Here is an interesting story from one of our board member’s experiences in Ethiopia—enjoy!

 
 
One Woman’s Celebration Over Clean Water
By Jim Sorensen (W2T board member)
 


My trip to Ethiopia last May was again, a delight. As I, along with Bishop Mike Rinehart and five other travelers, visited well sites, we happened upon a special place. At one site was a woman named Likee Motuma, whose husband is on the Water Committee for that well. She told us that she has had nine children and had lived in this place all her life. She thanked us for the clean water and added that already, after only nine months, the community is seeing an improvement in health, especially diarrhea.

What was surprising was that, in Thanksgiving to God, she explained that she often brings the coffee ceremony to the well site, and invites her neighbors to partake in the celebration. Coffee was probably discovered in Kaffa, Ethiopia. Someone in the area of Kaffa, noticed that the goats, after chewing some beans from a tree there, got very frisky. They decided to try the beans in various ways, and soon, coffee was “discovered.” The coffee ceremony is a special event. Raw beans are roasted over charcoal, ground with a mortar and pestle, and then boiled in a clay pot. When serving the coffee in demitasse cups, incense is burned, and good conversation is shared. The same grounds are boiled two more times to get the most out of a good thing.

Madame Likee knew how to give thanks. She did it through relationships. Celebrating with the coffee ceremony was her way of thanking God for relationships that brought clean, safe water to her neighbors.             

                             

We love hearing from our friends and staff as they get back from trips with us! Hope you enjoyed hearing about the difference that just one well can make in each individual’s life!

 Here is an interesting story from one of our board member’s experiences in Ethiopia—enjoy!

 
 
One Woman’s Celebration Over Clean Water
By Jim Sorensen (W2T board member)
 


My trip to Ethiopia last May was again, a delight. As I, along with Bishop Mike Rinehart and five other travelers, visited well sites, we happened upon a special place. At one site was a woman named Likee Motuma, whose husband is on the Water Committee for that well. She told us that she has had nine children and had lived in this place all her life. She thanked us for the clean water and added that already, after only nine months, the community is seeing an improvement in health, especially diarrhea.

What was surprising was that, in Thanksgiving to God, she explained that she often brings the coffee ceremony to the well site, and invites her neighbors to partake in the celebration. Coffee was probably discovered in Kaffa, Ethiopia. Someone in the area of Kaffa, noticed that the goats, after chewing some beans from a tree there, got very frisky. They decided to try the beans in various ways, and soon, coffee was “discovered.” The coffee ceremony is a special event. Raw beans are roasted over charcoal, ground with a mortar and pestle, and then boiled in a clay pot. When serving the coffee in demitasse cups, incense is burned, and good conversation is shared. The same grounds are boiled two more times to get the most out of a good thing.

Madame Likee knew how to give thanks. She did it through relationships. Celebrating with the coffee ceremony was her way of thanking God for relationships that brought clean, safe water to her neighbors.             

                             

We love hearing from our friends and staff as they get back from trips with us! Hope you enjoyed hearing about the difference that just one well can make in each individual’s life!