Ethiopia

In November this past year I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia to help support a project that Food for the Hungry has been doing to help families and communities affected by the severe drought affecting the region over the last year. The main purpose of the trip was to oversee the progress of the project which has been supporting thousands of families with feed for their livestock (since there was no harvest of hay and other feed during the drought), access to clean water, and giving new goats and sheep to families who lost all of their animals and livelihood due to the drought.  I also had an opportunity to lead a short workshop on disaster risk reduction with some of the staff of FH Ethiopia. Hopefully this will be the first of other workshops we hope to do with FH Ethiopia staff this year to build their capacity to think strategically about how to help communities reduce disaster risk and build their resilience.

Ethiopia staff participating in an activity during our workshop

Much of my trip I spent riding around in a truck on rough roads to visit the project areas with staff from FH Ethiopia and a local partner organization. As we made our way down the winding roads, across the many hills and valleys,  I could see fields of sorghum, wheat and teff ready for harvest. Everywhere there were piles of golden hay gathered up into large circular mounds ready to be used as feed for livestock during the upcoming dry season. Every time we drove through a small town or village men, women and children could be seen taking their goats and sheep out to pasture, and in each of the herds little offspring were following their mothers.  

Sunset overlooking valley in Ethiopia

Typical home in North Ethiopia

Man walking his livestock out to pasture

But this was not the scene a year ago when Ethiopia was plagued by the worst drought in 50 years. From 2015-2016 the severe drought affected millions of people, devastating crops, and killing off livestock. But through Food for the Hungry many families have received essential support of food aid, feed to sustain their livestock, and replacement goats and sheep for the poorest families who lost all their livestock. Through the work of Food for the Hungry, over 30 water points were also rehabilitated to make sure that families have access to clean drinking water. Now that the rains have come again, the fields are ready for harvest and families are beginning to rebuild their sheep and goat herds. Food for the Hungry will continue to work in this area to support communities in improving their crop yields, caring for their livestock, and caring for educating their children.

Women collecting water at a spring FH is working to rehabilitate

Woman from community where FH project will restore water point. She said she was very happy that the water would be protected and clean again.

It was amazing to see first hand the work Food for the Hungry in this part of the world and see how this work is saving lives, but I was also amazed and blessed to see the spiritual investment Food for the Hungry staff are making in the lives of the poor in Ethiopia. As this project aimed to meet the physical needs of so many families, FH staff in Ethiopia also minister to the spiritual needs of the families and people they work with. By stopping along the way to talk with a family who had benefited earlier from a chicken project and to see how they were doing and keep them in their prayers, or by building friendships with staff from partner organizations, the FH Ethiopia staff I met were sharing God’s love in every step they made.  

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to visit another Food for the Hungry field, and understand the context and ministry better. As I continue to process all that I learned on this trip my hope and prayer is that God will continue to show me in my own work how I can best support the staff of FH Ethiopia as they continue to serve the poor and work to end physical and spiritual hungers in Ethiopia.