Visit to Ethiopia

by Elizabeth McAuley
August 2008

Passionate about the continent of Africa, I had the good fortune to be able to spend a week in Ethiopia last fall before travelling on to South Africa. My visit was fantastic from beginning to end. Ethiopia is a very interesting and beautiful country and the Ethiopian people are friendly, warm, and stunningly beautiful. The children are gorgeous with enormous brown eyes and are so affectionate. They simply crave hugs and love all the time. The population of Ethiopia is approximately 78 million and there is great poverty everywhere, including in the capital of Addis Ababa. Before going I had done my research and so knew that the country was extremely poor. But research does not really prepare one for what one will see. Much of the infrastructure is minimal, even in the capital. Most of the roads are un-paved and extremely rough and are what one would expect to see in the country. The country roads are even worse and so four wheel drives are a necessity. Despite all this, there are many foreigners who love the country and its people passionately and who have dedicated their lives to trying to make a difference. The following is such an example.

In Addis there is a small school called Aware that is run by a German woman married to a Belgian who manages the Toyota dealership for Addis, therefore probably for the whole country. Jutta has opened a school in their compound. She has erected two classrooms, each consisting of 25 to 30 students and a teacher. She herself teaches another 10 to 12 children who are sick with a range of health issues. These children are kept separate from the others because many have compromised immune systems. One of these children has a very serious heart condition and she is trying to arrange through Médecins sans Frontières to get him to Germany for heart surgery. There are several problems - first, he is in very fragile condition and second, he has no passport and to get one for him is difficult and slow. There is another little fellow with a severe blood disorder. Of these 10 to 12 sick children, she keeps the most seriously ill in her house overnight to watch over them, give medication, and to check three times during the night on the little boy with the heart condition as his heart is so unstable.

She and her husband no longer have a garage as that has been made into an art studio, playroom, and a quiet area where children can go if they do not feel well. Jutta works with the poorest of poor children. She feeds them three times a day and makes certain that they learn and practise good hygiene and that they have clean clothes to wear. She is hoping to build an actual school because she is unable to take in any more children. The problem is getting the land. Land is very difficult to get in Addis because it all owned by the municipality which of course wants to sell it to people who can pay the most. If she can get land, she and her husband have been promised by a builder friend of theirs to build the school for no charge. I asked her what would happen to the school when her husband retires and they return to Europe. She told me that neither of them would be returning to Europe. They have made a commitment to stay in Ethiopia for the rest of their lives and to continue with the school.

The amazing thing is that they pay for all this out of their own pocket. They receive no government funding or outside help. Her husband gives her a monthly allowance to run the school and if the money runs out before the end of the month, there is no more money for that month. I can quite see why it works that way because one has to budget somehow and the need is so great that one would be tempted to spend all one's finances. The friend with whom I travelled and I each took a suitcase of school supplies and medication to be dispensed among the various projects we were visiting. It will come as no surprise to the reader that most of these supplies went to this school. My diary entry at the end of that day records "I have met my first saint".

I had an opportunity to meet Jutta and her husband again at a farewell dinner and at that time I gave her $200.00 US, telling her that I realized that this amount was just a drop in the bucket. She looked at me and said that I had no idea what this money meant. She then said that she wanted to tell me that the money would not go directly to the school children. I replied that the money was given to her with no strings attached and that I expected her to use the money as she saw fit. She told me that two impoverished families with whom she works were going to be evicted from their homes the next week because the landlord had doubled the rent and they could not afford to pay the new amount. She had told them to look for new accommodation and somehow she would find the money. The $200 that I had just given her would help to pay about six months rent for the two families.

This is just one project of many started and supported by foreigners working in Ethiopia who have fallen in love with the county and its people. I choose to relate this one because, as an educator, I know that education is the key for these children to be able to rise above the poverty into which they were born. Jutta has seen the potential in each of her little ones and is determined to give them the tools to succeed.

Addendum

This article was written in January 2008, but due to space constraints was not able to make the previous edition of Aspire. Perhaps that was meant to be because now I have a lot more news to tell.

The little boy with the heart condition, Jeilan, travelled to Monaco and on January 22 had his heart operation. He returned to Addis after his recuperation and he is now a very healthy little boy who plays soccer and runs everywhere. The travel, the operation, and the aftercare were all free of charge. How Jutta managed to do this is a miracle brought about by one very determined lady.

A new student, Eyope, who suffers with spina bifida and is confined to a wheelchair, is now the proud owner of bright red wheel chair, purchased by Jutta’s German supporters, which he can use by himself instead being dependent upon others to be pushed in a heavy old clunker. You can see the smile lighting up his face. Have you ever seen such a smile? At present, Jutta is trying to arrange surgery for his arm.

Another new student, Yonas, who was only able to walk on the tips of his toes, due to ligament and muscle problems has also travelled to Nice for surgery. He has now returned and will begin retraining his muscles to walk and run like the other children.

Two brothers who have severe asthma are now receiving cortisone treatment and have modern inhalation devices to assist them.

All the children are having eye examinations and one little girl, Hanna, has been found to have only 20% vision in one eye. She will wear an eye patch over her good eye in order to strengthen the weak one.

I have saved the most exciting news for last. After almost two years of searching for a compound on which to build her new school and rehabilitation centre, Jutta has found a beautiful property not far from her home. This property has been rented by the Sisters of Mother Teresa for more than 30 years. The Sisters are so impressed by Jutta’s work that they have invited her to share their property and buildings, train their staff, and take 20 of their students. She will renovate the buildings to accommodate the needs of her diverse student population and to provide live-in arrangements for many of them.

How else to end this story for the moment but to say God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.