(Ruta writing…) My friend, Catherine, is a VSO volunteer working at the Welfare for Street Mothers and Children Organization (WeSMCO). This worthy organization hosts a variety of programs to support the poor women and children of Ethiopia. Attached are pictures from their urban gardening program, which by the way receives funds from USAID. There are certain criteria of which women or families receive the privilege of using the plots to grow vegetables to feed their families or to sell for income. Many of the urban farmers are women with HIV/AIDS or families affected by HIV/AIDS (e.g. gr [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Ruta writing…) Part of the fun of travelling or working abroad is encountering completely different perspectives from one’s own. Because Ethiopia is so different from our home, we encounter many such situations. For example, Ethiopia uses a different calendar system (e.g. the current year is 2001 EC). When my coworker asked me “What date is it in your world?” I paused a minute, but quickly understood her question. Here are some additional situations that cause me to pause to ask, “Say What?” Road Signs for Foreigners Despite being a city of about [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Vasara writing) Imagine that you are looking at the African landscape. Over the bushes and trees, you see dark silhouettes of three tall giraffes walking to the waterhole to drink. As they come closer, you can see how beautiful these giraffes really are. When giraffes drink they slide their first set of legs to the either side until their head can reach the water to drink it. There are many kinds of giraffes. The ones we saw were mostly the Masai giraffes that have brown spots on them and in between them is white. Other types of giraffes are reticulated giraffes [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Lukas writing…)We arrived to Kenya by plane (taking a 4am flight!), rented a car and driver and drove to the national park. The car that we got was made for a safari because the whole top of the car came off so we could just stand on a seat to get a better view. We went on a Safari to Masai Mara National park +Lake Nkuru and saw Giraffes, Impalas (look like small deer), Thompson and Grant Gazelles (like small deer but thompsons have a black strip on their sides), Elephants, many, many, many, variety of birds (At one point we [View Full Entry]

---

---

I felt that if we leave Africa having been simply across the border from the big game parks of East Africa, without visiting them, I would be full of regret. Thus we traveled to Kenya on holiday and had an amazing trip. Seeing elephants, lions, giraffes etc firsthand living free in the wild was a moving, once in a lifetime experience. However, somebody commented about our “dream vacation” - well, for credibility I should share additional experience from our trip. I define “dream vacation” as hassle free - having travel logistics taken care of and you are simply left to [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Ruta writing) I was not prepared for the beautiful Indian ocean beaches on the eastern coast of Kenya. Near the Somali border is the capticating town of Lamu. Because the town has preserved its Swahili and Arab culture and architecture so well, it is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walking through the incredibly narrow streets, as tourist guides promise, it does feel that you are in a different world. The Muslim women are mostly covered completely (which has to be stifling and uncomfortable in the high heat). There are only about 3 cars on the whole island so 3000 [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Rytas writing) Zebras are very cool animals. They are very common in Kenya. We first saw them at the side of the road near the airport. Every park we went to we saw them. I like to see them because I like their stripes. Their stripes are there to confuse the lions for whitch one to eat. It is very cute to see the zebra babies, whose colors are brown and white. They have a fuzzy mane on top. When they grow up, they become pure black and white. When they poop, they lift their tails up so it is very [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Vidas writing) We traveled by train from Nairobi capital to the coastal town of Mombasa then to Lamu where we stayed for three days. We first bought our tickets at Nairobi at a very old fashioned train station that was built in the early 1800’s British Colonial days. We thought it was interesting that there were only two trains possible - one line going east (to Mombasa) and one going west. We bought second class tickets in the sleeper cars and two meals. They told us to come an hour early and so we did. This was only the second time [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Kovas writing) On the last day of our Kenyan trip, we spent the last of our money and food having a picnic at Hell’s Gate National Park. This park is fascinating because you can walk among the wild African animals like giraffes, zebras, warthogs, gazelles, impala, and baboons. Our driver, Milton, warned us to be careful of the baboons, but we had encountered baboons in other places and were confident that we could scare them away with loud noises. How wrong we were! We sat at the picnic table and hungrily unpacked the sandwiches, oranges, chips, and juice. Right before we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kovas writing……I wanted to share our daily ritual that we repreat over and over and over again - walking home from school. When school ends at 3:20pm, we go to after-school clubs till 4:30. These clubs include basketball club, soccer club, Lukas’ chess club, table tennis club, volleyball club, and a puzzle/games club ect. At 4:30 my brothers, Vasara, and I walk to Bole Bras, a “line taxi” station. Line taxis are minibuses that serve as Addis Ababa’s transportation system. They are quite cheap - the shortest ride costs the equivalent of 6.5 cents. In [View Full Entry]

---

---