Mother & Child Project

In Ethiopia,  women prefer to labor at home because of deeply rooted tradition.  If complications arise,  this can be tragic.  Ethiopia has one of the highest maternal/newborn mortality rates in the world as well as one of the highest rates of obstetric fistula.  In an attempt to encourage women from Gimbichu and the surrounding kebeles to come to the clinic to safely deliver their babies,  my friend and medical director Binyam has created plans to build a culturally relevant and traditional labor and delivery room.  This has been proven to work in other areas.  He will also travel with a team providing education.  He is dedicated and brilliant.  HE knows what works and that is why I listen to him.  I am also dedicated to helping him with this proactive project.  Another important aspect is that we will hire local people and use local supplies in the building of this room.  Involving the community is always a good thing.  I am beyond excited.

The long, the short and the tall of it all

Have I mentioned how much I love Ethiopia, especially Gimbichu and Balamo??  I could get there with my eyes closed but never would because I would miss all of the beauty along the way.

To sum up the success of this trip,  thanks to the help of so many generous people, 3 fabulous schools: Holy Cross High School and Waterbury Arts Magnet School both of Waterbury, Connecticut,  Eli Terry Jr. Middle School of Terryville, Connecticut,  St. Casimir's Church and Pathways For Children (www.pathwaysforchildren.org),  this is what we accomplished....

All items purchased donated and delivered to Gimbichu Clinic:
1 6500 watt diesel fuel generator
1 autoclave
1 heating oven for sterilization of equipment
2 enema cans used in birthing process
An enormous supply of donated scrubs and receiving blankets
hemostats, gauze, betadine, glucometer/supplies, baby formula, insulation pouches, cold packs
1 much needed laptop for improved documentation (although this was the most organized clinic I have ever seen)

Items purchased and donated to schools:
1 blackboard, and large supply of paper, chalk, pens and writing tablets
Easy readers and phonics books
1 dvd player and educational dvd's
Jump ropes and frisbees (a big hit by the way)

The most important thing brought to these two villages was hope!  I cannot put into words the joy and happiness expressed by the community, especially at the clinic.  They told us that this was the first time anyone has ever come out this far to help them.  They explained that the generator is something that they have desperately needed for over five years and will make the care they give more efficient, saving lives.  In the past they relied on a candle or small 'torch' (flashlight) as their only source of light.

Lastly,  I can tell you that although they say what we have given them is so much,  it is small in comparison to what they have given me.  I have never been so grateful to be apart of something my whole life.  I love these people and consider this my second home......and so does Mike.  God was at our side through the entire trip.  He had to be.  It all went without one single hitch.  Thank you God!

See you soon Gimbichu!!

Let There Be Light

Upon returning to Ethiopia this spring,  Mike and I wanted to know what was the best way to help our beloved health clinic.... medications? medical supplies? more equipment???  Well, yes, those things are important and always needed, but a priority seemed to be something as basic and simple as light.  Light or more specifically electrical light is something that we take for granted and wouldn't have thought of in a million years.  In Ethiopia,  power isn't always available,  especially at night, and many doctors and nurses are forced to work by small lanterns or even candle light. This can make for challenges and unsafe conditions especially when delivering a baby.  Babies don't always wait for the sun to come up to decide to make an appearance.

The importance of proper lighting is monumental and we westerners can only appreciate it the few times we are without.  I can't imagine trying to do my job in the ICU effectively and safely in the dark.

That is why we have decided to purchase a solar powered generator that we will hand deliver ourselves.  Lucky for us that we live in a community where our friends and family have embraced this idea and have shown support.  Even two amazing schools are helping us to meet this financial goal, Holy Cross High School and the Waterbury Arts Magnet 8th Grade both of Waterbury, Connecticut.

We are so blessed and excited at the prospect of once again helping this clinic and the beautiful community it serves.

Gandhi said, 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others'.  Mike and I are so grateful to have these opportunities that have been bestowed onto us under the grace of God.

Gimbichu/Balamo Project

Mooooooo.......Heifer International

My husband and I recently had the incredible opportunity to visit our adopted daughter's birth family in southern Ethiopia.

Now of course we consider them our family and it is only natural that we would want to help.  So, we bought them a cow.  Our daughter's birth mother,  who struggles everyday, immediately knew what that meant!

A cow means everything and this is why.  It provides endless nutrition to a family in the form of milk.  It can generate income when the milk is sold.  It can have baby cows and 'grow' a herd which can be kept or sold.  It provides increased opportunities for a woman who previously had none.  It empowers her and gives her self worth.  She becomes respected by the people around her, especially the men.  She teaches these business and life skills to her children and daughters who grow up with self worth and will also demand respect.  The effect of this cow trickles out into the village and other lives are changed as well.  And it all starts with a cow.

At the market buying 'Hope'

I have to say that going to the market and buying this cow was one of the best days of my life.   We named this pregnant cow (yes she is pregnant) Hope because that is what she will give along with an endless supply of milk.

People in Ethiopia are so beautiful.  They would give you the shirts off their backs (and they probably only have one).  They are a country with rich history and culture but also challenges that can make life difficult.  They are NOT looking for handouts, but rather handups.   Buying this cow was a handup.

There are so many people in our community and from our lives that helped us make this trip possible.  I am ever so grateful and humbled by the generosity that was bestowed upon us.  We certainly could not have done all that we did without it.  I am proud to say that all of that love helped us buy our cow.  It belongs to so many.  Thank you just isn't enough.

I hope to return and do the same for others in this area who are also in need knowing that I have the support of so many.  I am happy to be partnered with my dearest friend Grace who is the founder of Pathways to Children, a non-profit out of Minneapolis.  We plan to return in the spring to meet with the locals and really talk to and get to know this community, one that I am connected to forever!

Ironically,  yesterday in the mail I received a catalogue from Heifer International, http://www.heifer.org/, which happens also to be based out of Minnesota.  This non-profit allows people to purchase cows and chickens and goats for needy families just as Mike and I did last month.  I encourage anyone interested to check it out.  What a great way to celebrate and give thanks for our blessings during this holiday season.  Trust me,  giving to others is the best gift you can give yourself and very contagious!!  It has brought immeasurable joy to our family.

My Journey

In 2008 I traveled to Ethiopia to adopt a beautiful little girl, Eva Alemitu.  A few days after returning home,  I found her drinking from a puddle in our driveway.  Even though I knew she came from a place without clean water,  it was at that moment that it really hit me that this child, my daughter, use to drink from puddles.  In addition, it represented all that she had to endure to survive and that at the age of two she was already wiser than me.

Adopting Eva in 2008

I was compelled to write about it sharing her story with children here.  It has since been acquired by Walker Books and is set to be released Fall of 2013.  In the mean time I lecture and do presentations about this country that I love at schools and libraries hoping to spread awareness of a world beyond our borders.  It has become my passion.

I believe that God works in mysterious ways and through Him I met Grace and Ralph Strangis.  They are a couple from Minnesota who were on one of Grace's missions in Ethiopia only a few months before my journey.  Ralph took care of Eva for two days as she transitioned into the orphange.  I had a picture of this man carrying her but no name.  After a week of research I found him learning that he was looking for her as well.  We have since reunited and become family connected through this inspiring child.

My friend Grace in India

Grace is the founder of Pathways To Children, a non-profit organization that has worked tirelessly to help the underprivileged in India and Ethiopia.  Grace and I have joined forces hoping to work in Eva's birth village to improve quality of life through an effort to bring clean water to the area, and support the local health clinic and school.

collecting drinking water

In October,  I returned to Gimbichu and Balamo, the area where Eva is from. I was overwhelmed with the kindness and love offered to me from people who had almost nothing.  It was humbling.  I was able to see first hand what these communities were in need of.  Most importantly, Balamo needs a well.  The people of this village have no access to clean water.  It is hard to focus on anything else when something so basic and life sustaining is out of their reach.  When you have clean water,  everything else follows.  The little school house here is also poorly attended.  The children lack basic supplies like pencils, paper and books.  There are no proper chairs and desks.  And lastly,  the health clinic in the next village of Gimbichu is very low on basic medications like antibiotics and antimalarials.  They lack equipment like stethoscopes or blood pressure cuffs, nor do they have a safe and proper baby warmer.  They are in desperate need of basic pre, peri and post natal supplies, and nutritional supplements for the malnourished. This is a clinic that serves thousands.  The closest hospital is ninety minutes away by car.  Most people have to walk.

I have made a life long commitment to serving this community in any way that I can.  Just thinking about returning makes me excited and happy.  Please visit Grace's website at www.pathwaystochildren.org to join us in helping these beautiful people.  I promise that getting on board in even the smallest way will change your life.  It has changed mine!

Balamo School

Water

Excerpt from  Drinking From Puddles

We have walked all morning with the blazing orange sun on our backs.  Emaye (mother) tells me a story while we walk.  "Our watering hole gives us something precious", she says, "even more precious than gold.  We could live a lifetime without gold, but not a day without a drink of water.  All over the world, the clouds make the rain and the rain brings us our water.  This connects us to everyone and everywhere.  Water is life."

I couldn't care any less about diamonds or beautiful rare gemstones,  or about  fancy cars with all the bells and whistles one could hope for.  Expensive shoes don't impress me.  Money is nice, but only when you can do good things with it.

It is water that I am in complete awe of.   I am a child of water.  I am drawn to it.  I was raised by the sea.  I couldn't live anywhere else in the world but on the coast.

How ironic is it that soon after adopting my daughter from Ethiopia,  I found her drinking from a puddle in my driveway.  Was this coincidence or a sign from God?  Then to have written a children's book Drinking From Puddles and soon publish through a fancy New York Publisher is a dream come true.  It is a chance to share my passion of water with children everywhere.

Water, clean water,  is something taken for granted and only appreciated when out of reach.  Eva's simple act of squatting down and drinking from that puddle four years ago changed my life and the course of it.  Sometimes I think,  'How did I get here?'.  My desire to never stop or ever give up knowing that this is a life long journey, doesn't end with the release of this book.  Along the way,  I have been connected to the most amazing people,  joining forces to attain the same goals.  It all started with water.

I think of Eva's birth mother struggling everyday without the privilege of clean water among other things and it can be excruciating at times.  All of my happiness is always a little overshadowed by her struggles.  It keeps me grounded but more importantly keeps me going.  I can't wait to return to Ethiopia this fall.  I am nervous and excited.  I want so badly to bring clean water, education and accessible health care to the Hossana and surrounding area.  I may never see it, but have to keep trying.

My daughter has taught me so much and is wise beyond her years.  I love Drinking From Puddles, the book she inspired me to write and I know it will loved by many because of its message of water, hope and love.