Reflections on Ethiopia

By Nancy Carroll, 2008 Water Tour Participant

My husband, Brad, and I visited Ethiopia for the first time in April of 2007 to pick up our two newly-adopted children, Tizita (now 5 years old) and Fekadu (age 2). It was a surreal experience to be in a developing country for the first time while we were changing our lives so permanently and intensely, but the beauty of the land and the kindness of the people made an indelible impression, and I knew that somehow, someday, I would return.

These children had been orphaned and placed for adoption due to two preventable problems– tuberculosis and extreme poverty. After we got back home and had begun to settle in together, I began to realize that I was quite angry about the fact that these beautiful children who were now my babies had been transported half a world away from their first home because we in the West have abundant resources–medical care and cash, in particular–and that those in other parts of the world do not. It’s just plain wrong that young parents die and leave their children behind and that young children themselves often die for lack of their most basic needs. I resolved at that point to try to do something: To begin to contribute as generously as I could to humanitarian aid in Ethiopia and to find a way to return and become physically engaged in the work.

Fast forward to December, and three clever workings of serendipity. First, a friend sent us a WaterCard from Water 1st, indicating that a gift had been made in honor of our children. I stared at the beautiful image on the card, but it didn’t register to try to learn more about the organization at the time. Then, while touring schools for our daughter’s kindergarten placement next year, we visited the Meridian School. Tears welled in my eyes as we passed through the hallways and saw evidence that the students were studying Africa and its issues. And when we stopped in the third-grade class, we heard them tell how they had just completed the Water 1st curriculum and made cards that would be hand-carried to Ethiopia in January.

"I resolved at that point to try to do something: To begin to contribute as generously as I could to humanitarian aid in Ethiopia and to find a way to return and become physically engaged in the work."

It was a moving experience to see a group of comparatively privileged children caring so genuinely about their age-mates in a land so far away. The next day, I went to the post office to mail a care package I’d assembled for our sponsored children in Ethiopia. There next to me was a woman (Water 1st Executive Director, Marla Smith-Nilson!) with a stack of Water 1st envelopes she was mailing. I told her I’d just heard of Water 1st the day before, and shoved my business card in her hand to send me more information.

I couldn’t wait though. That night, I got online and pulled up the Water 1st website to learn more. After watching several moving videos, one of the first things to catch my eye was that they were planning a trip to Ethiopia in January to show firsthand what they do. After a serious talk with my husband and an intense 24 hours of pondering and talking to Water 1st staff, I signed up for the trip just weeks away!

It was a remarkable ten-day journey “home” to Ethiopia for me. I gained a better sense of the culture, a deeper appreciation for the beauty and warmth of the people, and made an invaluable connection with the good people of Water 1st and their in-country partner organization, Water Action.

I have never been so close–literally face to face–with such dire need before meeting the villagers in Ilamu Muja and Bishikiltu who lacked clean water and sanitary latrines. Yet as poor and difficult as their daily lives may be, I’ve never met a more thankful and gracious people.

Though I’m now a real estate agent, I’ve worked in non-profit organizations for most of my professional life. It’s rare to find an organization that provides an efficient solution that addresses a need so directly and cleanly, and yet delivers so much more than promised. Water 1st does just that, with the invaluable side benefits of community organizing, empowerment, and hope. I’m thrilled to have found a meaningful way to support my children’s homeland, and I look forward to continuing to improve conditions there–and to seeing those impacts on future visits.

Nancy Carroll is a real estate agent who lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and two children.

By Mark Nilson, 2008 Water Tour participant

Ethiopia was an incredible experience with people who know a little something about life at the edge of existence, never far from the fears of illness and death. The question that circled my mind throughout the trip was, ‘Why are you here, Mark?’ I was traveling with Water 1st on behalf of Covenant World Relief to see some of the projects our funding made possible. But this was the surface reason. I was interested in the deeper, more personal reason for my trip.

A woman invited us into her home. She had just moved into a new little rectangular, mud-thatched house with a corrugated roof, by far the nicest in the village. She was so proud of her house and her new latrine built through Water 1st and Covenant World Relief monies. She showed us the latrine, a small thatched outhouse built over a pit. She also showed us how she now has fresh water for washing her hands in an old plastic canola oil jug. She explained how she was ashamed to squat in the bushes, always worrying that someone would spot her. Can you imagine being worried every time you need to go to the bathroom? And she was probably 70 years old. We took pictures of her in front of her house.

And that, I think, was why I was in Ethiopia. I came not to observe people in their dire living situations, like pictures on television documentaries. I came simply to be with them, be part of them—to be not white or black, not rich or poor—just human beings together. I came to Ethiopia to learn how to live graciously and generously with my world and all of us who inhabit it.

In the village of Bishikiltu, we met under the “Mother Tree” that provided shade for all. People kept coming and coming from every direction. Last year, Water 1st had to tell them they didn’t have enough money to fund their water project. This year, we came back to tell them that the money was raised and the work would begin in a month. “We are reborn!” the village headman said.

A woman brought us a small plastic bottle filled with water. Pouring the brown water, she said, “This is the water we drink. It makes us sick. It makes our children sick. Even our cattle are sick.” “The water that you see is clean compared to what my family drinks,” says another villager, Negese. “The water we get has worms. We try to boil it, but the children are thirsty, they can’t wait and take drinks of water when my wife is not there to stop them. Four of my children have died from drinking this water. I held all four of my children when they died.”

He then said, “You are teaching us a lesson today. You have what you need, but you have chosen to come from so far away to tell us that you are helping us with our problems. We are different people. You have white skin, we have brown skin, but you still care about us from halfway around the world. Now we know that we have not been forgotten.”

And that, I think, was why I was in Ethiopia. I came not to observe people in their dire living situations, like pictures on television documentaries. I came simply to be with them, be part of them—to be not white or black, not rich or poor—just human beings together. I came to Ethiopia to learn how to live graciously and generously with my world and all of us who inhabit it.

Mark Nilson is Senior Pastor of First Covenant Church in Seattle, Washington. He served as Chairperson for the Board of Covenant World Relief from 2001 to 2007. Covenant World Relief contributed $90,000 in support of the Ilamu Muja project and has provided $35,000 for the Bishikiltu project.