It's been exactly one year since our U.S. staff have been to Ethiopia. So it was encouraging to once again be with our staff and students in Hosanna and Ottoro this past February. Thank you to everyone who prayed for our health and safety. 

 

While new international travel restrictions added some complexity to our trip, there were no problems in meeting the new requirements. In addition, planes and airports were full of travelers resuming their personal and business trips. 

 

While visiting Ottoro, our staff was able to connect with the local elders and discuss current and future projects at Adams Thermal Academy Ottoro and in the community as well. In Hosanna, we had the opportunity to share details about our programs with representatives from the Hadiya Zone Ministry of Education as well as the Ministry for Women's Empowerment. 

 

While in the capital of Addis Ababa, we worked on team-building and equipping our management team. Several of our managers travelled from Hosanna and Ottoro to participate in these meetings. After our morning work sessions, we had the opportunity to visit a couple of the new national parks: Entoto Park on Entoto Mountain outside of Addis Ababa and Unity Park, located on the premises of the historical Grand Palace in Addis Ababa. We'll share more about these incredible new attractions in future social media posts. 

 

Another accomplishment from our trip in February was the creation of updated photos and video of our schools from the perspective of an aerial drone. This was the first time we've ever had access to a drone in Ethiopia, so we had the opportunity to collect images that were not only from a higher elevation, but also in high definition 4K quality. 

 

There are many more stories that we'll be sharing in the weeks to come. So keep watching our social media feed and share it with others. In addition, we're looking forward to once again hosting supporters and new visitors to Ethiopia in 2021!