Going Again, and So Excited!

Wow!

It has been a long time since I've written on this blog.

So much has happened! I have a significant amount of surgically-implanted titanium in my spine, our daughter will graduate from college in June and Mike and I are now the proud and doting grandparents of our son's son. Sheesh!

All that is to say, I'm writing now to let all you readers know that a new Ethiopian adventure is afoot. As usual, Nancy and I will travel together on behalf of SCOPE (BTW, she and I laugh A LOT when we travel together, so it's no great sacrifice....) We will spend 4 days in Addis before we welcome--WAIT FOR IT!-- SCOPE's first tour group.

YES! This is absolutely true! This time, after our work in Addis is completed, Nancy and I will welcome SCOPE's first visitors from Seattle! This is a milestone, because for years people have asked us for an opportunity to travel to Ethiopia and engage in SCOPE's work. For years, we have had to say 'no,' because so much of SCOPE's early work was dedicated to research as to how to make the medicine/faith partnership work. For awhile, we just didn't really have engaging projects to showcase.

How things change! SCOPE's current and successful projects: educating priests and female maternal health advocates to engage with the local community to improve maternal-child health, increase HIV testing and treatment and most recently, HIV education of priests and parishioners at local holy water sites--are thriving!. In addition, we have four fantastic SCOPE fellows we cannot wait to introduce to our supporters.

In addition to meeting our SCOPE fellows, our visitors will also meet SCOPE's University of Gondar partners, our Ethiopian Orthodox Church partners, our SCOPE-trained priests, our SCOPE-trained maternal health advocates and staff at the local health centers in which we work. Our participants will also visit local homes (for coffee, of course!) and will hike in the Simien Mountains as well as tour the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. As an immense enhancement to this experience, Sam Walker--archeologist, extraordinaire--will join us for the entire trip, to impart his wisdom regarding the diverse and deep history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian highlands.

After the bulk of the group heads back to Seattle, Mike, friend Dawn, and I will trek for six days in the northernmost region of Ethiopia, bordered by Eritrea and the Sudan. We will hike with a guide and the help of a couple of mules, into the remote mountains of Tigrai where we will stay with community members and visit numerous ancient, rock-hewn (and still occupied) monasteries.

I wish all of you could personally join us, but please--in lieu of that--join me here for news and adventure.

And, think about joining us next year!