March 30, 2007
Today I left Ethiopia. The streets were once again dark, and the city was quiet. No blaring horns. No children begging at my window. A few hours later I sat on a plane and bumped down the runway, my face pressed against the window. The same streetlights flickered, and cars had begun to [...]
March 29, 2007
Tonight I sat by the pool, bugs nibbling my ankles, and talked with a brilliant doctor about the reality of AIDS in Ethiopia. Dr. A is passionate and articulate, and his knowledge about this terrible epidemic was more than I could have researched on the web or read in a textbook. Because to [...]
March 28, 2007
Today, I was able to visit a project where we work with school-age children. (As a side note, this was my second visit to this project—the first time my camera refused to work.) The ride to the project was over bone-rattling roads with deep ruts and narrow passageways.
It seemed that some of [...]
March 27, 2007
Today I met four of the most strong, resilient women I’ve ever had the privilege of talking to.* Four women who raise the standards of mothers. I can only hope their children will one day understand how amazing their mothers are.
After two hours, we arrived in Walliso, a rural community 110 kms from [...]
March 26, 2007
Today softened my view of Ethiopia. In the center of this busy city, I found beauty. Beauty in the faces of dozens of students who piled out of their classroom to smile for my camera. Beauty in the young boy who tugged at my shirt. As I bent low he asked me “How [...]
March 25, 2007
I’ve never been this close to poverty. I’ve read about it, I’ve written about it, I’ve seen it on television and in glossy pictures in magazines.
But today, it stood inches from me, separated only by a smudged window in the van I rode in. I didn’t know what to do when a child’s [...]
March 24, 2007
Ethiopia snuck up on me. As our plane landed at two this morning, all I could see were straight lines of streetlights. It didn’t look like Africa. It looked like any number of cities I’ve flown into in the United States.
The drive to the hotel was quick, and the dark streets were empty. [...]
March 22, 2007
10:30 a.m.
Denver International Airport
I could get used to traveling first-class. Hanging out at the Admiral’s Club. Reading the Wall Street Journal.
Our flight to Chicago is already delayed, but thankfully we had a three-hour layover, so hopefully we’ll be fine. Missing the flight to London would royally suck (get it, London, royally. You [...]
I work for a ministry that serves children in poverty all around the world. More than 800,000 children in 24 countries. It’s an incredible ministry, and I love what I do.
But sometimes, it’s hard. Despite all that we do, children in our program still die. Every week, all the employees are given a prayer guide. [...]