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!
