Kaua‘i doctor lights love of reading in children

Kaua‘i doctor lights love of reading in children

by The Garden Island
Local child psychologist Dr. Laura Anderson is working on a children’s book to raise funds for Ethiopia Reads, a grassroots, non-profit organization that is working to cultivate a love of reading in children.

The Kilauea resident works in the public schools as a licensed clinical psychologist and when not working, travels the world. Anderson hitched her love of travel to a literary dream for girls in Ethiopia when she joined forces with a childhood friend to publish “Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia,” a children’s book that celebrates girlhood through verse and images.

“Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia” offers a poetic reminder of how important it is to encourage girls to live, move, dream and accept themselves with boldness and joy, Anderson’s press release states.

All proceeds from sales of the book will go to support programs run by Ethiopia Reads and will put books into the hands of young boys and girls who’ve never before had access to libraries or written stories.

The book was born of a commitment to honoring girls in Ethiopia and offering them opportunities to read about their own experiences.

This slim volume showcases girls engaging in a variety of enriching activities — from laughing with friends to playing drums; from dancing and traveling to dreaming and reading.

The text reminds readers of the power of a positive word or gesture: “Whisper encouragement to a girl / ‘Just do the best you can do’ / Burst with pride and hug her / When she dares to try something new.”

The text was inspired by Anderson’s travels across 38 countries where she observed the challenges and opportunities that await girls in every corner of the globe.

“I have been lucky to see young girls at play and at work in cultures all over the world,” the press release states.

After traversing Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern Africa, Anderson developed a special appreciation for Ethiopia when visiting her childhood friend Catie Dupont who lived there with her family. An active volunteer in Washington, D.C., Dupont currently leads efforts to support the publication of “Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia.” So far the project has received financial support from the Hanalei Hawaiian Civic Canoe Club, the Kapa‘a Rotary Club and individual donors. Dupont aspires to raise $10,000 for the project.

Anderson’s text is accompanied by photographs taken by Matthew Andrea, a District of Columbia-based volunteer who spent time in Ethiopia in 2007. The book will be sold in the United States as a fundraiser for Ethiopia Reads and also distributed throughout the organization’s growing network of free libraries for children in Ethiopia.

In keeping with Ethiopia Reads’ commitment to providing culturally relevant materials for children, “Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia” will feature text in the Ethiopian language of Amharic.

Ethiopia Reads is based in Denver, Colo., and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is a grassroots, volunteer-led nonprofit organization that works to create a reading culture in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads publishes books in English as well as local languages and trains teachers and library workers to cultivate a love of reading in children. Co-founder Yohannes Gebregeorgis was recently named a “hero” by CNN News. Visit ethiopiareads.org for more information.

“Smile at a Girl” will go to print when funds have been raised for a 5,000-book printing.

Basket of Books Program by Ethiopia Reads

Basket of Books Program

As a grass-roots organization we have been overwhelmed with the numbers of people who have reached out to us asking “How can I help?”

The Basket of Books program is an initiative launched by Ethiopia Reads that allows those of us who aren’t able to plant an entire library or publish a book share the joy of reading and make a lasting impact.

You can touch the lives of children who rarely or never get to hold books.

What is the Basket of Books Program?
A simple two-step program! 1) You donate $200 to sponsor a Basket of Books. Each book will have a nameplate placed on the inside cover recognizing the basket’s sponsor: your organization, family, or perhaps a reader or supporter of the world’s children that you want to honor with a gift. 2) Ethiopia Reads will place the basket with a worthy organization that serves children in Ethiopia. (If you like, we will work with you on placing a basket with an organization you might already have a relationship with.)

Each basket of books will contain an assortment of books like those shown in the pictures above – to include Early Readers, picture books, middle grade novels and local language books.

Girls Gotta Run - Ethiopian Non Profit - Event in Bethesda, Maryland

February 26 - April 5, 2008
Invitational Gallery
The Mansion at Strathmore
10701 Rockville Pike
North Bethesda, MD 20852
Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 28, 2008, 7 - 9 p.m.


Profits from the sale of this artwork go to buy running shoes for girls in Ethiopia. By training as athletes, these girls can delay traditional arranged marriages which can occur as early as 12 years of age.

To purchase any of the works on display
Contact Pat Ortman
(202) 244-6354 or pat@girlsgottarun.org

For more information and to see some
of the art that will be on exhibit, visit
www.girlsgottarun.org

Author Jane Kurtz to Speak in Maryland on Behalf of Ethiopia Reads

Meet children’s author Jane Kurtz!
Support Ethiopia Reads!

Come hear Jane tell her story of growing up in Ethiopia, how it influenced her writing and the development of the NGO Ethiopia Reads. Jane’s books -- Only A Pigeon, the Lion’s Tail (Amharic/English version) and Saba will be available for purchase. Dual language Amharic/English books -- The Beekeeper of Lalibela, Fafi’s Sheep and Silly Mammo will also be available.

Sunday, March 2, 2008 ~~ 1:30 – 4:00 pm
Highland Origin Cafe
8200 Fenton Street
Silver Spring, Maryland
For additional information, please contact Catie@EthiopiaReads.org

The kitchen at Highland Origin Café will be open for your convenience.

Author Jane Kurtz to Speak in Washington DC on behalf of Ethiopia Reads

Meet children’s author Jane Kurtz
and support Ethiopia Reads

Come hear Jane tell her story of growing up in Ethiopia, how it influenced her writing and the development of the NGO Ethiopia Reads. Jane’s books - Only A Pigeon, the Lion’s Tail (Amharic/English version) and Saba will be available for purchase. Dual language Amharic/English books - The Beekeeper of Lalibela, Fafi’s Sheep and Silly Mammo will also be available. The kitchen at Sidamo will be open for your convenience.

Saturday, March 1, 2008 -- 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Sidamo Coffee and Tea
417 H Street NE
Washington, DC 20002
For further information, please contact Catie Dupont.
Catie@EthiopiaReads.org or call 571-243-1411.

Fighting Chance for Ethiopians

By Elaine JarvikDeseret Morning News

Norm Perdue used to have a home office he called his "Ethiopia Room." Those were the days when he was able to contain this project to one desk and a few walls.

These days, his Children of Ethiopia Education Fund has taken over his house and his life. COEFF, which he began in 2001 as a small nonprofit, now helps 800 girls attend school in a country where most girls either don't get any education or are encouraged to drop out early. But the number of children who could be helped seems endless, which is why photos of shy faces stare up from a pile of 150 applications in his Murray home. These are girls whom Perdue helped interview on a recent trip to Ethiopia; the next step is to match them up with sponsors.

Perdue used to be an official photographer for the Utah Jazz, so he knows how to take a good picture. But he also knows, in the world of nonprofits, that he's competing with hundreds of other worthy projects, each with brochures and Web sites full of endearing smiles and touching stories.

So two years ago he helped audition the best dancers from the program's 22 schools and launched the Mesgana Dancers. The troupe, he reasoned, could reach American audiences in a different way — less a plea and more a confirmation that his program is turning out girls destined for a future that doesn't include prostitution or an early marriage. Although many of the students come from impoverished backgrounds, Perdue focuses on possibilities rather than pathos. "Mesgana" is Amharic for "gratitude."

This week, Perdue and 10 members of the dance troupe, ages 7 to 12, will arrive in New York City to begin their second annual dance tour. This year's is twice as big, with performances in 16 cities, including Chicago; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Salt Lake City; and Los Angeles. The tour is also sponsored by Ethiopia Reads, a nonprofit that describes its mission as "building a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books."

As they tour the country, Perdue hopes the Mesgana Dancers will also unite Ethiopia's sometimes factional immigrant communities. He is proud of a comment, made during last year's tour, by the leader of an Ethiopian center in California: "I've never seen anything bring our community together like this."

Perdue — known as "Mr. Norm" among the students and parents in Ethiopia — fell into all this one day in the summer of 2001 on a humanitarian trip with his wife, Ruthann, who is a nurse. It was then that he met a chatty 12-year-old girl named Kidest, an orphan who lived with her grandmother.

At the time, Kidest (whose name in Oromo means "the blessed child regardless of her bad circumstances") was attending a Seventh-day Adventist school. Kidest's grandmother was working several jobs to pay her tuition, but her health was failing and it looked like Kidest might have to drop out of school. Government-run schools in Ethiopia are free but are overcrowded and poorly run, Perdue says. The private schools, while modest, provide better teachers as well as sports and health programs.

When Perdue found out that tuition was less than $200 per year, he immediately cashed some travelers checks and offered to pay for Kidest's schooling. When he got back to Utah, he told friends and co-workers what had happened and they offered to sponsor other girls. Six years later there are now more than 600 sponsors in 40 states on several continents. Greg Farley of St. George became a sponsor and then joined COEFF's board of directors. In the spring of 2006 he visited Ethiopia to see the project firsthand.

"We think we can prepare ourselves for a third-world country, but the poverty is so overwhelming," says Farley. The Perdues, he says, "want to get more and more girls off the street. And they want to get enough money to make sure these girls get at least one good meal a day."

Perdue has received a small grant that enabled him to quit his government job to work full time for COEFF. He travels to Ethiopia for a month several times a year to make sure the 22 private schools that COEFF girls attend continue to meet high standards.

Among COEFF's accomplishments last year: All eight of the students who took the 10th-grade national exam passed, "an amazing accomplishment considering more than 90 percent of students fail the exam," according to Perdue. COEFF also provided a second year of support for a school in rural Ethiopia, serving more than 250 girls and boys who would otherwise not get an education. The nonprofit also has begun a pilot project in Tanzania and hopes to eventually provide funds so young Ethiopian girls can attend college.

After last year's Mesgana Dancers tour, Perdue says he received a few "hate letters" asking why he was spending so much time helping Ethiopians instead of American children. "Sometimes people are jaded about Africa," he says, then adds, "I don't want to say 'prejudiced.' But I feel it's a world community now."

Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia - Summer 2007 Tour

Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia
Celebration Tour 2007

The Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia (www.mesgana.com) caused a nationwide sensation during their first visit to the United States last summer. Come see what everyone is talking about! (check them out on youtube!)

Tickets are now on sale for performances in Washington D.C. and Columbia, Maryland.

Columbia, Maryland
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10
7 p.m. Wilde Lake High School – Jim Rouse Theater

Click the link to purchase tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/17498

Washington, D.C.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11
7 p.m. Lisner Auditorium – George Washington University



Click the link to purchase tickets for the show at Lisner: www.ticketmaster.com

About The Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia:

The Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia are 10 girls, age 7-12, who perform traditional dances and song from across Ethiopia, while wearing traditional costume. The Mesgana Dancers show is a heart-warming celebration of Ethiopian culture with music and moves to get the whole family dancing and clapping. Last year's tour was a huge hit, making The Mesgana Dancers celebrities both in the United States and Ethiopia. They performed to sold-out crowds across the country, entertaining audiences that included thousands of Ethiopian-Americans.

The Mesgana Dancers are ambassadors of hope for all children in Ethiopia. As the world’s attention turns ever more towards finding solutions to the problems in Africa, The Mesgana Dancers bring a message of hope and celebration, as well as a positive and life-affirming glimpse of Ethiopian culture. All of the Mesgana Dancers are sponsored through COEEF’s school tuition program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Mesgana Dancers of Ethiopia Millennium Celebration Tour is a benefit for Ethiopia Reads (www.ethiopiareads.org) and our partner, the Children of Ethiopia Educational Fund (www.coeef.org).

If you are in the D.C. metro area we are in great need of volunteers to help make this event a success – we need hosts for the girls as well as general assistance at each performance venue. Please contact Catie Dupont at catie@ethiopiareads.org or call 571-243-1411 (leave a message with your name and number) if you are willing to help. Thanks!

Spread the news about the other venues!

8/4 Evanston, IL: Vineyard Church at 2p.m.

8/6 Atlanta, GA: Ferst Center, Georgia Tech University at 7p.m.

8/10 Columbia, MD: Wilde Lake High School Jim Rouse Theater at 7p.m.

8/11 Washington, DC: George Washington University Lisner Auditorium at 7 p.m.

8/12 New York City, NYU: Skirball Theater, New York University 7p.m.

8/14 South Orange, NJ: SOPAC, South Orange Performing Arts Center at 7p.m.

8/17 Denver, CO: East High School at 7p.m.

8/18 Boulder, CO: Chautauqua Auditorium Summer Concert Series at 7p.m.

8/24 St George, UT: Cox Center, Dixie State College at 7p.m.

8/29 Murray, UT: The Park Amphitheater at 7p.m.

9/1 Salt Lake City, UT: The Capitol Theatre at 7p.m.

9/4 Park City, UT: The Egyptian Theater at 7p.m.

9/7 Palo Alto, CA: The Spangenberg Theater at 7p.m.

9/8-9/9 San Jose, CA: Ethiopian New Year Festival, San Guadalupe River Park

9/13 Ontario, CA: Chaffey High School Gardner W. Spring Auditorium at 7 p.m.

9/14 Los Angeles, CA: Location TBD

Fafi's Sheep - Amharic/English Children's Book, now available.

Fafi's Sheep by Netsanet Kidanemariam

Illustrated by Abeneser Mengistu.
Translated by Aster Worku.
Fafi's Sheep is the fifth bilingual English/Amharic children's book that has been published by EthiopiaReads.org.

The story starts: "Fafi had two big ears, but he didn't use them to listen to what his elders advised. "Stop misbehaving! his mother would tell him. "Learn to obey." He never listened to her. "

This book was published in Addis Ababa for the purpose of fundraising for EthiopiaReads. All proceeds from the purchase of Fafi's Sheep go to EthiopiaReads.org and its current and future projects.

To order your copy of Fafi's Sheep, click here.

Wonderful Ethiopian Beaded Necklace now available on SilverChicks

This wonderful necklace was beaded by our favorite Ethiopian bead dealer.
The necklace is made of Ethiopian Silver which is 80 percent silver vs. .925 that we are used to. The necklace, excluding the pendant, is 18 inches long. The pendant measures approximately 2 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches long.
Great dangles, we love the detail.
This is a substantial piece of jewelry. Our bead dealer used great old peachy orange glass beads to accent the necklace and it is the perfect hint of color.