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In the Spring of 2008 I was fortune to meet Emebet and Euyeal Joseph of the organization "The World Family". The World Family (http://www.theworldfamily.org). has two main mission goals: 1) Improve the quality of health care in Ethiopia and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and other preventable diseases by providing medical equipment and supplies for Ethiopian rural health care centers AND 2) Support comprehensive care for orphans and their communities through self-sufficient and sustainable programs. |
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One of the The World Family's current projects is the building of a community center in a small rural community called Gara Dima ( near the town of Metahara). When they sensed our interest in what they were doing, Emebet and E. Joseph were very kind to invite my wife and I to visit Gara Dima and teach some workshops for the kids at the local school while they continued their survey work for the community center. |
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In July of 2008 my wife and I traveled to Ethiopia, met up with Emebet and E. Joseph, and traveled together to Gara Dima. For young adults, we ran a 3 session class on building small solar lights. For the younger kids, we ran two drawing classes and one painting class. The community was amazingly welcoming and enthusiastic towards our visit. In just 5 days, about 30 solar charging lights were built, 50 brilliant paintings were created, and dozens of portraits were drawn. We hope that this project will be a pilot for regular summer arts and science workshops that will be taught at the upcoming community center (due to be finished in early 2009!). |
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The picture above on the left show Emebet translating our instructions to Binyam, the school director. He helped organize the students to keep class size from getting getting out of control. Like all the people in Gara Dima, he was wonderful to work with. |
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The local language is "Oromiya" but many students were learning English. Even so, communication was often through gestures and demonstrations. |
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The painting class was eager to show their work. The paintings were placed outside on display for a short time before the kids took them home. When the kids left to go home they all turned around at one point, held up their paintings, and screamed. It was an amazing moment. |
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Above, you can see the solar kits in the making. Next to that, our complete pile of supplies along with part of an endless supply of mangos gifted to us by our students. The extra supplies where donated to the school. |
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