Hi All,
You received this email because you have indicated a possible interest in traveling with us to visit Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Southern Ethiopia.
I am not yet free to share details, but HUGE things are happening at FOVC! It's amazing! And it's time to start planning!
If you want to read/learn more about FOVC, then please visit their blog at http://fovcethiopia.wordpress.com/. Desalegn Daka, our friend and the founder of FOVC, is also very active on Facebook.
At this time, we are looking at potential dates to travel. The options currently under consideration are these:
- December 29, 2010 to January 8, 2011
- January 2, 2011 to January 12, 2011
- March 10, 2011 to March 20, 2011
We expect to be gone for about 10 days. Currently, airfare is running about $1500 per person for all of these dates. I do not yet have in-country travel, food or lodging costs, but I have reason to believe the trip will run approximately $2500. A board member is working on getting 501c3 status for FOVC, which--I believe--will make our expenses tax deductible.
"What would we do in Ethiopia?" you ask.
We expect to spend the first couple of days in Addis Ababa. This is the capitol city of Ethiopia. We will stay at a guest house there, rest up and do some sight-seeing. There will also be opportunities to visit Children's Heaven (http://www.childrensheaven.org/), the leper community that is located in Addis, the world-renowned Fistula Hospital and possibly a service opportunity or two.
Next, we will travel approximately 5 hours south to the small city of Sodo. I am hoping we will stay in the new motel there. During our time with FOVC, we will be based in Sodo.
FOVC is located in the village of Shanto, approximately a 30 minute drive from Sodo. At the time of our trip, FOVC will be working on building its new orphanage facility. We will help with this project. We will also deliver much-needed supplies to the children there. Finally, our presence will provide life-changing support and encouragement to the orphans, vulnerable children, FOVC staff and villagers of Shanto.
In addition to the things we hope to accomplish for FOVC and the village of Shanto, I know the children and the villagers desire to welcome us with a festival, cultural dancing, street races and etc.
After three or four days in Shanto, we will travel back to Addis via the beautiful lake country of Ethiopia. You can expect to see hippos, monkeys, baboons and more.
And, or course, wherever we go in the country, you will see the beautiful, warm, welcoming people of Ethiopia.
If you decide to join us for this adventure, you will never be the same!
Please let me know if you have questions, and if you are interested in the possibility of traveling with us. Once we learn who is interested, we will need to set the dates for our trip.
I am praying that we will find a "medical type" person to travel with us. This could be a nurse, nurse practitioner, pharmacist, etc. Based on our family's travel experiences, it would be very beneficial to have a medical professional on our team. Also, a "medical type" could really serve the people we will meet in Shanto, too.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts, insights and questions! For those of us who travel together, I look forward to planning and preparing for this trip.
With love,
Lory
4 comments:
What an amazing opportunity! Some day, I would very much like to go & serve in this capacity. Best wishes as you plan!
Oh boy, I wish I could go. We just brought our son home 4 months ago, though, so it doesn't work at this point in my life. I will pray instead. We visited our sponsored child at Children's Heaven when we went, and let me tell you, that place and Hanna, they're just phenomenal. I am so thankful we had the opportunity to go there and meet the girls. I cried like a baby.
What supplies will you be taking, and are you needing specific donations?
Lory, I think I found out about FOVC on facebook... I think. LOL. I can't really remember!
Hanna is amazing. We want her to come visit us next time she's in the states. She and my husband are both dairy farmers. It was pretty funny to go all the way to ethiopia and still hear him talking about farming.
I will be praying, and would love to stay in touch, and help out if possible. My email is reneestauffer AT hotmail DOT com
the March trip sounds like a possibility for me, although I'm hosting EOR's March fundraiser on March 5th, so I may be too buried in the paperwork that follows to go. Still, it would be so awesome to jump on a plane and deliver the funds directly. Must think about this...
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