To Be Thankful

A happy belated thanksgiving to you all! Here in Ethiopia, our thanksgiving meal was pretty “authentic” given our significant food limitations … alright our chicken did resemble an emaciated skinned rat… but it was surprisingly tender by Ethiopian poultry standards. Our table was piled with wonderful dishes--from cornbread stuffing and cranberries (thanks Mom Panzer!), to mashed sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie! We even drank “export quality” Ethiopian wine (uhhh, make that alcoholic vinegar). We have yet to figure out where the market is for exported Ethiopian wine...

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Ethiopia places a whole new emphasis on the meaning of this holiday. Every day we’re reminded of the thousands of things that we can be thankful for. From a healthy family and wonderful friends, to clean drinking water and hot showers…. and, of course, the opportunity to try to make a difference (even if it is ever so insignificant) in the world. I think maybe it is this fact that I’m most thankful for this year… to have the opportunity to be reminded every day of just how lucky I am.

In the spirit of being thankful, we also want to express thanks to all of our loving and supportive family and friends. We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives. After our most recent request for children’s clothing and blankets, we were totally overwhelmed by the generosity and response! Our shelves are now stocked full of clothing supplies for our malnourished children.

Of course, as an under-resourced clinic in rural Ethiopia, we could always use more… medicines, equipment, food for our orphans, vaccines. Like all too many non-profits we are facing a 30% reduction in donations this year, which makes meeting the needs of the community increasingly more difficult. We are just one of many organizations struggling to make ends meet in the face of diminishing portfolios and stagnant donations. So we thought we would take a moment to encourage everyone to consider giving in a different way this year… and donate financially to one of the countless organizations struggling to help others in these difficult times.

We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!