Student, age 15

Morillon, France, March 19, 2010

Dear Jo,

Thank you very much for showing us around Ethiopia during January. It was a great experience and it changed the way I think about poor people completely having seen what true poverty is like and seeing how truly desperate most Ethiopian people are. Going to all the sites and learning about Ethiopian history was extremely interesting. Blaine was a great tour guide in Addis Ababa and going to therock hewn churches was spectacular. I liked all the different hotels we stayed at, especially the highest hotel in Africa.

Ethiopian food was delicious! Using the injera as a kind of claw was way more convenient than having to use a fork and knife. Personally, I thought tibs were a bit on the spicy side, but I know my Mom and Patrick loved them.

One of the best learning experiences was helping out at the schools. It felt really good to help the children there by giving snacks, notebooks, and flour and it gave me a new understanding of how much stuff we take for granted, like school supplies, running water, food, and air conditioning, all of which those kids don’t have.

The wildlife in Ethiopia was much more interesting than the wildlife in Europe. The monkeys/baboons we saw weren’t really afraid of humans and allowed us to get very close to them.

All in all, this was an incredible, life-changing trip that I hope many more people experience and enjoy as much as I have.

Sincerely,

Kody Low