Global Team for Local Initiatives

A friend asked me a tough, but very relevant, question recently. “How do you feel about going back to Ethiopia after all these months?”

I have really enjoyed being home. I love living in my new (old) house in rural Northfield with my son, David. My daughter, Shayla, is able to come stay occasionally. My eldest daughter, Melissa, gave birth to a beautiful little boy, James Robert, in May and my granddaughter, Ella, is helping Mom take excellent care of him. Summer has finally arrived in MN, everything is so lush and green and the mosquitoes are very hungry! David and I now have two dogs, Charlie & Baxter, plus our wise old cat, Bucca. So – it’s tough to leave. I reconnected with old friends and have made some wonderful new friends. I’m delighted that Northfield is my home base in the US. I’m going to miss being here.

Nevertheless I leave for Ethiopia on Thursday. My Ethiopian staff reminds me I have been away too long! Email and Skype are a godsend but I’m anxious to interact personally with them (we’re up to 20 employees in Ethiopia now, you know), colleagues and friends. I love Ethiopians. They are so gracious and loving. I’ve never know a group of people who care so much about each other, including we “forengi” (their word for white person).

We have lots to accomplish both in Addis -new grant proposals, donor meetings, harmonizing activities with other organizations, etc., as well as in the field -three new wells are being dug, CBLA (Community-based Learning in Action) is starting in new communities, the Rotary project in Dore/Wassemu is phasing out, a new project is phasing in, the rural trading center in Minogelti is opening, etc.

The Hamar elders are asking, “Where’s Lori Jim?” They call me Lori Jim because my father’s name was Jim. In Ethiopia, each child receives his/her own first name, their second name is their father’s, the third name their grandfather’s. No one ever changes their name, unlike me who has changed my name three times (Lori Pappas, Lori Salewski, Lori Sweningson, back to Lori Pappas). Geez – what a confusing, dehumanizing process!

Conditions in “Hamar-land” are even more difficult these days. Have you seen the stories in the news talking about the severe drought and malnutrition in southern Ethiopia, Somalia and northern Kenya? Well – that’s what it is like in Hamar-land. It’s time for me to see firsthand what can be done to ease their situation.