It’s 6:28 pm. The sun has set and you must spend the rest of your waking hours in darkness. The only option for lighting your home is an expensive, inefficient kerosene lamp that exposes your family to toxic fumes. This is the reality for the majority of families living in rural Ethiopia.

When students return to Dangla Meskerem Primary School in September, a beautiful, new building for science instruction and learning will greet them on campus. The new lab replaces a dilapidated building lacking electricity and proper storage for lab and teaching materials and will serve students in grades 3 – 8 (nearly 900 in total).

So much has changed in our communities and in our world in a very short time. No matter where we live on the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our lives and our communities in some way. This is now a worldwide shared experience across geography, culture, and economic condition.

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set forth, for the first time, fundamental human rights that should be universally protected for all people including civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

As we wrap up the remaining work for 2019, we also take the time to identify our next projects and make plans for 2020. Next year we are excited to continue our community-led projects in all three impact areas – Access to Education, Healthy Homes, and Economic Opportunities. This will include...

Sometimes all it takes is a strong, clear vision and a tarp.At least that was case for Zagray Primary School located in a hilly, rocky area approximately 8 km from Dangla town. In 2008, local parents started an alternative school (a school that teaches only reading and writing and does not have grade levels) under some trees at the current site of Zagray Primary. They started with a strong desire to give their children an education and a study tarp strung between the trees to provide cover from the sun and rain.

Mekedis is a single mother of five children who lives and farms in the Dengeshta community. She is also one of 14 recipients in her community to receive a recent micro loan from Project Ethiopia. This year we established a second micro loan fund that will benefit residents of Dengeshta.

We all have dreams. They breathe life into what we do, inspire us to think big, and allow our heart to guide the way. For Zelalem Beyene, his dream was to attend university to study medicine and become a doctor.

Bags packed? Check! Passport in hand? Check! It was finally time to leave for the airport.I’ll admit, I was feeling anxious as I boarded the plane for my first trip to Ethiopia. I knew that two weeks was not going to be enough and in my head I was already planning my second trip. But wait -- I had not even left Seattle yet! “Stay present,” I had to tell myself. “Enjoy every single moment on this trip.”