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January 28, 2011

What Age Do Your Parents Force You To Marry?

Posted by kriosconsulting under Amalia Fernand, Art, Children, Coffee, Community, Culture, Environment, Family, Poverty, Run Across Ethiopia, Schools | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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POST FROM AMALIA FERNAND

Friday January 28, 2011

The desperation in the eyes of a child as he holds out his hand to beg reflects upon all of us.  Ripped and dirty clothing lay tattered across his shoulders, bare feet stand amidst rocks and burrs, flies gather at the corners of his eyes and below his nostrils where snot and sleep have accumulated, but there is no water to clean it off.

A Young Child on an Ethiopian Roadway

“You, you, you!” he cries, pointing at my sunglasses, belt, water bottle.  “One birr!” (1/16th of a dollar) he yells while pushing his hand close to my face.  And I never give him anything more than a smile and a “Salam” (a greeting meaning peace) because if I did, it would cause mobs and misunderstandings and serve merely to perpetuate the situation .  We are giving in a bigger way, but for people whose lives are based on moment-to-moment survival, that is hard to understand.

Extreme poverty is defined by the World Bank as those living on $1.25 or less a day. 21% of this world, or about 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty.  When coming from the perspective of a country that holds 80% of the world’s wealth, we rarely stop to think about how lucky we truly are.  Even the poorest person in the United States is better off than the average Ethiopian.  There are no welfare or unemployment programs, it is every man, child and woman for themselves. Since 1990 Ethiopia’s population has risen to 80 million from 52 million and the per capita annual income is $180, one of the lowest in the world.  Rates of deforestation in coffee growing areas are estimated at 25,000 acres per year.

In Ethiopia, the birthplace of wild coffee, farmers get as little as $110 off an entire crop.  Well-paid workers at coffee plantations receive 66 cents per day, the average is 55 cents per day, which is not enough to provide a decent standard of living for a family, even in Ethiopia.  Starbucks sells Ethiopia Sidamo whole bean coffee for $10.45 a pound, yet maybe a penny or two of that goes to the actual farmer.  Brochures state that Starbucks protects topical forests and enhances the lives of farmers by building schools and clinics.  In some places in Latin America, Starbucks does do these things, but not in Africa.  Starbucks opens an average of 25 new stores a week in the United States alone, where we have 5% of the world’s people, that drink 20% of the world’s coffee.  We have a responsibility to make sure that the farmers that grow our coffee are not starving.  You can not look into the desperate eyes of those begging children and ever be the same again.  For more information about Starbucks and coffee growing in Ethiopia, please read the article:  ”Starbucks calls its coffee worker-friendly, but in Ethiopia, a day’s pay is a dollar” by Tom Knudson in the Sacramento Bee at:

http://www.sacbee.com/101/v-email/story/383817.html

Chris Treter with Tadesse Meskela from OCFCU

After Chris Treter of Higher Grounds in Traverse City had spent years visiting poor coffee growing regions around the world, he came up with the concept of “Beyond fair trade” and started the non-profit On The Ground that works to improve standards of living in coffee growing regions.  He works directly with the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union that has about 100,000 Ethiopian farmers as members, receiving fair trade prices for their coffee.  But, yet, is it really fair?  They receive pennies and the middlemen get rich.  There is so much more that needs to be done and so much more help to give.  As the Run Across Ethiopia finished it’s final day, joined by coffee buyers from around the world, we arrived in a village in the coffee growing region of Yergacheffe.  We were once again greeted by thousands of smiling faces and an outpouring of generosity, love and thanks.  Each runner was given a gift of traditional clothing and dressed for the crowd.  The people spoke of what the money from the Run would do for them and what they still needed.

This is only the beginning, a jumpstart into the aid that is needed in Southern Ethiopia.  Do we build 3 schools, or 2 schools complete with bathrooms and furniture?  Which will help more?  Can we continue to get donations and do it all?  Will this work ever really be done?  Can we give the people the tools and the responsibility they need to improve their own quality of life?  That is the goal: involve the community, provide hope, structure, stability, and education.  Without education, the problem is systemic, a wheel of poverty and suffering, rolling through the generations, never understanding that there can be a different way.  There is nothing we can do that is more important than to educate that begging child, to teach him how he can make a better life for himself, without relying on hand-outs.  Soon, we will have a community of educated children, working to improve their own quality of living.  Why the Run? You might ask, what could possibly be the point?  Raising $175,000 to build 2 schools in a matter of months with few corporate sponsors is an incredibly difficult task.  Involve 10 separate runners, working towards the smaller goal of $15,000 each and suddenly it becomes possible.  To excite and involve the community, both in the States and in Ethiopia, to involve the media, raise awareness, give people hope, bring understanding to the world, and bring a team of people that have seen that desperation first hand and whom will never forget.

McLain poses a question to her Ethiopian counterparts

In a cultural exchange of questions between children from two northern Michigan schools, (the Pathfinder School and the Children’s House) and children from the village, the dichotomy of our two worlds became shockingly evident.  The Ethiopian children watched the American children on a computer screen, then they asked their own questions.  Young girls asked things like: “What age do your parents force you to marry?”  and “What age do you have to quit school to take care of your family?”  while young boys asked about what crops U.S. children care for, what jobs they have to do after school, and how far they have to walk to get water.  This touching video should be able to be viewed in the documentary that Traverse City filmmakers, James and Jamaica Weston are creating about the entire RAE experience, hopefully to be released in May.  James and Jamaica have only a few days left on their kickstarter for the documentary.  Buy an advance DVD today and help them to create this much needed film! http://kck.st/eu9TUc

My last few days in Ethiopia provided me with an experience that helped me to feel closer to the people.  After days of being so sick that food or water was impossible to keep down, my body was going into dehydration and starvation mode, my vision was swirling and flashing colors, and in this state, I entered the emergency room of a hospital in Addis Ababa.  Scared of the prospect of an African hospital, but more scared of whatever parasite was lurking inside of me, I laid on the thin hospital bed to gaze through blurred vision at the simplicity around me.  Accustomed to the long waits of bustling ER’s in the States, I was surprised to be greeted quickly and immediately assessed to need an IV and glucose.  I asked them to open the packages of the needles in front of me and with tears streaming down my face, I gripped my interpreter and friend Betty’s hand.  The nurse put the IV in and then stood at the end of my bed to stare at me and pick his nose while the Doctor told me that he suspected either Malaria or Typhoid.  The nurse donned gloves and drew blood for testing.  Waiting for those test results felt like the scariest half hour of my life.   Negative, the Dr. said, and I cried in relief.  More tests revealed that I had “an amoeba,” or amoebic dysentery.  Little amoeba’s were waging war in my intestine, eating away at the wall and expelling anything else that entered as my stomach reeled in pain.

After some anti-nausea and anti-stomach cramping meds through my IV the Dr. thought about keeping me overnight but decided I could go as he wrote me a prescription for 3 days of medication to get rid of the amoeba.  The hospital bill totaled about $35, nothing compared to what we would expect in the U.S., but months worth of income for an Ethiopian.  I was lucky, I could receive care, but what about those who can’t?  What about the millions of people whom do not even live close to a clinic, much less a hospital?  Amoeba’s are common for Ethiopians.  For a brief time, I felt their suffering, I saw the world through their eyes.  I was sad and afraid and helpless.  Imagine a lifetime of feeling like that and please remember that no matter how little extra you think you have, it can mean the world of difference to an Ethiopian.

You can still donate to the Run Across Ethiopia cause at the On The Ground website http://onthegroundglobal.org/On_The_Ground/DONATE.html

This is an ongoing project, our work is not done, and we need your support now more than ever.

Follow Amalia’s travels on her own blog here,

The Traveling Educator at http://site.natureexplorersinternational.com/

 

www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 19, 2011

A Smile Is Universal

Posted by kriosconsulting under Amalia Fernand, Art, Chris Treter, Coffee, Culture, Dancing, Environment, Language, Music, Poverty, Run Across Ethiopia, Seth & May
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POST BY AMALIA FERNAND

Wednesday January 19th, 2011

People love to smile.  People love to laugh.  People love to dance.  People love to love and to be loved.  I have never felt more loved than I have in the last few days of traveling across rural southern Ethiopia.  A smile and a wave can mean so much, to those that have so little.  How excited they are, just to know that we care about them, just to have a momentary reprieve from the tasks of everyday survival.  Many have never seen a person with a different skin tone, and how glad I am that their first impression is that of friendliness and compassion.  We can both stare at each other in intense curiosity, but when we add a smile, the whole dynamic changes.  There is nothing like a true and genuine smile to let you know that love is involved.

Today, we were greeted by thousands of people from the community of  Hase Gola to thank us for raising money to build them a much needed school.  As we walked off the bus, the smiling faces surrounded us and lined the streets, clapping, singing, laughing, and beaming with an excitement that is so difficult to describe in words.  We walked through the crowds as policemen kept those singing, smiling people back and settled ourselves in the middle of a circle of thousands of expectant eyes.  Speeches commenced as the crowd sat to listen to thank you’s, prayers answered, dreams realized, goals yet to achieve, and accomplishments in progress.  Children watched from the tree branches as hundreds upon hundreds of faces clapped, cheered, and emulated gratefulness.  Behind us sat the ongoing construction of a school that these runners had worked so hard to help build.  The school will educate 480 children in two shifts each day, affecting a total of 8,700 people in the community when all of the people in their families are included.

We toured the current school house, tiny rooms with cracked floors and little furniture, it was hard to imagine that these rooms accommodate 90 children at a time.  The children that can’t fit have to walk a half an hour to another crowded school.  That is, if their family can afford a notebook and lunches, and if they want an education, and the possibility of secondary school remains dim.  There are no bathrooms, no running water, no electricity and tiny windows,  It is hot, dark, and crowded, yet math problems cover the chalkboards and children fight for the opportunity to become educated and the chance to improve their quality of life.   The people in this community are in dire need of education, health care, and drinking water (there is a 3 hour walk to the nearest water fresh enough to drink).  And what do they do for a living?  They grow our coffee, our fair trade, organic coffee that we pay top price for.  Yet, no matter how much we pay, such a small percentage goes to the grower and his family.  If you would like more information about the issues of the coffee growing region of Southern Ethiopia and what is being done about it, please watch the film Black Gold, available on netflix:  http://www.blackgoldmovie.com

The central figure of that film, Tedese Meskala came to the village with us and his Coffee co-operative is responsible for 1/6 of the funds needed for the school.  The other 1/6 is provided by the community itself and 2/3 by the run.  It is important to form alliances in international development, Chris Treter, founder of On The Ground, explained, because we need the community itself to feel invested and we need the coffee co-operative to continue the investment.   Tedese encouraged the people to join a coffee co-op if they had not already, because they deserve to be payed a fair price for their coffee.

How ephemeral it had felt the day before, almost as if we were a traveling carnival, offering only a temporary window, a glimpse of a better life, and causing a lot of confusion and questions.  Seth and May had played at the runners water and food stops as we blew bubbles and 9 year old Stella Young did cartwheels and the villagers gathered to dance, smile, and stare.  How much different it felt today to feel the appreciation of people that understand why we are here, that our sole purpose is to help and that so many have worked so hard to do just that.  A beautiful African choir had been serenading us throughout our visit to the community and when Seth and May began to play “My Family,”  they appeared as back up to lift their voices to the magnitude of the crowd that pushed in from all around,

We returned to the hotel in the city of Dilla along bumpy dirt roads as children ran along side us, waving and smiling, only to encounter another celebration  It is Epiphany day in Ethiopia, the day that Jesus Christ was baptized, and a giant crowd gathered in the streets outside our hotel to watch a traditional parade.  We joined a traditional dance with sticks on the way to our restaurant as the smiles continued to trail behind us…

Please remember to follow more details of the run on the live streaming page and if you are interested in learning more about my favorite musicians, Seth Bernard and May Erlewine, please visit: www.sethandmay.com

I have started my own website!   www.natureexplorersinternational.com/

To return to the Run Across Ethiopia website, please click this link. www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 19, 2011

A Film On The Way To Becoming

Posted by kriosconsulting under Art, Children, Coffee, Culture, Dancing, Jamaica Weston Lynne, James Weston Lynne, Music, Run Across Ethiopia, Schools
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POST BY JAMAICA LYNNE WESTON

Tuesday January 18th, 2011

While it is said that it takes a village to raise I child, we can now say it also takes a village to make a documentary. James and I went to Hase Gola this morning to finish an intricate part of the film; a day in the life of Teriqu, a student from Hase Gola. The energy was so powerful in this village with their kindness and curiosity, that I couldn’t have guessed the dire need for basics to survive.

We filmed Teriqu’s morning with his family of 7, 1 cow, 1 dog, and 4 sheep that lived in a homemade hut a few miles from school. Since we arrived at 7:00, Teriqu was already up so his family was kind enough to re-enact a morning scene. Although this morning was different from last, because it was water day. His mother has to walk 3 hours to get water and by the time she arrived back home it was time for Teriqu to go to school, without breakfast.

We followed Teriqu to school and he took us through a few miles of the reddest dirt, the rockiest road, and the luscious green grass I have ever seen. When we finally reached the school, we were the first to get there. BK, the greatest translator ever and a very good friend, told us that because of the holiday and runners coming later, the communities canceled school in preparation for the festivities. We watched the ox and sheep walk behind the school, knowing we’d see it later as a gift of dinner from the villages to the runners. This was our only chance to capture this school shot with Teriqu and we really wanted this shot as we had already done it with Timothy’s children in the states before we left, so people could see the differences and similarities. Now, we didn’t know if it was going to happen.

After awhile of sitting in the grass and watching limbs go from the back of the school to a classroom for preparation, kids started coming from every corner with their school papers. Soon we were surrounded with shining faces of curiosity and a million hand shakes to seal the deal, we really were going to re-create a school day. With the help of BK, a rising director, the Tesfa teachers and the talented new actors of Hase Gola, a film was on it’s way to being made. It was a powerful 2 hours to be apart of, but the kids were just as excited as we were to get out of their scrunched classrooms. While the new school was being built in the background and will be open in June, I looked around as I was surrounded by children and thought, the love that these children gave us today is not something that is taught in school, it is innate.

In more ways than one, the fertile soil here is so rich in nutrients but without water or other basics it will never fulfill its potential.

 

January 17, 2011

Music To Our Ears

Posted by kriosconsulting under Art, Children, Culture, Dancing, Jacob Wheeler, Music, Run Across Ethiopia, Seth & May | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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POST BY JACOB WHEELER – Glen Arbor Sun

Monday January 17th, 2011

Imagine that you’re a poor farmer in the Sidamo region of southern Ethiopia — an African herdsman — living in a mud hut by the side of the road. Imagine that you walk out your doorway into the sunlight one morning, and there at 7 a.m., a bunch of “ferenges” (“foreigners” in Amharic, probably derived from “Frenchies”) in skimpy running shorts are laying there on the grass, stretching. Imagine, too, that a couple white musicians are playing guitars and singing. You think, what on Earth! This scene has likely never happened before in such a remote part of East Africa.

But that’s just what form the Run Across Ethiopia took on Day 9. Earthworks musicians Seth Bernard and May Erlewine joined the team for today’s 16-mile run, which took us into the Yirgachefe coffee region, and a mere 36 miles from our ultimate destination on Thursday. At every water and food stop along the road, Seth and May lit up the crowds of villagers and children, who clapped, danced, and engaged in the sort of cross-cultural love and understanding that music knows best. At one point, RAE harrier Nigel Willerton requested a Beatles tune as he jogged by without stopping. Seth played “All we need is love”, and out of the crowd hobbled a weary old man carrying a massive rolled-up animal skin over his shoulder. He began hopping up and down and dancing to the song.

View videos below of Seth and May’s roadside performances, and other clips from Day 9 of the Run Across Ethiopia. 214 miles in the books. Just 36 to go!

The power of music in a village.

And even on a roadside during a short break Seth & May attract a crowd… and that leather peddler.  All you need is love… and a huge roll of leather.

To return to our website, click this link www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 16, 2011

Colobus Monkeys and a Laptop

Posted by kriosconsulting under Amalia Fernand, Art, Children, Coffee, Culture, Run Across Ethiopia, Uncategorized, Water | Tags: , , , , , |
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POST BY AMALIA FERNAND

Sunday January 16th, 2011

Sitting underneath a tree of black and white colobus monkeys, I wonder what they think of my computer.  Leaf eaters, they spend much of their day chilling, eating, and digesting.  Their behavior is much different than the other monkeys that we have encountered in Ethiopia, the Grivet monkeys.  After leaving the bustling capital, Addis Ababa, to wind our way south through farmlands, villages and the occasional camel herd, we arrived at a hotel with  thriving population of begger Grivet monkeys.  Savannah monkeys, they are usually dependent on Acacia seeds and flowers, but at this hotel they have become obsessed with human food.  They stole it off the tables and out of bags and rooms and they apparently have a thing for undergarments.  Mamas with babies perched behind us at breakfast and pattering feet ran across the roof in the morning.

The hotel was located on Lake Owassa, a volcanically formed lake in the Rift Valley.  There we met up with the Run Across Ethiopia team of both U.S. and Ethiopian runners, reporters, medical support, drivers, musicians, videographers, and translators.  Seth Bernard and May Erlewine played a concert that night at a local restaurant and local Ethiopian musicians finished off the show.

Early the next morning, the first rays of the rising sun fell over the lake as I greeted the day surrounded by water birds and grivet monkeys and was so grateful to be out of the city.  We took a small boat out on the lake to search for hippos and witnessed the immensity of the second largest land mammal in Africa, weighing up to 7,000 pounds at over 12 feet long!  Hippos are hairless and their sensitive skin burns easily, so they spend their days wallowing in shallow water, socializing and digesting and they spend nights on land eating grass,  Their territorial nature makes them one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.  A large adult make can have lower canines above the gum at 18″ and lower incisors at 10.”  The hippos looked at us, they snorted, and they went on with their wallowing, giant eyes full of power, resting just above the water,

The Awassa Children’s House is home to 45 children aged 6-16:  http://awassachildrenscenter.org/#/who-we-are/4539259833

They are orphans and street children whom are given a safe place to live and an education.  I brought my Nature Explorers suitcase and spent an afternoon with these loving children.  Armed with magnifying glasses and binoculars, we explored their campus as we collected leaves for leaf rubbing posters,  We created leopard and Gelada baboon masks and the children were extremely diligent and creative workers.  The joy, the smiles, the laughter, the appreciation, the excitement, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Today, I joined the run and was moved by the happiness that we brought to many hundreds of children merely by our presence.  The runners finished mile 198 today and I joined them in running through small villages and coffee plantations for a few of those miles.  I also traveled by the bus that stays close by the group and stops to supply water and food breaks.  On these occasions, the people came running to gather, to stare, watchfully, expectantly, curiously.  I blew bubbles for the children and to witness the universal reaction of a child to a bubble reminds me that everywhere, people are just people.  They jumped, they laughed, they chased, they loved, and I only wish that I could do so much more, bring them so much more, give them so much more.  And then I look around and I realize that I am.  This entire event is for them, for their education, to increase their standard of living, to give them a chance at a healthy life.  Most of them do not understand this right now, and they may never.  I only wish that we could spend more time with them instead of quickly moving through each village.  I wish that we could explain that the reason we are here is for them and that there are so many people out there who have donated time, money, and a piece of their hearts for this cause.

The last 2 nights we have stayed in the coffee growing region set amongst beautiful wooded hlllsides,  Each night, the second largest carnivore in Africa, the hyena,  came up to eat the food scraps and show herself.  Seth and May have been writing and tonight they shared some of their songs by the fire.  The moon reflects over the mountains and valleys of coffee plants in this region and I feel so thankful to be a part of this team and this amazing experience.

To return to our website click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 16, 2011

Ethiopia, the Water Tower of Africa

Posted by kriosconsulting under Art, Culture, Environment, Music, Poverty, Run Across Ethiopia, Seth & May
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POST BY SETH BERNARD & MAY ERLEWINE

Sunday January 16th, 2011

Sending love from Yirgalem! Wish you were here man. Here are three short brain droppings for you to use as you wish — you can stagger them or use them all at once. Thanks for everything you do – I’ve had a hard time with internet access, every time May hands the computer over to me, the internet craps out. I’m on Treter’s rig now. Hopefully I’ll have more words for you soon. The songs are flowing!! 8 so far, and lots of scraps to piece together when we get home. No shortage of inspiration, just a lot to take in. Awesome. Hope you are well. Yours, Seth

This adventure has been a Visionquest. We brought with us the intention to look deeply into ourselves and our world and to return home with music that honors the cultures of both Ethiopia and America. So far, everything has exceeded our expectations. It’s almost as if we are in a life-changing time capsule and every moment, every smile exchanged, is magnified. Challenging indeed to translate the experience, but music is, after all, the universal language of the heart.

We don’t have enough accurate information about Ethiopia in America. Hopefully our expedition will help with this in some small way with this. There is too much fear and pity and not enough respect and amazement toward Ethiopia in our collective American mind. We have so much to learn. I find myself in awe of an ancient culture that has remained largely intact. This is the birthplace of mankind and the only nation in Africa that has never been colonized by imperial European powers. People have been kind and gracious without exception. I feel safer in Addis Ababa than I do in American cities of comparable size, and although I am a country boy (thank God), I have spent many moons in many a metropolis.

For centuries, Christians and Muslims, dark-skinned and light-skinned folks have lived in peace, shared the same morning coffee ceremonies and celebrated their shared communities here in Ethiopia. When I have asked my new friends what their secret is and what Americans can learn from their culture of diversity and tolerance, they say that it has always been this way. They say that kindness is more important than anything. It’s at the heart of being human. They day that it’s obvious, isn’t it? Cruelty and intolerance go against the teachings of all the religions and we’re all neighbors. Ethiopia is another heartland and we have been welcomed as brothers and sisters here.  It’s going to be hard to leave, but we have a wealth of songs and stories to bring back to our people in the American heartland.”

Here we are in Yirgalem at a beautiful place out in the wilderness. Ethiopia feels more like home every day and our time here is going by so quickly. I am already anticipating feeling torn when we begin our travels home.

Ethiopia is the water tower of East Africa and we live in the Great Lakes. Ethiopian music in the Tezeta style strikes a chord in our hearts because the music feels like water flowing. Yesterday, we wrote a song together in that style called “Mother Tree of Life”. We usually write alone, but this experience has opened the door for sharing the channeling of music, which is a great gift to us in our partnership.

We have been processing so many feelings and transformations. I feel hesitant to even begin to describe what my mind and heart are going through, as it is all so new. So know we are stewing and brewing and soaking it all up and will report back in stories and songs!

Tomorrow we will ride along in the runners bus and play songs for the runners annd the community members during their breaks on the road. We are excited to be back with the full team. Everyone seems to be holding up quite well considering the incredible distance they have run. Chris Treter told me he’s up to 198 miles!

-Seth & May

To go back to our website, click this link www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

January 15, 2011

We Are Inside Nature Always

Posted by kriosconsulting under Art, Culture, Music, Run Across Ethiopia, Running, Schools, Seth & May | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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POST FROM SETH BERNARD

Saturday January 15, 2011

Sitting on a robin egg blue wrap-around porch looking out onto a clear lake in Awassa. The path from the hotel restaurant to our room is covered in bright violet flowers that have fallen from the trees, they pop out against the reddish brown soil. There are birds everywhere, giant water birds with long hook-like beaks, soaring eagles, kingfishers, pure white little water birds, giant parrot like tropical birds with large beaks, love birds and on. Even the smallest little bird that would be our common sparrow has a little splash of unique color.

This morning we awoke with a group of visitors on our porch. Monkeys! They are little Grivet Monkeys and they are darling. They are everywhere and we have been feeding them bananas by hand. There are many mothers with their tiny little babies hanging on for dear life. They are a joy. Later in the day we also discovered a group of Colobus Monkeys too! They have giant paint brushes for tails. You can also take a boat from shore to see hippos out wallowing in the waters. I am in heaven with all of these little beings around us.
We are here and have had this day to focus on our songwriting. Our time in Addis was rich with musical inspiration and we found ourselves fueled with excitement, the creative juices are flowing! We have worked out four songs today and we have four more in the making and a few instrumentals floating around in our minds. We have had the opportunity to see some of Ethiopia’s finest musicians and have been welcomed by them with so much warmth. The music scene and the music is incredible. All of this leaves us really excited to record the album when we return home. Here are a few of the bands we have seen/met/jammed with.  These are Facebook links:
Working in the schools was incredibly moving and we learned so much from the children here. On Thursday morning we wrote two songs with the students at Mercado school Addis. The first song entitled “I love Animals” and the second “We are Inside Nature Always”. The kids wrote all of the words to the second song themselves in English and I can’t wait to share with you their insights. After spending three days at the same school it was hard to say goodbye to the children. We’ll miss them and we came to the conclusion that we’ll just have to come back again.
We met up with the group of runners yesterday and the families were finally reunited. What a beautiful moment to witness. So much love! The runners seem to be doing incredibly well and those of us on the sidelines are in awe of their strength perseverance and positivity! They have done three 30 mile days in a row! Now they get to taper down for a few days.
Well as I write these final words a giant tortoise is meandering across the lawn… Sending you all big love!
Missing you and looking forward to sharing more when we return.
love,   May and Seth
To return to our website please click this link, www.runacrossethiopia.org
 

January 14, 2011

Poverty is Apparent, but so is Love and Compassion

Posted by kriosconsulting under Amalia Fernand, Art, Children, Culture, Music, Run Across Ethiopia | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
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POST BY AMALIA FERNAND

Friday January 14, 2011

Vast plains of sand spread below the airplane window as the orange light of the setting sun illuminated sandy peaks and a winding river.  The Sahara desert is the largest in the world, covering one third of the African continent!  Looking out over that endless desert, the immensity and ancientness of Africa becomes more present and the journey that I am about to embark on more real.  A thin band of orange rings the horizon as the deep blue of night sinks down upon the earth.  I think of the many nocturnal desert creatures as they leave their underground homes to enjoy the cool reprise of the evening and can’t help but be enchanted by the mysteries that a desert beholds.  Is there a Saharan cheetah down there, poised and ready to run?  Is there a wild gerbil, poking his head above the sand and scanning the sky for raptors?  Are there crocodiles in that river?  Can people really live within that vast emptiness?  Two small children peak over their seat at me, exclaiming loudly in their native language and I know that I am on the other side of the world.

I left the icicle draped snowy world of Traverse CIty Michigan on Monday to fly to Detroit, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Amsterdam.  From there the plane turned South to Khartoum, Sudan, and then on to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  After 27 hours of travel, we arrived in an ancient land.  The cradle of human kind, Ethiopia is where our hominid ancestors evolved.  The only country in Africa, except for Liberia, that has never been colonized, the culture here is vibrant and deeply rooted.  We have spent the last 2 days in the capital city of Addis Ababa.  In this bustling city of 8 million people, poverty is apparent, yet so is love and compassion and the importance of family and community.

I will be sharing my experiences with you as regularly as I can!

Return to our website by clicking here, www.runacrossethiopia.org

 

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