March 4, 2008

Today was surreal!! I just finished a press conference announcing our move into the country side to educate the people about Fistula. This is the start of Phase III. The moment before I started I remembered that I had never done this before and I really don’t have a clue how to give a press conference! So…. I took a big breath and acted like myself. Really, what else do I have to offer? It was so weird to have the cameras and the questions. How did we get here?

On Saturday I went to see the preview about what we will be doing in the countryside. It was in the RUSSIAN CULTURAL CENTER!!!!! I was surrounded with photos of Russian war heroes including STALIN!!!!!

It was so strange! Don’t forget my husband is a reserve Colonel in Space Command. I graduated from Air Academy High School. I almost didn’t make it.

But then the show started. First, we have a HUGE banner with our name and the Vision statement: “Doing our Part to Help Eradicate Fistula in our Lifetime in Ethiopia.” This will go on the truck that heads out tomorrow to the most fistula-saturated areas. Then we will be introduced by the respected members of the community. We have a letter from the Ministry of Health telling all the areas to welcome us. Next we will have traditional music to attract the people. Then the play begins. It is a story about one family. The play starts with the father screaming at the mother to prepare the best food because their son is coming home. The son arrives and is treated with high respect. He went to school and became an engineer in Addis. But eventually he asks the question, “Where is my sister?” The father replies that the sister has been cursed by God and put in a hut. The story goes on and the son holds the father responsible because the sister never got an education; she was forced into early marriage, and she had no medical attention in her early child labor. Finally the story ends when the girl returns to her village after staying in the Trampled Rose and being cured at the Fistula Hospital.

This is even more heart-breaking. At the end of the performance the people are given ten questions. Some are this:

• Should a girl have the right to an education? - Yes / No
• Is fistula a curse from God? - Yes / No
• Should a girl go to the hospital when she is having a hard time delivering her baby? - Yes / No

It continues on like this. The ones who have 100% correct go into a drawing for a water can so they can transport water from the source to their homes. How tragic!

But don’t you think that we really can change this? Can you imagine how we will feel later in our life when Fistula is unheard of all around the world? I think we can!

Now back to me. In my spare time I have been cooking for the homeless and feeding them at night. Plus going out dancing later just in case this sounds too pure.

I’ve been following the days of the saints and going to the churches to feed the most desperate in the middle of the night. How fair is it that most of us are on a diet while others have no food? My new idea is to have one day declared “Feed the Homeless” day. Every family will commit to making food for three homeless people and for one day no one will go hungry. What do you think?