Tamar Medalssy – January 4, 2012

It’s 5 in the morning, and the majority of the group is half asleep—overtired, actually. But, we’re officially on our way to Gondar!!  Time to get our hands dirty and do some real hands-on work! Who’s ready? WE ARE. Yesterday was our first day in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.  As we drove to the hotel, and gazed out the windows, we all realized that this experience was going to be like no other. We saw first hand how the overcrowded streets were filled with beggars, handicaps, and makeshift huts. Seeing the beggars on the street was shocking.  Women sat, holding young children begging for one dollar, for pocket change—for truly anything. During our morning briefing with Manlio, the head of JDC Ethiopia, he explained that we shouldn’t give these beggars any money. He explained that by giving just one dollar to just one person, everyone standing around will run up to us and want the same.    We can help in other ways, which is exactly what we’re going to accomplish in Gondar.

On a happier note, we went to visit a transit house where Ethiopian Jews were going to be sent to Israel. Here is where we met the most amazing kids. Even though we didn’t speak the same language, we still understood exactly what they were trying to tell us. They are so excited to move to Israel and be a part of the new community and have a place to call home. In this transit house, they are given the essentials to start a life in Israel. Some of them are even taught how to speak Hebrew. After leaving the transit house, we went to the Market. At this point we were all exhausted and couldn’t even move from the bus. We went to a couple of stores and when we got back onto the bus we realized how privileged we are in Montreal and in Israel. We were buying scarves for two dollars and bags of coffee for five. The people live off of 300 dollars a year and live in broken down huts, yet they still manage to stay happy and positive. They are inspiring. We are still learning and cherishing every moment in Ethiopia. It is truly a beautiful country and we can’t wait to discover more about their traditions and their lifestyle. If the first day in Ethiopia left us speechless, imagine what were going to see during the rest of our trip…

We’ll keep you all posted!

And don’t worry parents and siblings, we are all doing fine and having the time of our lives. We all love you so much and can’t wait to share our stories and experiences with all of you!

Thank you,

Tamar Medalssy