Travel in Ethiopia ~ Travel with a purpose

From Canada to Ethiopia with Bob and Sue Black

Bob and Sue Black seemed to be the quintessential Canadian family: Comfortable home in the suburbs, two cars in the drive, two children in school.

Yet a year ago, they sold their home in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, stored their worldly possessions, and moved to Ethiopia, where AIDS is rampant, amenities are few, and where they didn't know a soul. The reasonable question is, 'Why?'

Basically, says Sue, because they could. "I know a lot of people would like to be able to actually do something to improve conditions for people in Third World countries, but their circumstances don't permit it. Ours did. The girls (Sarah, then 7, and Rachel, then 5) were at a good age, and there wasn't really anything holding us back."

The Black's move to Ethiopia means they are 'getting back to their roots' in international aid work, albeit this time with two young children in tow. "We had been re-examining the direction our lives were taking, and wanted to utilize our unique backgrounds," says Sue, who after high school spent 13 months living in a tent while working at a medical mission in the Philippines.

Back in Canada, Sue trained as a bookkeeper, and as a registered massage therapist. In Ethiopia, she has demonstrated to local women some massage techniques that help alleviate the pain of AIDS sufferers.)

Sue and Bob met at work, in Canada, at another aid agency, and, for their honeymoon, traveled around India, Nepal and Bangladesh, surveying aid applications. They traveled twice to China, to bring home their adopted daughters.

Roots in Ethiopia

Bob was born in Ethiopia, where his parents had been working with SIM (Serving in Mission), a Christian interdenominational organization that operates aid and education programs in Africa and India. In Canada since age 12, he worked for 14 years in relief and development, travelling to Asia, Africa, the Caribbean (including Haiti) and South America.

Last year, when the Blacks were re-examining their comfortable lives in Canada, they learned that SIM wanted to set up programs for street kids, AIDS orphans and women-at-risk in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Within a short few months, they had raised funds to support themselves for the year (as SIM requires), and were on their way.

This past year, they've all been in school in Addis Ababa -- Bob teaching computers at an international school that the girls attended, and Sue, at another school studying Amharic, the official language. As they learn about the issues and the culture (including the Ethiopian coffee ceremony and Ethiopian foods), they keep in touch via their web site.

"When I arrived back in Ethiopia after 40 years, my initial feeling was things had actually got worse, and news stories now confirm this," says Bob. Sue, who spent time in a local orphanage that's home to more than 300 children with HIV/AIDS, says, "It's a sad place. Children with AIDS don't have much hope in this country."

They've made four survey trips to Bahir Dar. "For the girls, school in Addis this year was a gentle introduction to Ethiopia. They loved it. We will be a lot more isolated in Bahir Dar, and Sue will be home schooling the girls."

In collaboration with others . . .

Bob says they want to involve university students and link them to financial, medical and vocational training resources. "There are about 10,000 students in Bahir Dar," he says. "It's also an army garrison town, a major truck route and a tourist town. These factors compound the social problems inherent in the area."

"Bahir Dar has the country's highest HIV rate and many women at risk of turning to prostitution to survive," says Sue, who's been asked to help identify women who are suffering from childbirth injuries, and bring them to (free) treatment at a newly-opened satellite clinic of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. "Because so many girls here are chronically undernourished, yet do heavy work, their growth can be stunted," she says. "Many give birth at a very young age, so injuries, especially to the bladder, are fairly common. Women don't know about this new clinic and it's very hard to get the word out."

Living in Ethiopia with young children is challenging, but, says Bob, "We think the girls will get a rich exposure to life outside of North America, both the good and the bad. They have already learned to appreciate things in Canada that many take for granted, such as television, reliable power and potable water, or things that many demand as a right. We also think they will develop values around helping others as a way of life."

Updates from Bob and Sue Black ~ their work and travel in Ethiopia

Fall 2006". . . we are working to develop several vocational training centres that will be an opportunity to address the incredible unemployment plague of this country. We are working with my sister Beth and her organization Dev-xchange to see some of these ideas become a reality. (Their website is www.devxchange.org) There are two ladies from Barrie [Ontario, Canada] that are helping to start an International Hair Salon and cosmetology school. We see this as one opportunity to give young ladies an opportunity to earn a living other than prostitution.

"We are also continuing to develop the multi-purpose centre with the KHC church. Due to the high cost of cement, we are exploring some new technologies that may introduce revolutionary building techniques to the typical cookie cutter construction techniques they use here.

"This year we hope to run programs in ESL, AID's teaching, chronological Bible stories and fun special events for the Big Brother and Big Sisters, and their Little Brothers and Sisters. We recently took a seminar on storytelling. This was designed to communicate with non literate people. We hope to train the university students in some of these techniques as they work with the street kids." . . . Bob Black (Contact the Blacks at www.devxchange.org)

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