Fall 2011 Trip — Yirgacheffe

Coffee Washing Plant

(Friday 11/4)

By Team Member Harry Amend

For me, the trip from Dilla to Yirgacheffe and the trip to the original DTC Holding coffee washing plant was another wonderful story about the beautiful people of Ethiopia.

The scenery along the roadway was stunning.  After a drenching rain during the night, the green foliage was glimmering and the Poinsettias were a deep red. We travelled from Dilla to nearby Yirgacheffe to see the DTC Holding coffee processing plant and to meet Tsehaynish.

The children of Ethiopia are everywhere. They’ll stay in my mind and heart long after I’ve returned home.  They are physically beautiful and bright-eyed, and as we returned their wave from the bus, they exploded with huge grins, jumping for joy.  Even babies who could not walk yet seemed to be able to wave their arms and join in the chorus of “You, you, you.”  

I continue to be amazed and envious at the way these people use every last bit of their natural resources.  Orderly stacks of all sizes of wood lined the road.  Children of all ages carried bark, hay, bamboo, sticks and the ever present water bottles.  After the rain,  many were washing themselves, their clothes, and yes, even their vehicles (we saw motorcycles, buses, trucks and cars) all with their wheels in the waster as the brown river water “washed” them.

Mike has spoken so adoringly about Tsehaynish, the beautiful 23 year old Ethiopian woman who had severe polio, causing her to live a life of crawling physically from place to place.  When Mike and Craig met her underneath the drying racks and learned of her plight, they made arrangements with Dr. Duane Anderson at the Soddo Christian Hospital in Soddo to bring her to the hospital where she underwent major surgery and a long rehab period, which allowed her to walk upright with the aid of crutches.

What happened as we approached Yirgacheffe couldn’t have happened in the most corny Hollywood movie.  As we drove along watching the children walking to school, Mike yelled out, “There’s Tsehaynish,” and there she was, walking along the road with her crutches and school books, heading  to her third grade class.  

Yili stopped the bus and Mike jumped out and from the inside of the bus you could hear her shout, “Oh Mike” as they hugged in the middle of the road and the people of the town quickly gathered around.  I thought to myself, “the rest of this trip is gravy.”

We let Tsehaynish go on to school for we had planned to see her later. We continued on to the coffee operation.

Spread over 3-4 acres, this was the site that Mike and Craig had so lovingly poured time, money, and passion into during the early years of this ministry. As the harvest has not yet begun, the workers were cutting up poles, driving them into the ground and re-constructing the drying racks, preparing for the months of work ahead. Mike proudly showed us around the site, educating us on the new processor they had installed and the equipment which could now be used as they expand the operation.

As we were preparing to drive out of the coffee site and elderly man, possibly in his 80’s came up to Mike and asked him “why did you leave us, why did you sell this site?” With the help of  Zele, this gave Mike the opportunity to share with the man the reasons why things had happened the way they did.  A group of 10-12 men were able to hear Mike’s explanation, but the old man was sobbing at the gate as we drove away.

I know that God must be well pleased with His good and faithful servants, Mike and Craig. Relationships matter in ministry. Relationships built on trust have enabled God’s work to continue on through the efforts of NCF in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia.

11-12-10 

-Jani Mylner 

We traveled by a 4-wheel SUV over the roughest road I have ever been over. We climbed high up into the mountains seeing beautiful scenic vistas. We finally reached a place near the top where we were headed, the Kale Heywot Church. We were blown away by the amazing greeting from the church members. They were singing, clapping, moving rhythmically to the drum that a man was beating. Some were dressed in choir robes and the children presented us with bouquets of flowers. We felt such a Spirit of the Lord flowing out of them.

We followed them into their small church. We all sat down and were greeted by the elders. A male CHE leader shared with us how they have been teaching this group of people from Yirgacheffe. He was so pleased to tell us they all had pit latrines at their homes now and that they had one on the compound. All the church members have chickens now, so everyone has eggs. They have been taught about gardening and are all growing their own gardens.

A while earlier, they were all tested for HIV and found only a few of their community were positive. They have since lost two of them, but the others are being cared for. They all know how to drink safe water and they are given chlorine tablets or powder to put into their water to make it safe to drink. They have made drying racks outside their small huts to dry their dishes out in the sun for cleanliness.

For the children they now have a school on the compound where before they had a long way to walk and were usually late. There are 300 children in Grade 1-3. The church supplies shoes and clothes to all the children. There are five orphans and ten very elderly that they all care for.

For the men they have classes to teach them and separate classes for the women. The men don t share with each one another what they are taught, but the women talk freely and share their new teachings. In the culture of these people the men have everything, make all the decisions, and treat the women very poorly. Women are not allowed to own anything or participate in any decision making. With the teaching and the partnering of CHE the men have started to realize that God has created men and women equal. They ask their wives what they think. Women used to give birth and right away start working after one week. Now the men are helping them.

Childbirth used to take place in their huts with some bad outcome for the mothers and the babies, but now at the first sign of labor they are taken to the hospital. The women are taught about childbirth and the care of the infant after birth, vaccinations, cleanliness, and care of the mother.

Family planning is a huge idea they are being taught. These Ethiopian women would have 9 to 12 children and now they have the knowledge about birth control and options available to them for free. This whole concept of family planning was hard for them at first, but now they understand.

One great way they have learned to share their knowledge is during the coffee ceremonies. This is where they will discuss HIV, family planning, gardening, and other new ideas they are learning from the CHE leaders and volunteers.

We had the privilege of hearing a lot of this information from a delightful young CHE woman leader.

After our great visit at the compound we went to visit some of their homes to see what they had learned and put into practice. They were so proud of their new pit latrines and their chickens. I was impressed with their gardens and how clean their little huts were. I guess it is easier to keep things picked up and neat if you don’t have much. We prayed for them and then took our leave.

The next CHE site was up on another mountain top. The view was spectacular. We went into this huge church that 1200 brothers and sisters join together once a month and have church. One of my favorite parts was the children gathering together and singing two songs to us without adult participation. It was so exuberant and full of life. They had hand hewn benches in the church, pretty rustic, but I bet it rocks out when all 1200 gather once a month.

We wandered down the road with the people and all the happy children. We saw their health clinic and visited a few homes. Up in a tree we were privileged to see several black and white monkeys with long bushy white tails.

My greatest reflection of the day was all the sweet smiling faces of the children. As you wave along the road, they all smile and wave back. What a genuinely happy and friendly people. If we could be that happy.