Tag Archives: creativity

Jan21

Ethiopia, Day 11: What Separates Me from You?

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Do our children in the West matter more than the sweet ones I work with here in Ethiopia?

It’s a question that plagues me as I see children who cannot go to school here. Or my sweeties I teach who would not be in school if not for generous people donating anything from $5-$20 and more.

day11-7Those donations don’t just show up. People who give a voice to these precious ones have to pound the pavement asking. I don’t consider this aid; I consider it equality. To me, it is saying my child in America does not matter more than one born in a place where education is not for all. It’s saying you — these dear, sweet children in Africa — DO matter.

What makes you alive? What separates me from you? These questions are forefront in my mind when I work with kids so poor you truly can’t imagine. I know many parents in my home country, and I have a wonderful set myself. There is little they would not do for their child; the bond is inseparable and remarkable. I think of what it must feel like for a parent to not be able to send a child to school or provide for their beloved one for a variety of reasons, from death to where and to whom they were born.

It is not my intention to be dark about the situations I see — there is so much we could learn from these precious little ones and their community — but I’m simply sharing my thoughts. You cannot come here to Ethiopia and not be changed and moved by the duality of the beauty, joy and loveliness and the extreme poverty and injustice.

No matter how much time I spend here — and this is my eighth trip — every time is new. I am never used to it or unaffected. I am as moved by how lovely, kind, open and generous in spirit the people are as how it makes me feel to see a parent want basic human rights for their child.

day11-6These are my experiences as I work with the children, my thoughts. But I cannot sign off without telling you the incredible joy of sharing, exchanging and creating with them. It’s done with an innocence, a lack of entitlement and a desire to learn that I cannot stress enough is a contrast to what I have seen in my own country. That makes me sad for us, sad for America, and I wish Ethiopia could offer us aid in these ways.

The children were brilliant, and I felt joy about my partnership with Ethiopia Reads. They are really doing amazing work here in Ethiopia. Education is hope. May you all be grateful today, not for what you have but for the opportunity to author your own life, an opportunity that is not a foregone conclusion. It’s one your education played a large part in, and may we all pause to consider that things do not bring happiness — only attitude can do that!

With gratitude,
Stephanie

Interested in supporting education in Ethiopia? Click here to donate, or “like” my Facebook page to see daily featured SSA items, 100% of proceeds from which will go to Ethiopia Reads!

Jan13

Ethiopia, Day 3: I Have Taught My Hands How

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ImageIt’s an hour and a half drive to school everyday. That’s how long it takes to get from the area’s only reasonable hotel (“reasonable” meaning no fleas) to the Kololo school. About half of the way is a Ethiopian massage road — that’s code for a very bumpy dirt road. It’s beautiful countryside the whole way, and my artist mind is taking it all in the whole way.

ImageToday, driving back from another lovely day making art with the sweet ones, seemed extra long. It could have been exhaustion, maybe a full bladder; it was extra hot today. I don’t know why, but it felt longer, and that got me to thinking. Before this school was built in Kololo by Ethiopia Reads, there were only schools that took hours to walk to and, as I understand it, one or two kids actually did that. Remember when your parents used to say, “I used to walk hours to school in bare feet, uphill both ways”? Well, some kids pretty much do. At least half of the students in Kololo are in fact barefoot, and had they walked hours to school in this mountainous region, it would have big hills both ways. Yet, some kids consider themselves lucky for that opportunity.

I’ve spent the last two days in a community overflowing with gratitude because they now have a school. Oh, the things we take for granted.

ImageThe children were as brilliant as ever. So patient and eager to learn. So unaffected by Game Boys, iPhones, iPads, television — I could go on, but the idea is: It’s refreshing, this ability for children to just sit and be. No need for constant stimulation here, just gratitude for learning.

That’s not the whole story: Life is not easy in this rural community, no need to sugarcoat it, yet there is happiness, there is a certain romance, something they could teach us in the West. We painted we sang, we danced and we sat outside under a big shade tree. My heart is full.

ImageIn the evening, we four artists traveling together to share and create art located the quietest spot we could find and set ourselves up to do just that. In Ethiopia, you are never alone, and soon we had a audience. As if we were rock stars, the children of all ages soon surrounded us, then settled down and sat for over an hour, watching us work, patient and entertained by the plein air painters. It was pure joy to be outside, gazing upon the crazy beauty of rural Ethiopia, doing what I love best to do in this world: paint.

ImageAt the dinner that followed, we were joined by other volunteers here on behalf of Ethiopia Reads, and we heard their stories. They all were moving, but my favorite was a story of a little boy who was asked, “What do you like about art class?” His answer I will loosely translate as: “Art makes me happy. Now that I have been taught how to draw, I have a new way to communicate. If I want to draw something, I have taught my hands how, and expressing myself is easy. I want to, and I didn’t feel like that before.”

Um, yeah — so be still, my beating heart: A 9-year-old boy from a very rural farming village in Ethiopia speaks my language, he gets it, he speaks creativity and it has changed him.

That’s all, that’s enough!

Thank you for coming along with me on this incredible journey!

Stephanie

Interested in supporting education in Ethiopia? Click here to donate, or “like” my Facebook page to see daily featured SSA items, 100% of proceeds from which will go to Ethiopia Reads!