When we think about our future and dreams, we don't often realize how different they can be from others, those that we don't get to see everyday. I have a good friend named Seifa from Ethiopia. Just last week, we spent alot of time discussing the situation in his country. Yes, there is a vicious cycle of poverty, lack of education and basic necessities in most rural areas and we talked about how we can bring about change in this society. Because he was trained in Politics and I have a background in Economics, I thought hard how about we can introduce a form of 'social engineering' to create 'small successful rural areas' instead of relying solely on the government for a top-down approach. We talked about his people, his family, the political leadership in the country, the need for education, the role of NGOS in Ethiopia, the exploitation...
There is something in Seifa's eyes that is magical - it sees the future. Those eyes have seen much but it is unrelenting and determined. If there is anything I can do, I would like to spread the awareness of this country, through words or discussions, any channel -- often what we see in the newspapers have been overly dramatized.
I believe there is room for a true reflection of what is going in Ethiopia and a chance for us to offer our assistance in anyway possible.
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