The Why

Emily left a great question on yesterday’s post: “Maybe this is a dumb question, but are you learning these skills to be able to live/eat in ET or to be able to teach others or for a business venture there?”

Great question and the answer is BOTH.

Many of the skills we are learning is for our sakes but also with a continual thought towards what can be applied on a larger scale and beneficial to the community.

Our model with SIM looks like this.

All three integrally important.

We are entering Ethiopia as Community Developers and this position is one that would be respected among the Awi people. Last week, while talking to an Ethiopian man, he told us that the “Awi people farm like Adam and Eve”.  We know there is a rich history in Injibara and centuries of wisdom and practices that have preserved the Awi and their traditions and we celebrate that wholeheartedly. We have no doubt we will daily learn much from them.

In addition, we hope to bring value to their community by possibly exposing them to small changes that can improve their crop yields, nutrition and positively affecting their every day life. I would love to be able to find something to teach the women that would encourage them to be in our home, working side-by-side, building relationships. Cheese making seems like a great fit as it would build relationships as well as improve the nutrition available to families. However, I can’t establish a need for cheese if they don’t want cheese. 

Prayerfully, we move and hope to discover what the Awi women would like to learn. Cross-cultural workers have told us that cheese is a powerful tool to preserve milk supply. However, we go to learn and discover the needs that the Awi people .

You can join us in praying about this. I so bad want to connect with these women.

 

And just for fun…A picture from a few weeks ago.