Can-Go Afar Delegation Arrival in Addis Ababa
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2008
1
4
Trip End
Feb 05, 2008
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Our delegation of 10 persons from Can-Go Afar have today safely arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city. It required two full days of travel from Canada. We have now settled in the "Extreme Hotel". This is the begining of our second Mission to assist the Afar people of Ethiopia and beyond! We have been planning this Mission for the last 12 months. The Mission trip will take two weeks. Our team has a very interesting mix of skills and abilities, and a wonderful balance of gender, youth, and experience.
We are truly thankful for all of the positive support that we have received during the last 12 months from people all over the world. This has been generously provided by our numerous supporters, donors, volunteers, committee members, as well as the NGO and government partners that have contributed so meaningfully to get our organization to this important stage.
Today we had a working lunch during which we planned the details of our meetings and strategy for implementing our needs assessment and project work. Tonight we had a wonderful traditional Ethiopian dinner hosted by Fatuma, one of the very few female members of the federal Parliament. This was a working dinner during which we learned more about some of the existing development projects taking place in the Afar Region.
We have two scheduled days in Addis Ababa where we have organized many important meetings including those with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Canadian Embassy. Part of our team will also visit the world renown Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital (www.fistulafoundation.org), which specializes in reconstructive surgery for women. We also have to secure the release through Customs of the mould for the bio-sand water filters (www.manzwaterinfo.ca) we will build. In the evening, we will interview 10 students who are currently seeking scholarships so that they may continue their post-secondary studies.
Early Thursday morning, the delegation leaves Addis Ababa on a domestic flight north to Mekele, where we will then travel by a caravan of SUVs into the remote Afar Region, including the Danakil Depression.
Our website (www.cangoafar.ca), is up and running and can provide you with the history of the Afar people, our organization's Mission Statement, information on the bio-sand water filters, our press releases, our fundraising efforts, etc...
Stay tuned!
Warren, Ahmed, Vicki, Jessika, Isla, Neville, Joan, Garnyl, Jamal, and Tara..
Comments
Greetings from HQ :)
Hi all, so glad to hear from you!!!! Am looking forward to your news, so please keep up us posted! Wish you all the best of luck with this mission! Am so proud to be part of your team!
Irena
Great Job!
Hi team - WOW!! So much achieved for such a short stay in Addis! Keep up the great job! Good luck tomorrow with your meetings! Thinking of you.
Your HQ friend :)
Nairobi
Hi Warren,
If you or any others wish to come down to Nairobi for a few days there is room for you.
Look forward to seeing you.
Regards,
Bhupinder
(254) 722-509-404
Keep Hope Alive
We are proud all of you who are traveling all the way to Africa, just simple to help helpless. I would like to suggest also that there are very needy Eritrean Afar refugee recognized and orgnozed by UNHCR in Khokha, Yemen.
Ali Abdurahman
Great job!!
We are very happy to read about your success in your endehavour to help marginalized Afars in the Horn of Africa and wish you a successfull journey in the Afar region.
Hamad Y.Issa
Chairman of the Afar Friends in Sweden
www.afarfriends.org
Nagasseni !
Hello !
So good to hear from you all.
Good luck for the rest of the travel.
Keep in touch.
Très heureux de savoir que tout s'est bien passé pour votre arrivé les ami(e)s.
Bonne chance pour la suite de votre mission que nous ne manquerons pas de suivre jour après jour.
Abdoulkader Mohamed
http://www.arhotabba.com
Best of luck
Hey guys...i'm jessika's cousin, i'm very proud of Jessika and every single one of you. It takes great courage and a good heart to do what you guys are doing and just know that we all support you and wish you all have a safe trip and a wonderful experience.
Take care and God bless
Regards,
Sara Assaad
thecommish
Hey gang, sounds like you had a fantistic dinner. how is the heat there? You are doing wonderful work gang, keep it up
HELLO HELLO!!!!
A big BOOYA Creates family long time no see every one,and hello to every one else that is in Ethiopia in support of the Afar tribe. You guys are doing a really inspiring mission, Neville Big ups to you as well. Well I shall keep reading the posting, and good luck with the rest of the journey. See you soon Nev. P.S if you see Blues Man tell him I said hello as well, that was a great night.
great job
you surprised me guys with what you are doing .
it is really humanitarian action with no political agenda to help those who have no one to take of them .it is a touchy mission but what i would suggest,is to encourage afar people -especially in ethiopia -and convince them about the importance of education and help them in that matter.
afar are great people with great history.with your constant support ,together we can make a difference.
we-afar- are thankfull to your help and merci a vous tous pour tout ce que vous faites pour nous
salamata
waitong for you in djibouti
houmed
houmedmh@yahoo.fr
the first time i have seen in arhotabba web site your great work in afar region you can not imagine how much i wanted myself to be with you,to give you my support... you gays are giving the most impotant education (water filtrer for exemple) couz it can save them from disease their life is more precious first of all. we others, let us help them,let us make new initiatives in order to save grat people from illiteracy and illiteracy... votre travail est honorable mes frers et je vous souhaite une exellente reussite qu allah accepte votre vos efforts.
it s a significant job that you (CAN GO AFAR) movement have done for Afar people. i am very appreciated to this help for these helpless people . i also call this movement or other movement to come again and again to offload the grieve of these people who live in a sorrowful state in horn of afica . I also thank you very much.........................
الى من اØبهم قلبى الى كل شباب العÙر اين ما كانو اتمنالكم كل خير
can go afar