Article - Ethiopia Trip

I was asked to write an article reflecting on my recent trip to Africa. I'm not sure when and where exactly it will be used, so I figured I'd post it here in the meantime. (I've abbreviated the name of the organization).
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I’ve heard it said that once you’ve been to Africa you leave a little bit of yourself there. That was true for me. I’m not sure if it was the history or the sheer size and diversity of the continent or the fact that humankind likely began there - or the people.

I think it was the people.

The people have an enviable connection with each other that was in no way exclusive. I was as welcome as someone who lived there. Of course, I was only in Ethiopia, and there is so much more of Africa than one country. But Ethiopia was a great start.

The purpose of my trip was simply to meet people impacted by CH in and around Assella, Ethiopia. We arrived on a Sunday and were welcomed by a couple hundred kids, all of whom were somehow connected with CH.

Over the course of the next few days we visited people who were connected to CH in one way or another: sponsorship, micro-credit finance loans, university -- all lives that were changed.

The most striking factor was the little amount, by Canadian standards, that it takes to change a life. Look at it this way: Child sponsorship costs $31 a month ($372/year). This helps with nutrition and health-care, clothing, school fees, supplies and uniforms, among other things. Because of this, a child who has been orphaned and is HIV positive can get shelter, nutrition, education and the anti-retroviral medications that will allow him or her to grow up healthy.

We also met some adults who had grown up within CH and are now employed and working or volunteering with CH, helping kids who are orphaned and HIV positive have hope.

This is all in the name of Christ, and all at very little cost to those who give. Think about it - $31 a month is less than $5000 over the course of a child’s life in school. $5000 can change a life and break a cycle of poverty and illness. The cost of the life is less than $5000. The value of the life is far beyond what money can buy.

A part of me stayed with the people.

In the face of much adversity, the people accept a little help from outside and use it to change the courses of their lives and in turn, they help change the lives of others.