A visit to Ethiopia came days after school got out in June and was followed by a special trip to Chicago and Michigan to visit Sara’s extended family. Meeting a group of young people in Ethiopia and having lots of time with our kids the last month has reminded me how similar their development is despite the vast differences in material wealth and daily life. My previous 5 or 6 trips to Ethiopia had very little to no field visits. Instead, my time was spent meeting with partners evaluating proposals and field reports and the arduous process of cross-cultural communication. I love that part of my job. One of the ways I know this is my calling: other people tell me how much they dislike those kinds of meetings. During this time, I’ve relied on written reports and anecdotes from other visitors for evidence of success in our programs. Thankfully, the past 18 months have been filled with good news even as there have been consistent challenges to the goals we set with our Ethiopian partners.
Last month I spent a week with a small team visiting West Arsi to learn more about our work and capture stories of impact in a series of videos we will be sharing through the Discovering Light website. I had business to take care of (meetings in dimly lit rooms) in addition to the field visits but this was the best week to go in the summer months and so found a way to fit it all in. I’m so glad I did. Spending time in the villages with families that are experiencing new ways to live and thrive was incredibly refreshing for my own soul. First, as we shared in a Discovering Light newsletter last month, we spent time with a couple of savings groups including one comprised of boys and young men, ages 10 to 16. The boys who shared with us their stories of buying and breeding livestock with their savings opened my eyes to our program’s potential role in a significant generational change. Young people in Ethiopia are being educated in greater numbers than ever before through a government effort to increase the primary schools throughout the country. Wireless technology is making its way into the countryside at a rapid pace. Everyone’s got a cell phone. And while every generation boasts advances over those that came before, what is currently taking place in Ethiopia may be the most dramatic shift in centuries. It’s not hard to imagine the material benefits of greater knowledge and technological progress. But there was something profound listening to a 10-year-old boy tell us about his group. He had something that was possibly greater: Belief…belief in the world, in himself, and in others.
Any first time visitor will note the warm-hearted smiles of Ethiopian children. A seemingly genuine joy seems to emanate from their being seems and only becomes contradictory when an all too common request for money is directed towards foreigners. “You, you, you….money, money, money!” rings out like refrain as ‘firenges’ (foreigners) make their way past youngsters. This begging from elicits a sadness, a feeling these ‘happy’ children have given up hope in their own God-given potential so early in life.
Hence why I felt despite the boy’s small stature, but his spirit was giant. His presence rejuvenated my confidence in the value of the savings groups program. I felt like I had climbed a vista, only to see higher peaks unseen from a lower vantage point. I find myself imagining how the rapid transformation of Ethiopian life would be enhanced by raising a generation that was heartened by the gains and successes of their neighbors; and saw unlimited, rather than fixed resources in their surroundings.
In the days following, I began to wonder how this revelation should affect our purpose, ‘the end-game’ of working in Ethiopia. We’ve committed to helping the Arsi Oromo, a specific tribe of Ethiopians, embrace the abundant life God designed for all people to experience. We’ve never attempted to paint an exact picture of how this will look. But those boys were surely an example of ‘you know it when you see it’ transformation. We are inspired by this unexpected and unplanned, yet authentic example of fruitful labor by our partners.
Having four children and two boys who could be members of this savings group had they been born in Faji village makes this experience even richer. Their imaginations are expansive. Sara and I are hesitant to discourage any of them at this time in their development and eager to help them turn dreams into reality. Giving them opportunities to create and build and cultivate relationships allows them to live before the presence of God where he can guide and affirm. Marni is headed into her sophomore year of high school. We delight in her work ethic and insistence on making straight A’s so that she can have a broad choice of universities to attend. But something magical happened when Sara’s cousin found out Marni was taking a photo class and gave her an expensive, high-capacity camera he no longer needed. When Sara took Marni and a friend to the beach to take pictures of the sunset last winter, none of us expected we would then be invited to the Del Mar Fair in June to celebrate Marni’s San Diego County Lifestyles Photography, “Best in Show” award for a shot she took of her friends feet in the sand. We were thrilled, of course, and happy for the affirmation of Marni’s creativity and gifting.
Abe is still imagining himself as a professional soccer player yet playing in college sounds pretty cool too. His young mind was opened to a world of possibility on a recent trip to San Jose where he spent time with some world-class soccer coaches only to say his favorite experience was a brief visit to Stanford.
And just a few days ago, in need of some summertime distraction, Sara turned 10-year-old Dane loose on an old printer and watched him take the contraption apart piece by piece and discovering a ‘fidget spinner’ embedded in the machine’s inner working. Each piece he deconstructed was fuel for the engine of his imagination. Copper wire and metal rings still lie around the house as remnants of his exploration.
King Solomon said it was the “glory of kings to search things out” which is only true if there is something to discover. This process of discovery resulted in the ‘belief’ I saw in my young friend in the savings group in Faji Village and why these groups and other initiatives like them deserve to be considered right along the new highways, schools, and cell towers changing the landscape of rural Ethiopia. The real benefit of these advances will be achieved when young Ethiopians see the unlimited possibilities represented in the asphalt roads, school books, and mobile communication. For our own kids, access to elite universities, expensive cameras, and old devices are pathways to keep our kids truly alive. They are tools we can use to show them there is more to the world than what they see right before their eyes.
Keep Your Eye on the Rhodes 