From a world where everything around you is taken for granted, to a world where everything around you is valued because life may depend on it. On July 14th 2008, I and a few other members had the chance to visit the beautiful country of Ethiopia.
An experience in Ethiopia is an experience like none-other. While in Ethiopia I got the chance to see a whole new way of life that you would never have imagined until you got the chance to actually familiarize yourself with the culture first hand. The majority of the trip was spent in the town of Asela, which is a few hours from the capital, Addis Ababa. Although we were in Asela for what only seemed a short time, great things were being done through Christian Horizons.
As a group, we were able to meet many new faces and also have the opportunity to take part in some of the local projects such as the English school. The English school was filled with children who were eager to learn and they demonstrated their English skills beyond what I would have expected, I was honestly amazed! While in Asela, I got the chance to get to know the children of the girls and boys homes and although their English was good, sometimes the difference between our languages was a minor issue. What I really found amazing however, was the fact that when there was a language barrier, they still tried their best to try and communicate with us. A smile means the same wherever you are so there were lots of smiles! While in Asela, a baby home was opened and within a few days of it being open, a new born and a few toddlers came in and so it was fun to also play and get to know each one of them.
One of Christian Horizons current up and going projects is the local dairy farm. Seeing how successful the dairy farm is makes me excited for other future projects because hopefully they will be just as triumphant! An impacting event on the trip was when Christian Horizons held a meeting for the poor/street mothers to help them find a way to support themselves and their family by expanding the possibility of future jobs. My time in Ethiopia was well spent and I was amazed to hear of all the current and future projects of Christian Horizons because I know that they will be very successful!
M.C – Ontario, Canada
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