By: Tara Shuler, US Board Member
Back in January, while many were focused on new year resolutions, a fresh start in 2019 and leaving the old in 2018, I was preparing to travel to Ethiopia with the Addis Jemari (AJ) Admin team! Each time I travel to Ethiopia, I am filled with excitement and anticipation of how I will make an impact on the ground. When you land in Addis Ababa, you immediately begin to witness the hustle and bustle of Ethiopian life. In the middle of the hustle and bustle, however, Addis Ababa provides the opportunity for visitors like us to slow down and appreciate being in the moment.
During the one-week stay, there was a lot of work to be done with AJ, but I still felt that I was moving at a slower pace than my daily activity in the US, which was a welcomed break. As a member of the admin team, some of the tasks we assisted with included: creating tracking documents for the Family Empowerment Program (FEP), piloting the Financial Literacy curriculum to the AJ Girls and staff at the AJ Home, and meeting with members of the Ethiopian Board of Directors.
As a Board member from the US side, this trip provided me with an opportunity to observe and participate in some of the administrative operations in Ethiopia. In my observation, getting the work of Addis Jemari accomplished is complex and multi-faceted. Imagine that you need signatures on an important legal document here in the US. You would most likely email the document and the recipient would use DocuSign and be able to return it almost immediately. This same task, however, unfolds differently in Ethiopia. I witnessed the AJ Program Director needing signatures from several Ethiopian Board members on a document and having to physically go to each board member to get it signed. (Keep in mind that Addis Ababa is a huge city with almost 4 million people. The amount of traffic is massive.)
Normally it would take a full day or two of the program manager’s work week because he would have to take public transport to get each signature. Public transport means long taxi lines, sometimes waiting hours in line. Fortunately, while we were there, the admin team had hired a private van service for our trip, so, unlike other days, the Program Manager was able to get the necessary signatures in just a few hours. Hopefully, in the near future, the transportation problem will be solved when Addis Jemari is able to secure funding to buy a company car, which would significantly improve its admin and program work.
Travel to Ethiopia has a way of making you look at your work and your relationships through a different lens upon your return to the US. After this trip, I reflected on one take away, and that was “being intentional to focus on the things within my ability to change or impact and not to stress over the things outside of my control.” The AJ Ethiopian staff and US Admin staff consistently demonstrated a level of tenacity that allows them to adjust to unforeseen challenges that arise or changes in the planned schedule.
To accomplish work, one must first build relationships. The social worker for the FEP, for example, shared that in order to successfully gain the trust of the women and families enrolled in the program, we must focus on building the relationships. Addis Jemari’s staff knows that building relationships take time and it’s time well spent to develop the solid foundation for the success of its programs.
Sharing our talents and time is an exciting thing to do for most of us! If you are interested in experiencing Ethiopia by the sharing of your time and talents, please consider traveling on an upcoming mission team that AJ organizes from November 6 to 14, 2019, which I will be leading. Please submit an interest form via the Addis Jemari website by visiting https://addisjemari.org/go/.