Ethiopia

In a very beautiful part of the country, community transformation is taking place through training as Food for the Hungry, Ethiopia staff build relationships and work with the people teaching them how to grow trees for reforestaion, grow coffee, compost to regenerate the soil, personal hygene and much more.
It is a land of hard work, but hope abounds.
Recently Muslims have been relocated to this part of the country and they live side by side to Christian farmers. There is a great opportunity to develop relationships through child sponsorship programs. I hope to share more about that later.

The community selects individuals who most need the help and these people become 'model farmers' as they put into practice the things that FH Ethiopia staff shows them. It is interesting to observe neighbours copying the things the model farmers are doing and it is encouraging to see the pride that each person has in their accompishments. We have a 2011 Rice Raiser Campaign project in this area to help families become more food secure through growing coffee. From a seedling to a 3 yrs. old plant it can begin to bear coffee beans!

We tasted the BEST coffee ever as it was roasted right in front of us! Everyone drinks coffee there, from the small children to adults and a plant can mature from a seedling to bearing fruit in three to four years.

mmmmm....it was so good! Did you know that it is believed that coffee originated in Ethiopia?

I have a lot of pictures and lots of stories that I hope to share on this blog or on our website a bit at a time.

Ethiopia was beautiful now, but we're told that within 2 - 3 months the whole area will be brown and dried up as the rainy season ends. Stay tuned for more info about this country and stories from our visit to Burundi.