We started off the day with a visit to the fish co-op at the lake in Awassa. This is a one-stop-shop for catching, cleaning, cooking and selling fish. The workers buy in to become owners of co-op so that they can benefit from the many aspects of this micro-economy. They also had an area where you could eat the fish, which is a popular college hangout, according to our guide. They call it the "Sushi Club."

The Fishing Co-Op

For lunch, the Water to Thrive staff has a good meeting with DASC of the South Central Ethiopia Synod. We worked very successfully with Tessema, their new director, when he was formerly based in Addis, and we are optimistic about the opportunities to work with him in his new synod.

We spent the night at a resort or retreat center-like place on Lake Longano. Each “room” was a small cottage with a back patio overlooking the water. After walking along the lakeshore, we had dinner in the restaurant at our place of lodging, where our meal was accompanied by… Christmas music! They were broadcasting a CD of instrumental flute music including Deck the Halls, Silent Night, and What Child is This. We had a good, prolonged laugh about this.

Then, we were surprised to learn that Dr. Catherine Hamlin was eating at a table near us. She is one of our board member Jim Sorensen’s personal heroes because she founded seven hospitals to treat women suffering from fistulas, horrible childbirth injuries that cause the women to become outcasts in their communities. Jim introduced himself to her, and it was special to see them connect over their medical work in Ethiopia. (Many of you  know that Jim was a nurse and medical missionary there 50 years ago and has returned on other occasions to teach psychiatric nursing.) Read more about Dr. Hamlin here.

Relaxing at Lake Longano

We started off the day with a visit to the fish co-op at the lake in Awassa. This is a one-stop-shop for catching, cleaning, cooking and selling fish. The workers buy in to become owners of co-op so that they can benefit from the many aspects of this micro-economy. They also had an area where you could eat the fish, which is a popular college hangout, according to our guide. They call it the "Sushi Club."

The Fishing Co-Op

For lunch, the Water to Thrive staff has a good meeting with DASC of the South Central Ethiopia Synod. We worked very successfully with Tessema, their new director, when he was formerly based in Addis, and we are optimistic about the opportunities to work with him in his new synod.

We spent the night at a resort or retreat center-like place on Lake Longano. Each “room” was a small cottage with a back patio overlooking the water. After walking along the lakeshore, we had dinner in the restaurant at our place of lodging, where our meal was accompanied by… Christmas music! They were broadcasting a CD of instrumental flute music including Deck the Halls, Silent Night, and What Child is This. We had a good, prolonged laugh about this.

Then, we were surprised to learn that Dr. Catherine Hamlin was eating at a table near us. She is one of our board member Jim Sorensen’s personal heroes because she founded seven hospitals to treat women suffering from fistulas, horrible childbirth injuries that cause the women to become outcasts in their communities. Jim introduced himself to her, and it was special to see them connect over their medical work in Ethiopia. (Many of you  know that Jim was a nurse and medical missionary there 50 years ago and has returned on other occasions to teach psychiatric nursing.) Read more about Dr. Hamlin here.

Relaxing at Lake Longano