chapter 1

Ethiopia is a country with several diverse religions. 

Christian Orthodox and Muslims are the main religious beliefs. The night was cut short when the call to prayer came at 5 a.m. It was a beautiful melodic sound that cut through the early morning fog. We all woke up early eager to start on our new adventures. 9 a.m. Dawit and Gheta took me to the orphanage that would be my home for the next 6 months. 

I always imagined Ethiopia to be a dry, barren land. I was very wrong. The land was so green and lush! Grass was everywhere, wheat, corn and teff covered the lands

cape. I was mesmerized by everything. Little villages

 popped up out of no

where and disappeared as quickly as they had come. The towns were composed of huts, and small shops along the road. Cows, mules, and goats wondered in and out of the road, I am convinced that Ethiopia is one of the only places where a cow and a CAT bulldozer can be seen side-by-side. 

We sped along for about 2 hours and finally arrived in the town of Ambo, a small town with two hotels a bus station and a post-office. Everything centered around the main street. There were a few side streets where the open air markets were held. Ambo had a university that taught several different classes for nursing, and business. 

I was so interested in seeing all the shops set up along the street. The butcher shop was a space large enough for a man and a slab of meat. The meat was hung from the ceiling, people would step up to the window and make their order. It was an eye opening experience sine there was no refrigeration! 

A few miles outside of Ambo we finally got the orphanage. It was just off the main road in a field, surrounded by a fence. As we drove along the road we could see the kids spot the car we were in and start to run towards the gat

e to 

of the grounds. We pulled onto the dirt road and wove our wave through the muddle puddles. I stepped out of the van and was greeted by 36 shining, eager little faces.  The adventure had begun!

Ethiopian Genesis

About freshman year of high school I got a big bite from the travel bug. I had been on a short term mission trip to Malawi, Africa and I loved it. Since then I always wanted to go back to another country in Africa. I had no idea I would end up in Ethiopia. My final arrangements put me in an orphanage in Ambo Ethiopia. Ambo is about two hours outside the capital of Addis Ababa which means "New Flower".  I had so many excited nervous butterflies as I got ready for the trip. I had no idea what to pack, what do you pack for a six month trip into the heart of a foreign country? After packing, un-packing and repacking my suitcase several times I finally thought I had come to the perfect items and amount of items for my trip. 

The day finally came to leave. First landing in Washington D.C. and then onto Addis Ababa. The flight from Washington D.C. took about 18 hours. There

 were several of us traveling together: Fletcher, Nolan who were going to work at a hospital in Gimbie, Ethiopia. We ran into Katie Currier a fellow student who was on her way to Tanzania as an SM. We grabbed our stuff, got through customs without having to scan our bags or go through any sort of security, and walked into the main waiting area of the airport. People were everywhere waiting for friends and family; the atmosphere buzzed with excitement and smog penetrated oxygen. We were greeted friendly faces who introduced themselves as Taye, Sulliman, Dawit, Gheta and many others. We shuffled off to the Adventist Union where we stayed that night. It was a surreal experience driving through the streets of Addis. The city was still much alive even late at night. We bundled down for the night excited for the next days adventures.