Embark with me on a new journey to Ethiopia…

Dear Friends and Family,

As June quickly approaches, I am finishing up my final plans to head off on a new adventure to Ethiopia! As a part of my Global Studies major at Azusa Pacific University, I am required to do an independent study in a 3rd world country. After much research and a lot of prayer, I decided upon Addis Ababa, which is the capitol of Ethiopia. I am leaving June 12th and will return home November 5th. I am traveling with one other girl from APU who will also live in Ethiopia, but we will be doing independent work. My assignment was to find a country, a home stay, an internship, a place to learn the language, and then go! With the Lords help and guidance, I met an Ethiopian pastor in Seattle through some family friends. His wife and children are living in Addis Ababa and he offered his home to me. When I arrive there I will live with them and start right away on learning Amharic, one of the main languages of Ethiopia. After about a month, I will volunteer at an indigenous organization that works with urban poor.
Ethiopia caught my attention because it is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Along with most African countries, it is a huge victim of the AIDs epidemic. Thousands of people are affected and die every year. Because of that, along with poverty and other economic and cultural factors, Ethiopia has thousands upon thousands of street children. For the past year and a half I have been working with homeless and poverty stricken children in Los Angeles. They have captured my heart and sparked my curiosity as I have sought to understand their world and what different factors go into poverty here in the U.S. Thus, I am planning on studying urban poor, specifically focusing on street children, in Ethiopia in order to compare and contrast poverty in the U.S. with poverty in a third world country. The whole time I am in Ethiopia I will be studying their culture and how they live. Along with learning the language and volunteering at a local organization, I will write an extensive report on Ethiopian family life. I will also do a “Global Study Project” where I will research and write about a topic of my choice, which will have something to do with urban poor.
It is going to be a lot of work, but I am so excited to go, step out of my comfort zone, depend on God in new ways, and learn about the beautiful people of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is surrounded by unstable countries, but Ethiopia itself is stable and open to foreigners. I am confident that this is where the Lord wants me to be. I would love for you to participate with me as I embark on this journey by supporting me with your prayers. As I have traveled in the past, I have really felt people’s prayers with me. Also ,I am going to try and write as much as I can on this blog. I will also be using my e-mail and would love to hear from you- Danalaube@apu.edu.

Thank you so much for your love and support,
In Christ,
Dana Laube