We have had a successful last 2 days. After our arrival in Addis, our group started our first day in Ethiopia. The “newbies” (those of us new to the Gundersen Global Partners Ethiopia trip) had a full day of sightseeing. We went to several museums and a few shops and participated in our first coffee ceremony. One of the shops was Elillta (FashionABLE) where scarfs are made by women in the Ethiopian community to give them a sustainable means of living. Those of us who have participated in the trip went on another trek to St. George Cathedral and Mercado (the largest outdoor market in Africa). At the end of the day we had a really lovely dinner at a restaurant called Mama’s Kitchen. We were grateful for the service and accommodations at Jupiter International Hotel. Today, we made our trek to Yetebon and Project Mercy. With our two vans stacked several extra feet taller with hundreds of pounds of medical supplies, we headed out of Addis. On the way we saw the vastly growing infrastructure of the city and made our way to the expansive countryside of farms and small towns. We passed many groups of donkeys, goats, teff mounds, and cows grinding the teff while walking in circles. During the 3 hour trip, we stopped at the UNESCO world heritage site, Stelae Tiya, which are tombstones of warriors from long ago. We arrived at Project Mercy and were greeted by many, including Marta and Deme [founders of Project Mercy]. We were very thankful to overlap our visit before they headed out for the US. We toured most of the PM grounds (minus the school as the kids are out for break until next Monday). We were very impressed by the garden they have cultivated which feeds volunteers, kids, and teaches the Yetebon community about sustainable farming as a means of living. We have already had two meals which were wonderfully prepared. We organized those hundreds of pounds of supplies and are now excited to start our first day of work tomorrow.
– Mallory
Ethiopia 
Your candle glows brightly!!!!