South Africa: Abomsa, Ethiopia and A Water Project Closing Ceremony

We were met at the airport by Elder and Sister Campbell and spent the night at their home.
The next day we left for an adventure of a lifetime for Public Affairs Missionaries. We went to
witness a Water Project hand-over and see into the life of Humanitarian Missionaries.

We enjoyed a lunch along the way of injera and spicy meat and vegetables. You might notice
we had an Ethiopian coke as well--no we did not drink the water here.

Grandpa was very concerned about getting sick so he's a little dubious here. But he ate, and enjoyed, and was fine. We then drove through the maniac traffic of Ethiopia.
There is one road that goes all the way to Djibouti and the Seaport and it is a mass of huge trucks.

We then continued on and the road became increasingly rougher and bumpier. No paved roads from this point on. A couple of sights along the way:

These young ladies are carrying unique water jugs. They don't seem too happy about me
taking their picture.

Villagers meeting at the local water point. They often carry these jugs full of water on their head!
Some of the luckier ones have donkeys to help.

Along the way a little additional excitement. We stopped for a potty break at the local
non-gas station (commonly known in Ethiopia as the nearest bush) and when we returned
to the truck, it wouldn't start. We were stranded without a car in sight. After a heart-felt prayer
for a little help, we saw a bus in the distance. He kindly stopped and they tried to jump the
truck but that didn't work. One of the sisters said, "Why don't we try pushing it down the
small hill that was in front of us." That was, of course, dismissed but eventually they did
resort to that. And the car started. No comment.
Fortunately, with the Lord's help, we continued on our way.

The bus was standing room only and we were so grateful that they would stop and help us.
We wondered if we would stop and help a bus if it were stranded. I would hope so.

Typical mode of farming in Ethiopia.

You cannot find a happier people anywhere.

This is the Public Affairs component--visiting with the local
leaders. This lady is the Bureau Head of the Aromio Region
of Women and Children Affairs. So she was very excited about
the new water source for the community.

And we arrived at Shamo Gado, the village where the handover took place. Everyone was cheering
and dancing and smiling. It was evident that they were very excited.

These three gentlemen were the respected religious leaders for
the area. At the beginning of the ceremony each offered a long
prayer.

Ceremonial Dress

As I was walking back to where Grandpa was, a man suddenly picked me up and started dancing
and half-running through the throng carrying me. I hung on for dear life hoping he would end up
where I wanted to go. Well, he did and all was well. You can barely see my blond head in the
middle of the mass of people.

The most touching moment came when this grandfather turned and said to me with tears in his eyes,
"Now maybe my grand daughter won't be sick all of the time from drinking the water from the river."

Elder and Sister Campbell--LDS Charities Missionaries in Ethiopia. They were the ones
to finish this project. They were presented with gifts from the people there, new
ceremonial clothes and a beaded jug, and lots of hugs and kisses.

After the speeches were over, we joined with everyone else for a dinner in a large

tent area. They had killed one ox and 2 sheep the night before to feed about 600 people.

We had injera, of course, along with the meat. And yes, we did eat it.

Grandpa making nice with the armed guard. There were
several police patrolling around, I'm not sure why exactly.

The finished water point. And they also had a building with showers and toilets. The people will now bring their buckets and fill them with water to take to their huts. Everyone lived in round, grass
huts. One girl was so proud of her bed. She had a small mattress and some springs! to put the
mattress on.

This home belongs to the young mother in blue. She took us inside and was so pleased to
show us her bed. It was a thin mattress but she had springs under the mattress. Not a common
thing.