The Cunningham Foundation Blog

Step by Step Walkathon

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:23:00 GMT

THE JOURNEY OF FEEDING 1000 MOUTHS BEGINS WITH YOUR STEPS

The Cunningham Foundation is pleased to announce the Step by Step Walkathon, November 16-21. It is 8,325 miles from Denver, Colorado to Yetebon, Ethiopia. The goal is to bridge that distance by raising funds to help support students in Yebeton with meals, school supplies and clothing.

There is magic in every mile - with the help of you, your friends and family, we can turn these steps into improving the lives of children in Yetebon, Ethiopia.

To kick off the week long event, Governor Bill Ritter has committed to walking the first mile of this epic undertaking. Governor Ritter will kick off this event by walking a mile on a treadmill at the State Capitol on Mon. Nov 16th 9:00-10:00am. When the Step by Step goal is reached, Governor Ritter will challenge the Governors of the other 49 states to join this amazing event!

Also, the Colorado chapter of DECA, a national organization for secondary students enrolled in Marketing Education, has already issued the challenge to over 7,000 of their members through the Quarters for Kids program!

You can join in the fun and help make a huge difference in the lives of those struggling with the basics of life in Yebeton too by securing pledges for every mile you walk, run, jog or move!

So get busy, challenge friends, schools, teachers, parents, and businesses - to participate in the rewarding joy of service, competitive spirit and become empowered to make a difference in the lives of others.

Visit http://www.cunninghamfoundation.org to find out more and to make your pledge to begin this ambitious and compassionate journey.

Website Undergoing Major Overhaul

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:12:00 GMT

We are very excited to be overhauling the Cunningham Foundation website. We are implementing a ton of features in the next couple of weeks, but first and foremost - we have almost finished our completely new look and feel for the site as well as some new areas like Photos and Videos.

We have a lot of new content that will be pushed out to the website and we are looking forward to getting lots of feedback!

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection: Nicole Oudenhoven

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:09:00 GMT

A Reflection by Nicole Oudenhoven

We are hot and sweaty and crammed into a once-white min van that is now coated in a thick film of dust. The air in the van is thick with the Ethiopian dirt that was stirred up as we made our way to the school, and the faint smell of vomit hangs in the air. The road we traveled to get here, if you can call it a road, was so bumpy that our bottoms are now sore from repeatedly being ejected from the seats. The earlier part of our five-hour journey was filled with jokes, laughter, and conversations that passed the time, but for the past hour little has been said.

As we eagerly exit the van, we take in our surroundings. The school campus consists of four concrete buildings large enough to hold two thousand students at once. The entire school consists of four thousand, but only half come at a time. On the wall of one of the buildings there are faded paintings of thinks that pertain to various educational subjects: a human body with anatomy labeled, a map of the world, the parts of a flower, and the English alphabet. In the center of the four buildings there is a grassy area, a sort of courtyard or field, where children have stopped their playing to stare at us, the foreigners. We are met with curious, cautious eyes, but our smiles are returned when we offer them. With each smile we give, the children come closer and closer, until their fear is replaced with trust, and they beg us over and over to take pictures of them. Here, the simple act of snapping a photograph can turn into a frenzy of children who swarm you and ask for you to take, "One photo! One photo!"

On the far side of the campus, we see the library, our destination. As we enter the building, we are struck by the smell of fresh-cut wood from the new furniture. The light brown wood shines on each of the ten long tables that serve as desks, and each table has six chairs to match. The library is void of students except for one table in the back where five children huddle around a stack of books, reading out loud in English. They read slow, and their voices are thick with the Ahmaric accent, but nonetheless, they can read.

The principal of the school wears one of the biggest smiles, and he immediately approaches us to embrace.

"Thank you," he says. "Thank you again and again for this wonderful gift."

The gratitude he feels for us is so great that it causes some of us to cry. In America, we take the simple action of being able to go to the library for granted, but here, having books to read is a privilege.

The principal's face glows, and he continues to smile from ear to ear as he says, "This school has been here for forty years. In all those years, this is our first library. Thank you."

There are four words to describe the reason we are here: Noel and Tammy Cunningham. For seven years they have been coming to Ethiopia to improve the living conditions for those who live here. They are the people who inspired the Colorado donors to raise money for this library at this school. They believe in connecting the developed world to the developing world, and we have just experienced first-hand one of the many ways this is done.

Like the principal of the remote school in Ethiopia, we are gracious for our opportunity. We are grateful to have been able to experience the magical works of Noel and Tammy Cunningham, and maybe we will be inspired to devote our lives, as they have done, to helping people in need in Ethiopia.

BBC article about donkey libraries

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:30:00 GMT

The BBC published an article today talking about the donkey libraries that Ethiopia Reads operates in cities all around Ethiopia.

While on our most recent trip, we had the opportunity to hang out around one of these amazing innovations in literacy development in Awasa. Here are some of my photos...

Incredible experience.

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection: Julia George

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:37:00 GMT

A Reflection by Julia George

I remember having lunch and Meeting noel for the first time, I went to lunch with work colleagues. Noel was talking to them about being more involved with Ethiopia reads. He spoke passionately about Ethiopia Reads, the country of Ethiopia and about these bracelets that raise money…. After 3 years of doing political and charitable fundraising, I felt truly inspired for the first time in a long long time. I listened to Noel, glanced at the pictures, my boss and life as I knew it, melted away. My life had just changed and it wasn't an explosion of wow, more like a nudge from the universe. An opportunity I had craved had arrived.

At the time I was working for the Democratic National Convention Host committee and in the process of raising $55,000,000 for that endeavor. In addition I was raising money for the Obama campaign in my personal time. A few close friends knew how frustrated I was with the huge sums of money for the convention and actually of the American political process as a whole. Each quarter extortionate sums of money were announced for each of the Presidential nominee campaigns; a necessary evil yet it was hard for me to comprehend an individual or campaign raising millions each quarter, surely that could build schools, solve the homeless problem. It was my world and yet it was incomprehensible.

I knew after meeting Noel and listening to him that I wanted to be a part of the passion he described. I formulated an email the day after that lunch and asked many of the wealthy people in my circle for money for Ethiopia Reads. 2 people responded. Many of these people had given $1000 and $10,000 for political candidates. I was not deterred. My disappointment motivated me. I knew Noel and Tammy were taking a group to Ethiopia, I had heard about it at lunch that day and wanted to go. It was the antidote to the excess I was surrounded with in my fundraising world.

The next piece of this puzzle in my journey to Ethiopia is............I knit. Its therapy. It’s a great love. It has taught me patience and it enables me to practice something that I find difficult. Finishing. I am sure there are a myriad of reasons why I find it difficult to experience completion in many things in my life but through knitting I can.

When my knitting skills were discovered by Noel and Tammy I was asked to teach knitting while I was there and help add another fundraising component to the Cunningham Foundation through the knitting of scarves and teaching kids how to knit scarves. Step one was to teach basic knitting, deliver yarn and knitting needles to Ethiopia, a lot more is needed but the first step has been made.

The next step in my journey was October 29th at strings at a lunch with Dr Hodes. I went to the lunch feeling great that I was raising money for a library, feeling I was ‘making a difference’ and the lunch on 10/29 brought me back to planet earth. Hearing Dr Hodes speak about the difference he was making, the kids he was adopting, the money HE was raising, the surgeries he was doing, this philanthropy floored me. As a human being, he is in a higher realm.

At this stage I knew I was going to Ethiopia. I had no fear, yet the lunch at Strings with Dr Hodes had made me realize the gift this experience could give me. The lunch did excite me even further about my upcoming departure for Ethiopia. I started to think about the possible poverty that I would see. Nothing really prepared me at all as it turns out.

Upon arrival in Ethiopia the sense of family there is evident and immediate. Ethiopians are very openly affectionate to the same sex, friends hold hands – their arms rested on each others shoulders. Hannah, one of the amazing girls I traveled has said "there is an easiness of love in Ethiopia". At the arrival gate I couldn’t believe the level of affection. It seemed that a whole village had come to greet just one person at the airport. It was a level of connectedness and unity I had not expected. This was my first revelation about Ethiopia, many more were yet to come during my time in Ethiopia.

We had been in Ethiopia less than 24 hours, we visited the Sheraton Hotel. Even though we had been in this new reality and environment, the Sheraton stands out so much it almost hurts. The opulence, decadence, western world excess and greed. It felt offensive to be there after witnessing so much poverty. It was a shocking reminder of how easy we have it. I ordered pizza for lunch, ate half and was full. The rest of the pizza went to waste. I felt overwhelming guilt. It was the strangest feeling to be at this place, this homage to western society, especially when you could see poverty just over the 12ft ornate fence.

Our arrival at the Mother Teresa Orphanage was unforgettable. Our drive to the orphanage was about 45 minutes, lots of poverty along the streets, lots to come to terms with having just arrived in Ethiopia. The huge gate peeled back and the compound revealed itself. Upon entering the hospital facility we were shown around their very limited medical facilities. The kids were extremely curious, vibrant and I wished I was able to speak their language so I could have understood the excited and animated conversations they were having. We were shown to the baby room, cribs with sick children, it was too much to bear – seeing IV's in the neck or head because they are so malnourished their veins are not properly formed. So alone. A room full of sick alone children – we had heard previous stories but it felt impossible to be seeing what my eyes showed me.

We walked down to the school, kids clamoring to the window to get a glimpse of the 'forengys' - one of the kids asked where we were from, we said America and I'll never forget one of the grade 4 boys shouting Obama's name. I'm in the middle of Ethiopia at an orphanage for children with HIV/ Aids and this kid knows who Obama is. Having just finished working on the Democratic National Convention for 3 years, this moment is not lost on me. I feel like writing to Obama and letting him know that not only does America and the rest of the world have high hopes for him, so does a 9 year old boy with Aids in Ethiopia. The lighthearted moment is short lived until we enter the toddler room. 40-50 HIV kids clamoring for physical affection. So many kids without parents. The feeling was jarring. As we walked out of the compound I reached for the small bottle of hand sanitizer in my bag. I felt like I was washing away any love or affection I had just given, it’s a feeling difficult to describe but there was definetly guilt involved.

Our journey moved further south of Addis Ababa, about 3 hours to Yetebon and Project Mercy. In many ways I felt like I was on my grandparents property. Sprawling, enclosed, natural and nurturing.

I have two enduring memories of the stay at Project Mercy. The first of which was one morning I was talking with some of the girls I taught knitting to in the afternoons; I told her that I would be coming by after school to knit again and she told me that was not possible because there was a funeral.

I asked her if the funeral was for a family member and she went on to tell me that the funeral was for the mother of one of her teachers – that the entire school and surrounding families/ villagers went because the more people that go to the funeral – it helps lessen the grief of the 'sad person'.

The sense of family at Project Mercy and in my limited experience in Ethiopia will stay with me forever, the Project Mercy Family, the Mother Teresa family and the family that Dr Hodes has created. The ties that bind are not blood but the recognition that we really are all one. The children of Ethiopia have an emotional intelligence and ease of love. Their life is so hard but they make it look so easy. Their smiles are as big as their hearts. Poverty, disease and illiteracy all need to be erased in Ethiopia – its simple, its cheap; yet the Ethiopians have something that can never be bought, a sense of community, family and connectedness that we have lost with blackberries, TV and internet.

During our stay at Project Mercy, one of my favorite things was to be in the kitchen when the kids came in for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Serving a cup full of porridge. Giving a piece of bread. My most poignant and powerful moment during our Ethiopian travels was serving lunch one day with Noel. The bread basket kept emptying and someone from the kitchen would come and fill it up. The basket emptied and no one came. I looked at Noel and the kitchen staff to discover there was no more bread. I handed out the last piece, with another 150/ 200 kids in line. It’s a moment I will never forget - the Bread running out is etched in my mind forever. No riots broke out, no crying and stamping of feet, it would have made it easier. Instead, the deafening silence of poverty. The loud shuffle of resignation. The silence was painful. The empty basket unforgettable.

Since returning I have a fire for change.

I question my laziness after seeing 12 and 14 year old girls up at 5:30am to study in quiet on a damp field.
I question my bad days at work after seeing a six year old a herding goat and a cow all day.
I question my spending habits knowing that the average wage in Ethiopia is $100 a year.

I don't question that I feel compelled to do something!! so that:
a kid can have a piece of bread for lunch
a child bent over with a spine so disfigured can have surgery to stand up straight
an adult can learn a vocation
and that a child can go to school to help lead their country to be all that mine already is.

Since returning I am working on the first annual Hope Ball. I am committed to building a legacy event/ annual fundraising stream for the Cunningham Family Foundation. I have been asked why? why the fire. And here is the answer. Noel invite me to Strings to meet with Dr Hodes 2 days before the lunch. He asked me to make a red and white scarf in time for the lunch, I never did. At the lunch I felt so small. Noels' disappointment. The guilt trip. Dr Hodes. Sick children. I had not realized the magnitude of what making one scarf could have done for that lunch. The red and white scarf may not have made a difference that day, but I was asked to do something so small that 'could' mean so much for one country or one child. I experienced that sensation again during the incident when the bread ran out. I can do something so small and simple to make a difference. Raising money for me is simple. Knitting and teaching knitting is simple. I want to be able to do all that I am able to, not because I should but because I can.

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection: Natalie Villa

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:01:00 GMT

A Reflection by Natalie Villa

This year getting to go to Ethiopia was totally unexpected. I entered into the video contest not really sure if I wanted to go to Africa, but when they told me that I got to go I was excited. I wasn’t sure how to really prepare for that either.

Stepping off the plane in the Ethiopian airport was kinda crazy. It was so chaotic and busy. N my mind I was like great, I’m in this crazy place with a bunch of strangers, so going to the Ararat Hotel was interesting. I sort of got to see Addis; it really exceeded what I had gathered from the airport, I really thought that everyone lived in huts and walked around with no shoes. But I saw a city, a really modern city at that.

We then went to the first library, I was totally blown away. Although the library wasn’t to American standards it was still way nicer that I ever expected. After seeing the children I think I was really hit with “Oh my God, this is really real!” I don’t think I can fully explain how it felt to read to children from a totally different place. The best way to really describe it is by saying I was reading to this girl from another place but it somehow felt like I was readying to my brothers and sisters at home. It was just as powerful and meaningful as when I read to them.

The other thing that was also very powerful was seeing the children at Mother Teresa’s Aids Orphanage. It was crazy to me to see that these children wanted so much attention from us. I’ve never been to an orphanage in the United States but I feel like there are major differences in the way the children are I really felt like the children in Ethiopia were far more hopeful than those in America. I mean I know there’s no way to really tell but their demeanor is different. I don’t just feel that way about the children at the orphanage but throughout this country.

All the places I’ve been to it really seemed like the children want to learn. Just at the classes at Project Mercy, almost every hand went up to answer the question. Not to say children in the U.S. aren’t excited to learn, it’s just not as accessible at our schools back home. At times I felt like I could understand to a small very small degree. What it was like for them. Coming from one of the poorer schools, I know what it’s like to not have enough books for class or not be able to do experiments. As I was talking to the students from Cherry Creek I realized I had an advantage over them, I was able to understand some of the smaller challenges they face. I know that I still have it way easier than any child in Ethiopia, yet I can see why school work is hard to do.

I feel that I can take that experience of seeing the similarity between our school and how that to people at my school. I feel like the students at my school will understand some of the Ethiopian hardships through their own personal problems within the school. I think the idea that 60 students are in one class sharing books will hit home for them. Not necessarily to the same degree but still the same. I think the idea that there aren’t enough teachers will really make them see, I feel like the students at my school will understand how difficult it is at our school therefore they understand even more vividly, how absolutely difficult it is for children in Ethiopia.

I am so grateful I was able to go on this trip. I‘ve never in my life seen anything like this. I’ve never experienced the things I’ve experienced here. It’s almost like Ethiopia is a completely different world yet we have some similarities. I am truly astonished to see the type of life that is lived here. It was crazy to see how much one or two people can really make the difference. It exceeded any and all expectations. I was really touched to see that the video I made wasn’t for nothing, I can help Ethiopia and the children become better. I am so excited to see what else may come. I feel like me entering into the contest and winning wasn’t chance. And I plan to help change or improve some of what I’ve seen here. So be ready for Montbello to help in all that we can. Like I said, I am so grateful for this trip and the experiences I’ve had. I hope to keep some part of what I’ve experienced with me always.

Thank you so much

Natalie Villa

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection w/ Photos: Carrie Besnette

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:39:00 GMT

A Reflection w/ Photos by Carrie Besnette

Reflections from 2008 Ethiopia Trip with the Cunningham Foundation:

The best way to share my reflections is through photos. Included here are some highlights from this experience with brief descriptions. The faces of the children tell the story better than I can.

Additionally, I share an excerpt from a recent UNESCO article comparing the multi-billion-dollar response to save the banking industry to the urgency (or lack thereof) paid to "...ensuring social justice, fairness, and the right to educational opportunity for the world's most vulnerable population groups."

...The circumstances into which children are born, their gender, the wealth of their parents, their language or the colour of their skin should no longer define their educational opportunities and ending inequality's 'lottery by birth' is perhaps one the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. The challenge is one that concerns all nations, since in a globalized world poverty and suffering do not remain confined within borders, but spill over in the form of conflict for scarce resources, mass migration and environmental degradation.

The response to the financial crisis demonstrates what governments can accomplish when faced with extraordinary times. But if they carry on failing to tackle deep and persistent inequalities in education, targets set by the international community will be missed in some cases by spectacular margins. Most importantly, millions of children around the world will continue to be consigned to lives of poverty and diminished opportunity....

http://portal.unesco.org/unesco/ev.php?URL_ID=43974&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1229753752

Thank you Tammy and Noel, for shining a spotlight on one special part of the world and lighting a fire under others to make a difference.

--Carrie A. Besnette, December 2008

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection: Laurie Maves

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:04:00 GMT

A Reflection by Laurie Maves

November 29, 2008

I am writing my reflections on the plane from Rome to D.C. – I decided this is as good as anytime. First I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me this brilliant opportunity to travel with your group of 21 people this year. What an amazing and diverse group of people who all seemed to embrace this special, special chance to learn some great lessons about themselves, about the world, about Ethiopians, and about grace.

I have said before, but I did have a deep knowing and understanding that I would be making this trip the night Tammy and I met. Tammy you have been more than inspirational to me at this point in my life – when the student is ready, the teacher appears and there you were, Noel, thank you for trusting Tammy in allowing me to join you all. The art experiences the group art, experiences for all the children and sites involved, from the murals in the bead room, mouse room and the map, to the DECA Library – even to the small amount of time I was able to draw with the older girls at the Mother of Teresa Aids Orphanage, all these experiences were amazing gifts for the children as well as some of the best art therapy “work” I am sure I have ever facilitated and participated in. Especially at the DECA Library to witness the open eagerness of the students to be able to handle brushes, paints and make their own personalized mark on a wall-showed that the mural work was not only therapeutic and gift giving in its process but also in its end product where hopefully thousands will benefit by meditating on the mural and coming to understand that there are others in the world working hard so that they can achieve the successes that are due to them in this lifetime.

Tammy and Noel, I saw so many things that the trip was such a whirlwind sometimes, I don’t know what to reflect on. I think each experience all has such amazing and differing values for the children and the future of Ethiopia. The beads, the knitting, the education, the books, the art skills, they are all crucial elements that you, as The Cunningham Foundation, help bring to the world. Your gifts to the children keep giving – but also the gift of this trip will inevitably keep giving to the team you selected this year in 2008.

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. My commitment to you is to work on a way to make a small library happen from myself and my family and network of friends and to hopefully paint future murals with the children of Yetebon or beyond.

Laurie Maves
11/29/08

2008 Ethiopia Trip Reflection: Hannah Merten

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:47:00 GMT

A Reflection by Hannah Merten

I still remember the day just about a year ago that I was filing into a dark auditorium, content on settling into my chair and getting some math homework done. I sat there with my aerobics class; we were supposed to watch a presentation about the Cunningham Foundation, whatever that was. Of course I cared about Africa, I always had. But on that particular Friday, I was just happy to not have to get dressed for gym.

That short hour in the auditorium was quite possibly the most important hour of my life, for I see now that the Cunningham Foundation has completely changed who I am. After seeing Noel’s presentation at Creek I began feeling this inexplicable tug on my heart. It wasn’t even that I just wanted to help. It wasn’t a normal reaction. For some reason I had yet to discover, I began to NEED to help the kids I had seen in the video. I NEEDED to help Africa in any way I could. When I saw posters advertising a Four Quarters For Kids club at Creek I couldn’t have been more excited. I turned up at the meeting with a group of giggly friends who didn’t really truly get it. The group listened to Jordan Junge talk about Ethiopia and I began to feel that familiar tug, that need to help.

When I heard about the video contest I initially decided that it was a great idea, but that it was meant for someone else. After all, I had never been particularly video-savvy. But before I knew it, I found myself toying with ideas about a video for the contest. I just kept remembering something Noel had said during his speech at Creek : “For a student at Creek, a quarter might not even be important enough to pick up off the ground”. I guess the rest is history :)

The following months passed by in a blink. I remember telling countless family friends about this incredible trip I was going to take but never truly being able to explain it. After all, I had no idea what to expect—I had never even been to Mexico. I anticipated the trip for months and months without even really knowing what to expect. I even think I tried to make a point of not having any expectations. But eventually I found myself on a plane due to land in Ethiopia in about ten minutes. I turned to Noel and was delighted to see him with a huge boyish grin on his face, doing a little dance (it was a dance that I saw a lot of during the trip!). He turned to me, perhaps sensing my nerves, and said, “Your whole world will change as soon as you get off this plane”. Oh, it did.

Immediately upon stepping off the plane I began to understand what Tammy had meant by ‘Ethiopian time’. But after being hassled by customs, loading our luggage, and finally arriving at the Ararat, I felt ready to really see Ethiopia. I was ready to see the world as I never had before. And I did—that very next day, I was forced to confront my definition of wealth. In a material sense, I was devastated to see just how little these people could live upon. Really truly having nothing is just not something we can understand in America. Poor people in America are rich. On the other end of the spectrum, I was absolutely appalled by the grandeur of the Addis Sheraton. I still don’t understand how Ethiopia can justify such a palace in the midst of such desolate poverty. I also found, however, that Ethiopians have quite a different definition of wealth. I was amazed at the easiness of love in Ethiopia. Groups of children would just run up to me to smile at me and grab my hand. They weren’t asking for money. They weren’t asking for anything but love. This was especially evident at the Mother Teresa’s orphanage and Chavel’s library. At the library, I had been reading to a little girl for fifteen minutes before I realized that we had been holding hands the entire time. It is that easy flow of love that was so pleasantly surprising to me. I realize upon returning to the United States just how cool we really are to each other in comparison. It is that warmth that I think I miss the most :(

Though I learned a lot in Addis, I was thrilled to finally arrive at Project Mercy. Project Mercy is a beautiful place in so many ways. Again, I became very attached to the easy love of not only the Ethiopians but also the members of our group. We all really began to bond those first few nights at Project Mercy. For the first time during the trip, I really felt right, I felt at home. I can really see myself spending a year teaching English at Project Mercy at some point in the near future. I was just so impressed at how hard the classes really were. This is not some sort of a joke of a school—these kids really do learn complex things—the classes were just like some I would take at Creek. I was also so impressed by the work ethic of the students. These kids work so hard just to try to give themselves a future. Every day of school is a gift; it’s a chance for them to become smarter, a chance for them to pass that exam, a chance at a better life. Being home has been really hard in that aspect; I can’t even count the number of times I hear ‘I hate school’ in the course of a day. It just sickens me how little we appreciate the incredible gift that is our education.

One really hard realization for me was the bread at Project Mercy. In America, if you run out of something, there’s always more. Someone can always go grab a few loaves of bread from the back. At Project Mercy, it’s not like that. If they run out of bread, there is no more bread. At the same time, upon entering the lunch room, I was mobbed by kids who were trying to give me a piece of their bread, even with the knowledge that there is no guarantee of bread at the next meal. That is that easy Ethiopian love than I miss so much.

Awassa was another great experience. Seeing Gabe and Kelli so overwhelmed with emotion at the scope of their accomplishments was just incredible. They gave 4500 kids a library who had not had one for 45 years. THAT is amazing. I left Awassa so incredibly inspired. I know how great of an impact a library can truly have now. And I know without a doubt that we can do it.

Being home is bizarre, to be completely honest. I feel far stranger in America than I ever did in Ethiopia. The fact of the matter is that Ethiopia completely changed me—I look at everything differently now. There is a distinct pre-Africa Hannah and a distinct post-Africa Hannah. That is why being home has been so difficult. I am a completely different person, but I have been forced to return to my pre-Africa life. Needless to say, things don’t really fit anymore. This problem is particularly evident with my friends. Ever since Africa, I can pick an Old Soul out from a New Soul almost instantly and I’m trying very hard not to judge. It isn’t really their fault that they don’t understand it—they will eventually.

But more than anything else, I have felt such an overwhelming tide of gratitude for everything that I have that I never even appreciated. I have a warm house that doesn’t flood in the rain. I have my own car, and I don’t need to put a ‘no weapons’ sticker on the window. I have the opportunity to earn a great education and I don’t need to worry about having to leave school early to help my parents make enough money to sustain my family. More than anything else, I have a family that loves me. A complete family with both parents, two siblings, and a cat. And I have the knowledge that all of them will have a good life. And, lastly, I had the experience of a lifetime all thanks to the Cunningham Foundation.

We returned to America just in time to see this year’s speakers at Creek Human Rights Awareness Day. I filed into the auditorium once again, but as a completely different person than I was a mere year ago. This time, instead of settling in to hopefully finish a little math homework, I sat down with ears and heart open. I took a breath through my heart and listened to thoughts so much wiser and so much worldlier than those of only one year ago. Thank you Noel, thank you Tammy. Thank you Ethiopia. I have more love for the three of you than you can possibly imagine :)

Laurie Maves Fundraiser - Poppies for Ethiopia

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:00:00 GMT

Denver-based artist, Laurie Maves, produced a series - Poppies for Ethiopia - which she is selling to raise money to travel to Ethiopia with us on the 2008 trip. The following is an excerpt from her website:

The following Poppy Paintings are available for purchase for a minimum donation of $500. All proceeds will benefit the Cunningham Foundation which assists Project Mercy in Yetebon, Ethipoia, by providing breakfast, lunch, education, uniforms and shoes to 1,500 children. Armed with school and art supplies, I will be traveling to Yetebon with the foundation in November 2008 and will be working with the local school children and teachers to help develop arts and creative learning programs. Paintings are now showing at Strings Restaurant located at 1700 Humbolt Street in Denver www.stringsrestaurant.com.

To purchase a Poppy Painting now, please use the following donation link:

Donate Here

From my Studio....

You can donate by clicking the following link:

Donate to Laurie Maves 2008 Trip

Donate Here

Kim Miles Fundraiser

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:14:00 GMT

Kim Miles, world famous bead artist, has decided to create a very inspiring fundraiser to collect funds to travel to Ethiopia on the 2008 Cunningham Foundation trip. Here is an excerpt from her website:

I have some super exciting news!
Rick and I have been invited to go to Ethiopia in November, to teach beadmaking for the
HOPE Bracelet Project! This is so amazing to me, to finally be able to meet the people we've
been working with all this time. This year, for the first time ever, there will be bracelets available made with beads from the Yetebon Studio at Project Mercy.
This is huge, as it means our goal of helping the HOPE Bracelet Project to become
self-sufficient is becoming a reality. More than ever, teachers and mentors are
needed there to encourage the students and help them become awesome, creative beadmakers.
This is where I come in!

As you might imagine, a trip like this is not inexpensive.
We don't want funds for the project used for our travel expenses, and we're not
wealthy volunteers who can actually afford to do this on our own.
We're just simple beadmakers, making our living bead by bead.

So, I'm going to hold a fundraiser here, and ask for your help in making this important trip possible.
I'm going through my personal jewelry collection now, and choosing some wonderful pieces that I think you'll love as much as I do. Once I have it set up with the Cunningham Foundation,
you'll be able to make donations, earmarked for our trip, directly to them.
Then, when we've reached our goal, I'll hold a
Thank-You Drawing for all the donors, and will give away several gorgeous, favorite necklaces.
Sure, it stings a bit to part with my own personal jewelry,
but this means a lot to me, so I'm happy to do it!
Keep checking here to find out when the event actually starts.
For now, here's a little preview of some of the jewelry you could win!

Donate to Kim Miles 2008 Trip

The Kim Miles Fundraiser is over, thank you all so much for your love and support.

Ethiopia Trip 2007: A Reflection from Tracy Smith

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:56:00 GMT

Words cannot express my gratitude for the experience that I have had traveling to Ethiopia. I went to Africa expecting to make a difference in the children’s lives there--feeding them, teaching them, playing with them. I expected them to have little intelligence because of their lack of education and to all be sad about their lives and how little they seemed to have. I went with the expectation of giving hope. I never thought that I would receive the greatest gift of all. Through this experience I have redefined love and happiness for myself, realized the power of human touch, and gained appreciation for all of the things in my life that until now had seemed insignificant. I am greatly changed by this trip and am so thankful for the opportunity I was given to make this journey.

The moment we arrived I learned something very important about Ethiopian culture. Patience is key. It took hours to get through customs and out of the airport yet we were the only ones complaining. I began to realize that in Ethiopia, the people are always just happy with what they have and what is going on at the time. In America, everyone is always concerned about what is going on somewhere else or what they are going to do later; we never fully appreciate what we are doing at the time.

The first few days in Addis were shocking and breathtaking. I had no idea how great the poverty was there. It overwhelms all of your senses; you can even almost smell it. It’s hard to describe to someone who has not been there, but Ethiopia has a certain smell that I cannot forget.

Hearing that Ethiopia is among the 5 poorest countries in the world is nothing like seeing the endless, overwhelming poverty first hand. I was shocked to see the poor and homeless everywhere in the city. Yes, in the US there are homeless people panhandling on street corners, but that doesn’t even compare to this. Women and children come up to the cars begging; they knock on your windows and just stare at you. You can see how sick they are by just looking at them. It’s heart wrenching to just sit there and watch knowing there is nothing you can do and if you give them even 1 burr (10 cents), your car will immediately be swarmed by others. It’s a terrible feeling… so helpless. Driving for so long you feel like eventually you will get to the richer part of town, or at least the middle class, but it never happens. It is just endless poverty.

In Addis, we visited a place that I will never forget; I don’t think a day has gone by when I haven’t thought about the children in the Mother Theresa Aids Orphanage. This place was filled with hundreds of children orphaned by AIDS and all of them have HIV/AIDS themselves. I expected the orphanage to be dim and depressing, yet it was almost the complete opposite. When we arrived, we were swarmed by probably 30 orphans who were so happy to see us. I will never forget their smiles. One little girl found me and did not want to let me go. She held onto me the whole time we were there and would kiss my hand and hold onto my leg like a child does to their mother. When it was time for us to leave, she jumped on me and gave me one of the best hugs I have ever had in my life. And then she told me she loved me. I don’t think I can describe it any better than Noel did when he said to the little girl, “You’re stealing hearts little one. You are.” This really made me think about the power of human touch. Sometimes that is all we have to give but it can be the most powerful gift of all.

Being in a place like that, full of hundreds of happy, smiling faces, and knowing that they are all filled with such an ugly disease and may not even live out the year was one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. In America we don’t value life enough. Any one of those orphans could be gone tomorrow, yet every single one of them values their life enough to go to school every day and live their life to the fullest. They are all constantly smiling and laughing and playing around with each other. I don’t think I saw a single one that looked sad or heard one complaint.

I met some of the most amazing, intelligent people on this trip. When we got to the Project Mercy school we went on a 5 hour hike to a waterfall guided by a few students from school. I talked to them about their studies, aspirations and goals, what they feel needs to change about Ethiopia, and their lives in general. I don’t think I have ever met so many people my own age with such big dreams; they don’t just want to make something meaningful out of their lives, but every single one that I talked to wants to go back to Ethiopia after college and make a difference. They are all so aware of the problems that their society has and all have different ideas about what needs to be done to fix it. They all want to help.

On the hike, we trekked through the mountains and were able to really see the way the Ethiopian people live. Thousands of people lived in these mountains and we saw them traveling to and from their homes, called toukles. These toukles consisted of one small circular room with a fire in the middle and little to no ventilation. At night, the family would bring their animals into the toukle and that is where they would all sleep. Many of the people we saw had no shoes; the women were often carrying big loads and the children were watching the goats, cows, or donkeys that the family owned. Throughout the hike our group seemed to increase as we got closer to the top. The children all seemed so curious about us and came along to laugh and make jokes about us “frengees” slipping and falling on the rocky path, as they with no shoes seemed to climb to the top with ease. At the top, everyone just played around with each other in the waterfall seeming just so happy to be alive.

Never have I seen students who wanted to be in the classroom as badly as they did in Ethiopia. The children there were so eager to learn. They packed themselves so tightly into the classrooms that they had three or even four students to one desk; they were almost piled on top of each other in the seats when they were all sitting down. When the teacher asked a question, they all jumped up ready and more than willing to answer. This was quite the contrast to the American classroom. Teachers in America have to try too hard to get the students to participate in class, let alone show up at all.

Before the trip I had watched the videos and understood that Project Mercy was a unique and beautiful place, but now having been there, I realize that I had no idea. The country is full of the most loving and caring people, who have taught me the most important things about life that I may ever learn. I would never have been able to learn these invaluable lessons from a book, but only through an experience like this.

I became very close to a few of the students at Project Mercy and learned a lot about their culture through them. They were so fascinated with our ipods and begin asking how much they cost. I was dumbfounded by the question and could not think of an adequate answer. I was just thinking “well they cost more than the average Ethiopian makes in three years, but no they are not too expensive, almost everyone in America has one.” After watching one of the Fergie videos the boys would not stop talking about how beautiful she was. Bedru, one of the boys, began explaining how everyone is beautiful because they came from God and that in itself makes them beautiful. I then began to reflect on American culture and how people put so much emphasis on what others look like on the outside and begin to judge them before even getting to know their personality at all. I now try to think about what Bedru taught me about people when I meet someone for the first time. I had so much fun with these boys, probably more fun than I have had with people in a very long time and I will never, ever forget them.

After my trip to Ethiopia, I now appreciate all of the little unnecessary luxuries I wake up to every day. Instead of worrying about what to wear, I am thankful that I have more than one thing to choose from… instead of complaining about having to wake up early to go to school, I am happy that I do not have to walk 2 hours there and back, maybe with no shoes… the list goes on and on.

Africa gave me a new appreciation for life; the things that once seemed most important to me, now take the back seat. It is very hard coming back and hearing all of the things that my fellow classmates are worrying and talking about. Through this experience, I have learned about love and the importance of showing those you love how much you care. Life is too valuable to play with and to worry about such silly things like what people are wearing, or who is dating who, etc. Now when I begin to worry about something so irrelevant, I cannot help but think about the children of Ethiopia, and tell myself to just be happy that I am alive. I wish that everyone in America could have the opportunity to realize how lucky they are and to be able to fully appreciate what they have.

Noel Cunningham Blacktie-Colorado Interview

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:16:00 GMT

Every once in a while I come across some great resources for the Foundation website; today I found an interview of Noel Cunningham that was done a while ago from Blacktie-Colorado - a website that helps nonprofit orgs in Colorado put on events and raise money.

Video Blog: Interview with ECHO Volunteer at Project Mercy

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:02:00 GMT

While we were in Ethiopia in November 2007, I had a chance to interview an inspirational volunteer from ECHO, Sarah, that committed six months to the Ethiopia Food Security Program. The plan included a tree grafting project to bring three fruit trees to 200,000 households. Here is the interview...

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4 Quarters for Kids Video Contest Event Photos and Recap

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:18:00 GMT

So quite an interesting turn of events took place last Friday at our 4 Quarters for Kids High School Video Contest - we decided that all 4 videos were worthy of winning and we have invited each student on our 2008 Ethiopia trip: Hannah Merten, Ari Bloom, Natalie Villa, and Andrea Nieto.

Here are some photos from the event

To recap, here are the videos: