hand washing station

Today a Health Extension Worker, mother and I talked about when and why to wash hands with soap and built a hand-washing station with the family near their latrine.

hand washing

Today Health Extension Worker Tesfaynesh, mother Abaynesh and I talked about when and why to wash hands with soap and built a hand-washing station near Abaynesh's latrine.

Appalachian Trail goal

One of my life goals is to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. This means hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, which takes 5-6 months to complete! I will have the opportunity to complete this momentous trek from April - October 2020, after finishing my 27 months of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia.

In order to fulfill my dream, I need some help.

Firstly, do you have any gear you can donate? I can send the address of a family member in the USA who you can mail the supplies to. Everything should be very light weight.

Items include:

• sleeping pad (about 1 pound), 
• sleeping bag (3 pounds or less), 
• hiking backpack, 50-65L, 3 pounds or less), 
• tent with rain protection (3 pounds or less), 
• hiking poles.

Cooking supplies:

• pocket rocket or other very lightweight camping stove, 
• bear bag or bear canister, 
• small and very light weight cooking pot.

Hygiene/health:

• biodegradable soap and shampoo, 
• permethrin and insect repellent (for tick prevention), 
• cathole sanitation trowl.

Clothing:

• hiking boots or trail runners (womens, size 9), 
• lightweight durable rain jacket, 
• synthetic short and long sleeved fitted t-shirts (womens, M/L), 
• lightweight puffy jacket, 
• Crocs, size 9 (for when resting/camping), 
• sock liners.

Secondly, If you live near the Appalachian Trail, could I stay at your place for a night (April - October 2020)?

Thirdly, If you know anyone who has thru-hiked the trail, could you put me in contact with them?

And, finally, I could use all your encouragement and support to make this dream come true!

What we want

What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names--
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don't remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.

~ Linda Pastan ~

Today the Health Extension Workers led a training on HIV and TB.

Donkeys in the yard

Health Extension Worker Tesfaynesh's daughters with my sunglasses on.