The Year of the Volunteer

It is now only about a week until we return to Ethiopia and a good time to update you as to developments for this next year. Our departure date has been set for July 29.
Our partner church in Bahir Dar recently had the graduation of 18 from the Bible School. It is the only Bible School north of Addis Ababa. These leaders will be specifically going into church planting ministries throughout the north. We have a real need to find resources and teachers to keep the Bible School open and see a new group of students for this next year.
We have many volunteers coming out to help us this next year. They are coming from 1 to six months. We thought you would like to know who they are so that as we give updates from Ethiopia you will recognize them and pray for them.
Amy Hyong is coming out for August and September to help set up a program through the church for People Living with AIDS. Nearly 1 in 4 in Bahir Dar are HIV positive. The issues are complex but the situation is not hopeless. The church has a real opportunity to play a major role in the community in stopping the spread of AIDS, sharing the love of Christ to those suffering and providing vocational training.
Jessie Town and Gypsi Fellows (Daughter of my sister Beth) will be teaching English at Bahir Dar Academy as well as helping out with the multi-purpose centre and the Big Brother/Sister program.
Oliver Veit, Dan Rossi (Photo not available), and Lizzy Delani (Photo not available) will be helping to get an agro-forestry project going with the Gumuz. Dan just finished as the team leader of a 2,500 kilometre walk charity fund raising drive from Halifax to Markham. Here is a quote from a newspaper "Mr. Rossi said the secret strategy to surviving the often difficult conditions, including heat, stinging insects and cramped rest quarters was to begin their daily 3:30 a.m. walk with a prayer and to never go to sleep angry." The article can be found at http://www.yorkregion.com/article/36191. Dan will be in excellent shape for work amongst the Gumuz where long walks through searing heat is an every day occurrence. The details of this project can be found at http://www.devxchange.org/agro-forestry.asp
Carol Van Overloop with Bachelor of Science in Commerce will be helping to set up our micro-loan credit and financing through the KHC church. Just before I left in May more than 100 prostitutes came to faith in Christ through a special outreach program of a church in Bahir Dar and are in need of finding alternate professions for livelihood. We are hoping to get many of these into vocational training and help them set up viable businesses. Details of this project can be found at http://www.devxchange.org/hair.asp
We also have one volunteer coming from Australia -Alexandra Bennett (Photo not available). She writes "I want to be able to make a difference and to make an impact on people's lives in the name of Jesus. To serve and encourage and help those who struggle to meet the basics ... "
We have greatly appreciated the encouragement and support as we have made the transition from SIM. This next year will be an exciting challenge as we try to get many of these projects off the ground with the help of these enthusiastic volunteers that want to make a difference.

African Adventures

"Who did it?". The Mechanic scowled as he looked at my back wheel. "I did!", I replied. At that he broke out in laughter. It really was no laughing matter, however, when we were on a dirt road, over 2 days way from our destination - Addis, and we saw the sickening sight of our wheel passing us and felt the car coming to a crashing halt. It all started when we had a flat tire. No big deal- we changed the tire and continued. We weren't too far down the trail however, when the wheel fell off. Absent mindedly I had failed to tighten the lug nuts after lowering the jack. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, nearly three days journey from Addis, no phone coverage and our wheel sitting in the middle of a field. Extensive damage had been done to the back wheel and bits and pieces of brake and shrapnel were everywhere. Miraculously within 15 minutes a trucker came along and stopped to help. He disassembled all the broken bits and pieces and somehow was able to secure the wheel minus brakes, drum, and other parts. We were able to make the trip to Addis through mountainous terrain (complete with storms, mud and fog!) with brakes working on three wheels and no emergency brake. Needless to say, we were very thankful to God for the many ways He protected and provided for us throughout the entire experience.
My sister Beth, and a group from Canada that included Susan Black (my nephew's wife who brought the "Sue Black" count up to two!) had come to Ethiopia to assist with some survey work and project planning for our work here. The first part of the trip involved returning to the Gumuz area where we had first looked at a possible agro-forestry project among the Gumuz. Jocelyn Green, one of the survey group members, remarked that this was as close to the end of the world as she had been. The landscape had an eerie surreal appearance as the Gumuz burn the land every year to clear undergrowth and hunt animals.
The Gumuz have so many destructive cultural practices that keep them in chronic poverty and poor health not to mention the environmental disaster they are creating. The good news is that through the Kale Hewet Church over the past three years efforts have been made to contact this group. They have established good relationships and an openness to learning in several villages and one of the towns in the area. Now is the time for the church to reach out to 14 of the villages in the area. Unfortunately there are no roads to most of these villages. The survey team had to walk up to three or four hours in searing heat to visit some of the villages. Even though they took as much water as they could carry, they ran out long before they returned. Some were so parched they could hardly talk.
Water is a major problem for the Gumuz. Finding adequate clean water will be one of the major challenges.
In addition to the agro-forestry project among the Gumuz, the multi-function centre continues to develop in Bahir Dar. In addition to the multiple programs from the centre including English, computers and sports, there are two projects we would like to help launch. One is working with local burial associations and community leaders to develop a program for People Living with AIDS in the community. The second program is for Orphans and Street Kids. We currently have a list of 150 kids we would like to enroll in this program.
This is Sue here. Bob asked me say a little something about a Bible study I'm involved in. A number of months ago I felt a real desire to try to start an Amharic Bible study in our home. So with much prayer, and an Ethiopian friend's language help, we started. After the first study, one woman said to me that she had appreciated it when I gave her the Bible last year because she thought it was good for warding off evil spirits, but she had never thought to read it! She said that she was now very excited and happy to be apart of this study group. She said she didn't realize that God loved all people - she said she was going home to read more. Most people here follow a lot of religious traditions and have many superstitions and fears. Many acknowledge the Bible and Christ, but people usually either don't have access to a Bible and/or they aren't allowed to read the Bible, and especially not the New Testament , and as a result they don't know what the significance of Christ's death and resurrection is. They've responded with such love and gratitude towards God as we've studied the book of Romans together and they've started to discover for themselves what God has done for them through Jesus. It has been an incredible blessing for me to get to be a part of this.
Next year we plan to continue as affiliates of SIM but our donations and receipting will be handled through Devxchange. We will be mailing a written letter shortly with details concerning this.

Ethiopian Culture

For the past couple of weeks Sue has been teaching English to the Bible School students from the KHC Church. Towards the end of the week she gave each student an English to Amharic and Amharic to English dictionary. They were delighted to receive the books, however, they had never seen a dictionary before and had no clue as to how to look up words. She had been teaching using both Amharic and English, but was unprepared that day to explain in Amharic, to people who didn't understand the order of the English alphabet, how to use an English-Amharic dictionary. She tried without success in explaining but they kept asking "what page number?". Eventually with the aid of an Ethiopian friend and great persistence they grasped the concept. It just goes to show you things you take for granted in the West are so foreign to Ethiopia.
My niece asked me to write her some stories on Ethiopian Culture (which reminds me that I haven't done that yet). Almost every week something different seems to hit you. You know you're in trouble when they have a different time (6 hrs different from the rest of the world), a different calendar (they have 13 months), and a different year (it is 1999). Every week you are stumbling on different cultural values. The other week I was asked to drive someone to their home area as they had a death in the family and there was no transport to get them there. I discovered that when someone dies they don't tell the family members who. All they tell them is there has been a death in the family and to come immediately. The anxiety for them is incredible as they don't know if it is spouse, parent, or child or other relative until they arrive. Once they arrive the wailing and the crying starts up and they still haven't a clue as to who has died until they get inside the house. I was a nervous wreck let alone the person I was taking. The many very unusual Orthodox traditions and practices I'll save for another day.
Work continues on the multi-purpose centre. We are hoping it will be finished in May.
My sister and some volunteers are coming at the end of March for a couple of weeks to help with a variety of project plannings including the Agro-Forestry project among the primitive Gumuz, HIV-AIDS program in Bahir Dar as well as Orphans and Street Kids. We will write more about that after their visit.
We have some volunteers coming out this summer for a variety of projects so Sue and the girls are going back to Canada in May and I will be joining them for June. We will be coming back the first part of July.

Gumuz Survey Trip

A little over a week ago I took a survey trip to the Gumuz area in Ethiopia. We were exploring the possible site of an agro-forestry project. The Gumuz are a people originating in the Sudan but spill across the border into Ethiopia. In the past they have been slaves of both Sudanese and Ethiopians. They are a primitive tribe still existing by hunting with bows and arrows and foraging for food.
The area they live in is fertile and also rich in minerals. It could be a very rich area but is extremely impoverished and the ecology is being destroyed. The Gumuz are killing all the natural wildlife in the area and are cutting down all the trees for charcoal, firewood and lumber. When they clear out one area they move to another.
The local church we are working with in Bahir Dar has been targeting this group for the past three years. Several of its members have been working out of a little town called Gilgel Beles. This is the regional centre for the Gumuz that are located north of the Nile (there is another group south of the Nile). They have established good relationships with several of the villages and meet weekly with about 150 of them under trees in the villages.
Here are some of the findings of our survey trip.
Malaria is the number one killer. More than 50% of deaths are caused by Malaria.
There is a high prevalence of malnutrition as their main diet consists of a slop made from millet with little else. It is one month after harvest and their storage bins are empty.
Almost anything will grow in the area, however, fruit trees were all but non existent.
There used to be abundant wild life including elephants, wild pigs, cheetahs, leopards, deer, and many indigenous birds, however, the Gumuz have killed off most of the wild life.
The Gumuz are cutting down most of the trees in the area to sell as charcoal, firewood and lumber without any programs of reforestation.
The Gumuz have a long history of violence and inter-tribal fighting. Armed police are afraid to go into the area. This has prevented much being done in the way of development. Through recent efforts by groups and churches like KHC good contact and relationships have been established to the point they are now wanting to change their past ways for a better future.
We are hoping to see an agro-forestry project established through KHC to address some of these concerns. We are also looking at the need for a more comprehensive health project to address some of the major health concerns.
University Students in Bahir Dar are back at school and we have kicked off the Big Brother/ Big Sister program this year. We are looking at increasing the numbers of participating students this year and have some practical ideas for the students to do that, Lord willing, will improve the life and future of the street kids.
Things continue well at the school I am teaching at and Sue continues to teach the girls at home.

Bahir Dar Academy

It has been some time since we put out an update. Ethiopia has the second highest population in sub-sahara Africa yet is characterized by the lowest access to primary education. Only 51% of eligible children attend school. Only 40% of eligible girls attend school. Secondary education is only accessible to 10% of the population. Those who manage to attend school usually receive very poor education with very limited resources. Fray Shibabaw and her school Bahir Dar Academy is doing a great deal to change that. There are more girls attending than boys and the girls are consistently getting the higher marks. Recently many students from Bahir Dar Academy took national exams for Ethiopia. The average grade for all students across Ethiopia was 50%. The lowest grade for students from Bahir Dar Academy was 94% and several got 100%. The quality of education at Bahir Dar Academy is miles above the national average.

This year we have a new computer Lab with 25 new computers PTL! We also have a junior computer Lab with an additional 10 computers. I have 750 computer students which are taking a great deal of my time at the moment. I have two assistants, however, that will be able to take over more responsibilities once they get up to speed- hopefully freeing my time for the many other " irons in the fire."
Some of the other ideas we are working on is to develop several vocational training centres that will be an opportunity to address the incredible unemployment plague of this country. We are working with my sister Beth and her organization Dev-xchange to see some of these ideas become a reality. Their website is http://www.devxchange.org/. There are two ladies from Barrie that are helping to start an International Hair Salon and cosmetology school. We see this as one opportunity to give young ladies an opportunity to earn a living other than prostitution. Devxchange has been set up to give professionals the opportunity to give something back to developing countries like Ethiopia so if you have any skill to offer in just about any field get in touch and we'll put you to work. Contact mailto:info@devxchange.org?subject=Information.
We are also continuing to develop the multi-purpose centre with the KHC church. Due to the high cost of cement we are exploring some new technologies that may introduce revolutionary building techniques to the typical cookie cutter construction techniques they use here. We'll keep you posted as this develops.
Sarah and Rachel are continuing their home schooling with Sue. Sarah's favourite subject is Math while Rachel's is Art and Recess.
The University students are not yet back to classes so we haven't kicked off our Big Brother- Big Sister program this year yet. We recently took a seminar on storytelling. This was designed to communicate with non literate people. We hope to train the university students in some of these techniques as they work with the street kids.

Big Brother Sister Program

This week we are in Addis for a home schooling weekend conference followed by a week of standard testing for the girls to see if they are keeping up with their peers at their appropriate grade levels.

One of the exciting developments is our "Big Brother/Sister" program. We have been working with the University Christian Fellowship this past year to get them involved in reaching some of the many thousands of street kids in Bahir Dar. They officially started their program with the core leadership group running a trial program to learn from it. They are excited about the results as they are already seeing lifestyle changes in some of their "little brothers". Some are studying diligently under the street lamps at night. Others are recognizing the importance of hygiene and are making an effort to improve their sanitation and hygiene. The university students are also enjoying taking the kids on special outings for swimming and are looking after essential needs such as shoes and medical attention. They are beginning to expand the program this week to bring other university students on board. The last two Friday's I was invited to speak to the core group of university students about getting involved. It was well received and hopefully will see many get involved. It provides an opportunity for the students to get involved with the lives and homes in the community.

Sue is continuing to work with "the Sisters". She is visiting the local hotels and trying to get their interest in carrying deserts on the menu which she wants to train the x-prostitutes to develop into a business. We are also in the research stages of developing an outlet for Dairy products such as pasteurized milk, cream, cheese, butter, yogurt and ice-cream. None of these items are currently available in Bahir Dar and we think there is a market for them among the hotels, tourists and foreigners living in the city. She is also developing small group Bible studies with the girls.

The computers continue to be a challenge. I brought one with me when I came back from Canada and a data projector. However, with three sitting at a computer it still takes three weeks to cycle through a class once. I have 8 classes with 400 plus students with only 6 computers. If you want to send out work groups and each person carry a lap top in let me know.
We've recently started an Alpha program, together with another Christian family, for foreigners living in Bahir Dar. This program is a small group discussion on the big questions of life. There are a number of foreigners living in Bahir Dar and we hope this will be a good opportunity for their involvement.
Around $6,000 has been donated from the memorial gifts given in memory of my father. This will be used towards the multipurpose youth, education and worship centre in Bahir Dar. While I am in Addis this week I will be looking for an appropriate block making machine.

Bahirdar Project Startup

It has been some time since you've heard from us and a lot has happened. My sister Beth and her daughter Gypsi spent a couple of weeks with us and were a big help with planning some of the programs we want to launch. Beth has worked as a consultant for years with both government and non government organizations. Beth sat down and diagramed in a tree chart all the things we are involved with or plan to be involved with. There were many pieces in the jigsaw and at first we wondered if any of it would make sense.
Eventually things began to clarify and she even color coded areas that would be our direct responsibility. There are three main partners that we hope to develop programs and projects with. They are the KHC Church, University Groups and Bahir Dar Academy (where I am currently teaching).
We are in the process of developing concept papers for each project and program. I plan to post these on our website so you can download them and help us find any resources (including personnel) that may be needed for them. The List of the Partners and proposed programs/projects are as follows.
University Students- There are three groups of University Students we plan to work with targeting street kids, and prostitutes. Gypsi is providing a link as well to Trinity Western University (in Canada) that will provide input, support and linkage. Sue will take a primary lead in getting this program off the ground starting with a University Group called "The Sisters". She plans to start some income generation projects and a discipleship group with an x-prostitute, some of her contacts and "The Sisters". With another group of university students we hope to launch a big brother, big sister type of program with street kids and other needy kids in the town. This could have a real impact not only for the street kids but also as the university students get into some of the other homes of the town and have opportunity to share their faith.
KHC Church- The KHC Church has struggled for years in the north against great odds. Last Sunday we were in Addis to see Beth and Gypsi off and we met an elder at IEC who said that years ago he first went as a missionary to Bahir Dar and was in prison many, many times. The church here has persevered and the many walls of prejudice and religious persecution are slowly coming down. We plan to work with the Church to see them develop a multi-purpose youth and education centre which will also serve as a place to worship. We also want them to continue to develop their leadership training through the Bible School and find vocational training ideas that will enable them to go into new areas as tent makers. We are also looking at how the church can reach the deep rural areas where 80 to 90% of the population live. While Beth was here we visited some work that the southern churches were doing in areas like Chencha. It was quite impressive how whole communities were being changed with spiritual, economic and health development. There is a lot that can be developed in this area in the north and it would be great if the church could take the lead in it.
Bahir Dar Academy- What Fray and her husband are doing in Bahir Dar is going to have a huge impact in the coming days. Not only has Fray developed a quality elementary school that is expanding to the high school level but her husband is developing a medical school and hospital that will be unequalled in Ethiopia. Fray is also the head of a 3,000 member women entrepreneurs for Ethiopia. When she took over a few years ago there were only 60 members. She is also wanting to develop a vocational training centre. One of the ideas we are working with is an abandoned resort hotel where the owner died before completing it. It is now under power of sale from the Bank. Fray wants to turn it into an East Africa Tourism training centre. Ethiopia has so much to offer in tourism but is badly underdeveloped with poor standards of quality in almost every sector. This could also be used for church denomination conventions, leadership training etc. This weekend the University leadership group is having a retreat but there is no place for them to go. They are using the KHC facilities which is merely 3 rooms, no beds, no kitchen, no water. Anyhow lots of pipe dreams but God has blessed Fray and her husband with not only vision but the ability to get things done.
PS- On a sad note I just received word that my Dad is in the hospital with a possible heart attack and pneumonia. His condition is not good and he is not expected to recover. Please pray.