That is a big relief to me because I was wondering about how much of an impact one can really make in two and a half months. I am proud of the work that I have done with SIM, and blessed to have been able to work with such an outstanding organization. As my time here in Addis is winding down I am starting to reflect on my overall and what it means to me. It is really difficult to put into words all that I have learned here and how this will change my life. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to spend the summer in Ethiopia, and I would not change the experience I had over here for anything. Today I went to the sub-city of Mercato. Mercato, as you can guess from the name, is where the biggest market in Ethiopia resides. This town also holds the biggest population in the city of Addis Ababa. There were so many people out and about on the streets doing whatever it is they were doing. That’s one thing that I have learned about the people in this city, they are so busy and always have somewhere to go or something to do. People in Addis Ababa know what they need to do and get it done. It was interesting to go into all of the shops and have the store owners try to take advantage of a foreigngee. Luckily my pal Abraham came along with me to make sure I did not get cheated by any of the store owners. Sometimes I would just tell Abraham to go up and negotiate the price while I hid behind the corner. I think it is funny to negotiate the prices with these store owners because I know whatever I get the price down to, I am probably ending up paying twice the amount of Habasha folks, but that is alright. Mercato was fun this afternoon, and it was cool to see the hustle and bustle of the people who work in Mercato. Tomorrow is my last day at SIM. I am giving an exam in the morning in Bole then heading to the Lideta office for a goodbye celebration for me. I still cannot believe that it will be my last day working with SIM tomorrow. Boy, does time fly over here in Ethiopia. Ciao!

Debre Zeyit

8-10-09

My trip to Debre Zeyit with Abraham was just pure fun. We took about an hour bus ride Southeast of Addis Ababa and arrived in Debre Zeyit around 10 am. We headed straight for the lake when we arrived there. The lake we went to was called Lake Babogaya, and it was alive with the sounds of reggae music and sunshine. The lake was not really that big, but it was very peaceful and there were nice places to sit down, relax, and enjoy nature. Abraham and I hiked around the lake, took some pictures of the scenery, and had a drink at the resort we were at (when I say resort, I mean a place with some cleared out paths, a few huts for shade, and a frig with some cold drinks in it). As the day continued on without rain, Abraham had the urge to take a dip in the lake. I was a little apprehensive about swimming in the lake because the water looked pretty green. I told Abraham I would just watch him swim and take some pictures. We found a big rock that sat on the edge of a cliff that looked like an extremely fun place to jump off into the lake. It was probably about a 30 foot drop to the water, and I kept trying to convince Abraham that he should jump. It seemed as if he was a little frightened at first, but suddenly he just jumped off the cliff into the lake. After he jumped a couple more times, I had to test it out myself – it looked like so much fun. I didn’t come to Debre Zeyit expecting to swim, so I didn’t pack a bathing suit. Luckily Abraham had an extra pair of shorts, so I didn’t have to go in my birthday suit. I jumped off the edge of the cliff a few times into the water. By this time a lot of Habasha people were watching me because I was the only foreigngee within miles of the lake. I decided to awe them by diving off the cliff. As soon as I jumped head first, I heard a lot of girls scream, and when I came up out of the water they all had a worried look on their face. I gave them a thumbs up to reassure them that everything was alright. After I dove off the cliff the first time, an Habasha man that was swimming also dove off the cliff, and him and I had somewhat of a diving competition. It was so funny because the whole side of the mountain was watching us display our diving talents. After swimming for a while and having a good time with all the people there, I was tremendously glad I decided to get wet. That experience will be something that I will remember for a very long time. Abraham and I had enough of the lake around 2 pm, and we decided to go eat some lunch. Debre Zeyit is home to the Ethiopian Airforce, and we actually went into the Ethiopian Airforce Officer’s Club to eat lunch. It was pretty cool, even though I was not sure if we should have actually been there. After lunch, we walked around the city and found a bus headed back to Addis. We got back to Addis around 7 pm, and when I arrived at the Cherokee House I was dead tired from the day’s escapades. Needless to say, I slept very well this past weekend. Now that I only have one week left in Addis, I find my work here coming to an end. This week at SIM I have made a test for the kids to evaluate what they have learned and how well I have taught. I will have the kids at each of the sites where I teach take the test. Tsegaye and I have picked a few kids from each site that have showed impressive work efforts throughout the summer, and we invited them to the Lideta office on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition between the sides and a celebration. After the kids take the tests at each site we will also celebrate a little bit. My work with Hulegebs is continuing as I have almost finished the business plan. The director of Hulegebs has been helpful by providing me with some more numbers about their financials. The business plan writing has been a difficult process because of the lack of information and access to the information, and I might have to make some final additions to the plan when I arrive back in the states. As I have stated before, leaving Ethiopia will be bittersweet. I will miss the work and the friends I have made here, but I am looking forward to finishing school back in the states. Ciao!

Dwindling time

8-6-09

As my time here in Ethiopia is winding down, it seems as if the kids I teach are becoming wilder and wilder. Last week I told my kids that I would only be here for two more weeks. Teaching this week was good. The kids really have opened up to me, and it seems as if they might have actually learned some things. When I am not teaching, the kids are always hanging all over me. I can hardly steal a second for myself during the day. I am glad the kids are excited to be there learning, but sometimes they drive me crazy. They are just kids, but, needless to say, I am dead tired at the end of the day. Many of the original volunteers that were at the Cherokee House have already left and are back in the United States. Originally I was the lone volunteer that was scheduled to stay here for the longest amount of time, but one girl extended her stay in Ethiopia. It is sad to see some of the housemates go, but it always reminds me that I do not have that much time left in Ethiopia. Two more girls are flying out tonight, and the Cherokee House is slowly emptying. One of the things I promised myself to do before I left was get out of the city more. This next weekend is probably my last opportunity to travel outside of Addis Ababa. One of my Ethiopian friends in Addis, Abraham, said he would take me to Debre Zeyit – a town where a lot of Addis Ababians travel to get away from the city for a weekend. I am excited to make this trip, especially with Abraham. Abraham and I have become pretty good friend over the course of my stay in Ethiopia. The other night we talked for a long time about our life’s stories. Abraham has an amazing story about where he has come from and how far he has made it. He told me he started writing about his adventure through life, but stopped one day. I encouraged him to try to keep writing and finish his story because it is amazing. I have also thought about writing about some of my adventures through life, and I have actually tried to start writing about some of them. I promised Abraham that if he continues to write his story, I too will continue to write mine. Even as I have been writing this blog, I have rediscovered the power of writing. One thing that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind lately is sports. For some reason I always have dreams about sports when I sleep in Ethiopia. I have no clue why I have these dreams, they just happen. I dream about my old football days. I dream about being at a wrestling tournament in high school. I dream about hanging out with Lebron James and driving him around for some reason too. I know sports used to be a big part of my life and maybe it will always be, but for some reason now my subconscious will not let it go. I love the competition of sports and believe that many things can be taught through sport. I am glad I chose to go back to school and study Sports Administration. Going back to UNC also led me to the Minor in Entrepreneurship which has opened my mind to the possibility of innovation. Lately I have been thinking about ways I can integrate my love for sports into my entrepreneurial desire to build something of my own. I have come up with a few ideas, but nothing worth writing home about. A big key to entrepreneurship, that has become extremely apparent over here in Ethiopia, is the component of helping people or giving back. This is a principle that has been etched into me through my time in Ethiopia, and I will be sure to build this into whatever I may do in the future. I have just about one more week in Ethiopia, one more week immersed in this diverse culture, one more week a lifetime away from life back in the states. Ciao!

Bahir Dar and the week that followed

7-31-09

Bahir Dar was a blast! It was incredible to be out of the city for the weekend and experience a town that has so much to offer. This week has been extremely enjoyable, and I think I can attribute some of it to the amazing weekend that I spent in Bahir Dar. Five of us volunteers set out on the journey to Bahir Dar early Saturday morning – we left at 5:30 am. The ride to Bahir Dar is took us about nine hours, but was very interesting. We rented a van and had a personal driver for the three day trip. On the way to Bahir Dar we passed through the Rift Valley Gorge. It was a beautiful site to see, and many call it the Grand Canyon of Ethiopia. The Gorge has very steep ridge and the muddy Blue Nile River flows at the base of it. As we made our way to Bahir Dar we passed through many small villages in which people were going about their daily routine. We passed through the countryside of Ethiopia and witnessed the peacefulness of this beautiful country. We finally made it to Bahir Dar around 2 pm. We traveled to Bahir Dar with no definite plan on how things should run, so the first thing we did was open the guide book to look for a place to stay. The first place we checked out was called the Tana Pension. This hotel looked pretty dirty on the inside, but was only 40 birr a night (roughly 4 dollars a night). We decided to check out the place across the street because some kids on the street told us it was nicer. The Zenbaba Pension was much nicer than the Tana Pension, and it included a bathroom on every floor equipped with a cold shower. For 60 birr a night (2 dollars more than the other hotel) the Zenbaba was our best bet. We put our bags in our rooms and headed out to explore the city. The first place we went to was the hut that overlooked Lake Tana at the Ghion Hotel. Lake Tana is a HUGE lake, the biggest in Ethiopia. Sitting there eating lunch, overlooking the lake, made me think about Lake Murray and miss the beautiful sunshine pouring its energy into the lukewarm water. After we finished our lunch at the lake, we took a walk around the city. Bahir Dar is a pretty small city from what I had imagined it would be. We could walk around the whole city in one afternoon, but despite its minuteness, I fell in love with the city. Everywhere you go, huge palm trees line the city streets. There are two colleges on either end of the city so there are plenty of college age kids out and about. The sidewalks on the street were extremely clean, and the overall hygiene of the city was fairly fresh. The palm trees and the presence of water made me feel as if I were at the beach. Bahir Dar might be the closest thing to a beach that Ethiopia has to offer since it is a landlocked country. We walked down to the stadium in the city which looked very old and unkempt. Beside the stadium there was a recreation area that had a volleyball court, a basketball court, and a handball court. We stood there and watched the kids play handball for a while because it looked so interesting and we never had seen a sport like that being played right in front of us. After we were done walking around the whole city it was pretty dark. We went back to our hotel, washed up, and went out for a few drinks and a round of cards at another hotel nearby. Saturday was the busiest, most fun, and best day of our whole trip. We woke up early and headed out to the Blue Nile Falls. The Blue Nile Falls is the start of the Blue Nile River that eventually turns into the Nile River. The 30 minute hike to the falls was very beautiful. We crossed a bridge that was built by the Portuguese back in the day. When we reached the falls, the site almost took my breath away. The guide that was with us told us that this was the most water that he had seen flow down the falls all year. (There is a hydroelectric plant that diverts the flow of the water most of the time.) Looking at the amazing site of the falls reminded me of the time my family and I traveled up the East Coast and stopped to see the Niagara Falls. The difference in the two falls is that Niagara Falls is a little bigger and the water that flows down Niagara looks white. The water that flows down the Blue Nile Falls is muddy brown. The river picks up so much soil and sediment that it turns the river this muddy color. Despite the color of the water, the falls were just incredible. We actually hiked past the falls and crossed a river to head up to the top where the falls dropped off. Crossing the river was pretty hilarious. There were all these local boys who insisted on helping us cross this river. I took my shoes, socks, and pants off, (I had a bathing suit on underneath just in case I found myself in this exact position) and proceeded to wade across this river that came up to my thighs while I had two local kids grabbing my arms pulling me in opposite directions. As I was crossing the river, about 20 cows were crossing right next to me. It looked as if I were the one herding these cows across the river. It wasn’t until after I reached the other bank of the river when I had the thought of just riding one of the cows across instead of making it on my own. We went up right to the edge of where the falls dropped off and looked over the edge in awe of the amount of water running over the cliff. Then we walked farther up the bank and took a boat across the river to the side we started on. The whole experience of the Blue Nile Falls was beautifully amazing. After the falls, we headed back into town, ate lunch, and planned our next adventure for the afternoon. We decided to visit a monastery on one of the islands of Lake Tana. The guide book that gave us directions to where to go for this one monastery was completely wrong. We ended up just driving to the end of this path and following some guy through the marshy area around the lake. None of us had a clue where we were heading and what was really going to be at the end of this crazy escapade. After about 30 to 45 minutes of walking through who knows where, we came to a clearing at the shore of the lake. The island we were trying to get to was probably about 50 yards across the lake. This was the craziest part. We ended up standing on these homemade rafts – 2 people at a time – to cross this little stretch of water. The raft would sink a little bit into the water when you stepped onto it. There were motorboats that would pass us and rock us up and down from their wake. When we reached the opposite shore, we were greeted by some naked local boys. It was great. We went into the monastery and an old monk show us religious books made of animal hide that were over 900 years old. We walked around the holy shrine and saw a lot of old relics. We left and retraced our crazy steps to return back to our van. The afternoon was very interesting, and the unknowing journey to the monastery was the most exciting event of the trip. That night we met up with some of the other girls that live with us. They had just arrived in Bahir Dar that day, so we all went out to dinner at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. After dinner most everyone was exhausted, but Briana, Alex, and I pressed on to catch some of the nightlife that Bahir Dar had to offer. We went to a modern dance club that was a fun and funny experience. We were the only three foreigngees in a place where all Ethiopians were dancing shoulder to shoulder to modern dance tunes. It was funny to hear some American songs come on that the local went crazy for. After a while we were dead tired and decided to go crash. We woke up and had a coffee at Starbacks (a total rip off of Starbucks), and headed back to the great city of Addis Ababa. The trip was a great success, and I was glad I was able to have such an experience with such explorative friends. I found that getting out of the city for a weekend makes the work week much more enjoyable. This week of work for me was extremely pleasant. The kids have started really opening up to me and embracing me as a friend and a teacher. One day I played volleyball for about two hours with some other teachers while all the kids watched. I loved it because I used to play volleyball every summer leading up to this one all the time. I think that everyone should take a break to do something spontaneous and out of the ordinary once in a while to realize the pleasure in what they do every day. It’s hard to believe that I only have two weeks left in Ethiopia. I feel like I just arrived here and I am just beginning to really make a difference in the organizations I am volunteering with. I do miss back home and Chapel Hill, but it will be hard to leave Addis and all the friends I have made here. Tsegaye, the person I work with at SIM, wants to have a big competition/celebration with all the kids that we teach before I leave. We are working on planning the details of this event. It will definitely be bittersweet as the time approaches for me to depart from this wonderful country. Ciao!

Struggles and realizations

7-23-09

Okay, so in my previous blog I had mentioned that I was going to take a trip to the Akaki wetlands last weekend. That trip actually never happened. I was too tired from the work week to wake up early on Saturday and go, so I slept in. On Saturday afternoon, I ended up going to play basketball for about three hours. And on Saturday night, I went to the movie theater to see the new Harry Potter movie (somewhat of a disappointment, I thought). So as you could guess, I was entirely too sore and drained to take the trip to the wetlands on Sunday. It’s quite alright though because I heard the Akaki wetlands are not that great of a site, and this weekend we are taking a trip to Bahir Dar. Bahir Dar is about 500 km northwest of Addis Ababa and lies on the shore of the largest lake in Ethiopia, Lake Tana. Also Bahir Dar is the site of the start of the Blue Nile. Even though they built a hydroelectric power plant there some years ago, it is still considered one of the most beautiful sites in all of Ethiopia. One thing’s for sure, the waterfall at the head of the Blue Nile will sure beat the waterfall of the Akaki wetlands. I am very excited about our trip to Bahir Dar. We leave on Saturday morning, it’s about a 7-8 hour drive, and arrive back in Addis Monday night. I’ve been itching to get out of the city for a while, and this trip should be very fun. As my time here in Addis is winding down, I have begun to come to the realization that my work here has been more useful than I know. Lately I have just been on the daily grind of getting up and going to work all day without really thinking of the impact that I am having on other people’s lives. I have been in Ethiopia for almost two months, and the work I do daily has become a routine. However, when I see the smiles on the kids’ faces every day, I know I am making somewhat of a difference. Whether it’s the kids smiling because they answered with the right answer or the kids laughing at me while I try to pronounce a word in Amharic, I know I am having an impact on the lives of the children I teach. Since this sort of thing happens daily for me, I tend to overlook the smiles. I am grateful to be the one that is working with such special kids daily, and it’s good to remember that I am helping these kids. I have also found some struggles in other work I am doing here in Ethiopia. I now know that writing a business plan in the states is a lot easier than writing a business plan in Ethiopia. I am working on putting together a business plan for Hulegebs, a blind and disabled rehabilitation organization. It’s not just the lack of sources to find information, but also the lack of information on the subject that I struggle with finding. I have found that it is very hard to find information such as the industry and competitor analysis. The internet is somewhat useful, but I am lucky to have access to it twice a week. Even when I am lucky enough to have access to the internet, it is almost impossible to find the numbers and statistics I look for particular to Ethiopia. Another thing I have discovered is that writing a business plan for a non-profit or NGO is a lot different than writing a business plan for a new start-up. When writing a business plan for a new start-up, you are essentially trying to put your strategy out there and receive money from wherever you can. When writing a business plan for a non-profit or NGO, you need to word it accordingly and direct it towards investors who are willing to donate to an organization that directly helps people. Although the process of writing a business plan for a non-profit in Ethiopia is a struggle, I am enjoying the challenge and glad that I am realizing the different ways businesses operate. At times here in Ethiopia, I question why I decided to spend my summer in the rain of a country on the other side of the world. I am not receiving payment for the work I do, but I get up every day at 7 and work until 4. I actually spent a large amount of my savings to come over here and work all week, every week. However, I have come to realize that I find out more about myself the longer I am over here. I have also made friends in a country so different and so far away from my homeland. I have the opportunities daily to change the lives of young kids and help businesses succeed. You cannot put a price tag on the things that I have learned so far in Ethiopia; they are priceless. My only hopes are that I can squeeze as much out of these last few weeks as possible, and take the things I have learned in Ethiopia and apply them to my future. I leave for Bahir Dar early Saturday morning. I am ready. Ciao!

Discovering new passions

7-17-09

Time seems to be flying by here in Ethiopia. I have about one month left to experience the rest of my Ethiopian adventure. One thing that has been on my mind lately is passions. A roommate of mine asked me if I ever let anyone know who I really am. This question was a little difficult for me to answer. At first I told her that I let everyone I can know who I truly am. I try to let everyone know about the experiences that I have been through and what I have learned from them. This was not a very good answer because I was just talking about my past. My roommate wanted to know if I ever have shared with anyone the things that I have never shared with anyone else. These “things” are what most people call passions. I realized that I could not answer this question very well because I do not know who I truly am. I do not know my true passions yet. I was passionate about a lot of things growing up. Circumstances changed over and over again in my life, and left me with an empty feeling of what to believe. I have been on a journey the past few years to find something in which I can truly become passionate. After being in Ethiopia for a little over a month, I believe I can honestly be true to myself about one of my passions. I now know I am passionate about helping others. I am passionate about trying to give myself to someone else to make their time here on Earth a little more enjoyable. I have figured out that how much I have suffered through the hard times in my life is not even comparable to what most people have to go through in their lives. Every day in Addis Ababa I walk down the street and see things that open my eyes just a little wider. On my walk to work I run into a person with no fingers holding out his hands begging for spare change. While I am on my way to lunch I pass multiple people laying on the street with feet 8 times the size of normal feet. On my ride home from work my minibus is bombarded with blind men and women trying to be lucky enough to bum money so they are able to eat a meal. During work I visit, counsel, and teach people infected with a virus that controls their lives. With all this pain and suffering I experience day to day, I become more aware of my passion to improve the lives of people. I do not know exactly how to do it sometimes, but I am trying every day I spend here to be selfless and give back to others. Ethiopia is an amazing country because with all of the suffering there are also numerous people who care to fix the problems that this country faces. Most of the Ethiopians that I have gotten to know are the nicest people I have ever met. Even some of the kids and patients that seem to have the hardest time are always smiling on the outside. These people live with no regrets, love their country, and cherish their lives. Ethiopia is a special place that has brought me insight and realization of my own passions. Lately I have been working with the kids at the SIM program, and teaching them English, Math, and Environmental Science. Although I know that I will never become a teacher, I definitely respect what they do and the talent that is needed to touch young peoples’ lives. I am planning on going on a trip this weekend to the Akaki Wetlands. The wetlands are about 30 minutes east of Addis Ababa, and there is supposed to be a river that flows through several small lakes with a big waterfall at the end. I am excited to be going out of the city, and hopefully the site is as beautiful as I am imagining. Speaking of beautiful, I was able to download a few pictures of my new niece Claire. I have shown my roommates and many of the people that I work with the pictures Claire. My co-workers told me that I was a goat. I was like, “What, a goat?” But “agot” in Amharic means uncle. (Aunt in Amharic is “akist,” so it’s easy to remember – I Kissed A Goat). Big shout out to you Claire, you look beautiful and I cannot wait to see you again. I hope all my family and friends are enjoying their summer back in the states. It is rainy and cold here most days now. It rains a lot here, but it’s peaceful, especially at night. Ciao!