Ethiopia on my Mind.... UPDATE

It was one year and four months ago that I was in Ethiopia. - My life was/is forever changed and my heart deeply pierced. 
We did not just visit Ethiopia, we made new friends and saw opportunities, possibilities for people. People that think and feel and hope EXACTLY the same as you and me... except their lives are so hard and exhausting I don't really know how they go on. 
Do you remember the two words I came home with after the trip? 
 Thoughts....  "How will I ever begin to describe the people and the country of Ethiopia to my friends and family at home? Give me just two words, two that will help me tell about what I experienced. The country. The people.Two words that would describe both." That is what I wanted, and I got them.

Strength

Beauty

And now sixteen months later I add five more words. So now, when I say Ethiopia these words come to mind:

Strength

Beauty

Joy

Resilience

Perseverance

Life

Hope

Remember THIS picture?

I call it Hopelessness and Death

It was taken near the community of Tamma Mexi. This is where the people of the community come daily to gather water. Unless it is not the rainy season or there is drought. Because then this pit of of sickness and death dries up. 
And then the women and children travel on foot over very rough terrain... Oh, what? ... rough terrain... what? I asked what that meant. 
This is what the chief in Tamma Mexi told me. He said, "That means no animals, no carts... Animals cannot go there and that means no cart can either. So the women and children carry their jerry cans." Those jerry cans that weigh 1 pound each, they fill them and rest a short time.... 
Then they lift the jerry can filled with water. 

They lift the jerry can that now weighs 41 pounds and carry the water back to their homes. 

And that takes 8 hours every day.

And yes, that water too is the same quality as the water pit near their homes. 

Not Safe. Not safe for human consumption. 

But that is all they have, so they consume it, because they are thirsty. 

Just like you and me.

Here are some of the children I met that day - Notice how their clothes are mostly beige, brown, dingy? That is because the water they have is not only their drinking, cooking and yes, bathing water; it is their laundry water too - it stains their clothing.

When we left I cried. But the people stayed there, because that is their home.

So home we went. We had a project plan and funds were raised and so we could stomp on injustice - the work could begin. 

My colleague, Kiera, is in Ethiopia right now. This morning, wonder of wonders we were able to chat online - She filled me in on what she was seeing and sent me the pictures of  Tamma Mexi that she took a few days ago.

Here is the pit of water today. 

Empty. 

No rain since May.

But that is not why it is empty.

It is empty because the water is captured now at the spring, where it is safe.          

So now let's call this 

Health and Freedom

Look close and note the sign says, "Hand Dug Well" - That's right, no big machines could get in there. So. Hand dug. By the people. 
People of strength and beauty.
The people that sixteen months ago said, "We ask for help, we are ready to work, we will do the work." They meant what they said.
Kiera said that though people were not drawing water when she was at the pump she saw them in the community, and good health is evident. (Yes! Fist Pump) 
She was happy to report  "I drank water from the pump." She could do that ... Because now the water in Tamma Mexi is SAFE WATER.


This kind of giving and helping is called - Helping without Hurting - 
It is a hand up, not a hand-out. It is a good way to work to bring true help to real people, people that are just like you and me. You might want to consider a couple of these ideas - 


Check out this website.
Order the book.
Read it.
Spread the word.
http://www.whenhelpinghurts.org/


For reflection and more true stories; consider this idea.
Eight short chapters, one a week for eight weeks. Do it alone, do it in a group. 
http://www.lifewater.org/significantsacrifice

Bring dignity to lives. Do something significant and lasting. 

Offer a real hand-up not more dependence.

Please. 

Puppet Truths and Appreciation

I like puppets. I like that you can make them be whoever you want them to be. Mr. Rogers was good at that. Wait, don't leave me... read on, please.

He created this puppet and gave him these qualities:

Who is King Friday the XIII? (voiced by Fred Rogers) - He is the imperious monarch of the Neighborhood. He is relatively egocentric, irrational, resistant to change, and temperamental, although open-minded enough to listen when told he is wrong. He has a fondness for giving long-winded speeches and using big words. Despite these qualities, he's basically a good regent, capable of summarizing the lesson he has learned after something has gone wrong. 

A friend posted this quote this morning. It has me thinking and pondering....


In his 2001 commencement address at Marquette University, the late Fred (Mister) Rogers said: "For a long time I wondered why I felt like bowing when people showed their appreciation for the work that I've been privileged to do. What I've come to understand is that we who bow are probably-whether we know it or not-acknowledging the presence of the eternal: we're bowing to the eternal in our neighbor. You see, I believe that appreciation is a holy thing, that when we look for what's best in the person we happen to be with at the moment, we're doing what God does. So, in loving and appreciating our neighbor, we're participating in something truly sacred."

Mr. Rogers & King Friday XIII

I realized when I read the quote that my thoughts about eternal things - Er... please read 'things', people - has not been sacred enough. 
Mr. Rogers! you connected some dots for me. Thank you, sir!


What I knew....
There is eternity  -  I am me housed in a body.


I had heard about the eternal living in me and others, and believe it. 


                                          Appreciating other is a good and right thing to do.


But this picture that he spoke. Stops me in my tracks. Actually it stopped my heart with a giant check mark.


Flashback to one post earlier... Splinters and Planks.... I have so much more to learn. The older my body gets the less I know. It's like my younger body with it's thick walls and strong beams keeps some eternal realizations OUT. 


Could it be, as my body grows older, more of the depth of the eternal can get in? As the walls of this world around me weaken can I see out the cracks to the future of what is true and eternal?


I don't know. I'd like to think so.

House with "eyes" looking out and up

But  honestly... Today, after this many years here... how many? Um, 60.


As I was saying, after this many years here, I know little of what is really, really real. Because here in this place I see darkly. But someday, I will see clearly. And that brings me peace.


Maybe we should think of our time here like this.... 


"I have never really considered  myself as a TV star I always thought I was a neighbor who just came in for a visit." - Fred McFeely Rogers