And we're off

Tomorrow we (Mom, Grace and I) leave for Kenya and Ethiopia. We will spend a few days in Kenya and take some medical supplies to our church's project in Nakuru.

In Ethiopia, we will visit with Yohannes Gebregeorgis, one of CNN's top ten heroes for 2008. An interview with Yohannes is here. He is an amazing man and I can't wait to learn about his many projects in Ethiopia.

This is a link to one of his projects, Ethiopia Reads. He also founded the Ethio-American Friendship School in Awassa near where Abera is from. Ethiopia's adult literacy rate is a dismal 36% while neighboring Kenya's is 74%.

We will visit Abera's family while we are in Awassa. I am looking forward to reconnecting with them, though I know they will be disappointed we don't have Abe with us. The soccer coach at Steve's school donated many soccer balls that we will take to them and share with the school in Awassa as well. I can't wait to see how excited the kids will be when they see the soccer balls!

I will try to post from time to time about our adventures.