After a journey of more than 13 hours from Washington Dulles, our group arrived this morning around 7:15, in good spirits.

 

Over dinner this evening, stories were shared about the friends that were made on the trip over. As our intern Thomas said, “Amazing the contacts you can make on a 13-hour flight, just waiting to get into the toilette…..and even spread the word about Water to Thrive.”

Our group went directly to the hotel to refresh and catch a quick nap. After lunch, the group spent the afternoon with Yohannes, our guide, seeing some of the sites in Addis Ababa, including the national Museum of Natural History. We finished the afternoon with a briefing from Ato Getachew, Director of the Ministry of Finance and Development for the Ethiopian government, which is responsible for overseeing the five-year development plan established by the Ethiopian Government in 2010.  Over the last five years, the GDP has averaged a brisk 10+% increase each year. This has helped the country accelerate its economic growth as well as make considerable progress in achieving a number of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN. It was a very interesting presentation that gave us a great perspective on the changes occurring in Ethiopia. The group is in the final stages of preparing the next five-year development plan, to be released shortly.

Just a side note on Ethiopia… its citizens recently concluded their national elections, which occur every five years. The election covers both national and local elected positions across the country. About 43 million people are eligible to vote and more than 36 million cast a ballot in the election. Wow! What a turnout. Interesting how when in the US we are happy with a 25 percent turnout!  

Tomorrow we are leaving early to fly to Lalibella to visit the rock hewn churches. 

 

After a journey of more than 13 hours from Washington Dulles, our group arrived this morning around 7:15, in good spirits.

 

Over dinner this evening, stories were shared about the friends that were made on the trip over. As our intern Thomas said, “Amazing the contacts you can make on a 13-hour flight, just waiting to get into the toilette…..and even spread the word about Water to Thrive.”

Our group went directly to the hotel to refresh and catch a quick nap. After lunch, the group spent the afternoon with Yohannes, our guide, seeing some of the sites in Addis Ababa, including the national Museum of Natural History. We finished the afternoon with a briefing from Ato Getachew, Director of the Ministry of Finance and Development for the Ethiopian government, which is responsible for overseeing the five-year development plan established by the Ethiopian Government in 2010.  Over the last five years, the GDP has averaged a brisk 10+% increase each year. This has helped the country accelerate its economic growth as well as make considerable progress in achieving a number of the Millennium Development Goals established by the UN. It was a very interesting presentation that gave us a great perspective on the changes occurring in Ethiopia. The group is in the final stages of preparing the next five-year development plan, to be released shortly.

Just a side note on Ethiopia… its citizens recently concluded their national elections, which occur every five years. The election covers both national and local elected positions across the country. About 43 million people are eligible to vote and more than 36 million cast a ballot in the election. Wow! What a turnout. Interesting how when in the US we are happy with a 25 percent turnout!  

Tomorrow we are leaving early to fly to Lalibella to visit the rock hewn churches.