Our First Video Update!

Our Story: Chapter One

The Setting

Dire Dawa, Ethiopia- A city surrounded on all sides by limiting mountains: limiting travel, rainfall, and cell phone reception. The city is well planned with streets aligned to a grid, roundabouts, and paved roads, for the most part. Where there is not pavement, there is baked, hardened earth that rarely remains on the ground but rises to eye level with each passing tire, foot, or hoof. Supposedly, there is a large western population here, but after a week of roaming the streets, habitually lost, occasionally perceptive, and always exploring, we have yet to come across the elusive White westerners or “Ferengie” as they, and we, are called here.

The city bustles each day from 7am until noon and is relatively silent until 3pm, when the scorching heat subdues and life returns to the streets. There are restaurants, cafés, shops, and kiosks, and street markets all filled with friendly chatter. As we walk up and down the streets a freshly-familiar echo follows us: “Hello! Are you fine?” and “why is your name?”

We have met local businessmen, other humanitarian aid workers and students. This city serves as both our base of operations and our community and we are beginning to find our place in it.

The Characters

Zerihun Kassa- Project Manager for Ethiopia. He lives in Addis Ababa with his wife and two kids. He is nearly six feet tall and not a day over thirty-five. He used to play professional futbol and has the body to match. He has a degree in Economics and is working on a second degree in Community Development. He has a broad smile and a frequent laugh. He is a compassionate, friendly, and dedicated man with a wise and humble spirit. He is scared to death of Hyenas. He met us our first day in Addis, showed us around and helped us to get settled in Dire Dawa. He will be coming to Dire Dawa once a month to help our projects, solidify our direction, and keep us on track.

Alex- ( Alemayehu) will be our right hand man as we begin TCD projects in Hurso. He is an energetic 23-year-old Ethiopian who is living and studying business administration in Harar. He works with Great Commission Ministries in the Harar and assists with their ministry in the northeastern region of Ethiopia. He has partnered with Zerihun over the past couple of years as GHNI has started projects in Woliso, Hurso, and other areas. His English is limited but good - he can converse about macroeconomics and competitive advantage but certain basic words can throw him for a loop, like “river.” He is single but apparently working on a girlfriend in Dire Dawa, which may make his visits here more frequent. He is excited about learning more English from us and is looking forward to being a part of the TCD work in Hurso.

Siggi- Our landlord is a tall, lanky, soft-spoken Swiss man with a heavy German accent, and so far he’s been an invaluable resource in learning about life here in Dire Dawa. He studied agriculture in his home country but seems to be gifted in everything he tries. He’s lived in northeastern Africa for nearly 25 years including Djibouti, Somalia, and different regions of Ethiopia. Although he is incredibly modest, we’ve learned that he can speak at least 7 languages and is a self- taught carpenter, tile worker, electrician, plumber, mechanic, machinist and musician. He’s used his talents over the past 3 years to construct the beautiful hotel compound that we’re staying in, each room a unique work of art custom designed and built with hand-crafted materials. He is one of the most patient, humble guys you’ll ever meet, with a big grin and a booming laugh to match. He has a wife, Kadera, who is a beautiful Ethiopian woman that is every bit as intelligent and linguistically talented as Siggi, and two young boys that love him to death.

Welcome to Blog Hurso!

Hey! This is where you can follow Ian and I as we spend a year in Hurso, Ethiopia. For those of you who aren't familiar with what what we are doing, here's a little bit of background.

Ian and I are interning for a year with Global Hope Network International(GHNI) in the northeastern part of Ethiopia in a small village called Hurso. GHNI is a Geneva-based humanitarian organization that is works with some of the poorest people groups in the world, helping villages transform themselves through sustainable development. Their TCD(Transformational Community Development) training and curriculum fosters ownership by using locally-available resources and takes a holistic approach to development in order to create a healthy community.

Our role in Hurso will be to work with GHNI's Ethiopian staff as we train and equip local leaders to begin development projects and help bring their village out of poverty. Ian and I will be regularly posting on our progress, so check in to hear the latest stories from Hurso.