After several trips to Ethiopia, I am always amazed by the people, the people of the communities we serve and the local people of our NGO’s (non-government organizations) that make our work possible on the ground with the communities…….here are some of the adjectives that popped in my mind along the way this time…….resilient, spiritual, dedicated, connected, caring (especially for their neighbors), thankful, dedicated, beautiful, tough as nails, committed, enthusiastic, hard working, changing……and the list could go on.  As it has been true on other trips, I return feeling like I have received a lot more than I have given.

 
 
A couple of moments on this trip are particularly memorable for me……the picture of the elderly woman above gathering water by herself, slowly scooping dirty, nasty water out of an almost-dry stream is burned into my mind.  We saw her on the way to one of our project areas. She didn’t know we would drive by and we didn’t know she would be there, but it so poignantly captures the daily struggle of the women and children of rural Africa in their quest to bring water to their family that I will never forget. Her life and her commitment to the daily task of gathering water drives our mission at Water to Thrive and motivates us to do more.
 
 
The picture above reminds me of how desparately the communities we serve want and need clean, safe water.  That rocky, steep path (total elevation change of almost 600 feet) is the way down Mai Abate, one of the completed projects that we visited.  It took us almost an hour and half to get there, but upon arrival we see a beautifully completed well project. It is a beautiful site, but what we don’t see is the incredible amount of manual effort the community invested to make it possible.  The community carried every bit of the cement, sand and gravel that was needed to construct the well down the very same path that we took. It drives home the true meaning of "sweat equity" for our traveling group!
 
As always, it is an honor and blessing to represent the thousands of W2T supporters on these journeys. Without your support, these life changing projects could not be possible…..and we bring back to you the heartfelt thankfulness & gratitude of all the communities for making the blessing of clean water possible.
 
 

 

 After several trips to Ethiopia, I am always amazed by the people, the people of the communities we serve and the local people of our NGO’s (non-government organizations) that make our work possible on the ground with the communities…….here are some of the adjectives that popped in my mind along the way this time…….resilient, spiritual, dedicated, connected, caring (especially for their neighbors), thankful, dedicated, beautiful, tough as nails, committed, enthusiastic, hard working, changing……and the list could go on.  As it has been true on other trips, I return feeling like I have received a lot more than I have given.

 
 
A couple of moments on this trip are particularly memorable for me……the picture of the elderly woman above gathering water by herself, slowly scooping dirty, nasty water out of an almost-dry stream is burned into my mind.  We saw her on the way to one of our project areas. She didn’t know we would drive by and we didn’t know she would be there, but it so poignantly captures the daily struggle of the women and children of rural Africa in their quest to bring water to their family that I will never forget. Her life and her commitment to the daily task of gathering water drives our mission at Water to Thrive and motivates us to do more.
 
 
The picture above reminds me of how desparately the communities we serve want and need clean, safe water.  That rocky, steep path (total elevation change of almost 600 feet) is the way down Mai Abate, one of the completed projects that we visited.  It took us almost an hour and half to get there, but upon arrival we see a beautifully completed well project. It is a beautiful site, but what we don’t see is the incredible amount of manual effort the community invested to make it possible.  The community carried every bit of the cement, sand and gravel that was needed to construct the well down the very same path that we took. It drives home the true meaning of "sweat equity" for our traveling group!
 
As always, it is an honor and blessing to represent the thousands of W2T supporters on these journeys. Without your support, these life changing projects could not be possible…..and we bring back to you the heartfelt thankfulness & gratitude of all the communities for making the blessing of clean water possible.