Chris Little and Susan Poisson-Dollar, AAI Board President and former AAI Director of Development respectively, will be leading a short-term volunteer trip to Ethiopia for a maximum of 14 participants. The dates for this year’s trip are February 26th – March 8th, 2012. Chris and Susan have each visited Ethiopia numerous times and also have significant experience hosting volunteer groups both in the U.S. and Ethiopia. They enjoy sharing their love for and knowledge of their “adopted” country with new people. We had a wonderful experience in November of 2010 and you can read more about it at this link.
The land cost for the trip is $1300 and includes airport pick-up in Addis, lodging (single occupancy, discount for sharing), transportation and some meals in Addis as well as a donation to Adoption Advocates International’s humanitarian projects in the country. Flight costs will depend on the participant’s home city but are currently ranging between $1400-1700 round trip from most parts of the country. Participants will have the option of joining either of the group leaders on their flights or of arranging one independently. Depending on the interests of the group, excursions outside of Addis can be arranged and the travel agent we are working with can also help organize add-on tours to other parts of Ethiopia.
All participants will be expected to get a criminal background check prior to the trip or submit one received in the last two years. They will also be asked to carry supplies for AAI’s partner orphanages and other nonprofits as well as to make a commitment to do some fundraising prior to or after the trip. A non-refundable deposit of $500 is required by January 15, 2012 to secure a spot on the trip and participants are also required to have health insurance and to purchase a travel insurance plan (generally very inexpensive). Please contact Susan Poisson-Dollar for more details or to reserve your spot on the trip.
There will also be opportunities to tutor children, teach English, work at our facility for developmentally-delayed children (Opportunity House), and to experience Ethiopian traditions by visiting typical families. We may be asked to paint rooms and do other similar projects at partner orphanages. Excursions will include trips to shop for fairly-traded handicrafts, visits to other nonprofit projects serving orphans and vulnerable children and a dinner at a cultural restaurant featuring traditional dance and food.
One of AAI's most recent humanitarian projects has been collecting and shipping math and science books to Ethiopia. The books are for the brand new Dr. Tsegaye Berhe Woldu Academy of Honor Students. AAI Volunteer Barb Patton has done an amazing job of coordinating the shipping and storage of some very fine textbooks. AAI also purchased a number of dictionaries for the school and more books are en route with upcoming travelers. We are so pleased to be able to help with this worthy effort.
Traveling parents have been carrying boxes over for the last several months and at last count, we have at least 250 books. Here are some photos of staff and volunteers inventorying the books as they arrive at Layla House.
Our accountant Addis helping out
The school is a project of Dr. Tseghuye for his hometown in a very poor area of northern Ethiopia, about 10 hours from Addis. Once the books arrived at Layla House, we rented an ambulance to bring them to Adua so they could arrive in time for the opening ceremonies on March 1st which were reportedly attended by many dignitaries including the Prime Minister. Temesgen, AAI's legal representative, was also in attendance.
Post and photos by Susan Poisson-Dollar, AAI Director of Development
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I just returned from leading the first AAI-sponsored volunteer trip to Layla House in Ethiopia. Ten brave souls joined the group and we all had a wonderful time for ten days being with the children, seeing the country and accomplishing some needed projects on the compound. It was especially nice to have 3 people on the trip who had previously had their children escorted home and had not yet had a chance to experience Ethiopia. Each of them was able to see the place their child lived before coming to their family and one of them was even able to establish some very meaningful birth family connections. The married couple on the trip's adoption dossier arrived in Ethiopia the same week they did. Though they have a wait yet for a referral, they appreciated the chance to experience their future child's country and culture and now can envision his/her surroundings when they finally get "the call." A dad brought along his two teenage daughters and they were enthusiastic, lively members of the group and also had the chance to spend a lot of time with the birth family of their three Ethiopian siblings back home in Montana.
Lots of kids got some special, individual attention while we were there
The group did far more than just come on the trip. Between us, we collected enough money to purchase all the gifts for this year's Holiday Project and carried them and lots of other supplies in our bulging suitcases. One participant raised over $3000 for the AAI Sponsorship program and created a special fund for the social workers to do additional things for some of our neediest children. Her elementary school students also created beautiful laminated alphabet books and cute board games for the kids at Layla House.
This boys' room got a very special mural to inspire their dreams
We hope to be able to offer this opportunity to more people in the future. If you are interested in volunteering at Layla House, please contact our volunteer coordinator Brooke Cole. For individual volunteers we have a one month minimum requirement.
Some of the older kids even helped out with the painting projects
We got used to being mobbed by toddlers whenever we entered the Wanna area.
Always nice to have extra hands around when it comes to baby-feeding time
Our group raised money for the Layla Field Trip fund too. One day we took all 16 toddlers to the Sheraton Hotel playground for fun and french fries at the cafe afterward.
Whew, we all napped well that afternoon!
There's always a ball game going on somewhere at Layla.
One afternoon our project was to get all the baby and toddler footprints!
It required a complete assembly line of baby-fetchers, foot-inkers, stampers and washers to get it all done. See the results below--a card was put in every baby's file for a future mom or dad to find and treasure.
And of course we shopped too! Here we are checking out the gorgeous scarves at a shop that benefits women who carry huge loads of firewood down the mountain.
One night we joined parents in town to pick up their kids for a lively evening at a local cultural restaurant that features dancing from all over Ethiopia.
After a tough day with the kids, one volunteer dances up a storm.
Thanks to Brooke Little and her family, the town of Port Townsend, WA has the cleanest cars around----and over $2000 was raised for the children of Ethiopia in the process. Last weekend, the whole town turned out to support the Little's car wash in a big way. In addition to Brooke who was adopted with her sister Marta 10 years ago, the Little's have four other Ethiopian children adopted through AAI. The local paper did a nice story on their fundraising project and you can read ithere.
Mom Chris had this to say about the day!
Recipe for a car wash:
Take one great cause.
Add a committed Layla House alumni.
Stir in a beautiful, sunny fall day.
Mix in many helpful volunteers.
Cover with people with dirty cars and open wallets.
Bake with lots of enthusiasm.
Remove from oven after 5 hours and enjoy sending over $2,000 to kids in Ethiopia.
Last spring parents Bob and Chris Little brought five of their six Ethiopian children back to Ethiopia to see the country and visit birth family. Read the post about their visit here. In just two weeks Brooke and her mom will return and Brooke will remain as a Layla House volunteer for four months! We are sure it will be a wonderful experience for her as well as for the children at Layla.
Last Friday we had our quarterly awards ceremony for Layla school. It is always a great time to celebrate the accomplishments of our students. Each group has a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place award presented along with a awards given for working hard and being a strong community member.
We had four children perform on recorders with our music teacher Gutu accompanying them. One of our older students, Mesfin (in photo above) shared a poem he wrote about Layla School and the teachers there.
Our program was a bit different than usual as we were fortunate to have two volunteers that were very musical working with us over this month. Scott and Barbara have been assisting Gutu with his music classes. They have worked hard with each group on a special song which they performed during our ceremony. You have not lived until you hear our children sing "You are my Shun Shine, my only Shun Shine. You make me Hoppy, when Skies are Great!" It was precious!
I know the children LOVED performing and as you can tell by the volunteers' smiles they had as good a time, if not better, than the children!
Susan Poisson-Dollar, AAI's Director of Development, will be leading a short-term volunteer trip to Layla House in Ethiopia from November 6-16th, 2010 for a maximum of 12 participants. The total cost for the trip is $2600 and includes airfaire from Washington, DC, aiport pick-up in Addis, lodging (single occupancy, discount for sharing), transportation and some meals in Addis. Depending on the interests of the group, either a day or overnight excursion outside of Addis will be arranged and the travel agent we are working with can also help organize add-on tours to other parts of Ethiopia.
Participants will be expected to travel together to Ethiopia to receive the discounted flight but return flights can be arranged individually. All participants will be expected to get a criminal background check prior to the trip. Please contact Susan Poisson-Dollar for more details or to reserve your spot on the trip.
Our staff in Ethiopia is coming up with lots of project ideas including a number of repair and small-scale construction needs for volunteers who have those skills. There will also be opportunities to tutor children, teach English, work at our facility for developmentally-delayed children (Opportunity House), and accompany social workers on family visits. Excursions will include trips to shop for fairly-traded handicrafts and a dinner at a cultural restaurant featuring traditional dance and food.
The following blog post was submitted by Alexa Lawson, one of our tireless volunteers at Layla House this winter. Hailing from Montana, Alexa's burning desire was to take some of the kids camping!
The desire to take the older boys on an excursion into the wild developed soon after my arrival to volunteer at Layla House-----and now the long-awaited day had finally come!Our ability to take this amazing trip came about through the generosity of our local friend Robel Saido.After asking him for suggestions of where we might be able to camp and horseback ride, Robel took it upon himself to not only make all the arrangements, but also to have his company cover the majority of the costs.
On the appointed day, we eventually had everyone gathered and loaded, and we were underway.We enjoyed lunch at a restaurant, a rare treat, where we discovered that M___ had a bottomless pit for a stomach, ordering the largest meal and devouring it before moving on to dispose of everyone else’s leftovers.Afterwards, we piled into the van once again to make our way to Lake Wenchi where adventure awaited but we were halted for while by an overheated engine.By resorting to using precious bottled waters to cool the radiator, we eventually were operational again, making our way to the Wenchi Park entrance, paying the entrance fee, and meeting with Robel’s guys.
In the small bright yellow pickup sitting low to the ground with all the supplies and people, we traveled slowly down a steep and rocky road, eventually stopping about two hundred yards from the edge of the lake where a large, white, circus-style tent was already set up.After unloading the truck, the boys rushed down to the lake, excited by the prospect of swimming.Taking a few moments to revel in the beauty of the lake, and to breathe deeply of the pollution-free air, I returned to the tent to set up house and prepare dinner.Having attracted the attention of the local children whose hut was a mere ten yards from our tent, I invited them, a little tyke named Abu and a girl with a smile a mile wide, into the tent to play with the game of Connect Four we’d brought with us.Though the objective of the game was lost on them, they enjoyed themselves nonetheless until they were shooed away by their father.
The evening meal was hobo balls, a staple of my camping trips in Montana – rice, meat, and vegetables mixed together and wrapped in aluminum foil then thrown directly into the fire to heat up – the boys came back wet and cold from their swim, and I took the chance to go photograph the beauty of Ethiopia’s natural landscape.With the wind increasing in strength and all the boys chilled by the icy lake waters, we set up the beds, with all 25+ blankets, though I was fearful we didn’t have enough to ward off the cold setting in as the sun began to dip below the horizon.I passed out the jerseys I’d gotten for the six boys; each one thrilled to be sporting new apparel from their favorite teams.
After letting the boys try their hands – unsuccessfully – at starting a fire, the locals took over and with the efficiency of those who depend on fire daily, had a fire going in no time.The strong winds made cooking over the fire quite a challenge, the bread ending up a lump of inedible charcoal, and only about one third of the popcorn kernels actually popped.Luckily, the boys were hungry enough that they weren’t overly picky.Having not planned for the extra eight to ten individuals that we ended up sharing dinner with, I ate sparingly.
Huddled around the fire for warmth, we passed the evening marveling at the star-strewn sky, the boy’s laughter filling me with warmth as I rejoiced in being able to offer them this opportunity to be young men, free from the monotony of everyday orphanage life.Thankful the boys were ready to retire by about nine, we headed to the tent, bundled up with all the layers we had, and steeled ourselves for a cold, windy night.Bright and early we again fought the gusty winds to get a fire started in order to cook eggs for breakfast.Again, underestimating the appetites of six growing boys, I went without in order to ensure they had had their fill.Then we packed up camp, leaving Robel’s guys to take down the large tent, and we negotiated a price with the local men to row us across the lake.The strong winds got the best of us yet again as we fought against the currents to make our way to the other side.Stopping midway at an island to recruit other rowers, we took a brief moment to explore the island’s monastery before separating into two smaller boats and commencing on our way across the lake.After fighting for nearly half an hour to travel less than 300 yards, we finally reached the other side, and hiked a short distance to where the horses awaited.
We rode happily, the hours passing all too quickly as I attempted to capture the joy of these first-time adventures through my camera’s lens.We even sampled the natural spring of fizzy mineral water from which the bottled product Ambo comes, though I wasn’t bold enough to actually swallow it for fear of giardia.The outing proved H__’s astounding perseverance; though I didn’t witness the incident, he fell off the horse, but quickly rebounded and got right back on without fear. Also, when we came to a section of the trail where the horses could not carry passengers, H__ hiked up the steep, slippery grade like a champion.Reaching the top, he was exhausted by the effort, but proud that he had accomplished the feat when he had originally said, “I can’t.”After over two hours, we eventually made our way around the lake, and back up to the top of the mountain where our drivers awaited our arrival.Worn out by the hike, I sank happily onto the seat.As the drivers made a switch, I feverishly made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the hungry crowd with M___s help.Approaching Layla’s blue gates several hours later, I was both thankful and amazed that the weekend had gone so well, confident it would be a fond memory for these boys for years to come.
(Alexa with the t-shirt the boys surprised her with after the trip!)
