My Kenyan culture shock: “Stuff,” Mt. Kili prep, amazing youth activists, and reflecting on Ethiopia

Kenya is amazing and I can’t believe how much culture shock I’m having here. It may be because I had 6 hours sleep in the past two days, but the second I walked off the plane, I was like “WOAH… stuff!” I was so excited to see books, magnets, and tourist stuff—hats with brims, t-shirts with multiple designs, bottle openers, etc. I couldn’t believe the size of the airport, with 6 turn-styles for luggage, Vodafone SIM card counters, and ATMs! No way- ATMS!

This abundance was even more pronounced when two “Cassie Gardener” signs greeted me, one from Milimani Backpackers that I booked through hostelworld.com at midnight last night before leaving the office at 3am, and the other from the tourist company I’ve been communicating with, Lucy from Shelter Tours. I know it’s the tourism industry, but I seriously love Lucy and her colleagues! They picked a wonderful hostel for me, the YMCA walking distance from the city center and the University, and took care of EVERYTHING for my safari and Mt. Kilimanjaro hike. Though I hate being a “tourist,” I’ve decided to just go with the flow with my Kenyan vacation, since I only have 2.5 weeks and want to relax and have fun here. It’s a damn expensive vacation, haha, but I guess I just have to accept that.

So after going over the details of my itinerary and safari, they took me to the Shelter Tours Office and walked me through the WHOLE climb. OHMIFREAKINLORD I am SOOO excited! The climb seems crazy challenging, since I’ll start at 1,800 meters or 5,905 feet, and over 7 days ascend to 5,895 meters or 19,340 feet! Holy sh*t!!! The hike is actually higher in elevation than the hike to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal, which Lonely Planet says people take about 12 days to reach. And while doctors say you should sleep about 300 meters more each night when doing a hike like this, I’ll be ascending at about three times that rate. The worst is that on the last day, I’ll go to sleep at 6pm, then wake up at MIDNIGHT to climb to the Summit for a photo of the sun rise! AHHHH! I told them that I’m worried about making it since although I’m in decent shape, a) I haven’t been actively training, and b) I don’t have any proper gear. They totally assuaged my fears, saying mental toughness is the most important thing… THAT I have without a doubt! So yeah, I’m really excited, but crazy nervous and scared—it will certainly be the experience of a lifetime!

After talking about the Kili climb, it was 4pm and I was ready to fall over from lack of food, so Eric with the company took me to dinner, and later walked me back to my hostel. I was dumbstruck at all of the modern streets and businesses, and surprised myself to be thinking in Amharic! Who knew I learned so much in my short 2 months, haha. We had great conversations about Kenya’s economic development and environment, and it was so fascinating to compare Kenya to Ethiopia. Eric thinks Kenya is more developed than Ethiopia because “the people aren’t stuck in old ways… even rural farmers have a phone and a bank account.” It’s true that Kenya has much more education than Ethiopia, and they also have a much better geographic location, with the Mombassa port greatly helping trade with Europe and Asia. It’s interesting that Kenya’s English colonization probably “helped” its economy, because they invested in infrastructure and international trade, whereas Ethiopia’s independent communist rule in the 20^th century probably hindered it quite a bit. You can also tell that Kenya’s profiting much more off of its coffee trade—while Ethiopian coffee is the best I’ve had in my life, Kenyan coffee sucks, apparently because they export all of the best stuff. Sooo interesting.

After a decent 10 hours catch-up sleep, today was so much fun! My day started by Shelter Tours visiting me and providing me with all the equipment I’ll need to hike Mt. Kili-- $150 for everything which isn’t cheap, but better than buying it in the states and shipping it to myself. It’s also cheaper than ski rentals, so I guess it’s just what my dad always says—“the cost of running a railroad.” At 11:30am I met up with about 40 youth climate activists that my Ethiopian friends Tinbeb and Liyunesh introduced me to, about 6 of whom attended the Climate Change Negotiations—Grace, George, Winnie, Kevin, Sylvia, and Megh. They were doing a clean-up at the Chiromo River, part of the Nairobi River, right by the University of Nairobi in celebration of Earth Day. It was really fun! I interviewed an amazing young woman named Mercy about her environmental activism, and then participated in a bunch of “get to know you” games and a “flash mob dance” with them under the blazing sun. They gave me a t-shirt, and all wanted a picture with me and my email so we can be facebook friends!

After the event, I got to chat with some of them one-on-one and it was sooo interesting to get a better sense of Kenyan culture and perceptions of Ethiopia. With their wide bright smiles, big lips, full cheeks, round laughing eyes, and darker skin, they really look like my beautiful Kenyan friends I’ve met before, and different from the Ethiopian look I’ve gotten used to. Yet they’re exactly the same in terms of being ridiculously warm and friendly! Kevin has been to Ethiopia before, and we had a really interesting conversation about how he also felt like “the other” as a foreigner there. He said it’s a very deep, proud and close-knit culture, and I totally agreed. Then, I talked with Megh and Winnie about their experiences in Copenhagen. Apparently they were told to be quiet on a bus, so they “pulled a Swahili” and pretended like they didn’t understand what was asked of them. ;) It was really interesting to hear them praise Denmark’s socialist government and provision of health care and education, and how shocked they were at $30 standard meals that are equivalent to 20,000 Kenyan shillings. They told me all about Kenya’s corruption, and how “change has to come from the top and the bottom. It’s not like we’re expecting one individual to rise up, like an Obama thing—everyone needs to want change.” WOAH. Damn I love how Obama is seen as a hero here… I just wish he was doing a bit more to really warrant everyone’s devotion!

After our meal (which they insisted on paying for, saying “it’s a Kenyan thing”), George, Megh, his cousin Jemina, and her friend Anne and I went to a bar till about midnight. It was super fun, and the malt lager beer was pretty tasty. We ended up getting in a pretty lengthy conversation about dating and sexuality in Kenya, and I was really pleased to learn a ton more from them in a few hours than I did from my somewhat conservative Ethiopian friends during my two months there. Again, I think it’s evidence that Nairobi is a modern city, whereas Addis Ababa still has a pretty far ways to go. Or maybe just that George’s friends were trying to hit on me, haha. Either way, my first few days in Kenya have been incredibly fun and packed… and I can’t wait for my safari that begins tomorrow! Let’s hope I see the big 5… and remember what they are! ;)

Found my Motivation, Passion, Purpose and Commitment in Ethiopia

Today I finally left Ethiopia after my 2-month internship with PHE-Ethiopia, and it was by far the most difficult thing I’ve had to do so far during my trip. Last night Negash organized a good bye dinner for me at a Traditional Cultural Show with my favorite people—Mery, Mesy, Thamar, Teshe, Yemmy and Befekadu, along with an American woman named Anne who was visiting from San Francisco with the Packard Foundation. Again, I found myself looking at each of them with love and affection, so grateful that I’ve met so many amazing people and friends here. Yay for accomplishing my #1 goal of my RTW trip!

To revisit my “what I found in each country I’ve traveled to” theme, there’s no doubt that I found my motivation, passion, purpose and commitment in Ethiopia. Those are the words that most strongly came to my mind during each of my visits to rural areas, or engagements with the reproductive health and environmental movements within the country. Considering the fact that I was there for 2 months and made great friends, I could say a million things about the inner and outer beauty of Ethiopians, whose friendly, gracious and hospitable demeanors touched my life. But when I look inside myself at how this experience changed me, it all comes back to my “pivotal moment for global justice,” and how I’m more focused on my purpose and mission than I’ve ever been before.

Mostly, it was the visits to the rural areas that sent my mind and heart racing with the urgent need to take action for Africa, seeing hundreds of barefoot women walking on the side of the road with 50+ pounds of sticks on their backs. It was also during my visit to Gedeo zone, driving down the road and seeing a person walking or sitting every 10 seconds, and realizing the incredible population growth and density challenges facing the country. Of the country’s 80 million people, 80% or 64 million people live in rural areas, and desperately require more basic social services like education and health care, and better infrastructure like roads and electricity. Without that, how can they ever participate in the economy outside of their subsistence agricultural ways, and get ahead to escape poverty?

Finally, attending the Earth Day events yesterday on “Financing Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation” really shook me, as I learned how $100 billion of aid from developed countries is required to avoid the displacement and death of hundreds of millions of the most poor and vulnerable people who live in the developing world. Here are just some of the facts I learned, many of which I already had a vague idea about, but which resonated much more strongly with me because I’ve been living here and witnessing these challenges first-hand:

-“Africa is a continent that is hit hardest by climate change, with droughts, rising sea levels, desertification and disease. In Africa, climate change is a matter of survival.” –Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

-The African Development Bank said that climate change hinders economic development in Africa, for example the economy is largely dependent on agriculture, 95% of which is rain-fed. Climate change impacts are magnified where poverty is high and social safety net structures are weak. Addressing climate change impacts requires substantial financial resources, since climate change costs Africa 2% of GDP per year by 2040, rising with significant regional variations. All countries in Northern Africa are cost over 10%! “Climate proofing” will add 40% to costs of meeting the MDGs in Africa, but these costs are low compared with the economic benefits of adaptation and mitigation.

-The European Union addressed donors’ commitment for adaption and mitigation financing in Africa, and said that it’s difficult to quantify global financial needs because bottom-up country analyses are not available. (Hello potential MPH project! :)) However, the EU is on track with their 2012 Kyoto commitments, committed to support Africa with 2.4 billion Euros annually from 2010-2012, making up 1/3 of the global commitment. 1/3 of these funds are for adaptation, and 2/3 are for mitigation. They say that additional funds are required to scale up to 100 billion USD per year by 2020, and small-scale projects must be transparent, have effective monitoring, and community ownership in order to receive funding. The EU ended saying they’re very committed, and are ready to do more than what they pledged at Copenhagen if developing and “emerging” countries (i.e. China, India, Brazil) move along. In the end, the international dimension of long-term finance is only part of the picture, and national efforts are of equal importance by engaging in meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation. (Negash would certainly agree with this, since Ethiopian culture is very much about taking actions for themselves!)

-A representative with Oxfam in the U.S. then presented similar information to the EU but giving a U.S. and civil society perspective, posing questions such as whether the agreements made at Copenhagen are legally binding and how we can come up with more innovative small-scale projects worthy of $100 billion/year investment by 2020. Right now countries agreed on “fast-start finance” for “approaching $30 billion” from 2010-2020, and what happens now will set the conditions for being able to scale up these efforts by 2020. Since we don’t want funding to compete with other aid commitments like health clinics and schools, projects need to be really transparent about where funding is going and how it’s classified as climate change mitigation or adaptation. For example, Oxfam released a new report that offered successful coping mechanisms, like drought-resistant seeds, diversifying livelihoods off the farm, diversifying agriculture, and the Ethiopian government subsidizing cook stoves. (Although I spoke with her after the event and she wasn’t familiar with the integrated PHE approach, she seemed really supportive and hopes Oxfam can get more involved—let’s hope so!)

-A representative from the Ministry of Health discussed how health is one of the areas most affected by climate change, since weather extremes like heavy rains, floods, and disasters like hurricanes endanger health (malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, cholera, meningitis asthma, heart and respiratory disease), and also destroy property and affect livelihoods. For example, rising sea levels could cause coastal flooding and population displacement, affecting unknown of people since over half the world’s population lives 60k from shorelines. In Ethiopia, health risks are grave, since there’s only 2,000 doctors, 1,000 health offices, 30,000 health extension workers and 20,000 nurses for a population of 80 million!! He said we are not at all capable to cope with climate change, since a stronger health system, more and better qualified workers, better medical equipment and drugs, and infrastructure are all needed… and they all require more finance! (I was really moved to hear all this and excited to be going into an MPH to focus my skills and research on these critical issues!)

After these sessions among others, I was in a bit of shock at all I’d heard about what we need to do to help Ethiopia adapt to climate change, and was rambling to Mery and Mesy about it in line for lunch. “Did you know all that before? How do you guys think the PHE approach can help?” They both gravely nodded that they’d heard it, and laughed at how anxious I was to do something about it. Mery told me, “You know what I like about you? You know who you are, and exactly what you want to do in the world. Like you’re always planning out your next steps—what you’re going to do in Kenya, Latin America, and on your campus next year. You’re the most focused person I’ve ever met!” I laughed and told her she just happened to meet me at a time in my life where yes I’m very focused, and realized that this is what Ethiopia has given me—it’s focused my motivation, passion, purpose and commitment like never before. I was really touched when she told me that I inspire her… both of our eyes teared up as we realized we’d have to say good bye for God knows how long the next day. So sweet!

So, as I go to Kenya and Latin America after that, I’m so invigorated knowing that like I said in my “pivotal moment” blog, Ethiopia will always be a part of me.  I’m again so grateful that I did this before my MPH program next year, so that I can look back to all that I learned and continue to fight for sustainable development and reproductive health in Ethiopia. And who knows, hopefully I’ll return sooner than later, ideally for research or work in the next 1-2 years! Ciao, and AMASEGENALLO, Ethiopia!

Uber-honest reflections from a white OC girl in Ethiopia

Since my blog and my life regularly take up sensitive or "taboo" topics of sex, politics, poverty and international aid among other things, I thought it would be interesting to add a few more to the mix that have weighed heavily on my mind throughout my journey: race and culture. As a Sociology and Women's Studies major in college, I'm trained to think in broad general trends of how individuals and groups of people relate to one another within multiple types of social categories. I think I'm also naturally intuitive, introspective and curious about people, so on every long drive I've made in NZ, OZ, Thailand or Ethiopia, I find myself forgetting who I am, and lost in an imaginative world of what would it be like to walk in X person on the side of the road's shoes for a day. This tendency has been the most extreme in Ethiopia, where I constantly find myself in utter awe, astonishment and perplexity at the lives of the thousands of people I pass.

Basically, I've never felt so much as "the other" in my whole life, both culturally and racially. I've had tons of really interesting moments-- where I forget that I'm white, where I want to be darker to fit in, but mostly where I'm supremely grateful to have been born into my circumstances, like "thank God that I'm not that barefoot woman on the side of the road carrying 50 pounds of sticks on my back right now." Then of course it's "How can I utilize my own social standing and privilege to try and make life better for her?" I want to write a little about these reflections, to show what I think I've learned about myself, race and culture, and maybe someone reading this will reflect upon themselves and learn something too.

Before getting into it, I want to make two disclaimers about these "uber honest" reflections. #1 is that I acknowledge by unique perspective as a privileged white girl from Orange County (the OC). I was raised in upper-middle-class standards, with a loving family where I never wanted for anything. I'm traveling and volunteering in Ethiopia not only because I can, but because I was afforded the education and opportunities to be able to save $15k over four years and travel the world for 8 months. Granted I worked hard and took advantage of opportunities, but like my Mom says, I didn't encounter too many closed doors along my path due to my culture or the color of my skin. So take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, and know that I'm genuinely aware that just being able to reflect on these issues is very touchy-- and I hope I don't offend anyone.

#2 is that culture has been on my mind a lot anyways, because of a somewhat recent heart ache in my personal life that has me a little bitter. After dating off and on for four years, my best friend and boyfriend-- who happens to be Armenian-- ruptured our relationship last August because I'm not Armenian. Sure there were other factors, like the fact that we were 3,000+ miles apart, but the main reason he said was that he felt a "disconnect" between us based on lack of shared background, culture, and common understanding. It really threw me for a loop, not only because he'd never before hinted that this might be a problem for him in the long-term, but it forced me to look at my own questionably biased standards for wanting a "diverse, ethnic man" as a partner. Why is it that in my brief dating history, I'm never attracted to "regular white guys" like my Dad would want? Will a diverse guy even want to be with me, or will he also feel this "disconnect"? Is a disconnect even such a bad thing... aren't we all ultimately a little disconnected, and isn't that part of the beauty of relationships with diverse people-- learning more about ourselves and the world?

So this has been my framework for day-dreaming about the huge "disconnect" I've felt while in Ethiopia, both while struggling to learn Amharic to keep up with my beautiful Habesha friends' conversations, and while going on long drives and imagining what life is like for the tons of people we pass on the road. While I've never felt so much like "the other," I also have a new appreciation and understanding of what it must be like to be a person of color in the states, and even then I know that I'll never fully get it, just like I'll never fully get life in Ethiopia. I think the fact that I'm so consistently conscious of the "disconnect" between me and the people here reflects how privileged I really am in the states, and how I've been able to "become" Mexican or Armenian based on my solid friendships with people of that background. It's like I can easily imagine what it would be like to be born a person of color in the states, to the point that I forget that my ethnic friends look different from me. Here, I forget all the time that I'm white, and then harshly wake up to it when a kid screams ferenje (foreigner) at me while I drive by, or all eyes turn to me when I walk into a restaurant. I've gotten used to it, and acknowledge that it's a cultural difference and normal here, but it's still pretty unsettling.

The most uncomfortable I've been with all this was over the past few days hanging with my Habesha friends who mostly spoke Amharic around me. It was cool at first, trying to learn new words and purposefully goofing up to make them laugh at me. But over time I found myself feeling frustrated, hurt, even angry or thinking they must not like me. I found these emotions ebbed and flowed with my coffee intake, haha, but even when I was happily caffeinated, these sneaking suspicions lingered in the back of my mind when an hour-lunch would pass where 90% of the conversation excluded me.

Today driving from Kombulcha to Addis, I again meditated on the "disconnect" between myself and the people here, and realized it really could be a million reasons-- lack of attention to African issues in the media and in my education, my personal history of having few African American/black friends, how totally different the lifestyle and culture here is from anything I've before experienced, or how different I physically look from the people here. I realized that it's definitely not looks that separate us, but culture, lifestyle and alternate existences in terms of rural vs. urban, indigenous vs. modern. For example, my idea of nature is romantic-- i.e. Anne of Green Gables spinning daisy chains in the grass--whereas young women my age here deal with nature by carrying bundles of sticks for hours and toiling over a stove. It makes me wonder when my grandmother, or even her grandmother, did that, or if anyone in my English/Scottish/German ancestry carried sticks for miles. I look at the rural landscape, and it simply doesn't remind me of anything I've seen before, even where there's eucalyptus and jacaranda and bougainvillea plants. The hills are just too roughly tilled, like every grain of soil has run through someone's rough hand. There's too many people in every direction, and it's a drier, rockier green than I've seen in other places, like the plants and trees are struggling harder to survive. There's virtually no sign of modernity, and this land, this place is foreign to me in every sense of the word.

Through these reflections, I realized that the disconnect I feel here in Ethiopia isn't me vs. Africans, or me vs. African rural land. Rather, it's me vs. myself-- basically becoming conscious of my own forgotten connection to the land, the soil, the rain, and how to "work it." ;)

I felt really happy to realize the origin of my feelings of disconnect, because I feared that it was race-related and based upon how different I look and act vs. people on the side of the road here. Truly, it feels very strange deep down to be ferenje, and almost fills me with sorrow and fear that I could never be like the people here, just like I couldn't "wish myself" to be Armenian. But the beauty is that I realize that the opposite of fear is love... so rather than feel guilty for being white, or fearful that I might be racist for thinking all this, I realize that I need to continue loving all people quite generally, with an open, accepting and embracing heart. And while it's important and beautiful to acknowledge our differences in lifestyle, culture, race and relation to our "roots," I think ultimately we can all love one another as equals, as children of God, and as fellow human beings the world over. Yay for diversity, to realize what you already knew about how despite all our differences, we're all in this together, and we're all ultimately one. :)

Vacation of a Lifetime with PHE and Ladybirds

Wow, the past 5 days of traveling to the Northern historical sites with my friends Mesy (PHE), Mery and Nardy (Ladybirds) have been so much fun. While the language barrier was a bit rough at times (see my next blog, Uber-honest confessions from a white OC girl in Ethiopia), overall we had an incredible time and became really close friends. We also took about a million and a half hilarious pictures, which I’m sure we’ll all treasure our whole lifetimes!

Thursday April 15, Mery picked me up in our land cruiser with chill driver Solomon at 6am, and we quickly scooped up Nardy and Mesy before hitting the road out of Addis. We slept on and off, and woke up to the gorgeous Nile River valley opening up below us in a flat yellow landscape dotted with scrappy green brush and mesa-like flat hills. Since none of us understood the geology of the place, we called Negash to get his view, and he told us the valley was caused by two tectonic plates pulling apart, similar to the Rift Valley. Super cool! He also tasked us with a few work-related items, of course. :) At breakfast, Mery cracked me up when we paid for our meal and I owed her some change, and she said “I’m gonna make you dance for this one bihr!” I belly-laughed and everyone in the restaurant stopped to stare and laugh. Then in the car Nardy said she identified 5 of my laughs… belly, chat, office, movie and fake. AWESOME. :)

565 kilometers later, we arrived in the touristy city of Bahir Dar at around 5pm. We checked into the super nice Papyrus Hotel and I went for a swim in the pool, where I actually pulled off a back flip off the diving board (woo hoo!), and made friends with a fellow swimmer named Desaline. I just swam 10 laps, ‘cuz I’m starting to get really nervous about being in shape to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro in a few weeks! We had dinner and then went to the Balgeru cultural show, where I drank pretty strong tej (honey wine) and got invited to shimmy-shake it with the dancers on stage. Mery said she was proud of me and the lady next to me said I was a professional, haha… but oh well, it was fun.

Friday April 16 was pretty action-packed, with visiting the Entos Jesus Monastery on Lake Tana, cruising around the lake to see birds and a hippo, and then driving out about an hour to hike to the origin of the Nile river, aka Nile Falls. I really enjoyed talking with our 26 year-old tour guide Zelanam along the way, who had really pretty golden eyes and an interest in international media and politics.  He explained all of the religious symbols of the churches we saw, and answered all my questions about the environment and tourism in the area. At the falls, I actually swam to the other side for a photo! I was much more scared of alligators and crocodiles than being seen by everyone in my undies, haha, and thank goodness survived to tell the tale. ;) That night Zelanam took me to the gym for an hour, and then we all went out to the Fasika cultural show and stayed in the Blue Nile Hotel, where again I was asked to shake what my mama gave me in front of everyone. Good times!

The next day we woke up at 5:30am to drive 180k to Gonder, where we had a tense breakfast at 9am in deciding whether we’d have enough time to drive the next 365k to Lalibela. It turned out the road is super rough and it wouldn’t feasibly work, so I had to sacrifice my last day in Addis and accept the fact that our 6 day trip would now be 5 days. Tired of arguing and resigned to our new plan, we ended up having a blast in Gonder, taking hundreds of photos of the “Fasiladas” castle which is also known as the “Camelot of Africa.” We checked into our Kwara Hotel by the Piazza, where I again exercised by climbing 77 stairs with my backpack 10 times… hopefully it will help to have strong hamstrings on Mt. Kili! After our pizza lunch we visited the beautiful Debre Berhan Selassie church, where the girls were really moved by what an ancient priest told them in Amharic about life and how to be a good person, then we drove to the Fasilada’s Bath to take a few more fun pictures of the beautiful trees and stones. That night we went to the Balgeru Cultural Show, where the girls said I was famous because men kept approaching me and one apparently fell in love with me, haha.

Driving the 365k to Lalibela the next day was certainly a bumpy, long adventure! We started at 5am since it was supposed to be a 10 hour drive, and we drove through villages, pebble-strewn roads, stacks of wood and people moving those stacks of wood everywhere. Everyone on the side of the road wore cloth scarves and the men carried dula sticks to brace their shoulders on long walks. The dark brown, dark green and yellow landscape with clear blue skies was breathtaking! We passed by all these men on the road with the wisest old withered faces, and I just thought about how they must have the most incredible stories to tell, the most fantastic belief systems, and the most diverse skills sets of anyone I’d ever seen. I had a ton of fantasies about organizing events on campus next year to have people try carrying huge loads on their head, or doing a week of action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Let’s hope I’m not too crazy busy next year to be a student activist again! :)

We arrived in Lalibela at the top of a dusty, rocky mountain in the middle of nowhere at about 3pm, and it was SO worth the trip! It’s full of 11 rock-hewn churches that are out of this world, like nothing I’ve ever seen before, from the 12th-13th century, and excavated by chisels and axes from the top down! Inside are barrel arches, vaults and frescoes, and I was dumbfounded to discover that there were no European influences in constructing them—they’re entirely Ethiopian. It’s actually a big mystery on how they were constructed in the first places… my Lonely Planet said researchers say it took 40,000 people working to do it, but the locals—and my friends—believe it was accomplished by angels. I had a big discussion with them on whether aliens or angels were the more likely architects, haha. ;)

Although the churches were architecturally fascinating, the insides were more calm, peaceful and serene than any church I’ve been in. Gracing the cold stone with my fingertips or stepping on the carpet-covered rock floor filled me with warm tingles throughout my whole body, and you could just feel the profound history everywhere, perhaps because it’s a “mecca” destination for so many Orthodox believers. While it was really special for me, it was even more so to watch how Mery, Mesy and Nardy were spiritually moved by the place, as they chatted with the priests and ritualistically kissed the gold crosses of each church we visited.

That night we stayed in the Lal Hotel and had a chill night with no electricity, and the next day we saw the remaining 6 churches we hadn’t seen the previous day. I bought a ton of souvenirs before we hit the road at 1pm, making it half-way south to Addis and checking into the Sunny Side Hotel in Kombolcha at 8pm. It was our last night and of course we had to end it with an adventure, eating tibbs and shiro at a local restaurant and then walking 20 minutes home in the dark, clutching each others arms and laughing at how kinda dangerous it was. ;) The next day we had a delicious mango and avocado mixed juice before leaving at 8am, and we were able to make it back to Addis by 5pm, just in time to meet Negash at the office and get a few work things done in time for Earth Day. Overall the vacation was SO much fun, and I’m really happy it only cost me $300. I can’t believe that I leave Addis in 3 short days—I’m totally not ready—but at least I’ve had this wonderful time to bond with my Habesha friends!

My new obsession: building an international youth movement

The last few days have been exhausting! I'm leaving Ethiopia in 8 days and really don't want to go. Ever since my visit to Gedeo Zone, I've been emblazened, if that's a word, basically full of energy and passion to bust out as much work as I possibly can before I go. :) In addition to writing reports, finishing brochures and the newsletter, and writing blog entries for partner organizations' websites, I've been emailing just about all of my colleagues and activist friends under the sun back in the states about the need, the urgency, the complexity, and the potential of taking action here. I feel like my first month here was all about learning PHE in Ethiopia-- the organization, the partners, the projects-- and now it's really about delivering both in raising awareness about these issues in Ethiopia, and among my friends and contacts back in the U.S., to increase funding for all the great, important work that's being done!

In the past few days, I've also become really excited about a new project Negash has assigned me, basically writing a proposal to increase their work involving youth leaders and advocates in these issues. Since this is my main area of interest and expertise, and because I've already met amazing youth through the Sex and Environment presentation I gave at Addis Ababa University, I'm so happy to have the opportunity to push this forward! Over half of the world's global population is under the age of 25, and the economic, reproductive health and environmental choices they have available to them will impact our world for years to come. Moreover, considering how pressing challenges like climate change, water scarcity, unmet need for family planning and population growth will affect our lives, it's up to youth leaders around the world to stand up and have decision-making power on these issues that affect our health and our livelihoods. At the same time, youth are such an amazing target audience for taking forward integrated development concepts on population, health and environment, often because they tend to see the globalizing world in a more holistic fashion and aren't bogged down by pre-Cairo ideas of "population control" which really stagnate efforts to advance our movement for global reproductive health and sustainable development solutions. So far I haven't seen too much youth leadership here, so this is a fantastic opportunity for me to help PHE-Ethiopia be a leader in integrating and involving youth in their programs and policies! :)

Meanwhile, I've been chatting with my good friend and fellow activist Kimberley Schroeder over the past few days, to find out what's being done about a concept we were really excited about in the months preceding the Copenhagen Climate Change Negotiations last December: "building an international youth movement for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as just, equitable climate change solutions." We worked together and with other organizations to draft a youth policy statement about these issues, and it was really exciting to create a finished product that people could endorse, because these issues are so complex and controversial. There's tons of evidence that SRHR will help not only with climate change adaptation, since smaller and healthier families and households will be more resilient to climate change impacts that affect food, water and health care availability, but that it will also help with mitigation. In fact new research by demographer Brian O'Neil in CO shows that slowing population growth to 8 billion as opposed to 12 billion by the year 2050 may account for 1 billion tons of CO2 emissions, or "1 wedge" of Socolow and Pacala's stabilization wedges model, which is huge. And keep in mind, when I say "slowing population growth" this is through advancing SRHR, gender equality and sustainable development solutions that we should be doing anyways.

After the disappointing outcome around Copenhagen and I left my position with Sierra Club, I felt like we kind of dropped the ball on all of this, but now I'm excited to work with Kimberley again on all of it. After emailing a ton of people to find out what's being done, I finally decided to just DO SOMETHING, and am now going to create a "youth advocacy video" to raise the voices of youth leaders in the Global South about their opionions on these issues. I'm really excited!

So the past few days, I've been meeting with a few youth leaders here in Addis, and while it's been so incredibly encouraging and motivating, I've also continued to be stunned by how wonderful Ethiopians are. Sunday April 11th I met up with my new friend Alex at the Addis Ababa University campus, a youth environmental club leader I met when I gave my Sex and Environment presentation there. He was so sweet-- took me to the Ethnographic Museum for an hour to look at beautiful baskets, clothes, coffee pots, jewelry, musical instruments and paintings. I loved the moon-shaped Ethiopian faces and olive-shaped eyes in religious pictures-- so different from the pasty skin and tired eyes in European paintings. Ethiopians are so beautiful, it's like there's no need to idealize them! ;) Alex and I talked and ate burgers for an hour, about his approaching graduation and possible ways that he could integrate PHE into his future environmental career. I gave him a printed version of Sierra Club's activist guide, so hopefully it will help him if he chooses to do more organizing or advocacy on these issues before graduation.

Then, my friend Helen and four of her friends with the Gender Club on campus came to meet up with us. I really love Helen-- what an amazing woman! She's almost completely blind, yet is a huge leader on her campus and in the community, partnering with tons of groups to do charity work and raise awareness about violence against women, despite the campus police's refusal to do anything about it. We had a great conversation about the outcomes of Copenhagen, the environmental movement and how it intersects with women's issues-- I was so impressed with how engaged they all are. Then the best part was when the Gender Club pressured Alex on what his club is doing for the environment-- "You need to work hard to keep students engaged! Have at least one panel discussion every two weeks! We're working with the Sports Club, Disability Club, Peace and Charity Clubs... what are you doing?" Then they really wowed me-- Helen said to Alex, "if you are willing, we are eager to work with you on gender, sexual and reproductive health and the environment." AWESOME! Alex later told me that it was too good to be true for him to hear that, because his club lacked adequate volunteers to do many environmental actions. Yay for coalition-building. :) Finally, I couldn't believe that before we left, Helen and her Gender Club friends actually gave me a birthday present of a traditional purse and scarf. Are you kidding me? So sweet! And Alex ended up accompanying me back to my house, paying for my taxi bus of course. Did I mention that I love Ethiopians?

All of this culminated today, when I interviewed two amazing youth climate activists who attended the Copenhagen Climate Negotiations representing all Ethiopian youth, Tinbeb and her sister Liyunesh Yohannes. They are seriously the most inspring young women I've ever met. They told me all about how over the past year, they worked as volunteers to build awareness among youth audiences and farmers in Ethiopia about climate change. Last October 24th, for 350.org's International Day of Action for Climate Change, they mobilized 15,000 youth to march in Addis Ababa! It was the largest action to take place around the world, and they did it with virtually no funding-- just $200 for a government permit to have a marching band on the road. Since then, they attended the Copenhagen Climate Change Negotiations to pressure their decision-makers for a fair agreement, and came back to start their own organization, the Ethiopian National Youth Coalition on Climate Change (EYNCCC). They are organized with student networks throughout the country, and received a grant from the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC to plant 1 million trees over the next year. It was exhausting just to hear about all that they're doing, but so encouraging to see how this is their life, their campaign, their movement, and how excited they are to work with youth throughout the whole world-- many of whom they met in Copenhagen-- to advance these critical solutions. I'm also really excited that they're partnering with PHE-Ethiopia to also integrate livelihoods, poverty reduction, gender equity and health care into their efforts... and hopefully if PHE-Ethiopia gets funding, they can receive more training and have the opportunity to visit PHE field projects to further strengthen youth leadership on these issues!

Hopefully I'll see them next week for a big Earth Day Celebration that EYNCCC and PHE-Ethiopia are co-sponsoring in addition to other organizations, and they're also going to introduce me to youth climate activists in Kenya. Yay for inspiring youth leaders!

Best Ethiopian Birthday Ever!

Last week I was really spoiled by my sweet housekeeper Yeshi with an amazing Fasika (Easter), and if it’s possible, I was even more spoiled by her, my friends and colleagues for my 26th birthday on Thursday, April 8th. Birthdays are a pretty big deal for me, and during the days leading up to it, I wrote out my life goals and values, and what I hope to accomplish over the next few years. I was pretty psyched to realize that I have a plan till I’m 30—grad school for 2 years, then work abroad for 2 years. So the fact that 26 rounds up to 30 doesn’t seem that bad now! :) And besides, being closer to 30 means being closer in age to dating men in their 30s, which is something that seems more and more appealing as I’m meeting awesome 30-something men throughout this trip.

So when midnight struck on my actual birthday, I was walking home in drizzly rain, having stayed at the office super late to update my blog and do some fundraising emails and facebook messages for PHE Ethiopia and the projects I’ve seen. My passion for these issues certainly hasn’t worn off since my Gedeo visit, and I’m constantly filled with positive energy, so it was a good way to turn 26! :)

The next morning, I woke up to an amazing breakfast, flowers and face lotion from Yeshi as a gift. So sweet! Then at the office, my friends Mery and Mesy wished me a happy birthday, and Negash brought in catered injera with konsul (dried meat like jerkey) for lunch. They were clearly speaking about me in Amharic, and I asked what it was about and they said “nothing…” and at the end of our lunch, the Engender Health Social Committee surprised me by coming into the office singing happy birthday, wearing party hats and bringing a chocolate cake! It was so unexpected and wonderful! In the past, I’ve always enjoyed wearing a tiara on my birthday, so in true Cassie form I happily wore my party hat all day. ;) Then when the power went out at 6pm and I was finishing a report, Negash started a lengthy discussion with Mesy and Mery in Amharic. Only 20 minutes into it did I realize that he had approved them to come on a 5-6 day vacation to the northern historical sites with me the following week! We had been stressing about asking him the whole time I've been here, because they thought he wouldn’t let both of them go, especially so close to big Earth Day activities they're planning. But apparently he brought up the subject of them needing to accompany me so I could do the trip while I’m here—we didn’t even have to beg! It was the best birthday gift I could have hoped for!

After work, Mesy, Mery, our Engender Health staff friend Nardos (Nardy), and I went to Kaldis Coffee (Ethiopian Starbucks) for ice cream, then they took me to a cultural show. I LOVED it! At first we sat in terrible seats by the bar since we didn’t have a reservation and the place was packed, but after 10 minutes they moved us to front and center. (I think it’s because we're such attractive ladies, it helped them to get more business with us in the limelight). :) The audience was mostly white, and I surprisingly felt SUPER out of place! Haha, it’s interesting to think how much culture shock I’ll have when I go back to LA! But it was seriously the best dancing I’ve ever seen, as groups of 3 women, 3 men, and a solo male/female singer alternated performing dances from the different regions of Ethiopia, all in traditional clothing and hair styles. My favorite was the strangely sexy Guraghe dance, where the men and women rapidly run in place and do a jack-hammer move with their arms in a prayer position. Apparently Mesy knows how to do it because her father’s from that region, so I’m going to beg her to teach it to me on our trip next week!

Near the end of our dinner and my 2 delicious whiskey cokes, I decided that I needed to get in a birthday dance, preferably in front of as many people as possible. ;) I felt pretty good about my shimmy moves after all the practice at Yeshi's house, so with Mery, Mesy and Nardy’s urging, I walked to a nearby dancer at the table next to us to challenge him to a shimmy-shake-down. It was so much fun! The other dancers were a million times better than me, but my friends said that just the fact that I’m a ferenje (foreigner) who’s up there shimmying is really good. Hopefully they’re telling the truth and not just being nice!

After that, Mesy went home, and Mery and Nardy took me to 3 super hip bars right around our office. The first had plush red velvet couches and mood lighting, the second had a hipster feel with candles, and the third was a full-on club with a live rock band, a blue-lit bar, and probably 75 tall beautiful people shaking it. It felt exactly like LA or DC, except that I was the only white person and pretty self-conscious because everyone around me was so damn attractive in a completely different way than me. Still, I had so much fun, and was super impressed with how modern everything was. I couldn’t believe that I’ve been here in Addis for 6 weeks and missed out on all this, but Mery and Mesy assured me that more people were out than usual, since it was the first Thursday night after Fasika. We ended up dancing till 3am before taking a taxi home and CRASHING!

I have to say that it was a shockingly fun night-- not only a better birthday than I expected, but really rewarding to see the fun and beautiful parts of Addis and Ethiopian culture. I think it’s because while I’ve had a wonderful time in my 6 weeks here, I’ve mostly been exposed to Ethiopia’s problems and poverty, as opposed to fun cultural touristy stuff. It’s been intrinsically rewarding to learn about development challenges and solutions, but it’s also weighed heavily on my heart and mind. It was lovely to kick back and just enjoy a night out with my friends—and very much needed!

Since then, I’ve been busily working away with my friends, colleagues and fellow activists back in the states, intent on my idea to “build an international youth movement” around supporting sexual and reproductive health and rights as a just and equitable climate change solution. Although I’m strapped with a million projects to finish right now, Negash had me start writing a proposal for his organizing to get more involved with empowering youth leaders, and I couldn’t be more excited to help him with this, since it’s my area of expertise and what I’m most passionate about with regard to these issues. The other day he introduced me to these AMAZING youth activists, Tinbeb and her sister Liyunesh, who were the only Ethiopian youth to attend the Copenhagen Climate Change negotiations. Hearing their stories about galvanizing 20,000 students last year to march for 350.org’s day of action, and then taking these messages to their decision-makers in Copenhagen, was so inspiring! The organizing environment here is SO challenging, with SO few resources and education, with SO many challenges, that I just can’t imagine all the work these ladies must do and how committed they are to advancing solutions for their country. In the next few days I’m going to more fully interview Tinbeb and Liyunesh, to write some articles about how amazing they are! I’m also thinking of possibly getting in touch with other youth climate leaders in the global south countries I’ll be visiting over the next 5 months to interview them too, and maybe making a video… we’ll see how it goes and hopefully whether I have enough time! Wish me luck in getting everything done before I leave for the North on Thursday! :)

Goat Carcasses and Shimmy Shake-Down: My Ethiopian Fasika (Easter)

Wow, I had the best—and the craziest—Easter ever! I must say that I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I got here over a month ago, since everyone’s been gearing up for it by eating “fasting food” (i.e. no meat, cheese or alcohol, among other things I’m sure) and stocking up on goats. Over the past week in particular, I’ve seen more nervous-looking goats strapped to the roofs of cars or shoved in the back seat of vans than I thought I’d see in this lifetime. I was really curious and excited to learn what all this backyard butchery and day-long feasting was about, and still it managed to surpass all of my expectations!

My Fasika (Easter) started last week before my trip to Gedeo zone, when my sweet housekeeper Yeshi told me that I was invited to her home to celebrate. Her 19 year-old nephew Tariku, who’s also the night guard at the house I’m staying at, would meet me at my house at 11am to escort me to Yeshi’s house. I’d asked her before where she lived and she said close, so I figured it was a formality for me to pop in and out, and maybe I could visit my friend Thamar’s house in the same day. Little did I know what lengthy adventure was in store for me!

At 10am on Sunday April 4th I ran to the store to quickly buy an Easter cake to thank her for having me, and at 10:45am Tariku was at the door. We’ve exchanged greetings probably 40 times since I’ve been here, but since he speaks little English and I speak little Amharic, that’s been about it. I know the word for goat is bak, so I joked with him as we walked through my neighborhood to the main Bole road about him killing bak, making the slit throat motion. I don’t know if he laughed because he thought it was funny or if he was just being polite, but he actually belly-laughed when I made a face of astonishment and took pictures of the hundreds of goat carcasses we passed on Bole road. Icky! But kind of hilarious!

I was surprised when we jumped in a taxi bus since I’d thought it was a short walk, and I nervously realized that I’d forgotten my wallet at home. It didn’t end up mattering, because Tariku insisted on paying the few bihr for each of us, or about $0.30. The taxi turned left at a random hotel, and we kept going through a crowded dusty market area, till Tariku and I jumped off at the end of the line. Even though I knew he would escort me back to my place at the end of the day, I tried to memorize where we were going just in case. It was something like “walk straight down the dusty dirt road past coffee ceremony grass and chat (mild chewable grass narcotic) vendors, hundreds of goat carcasses and a soccer field for 20 minutes. Then turn right at the corrugated tin roof jungle neighborhood and walk downhill for 10 minutes. Turn left at the fourth empty car-park lined with a chain link fence and walk for another 10 minutes, till you get to the sketchy bridge made of tree branches roped together. Cross the bridge above a tiny creek and several stubborn donkeys and walk for another 10 minutes down a dustier, rockier path right next to the airport, through dozens of isolated mud huts with metal doors. Yeshi’s house is the one with the yellow door.” All in all, it was an hour-long walk to her house! Talk about close! I couldn’t believe that she and Tariku make this journey twice a day in their plastic crumbling shoes.

The second Yeshi opened the door, I was overwhelmed and humbled with her gracious hospitality. I’d never felt so special as the guest of honor, even though it was her daughter Salam’s 8th birthday! Her eyes were bright as she excitedly greeted me, and I quickly felt underdressed in my skirt, blouse and cheap sandals, since she was wearing a white cloth traditional dress and scarf. She was also wearing bright red lipstick, which showed that Fasika is clearly a very big deal! She sat me down in her little place about the size of my Mom’s bathroom and walk-in closet put together, maybe 30 feet by 18 feet, and put on the noisy radio, apologizing that her TV was currently broken. (My friend/colleague Jason told me this is very common in Ethiopian houses—they love to put on a loud TV whenever they have company, for some reason). She had me sitting on a little faded red velvet love-seat by the door to myself, and her nephew Tariku, her niece Betty, her son Danny, her daughter Salam, Salam’s friend, and Yeshi's friend were all crowded on the love-seat and ground opposite of me, while Yeshi took a kneeling place on a stool by her bed/kitchen area. Her place smelled WONDERFUL from her cooking all day, as well as from the smoky incense of coffee ceremony. I noticed that her place was built of mud but it was really clean, and with the slight electricity and one light bulb overhead, she had a much better standard of living than many houses I’d visited in Bale or Gedeo.

All these details I soaked up over the course of the next 5 hours, since the first thing she did was serve me HEAPS of food. Before anyone else even had a beverage or a plate, she had before me a plate with piles of injera, a Pepsi, and three scoops of different kinds of meats—I think they were ground sheep with onions/pepper, sheep bone wat (thick sauce), and goat bone wat. For the next hour, she urged me to “Eat! Eat! You must eat the bone! It’s the best part! Eat! Eat!” It was delicious, and I tried to eat as slowly as I could, but I ended up gorging myself nevertheless. While I ate, she busily roasted coffee, grounded it, and brewed it right before my eyes! I’d never smelled anything so good. We also had popcorn and bread, and she kept paying a girl outside to run out and get me more soda before the one I was drinking was finished. I couldn’t believe she thought to buy me soda, since we were in the middle of nowhere and I’m sure it was expensive, and they were all drinking tela, a slightly alcoholic home-brewed beer that tastes kinda like sour mud-flavored water. But I really couldn’t feasibly refuse. I begged her to eat some herself, and to give the bone to her kids, since I have no idea how often they get to eat meat. But she insisted. At one point I actually picked up my plate when she tried to put more on, saying I was full—“beka! beka!” (enough)—and she momentarily acted really hurt! I guess Ethiopian Fasika is similar to American Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, where the goal is to see how much you can fit in your stomach! :)

Yeshi had bought a cake of her own for her daughter Salam’s 8th birthday, so after we lit the candle and sang happy birthday, we each had two huge pieces of vanilla and mocha-flavored cake. Then, the best part of my Fasika happened, when a popular song came on the radio and everyone mildly shook their shoulders in a traditional dance move. I took a video of Tariku, Danny, Salam and her friend doing it, and pretty soon we were watching the video together and laughing. Then her niece Betty started busting out some really crazy shimmy dance moves, and before we knew it we were all dancing for the next 1-2 hours!

It was one of those rare cross-cultural moments where you forget that you don’t speak the same language, and you’re just communicating through music and dance and gestures and laughter. I was grateful that shimmying happens to be one of my only good dance moves, haha, as I was copying and going back and forth with Betty, the kids, and her friends. By this time another of her neighbors had stopped by, I think perhaps because my presence as a ferenje (foreigner) was a novelty in the area. So now there was a lady whose name I don’t remember but who had beautiful tattoo marks across her chin, as well as a beautiful older lady with a 50s-style sleek upturned hair-do. I really lost myself in the moment, and it wasn’t until I stood up to dance that I realized that I was a whole foot taller than everyone else! I thought, “DAMN I must look really out of place right now!” But they made me feel so welcome and at home, and I truly loved dancing with them, so the feeling of being “the other” didn’t last too long.

After I’d been there from 11:45am to 5:45pm, drank 4 sodas, shimmied up a storm, and eaten until I was ready to pop, Yeshi and her family walked me back to the taxi bus. She realized that my cheap sandal had a hole in it, and made me trade shoes with her! Then she tried to pay for my taxi! This time Tariku ended up insisting, throwing her crumpled up 10 bihr note back at her out the window as we drove away in a swirling cloud of dust and amasegenallos (thank yous). The whole time I was there, I couldn’t believe her kindness and hospitality. I think I’m going to leave her a big tip and anything that doesn’t fit in my box I’m mailing home or my bag that I’m taking to Kenya, but it still could never really be enough. I told her she’s my Ethiopian mother… hopefully she’ll stay employed with PHE-Ethiopia and Packard, so that I can mail her a gift from the U.S. as well!

So that was my beautiful, loving, diverse Easter. I’m so happy that I’m here for another 2 weeks so I’ll get to continue dancing and experiencing this culture with my friends, especially for my birthday the day after tomorrow! Now of course I can’t imagine leaving Ethiopia… but I guess all good things must come to an end, and I have no doubt that I’ll be back some day… hopefully soon!

My Pivotal Moment for Global Justice

I had a beautiful, pivotal moment in my life tonight. All of a sudden, the whole reason that I embarked on my round-the-world trip made sense. I'm filled with an overwhelming sense of peace, joy and love for the world, like I'm seeing everything with new eyes. Mostly, I feel a crazy amount of renewed energy, commitment and passion, since I've redefined my life's mission... to fight for global justice! And the best part is, I’m so grateful that I have my whole life to commit toward this purpose… and amazing friends and colleagues throughout the U.S. and the world who will join me in the fight!

I really can't believe that my spirit is uplifted instead of drained right now, because the past three days have been the most overwhelming and heart-wrenching I’ve had during the past five weeks I’ve spent volunteering in Ethiopia. I made my second field visit in my PHE-Ethiopia internship, to learn about the efforts of the LEM Environment and Development Society of Ethiopia Organization. I visited a community called Wenago in the Gedeo zone of southern Ethiopia, the most densely-populated area in the country, and the second most densely-populated area in Africa.

There are more than 1,000 people per square kilometer, 8 kids per family, and scarce, contaminated water. It wasn’t an urban slum like I saw in the Pasig River community in Manila, in the Philippines, in terms of people living in shoebox-sized corregated tin shacks, in the same area as their livestock. But, the fact that it was a densely populated rural area made it was so much worse in some ways, because at least in cities people have access to running water, health clinics, schools and electricity. Here, people are living off the resources in their backyard in mud houses right next to their neighbors, with teensy plots of land (0.5 hectares on average) for growing coffee and vegetables for themselves and for sale. There’s little sanitary water, no electricity, and virtually no social services like health care or education. Most people didn't even have shoes, and were walking through the mud carrying huge bundles on their backs. I saw literally hundreds of little babies from ages one to five, with flies on their faces that they didn’t bother swatting away, running around in red-dirt-colored t-shirts and bare bottoms.

The government mandates that there be a minimum of one health clinic per 5,000 people, but I visited a community of 17,500 people where there are only two health clinics and four total health workers. I visited one of the health clinics, and in the room where women deliver babies, there was a big hole in the wall and the roof was caving in. Even worse than that, I visited two schools that each had 3,000 kids each, and only 25-35 teachers, so there are 80-90 kids per classroom. The schools don’t have libraries, or any water supply, and the school director said that many of the kids don't get enough to eat at home. So while it’s hard enough to come and find a space in the school to learn, they can't concentrate if they're starving.

Seeing these problems first-hand was devastating, and I couldn’t believe that without assistance, these communities will remain trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. Thankfully, the organization I was with, LEM-Ethiopia, is doing an amazing job working in the community with very little resources. Not only are they conducting awareness raising workshops on family planning and training people in low-resource income generation like using mud bricks to create fuel-saving stoves and bee-keeping hives, but they’re integrating their projects into the government plan, so that it’s sustainable. I was really impressed with how a little goes a long way, for example:

• For $0.80, women can construct fuel-saving stoves made of mud blocks. This saves time walking to collect fuel wood, trees from being cut down, and health from breathing smoke in their households.

• For $0.80, community members can construct bee-keeping hives made of mud blocks. This helps with income generation in otherwise poverty-stricken rural areas.

• For $3.00, community members can plant a mango tree for income generation, nutrition, and to protect their environment. like fuel-saving stoves, bee hives, indigenous tree seedlings and school materials.

Still, their whole budget was a ridiculously small amount, and while USAID is funding the anti-HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in the community, they’re clearly not putting funds toward long-term comprehensive family planning and agricultural development solutions.

The whole time I was seeing these projects, my mind was spinning with how my friends and colleagues back in the U.S. need to know what’s going on. We need to force our government to help these kids have an opportunity in life, through digging wells, building more classrooms and providing adequate health care. I could barely concentrate during the drive home, I was so busy mentally planning all the advocacy, presentations, letter-writing and fundraising I’d do!

Meanwhile, my guide through the madness of Gedeo zone was one of the wisest and most beautiful spirits I’ve met on my trip so far, whose name I won't mention here. He was the first person who talked openly with me about the corrupt government, and even shared incredibly personal stories of unjust political persecution, when he was just jailed for six years from age seventeen to twenty-three. While I listened to his stories, I couldn’t believe that here he remains, steadfastly committed to having faith in humanity, that given the proper tools and assistance, they will improve their communities’ livelihoods and defeat poverty in Ethiopia.

Tonight on the drive home to Addis, I told him how I’m so energized to make a difference for these projects, and he told me “you’re at a pivotal moment in your life. You’re young, and we hope that you stay committed to helping Ethiopia for a long time.” It was amazing, because the year of my life before leaving for this trip was full of pivotal moments. I even organized a whole campaign around a book called A Pivotal Moment by my hero Laurie Mazur, on the need to fight our current compound challenges of environmental, poverty, health and gender-related crises. I always thought a pivotal moment was a turning point, and here I am only more committed to my current path to fight for global reproductive health, environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation. I think what matters most is what the “pivot point” is based on—how focused, balanced and centered I am in my renewed mission to fight for global justice!

And the true beauty of this realization for me personally, is that I’m right back where I started in why I chose to go on this trip in the first place… to learn about the world, meet amazing people, and experience these kinds of well-informed, justice-oriented “epiphanies” about my place and purpose in the world. It’s just like what my flower tattoo means to me—“rooted, grounded, emboldened—working together sustainably and synergistically—we can ensure a bright, healthy, just future for the world!”

TAKE ACTION!!!!
April 8th is my 26th birthday, and I'm hoping that anyone reading this will consider donating $26 to the incredible MELCA and LEM-Ethiopia organizations that I've visited here in Ethiopia, to help them meet community needs. I really appreciate any contribution you can make to help. In return, I plan to keep you informed of my experiences through a detailed report and of course, pictures! The best way to donate is to send a check to my US address by April 15th; please email me at cassie.gardener@gmail.com for my address. Thank you in advance for your assistance!