ethiopia + podoconiosis

a trip to wolaita zone, soddo

In the spring of march two-thousand and ten gavin studer traveled
to the country of ethiopia to taste, see and embrace the beauty, suf-
fering and simple love of the ethiopian people and thier countryside.
00
addis ababa

upon arrival I stayed at

addis kadan, a cordial
baptist guesthouse in
addis ababa. this is 145km

where I met alayu as

well as jeff and chris
who I would be traveling butajira
with for the next 6 days.
hosaena route [9]

155km

shasamane route
the next day we drove
areka (clinic site)
the 4 hours south to
boditi + shanto (clinic sites)
soddo, stopping only in
soddo
butajira for lunch. 8 days
300KM TO SODDO
in the field...
20mi
20km
day 1 - arba minch
setting out at five in the morning in a special darkness, a void without electricity
we picked up Mebrat on our way south to the town of arba minch. The drive was
stunning after first light the sun rose over a glimmering lake abaya. my first african
sunrise! It was a small village along the way that was our first & main destination.
we were to attend our first african christian church service, pastor Zewdie was go-
ing to preach.
what seemed to be a youth choir, amazing voices
typical street scenes
for lunch we had coffee and tea in a beautiful shaded courtyard in the city of arba
minch. finishing our machiatto’s continued on to the crocodile farm where along
the way we encountered a wild boar bathing in the muddy road and a couple of ba-
boons (one was a baby porched on a fence, so cute!) leaving the farm I was stopped
by a group of teenagers who wanted to all take pictures with me! It was funny to
have guys pushing girls out of the way to pose with me.
So today’s journey was totally epic, sitting in the front seat of the landcruiser with
the window down and my head sticking out to soak in the clouds, the huts, and the
lake as they rolled by. our first day trip blew my world to shreds! An african church
service with singing, dancing and even wailing! innumerable children gathered
around to see the for-rengies! As we pulled away from the village, getting to know
the people I was to spend the coming week with was so amazing!
 areka CLINIC SITES
gununo boditi + shanto

20km
soddo

gasuba

day 2 - gununo & widows goya

the morning brought us to the current mossy foot headquarters to see shoemaking
& barber training. After playing with Hode (Hoe-day), a young boy who’s mother
works as a shoemaker we were off to Zewdie’s presentation to about 40 church
leaders about mossy foot and the very villagers it afflicts near to them. we handed
out suckers to children and men as we headed to the clinic.

there is a need for a enhanced presentation (video?) in amharic that would be

shown about the work mossy foot project does and their current needs, which
could be addressed by local ethiopian churches. also, a battery operated projector
would be of immense help (cutting out the 100 pound generator for electricity)
a row of beautiful homes in the village of gununo

Gununo is fabulous, green pastures and huts rang-

ing in all different shapes and sizes with corrugated
gable roofs and even some with front porches! Later
in the day we met up with a gospel agent who would
be showing us to the rural areas where widows need-
ed house renovations, or new housing all together.
These decrepit houses needed rebuilding for around
$250 dollars (for the typical grasshut and mud). It
was within these rural plots that the leaning homes
of the abandon women and widows were found.
there are currently 12 shoemakers and 3 sewing machies which produce
about 400 shoes a month.
gununo clinic
potters village on the way to a widow’s hut
day 3 - gasuba presentation & home-cooked dinner
the people here in Ethiopia are so friendly & inviting! Zewdie gave another pre-
sentation here in the tree-lined village of gasuba. afterwards I stumbled upon
a primary school and decided to go hang out with the bunch of kids that were
following me anyways. we then headed back to soddo to go to Zewdie’s house for
dinner. we took a bajaj there and back which was fun and pretty comedic to have 3
of us tall americans stuffed into the back seats of one of these tiny things. the food
was great! I love eating popcorn with my un-filtered coffeeSharon arrived at his
house on a motorcycle with kebede, a young Ethiopian nurse in training at Soddo
Christian hospital, we met and immediately made plans to hang out this coming
weekend.
gasuba
loading shoes for
clinic distribution
tree-lined streets
inside of a bajaj
dinner at pastor zewdies
day 4 - goya & coffee ceremony
this morning at the headquarters I met the new employee, Daniel. he just so hap-
pens to be good friends with Kebede (small town I guess). I showed some of the
staff who had extra time on their hands how to play hacky sack (they all got it im-
mediately). after seeing the young boy Alameyu (a teen who suffered a bad bone
infection and gash in his leg, who’s sister Abanesh is a mossy foot patient) I asked if
he had a jacket since he looked cold, he said no so I gave him my sweatshirt. after
seeing the hairdressing vocational training, we traveled headed out to two clinic
sites.

mossy foot project has served over 150,000 patients - many of which recover and
become vocationally trained. they then go back to thier home villages and help
take care of others as well as guide them to clinic sites.
a patient sucking his candy

Jeff and I (Christ stayed at home

to prepare his sermon) shook all
of the patients hands (most have
been outcast from their villages or
shunned because of their foot condi-
tion) so it was great to see them light
up. We also passed dum-dums, this
brought an even more anxious/ex-
cited look to their faces! To break the
silence and bring laughs Jeff would
take pictures of the patients and
then show them their own pictures,
almost every time they would laugh
and show their friends sitting next to
them. The last of the candy went to
health workers and children gath-
ered outside the building.
There was a very sad story at
this clinic in Goya, a young
woman of 17 named Kedebush
had a pretty bad case of ongo-
ing mossy foot. This beautiful
girl was alone, an orphan of
parents who had passed away.
She collected wood from the
lowlands for survival, burning
to and selling it at charcoal in
the soddo market, that’s about
30km of walking a day just to
sustain herself! This was an
incredible injustice.
When we arrived back into town
Mebrat had a coffee ceremony
waiting for us, it was some
strong/good coffee! and pop-
corn on the side.

a widow with her 3-year old

day 5 - shanto + boditi clinics
it was great to see all of the staff at morning chapel this morning, I had a chance to
thank them for my time here and share my thoughts on how the mossy foot project
is doing amazing work. The group of people assembled in the room with me cre-
ated a great family that has the ability to reach so many people here in Ethiopia. I
told them I would keep them all in my prayers, that it had been my honor and plea-
sure meeting and getting to know even just some of them. This morning I got a kiss
on the hand from Abanesh and Alameyu who I had given my sweatshirt to the day
before (not to mention a few kisses on the hand from patients at clinics)
a man bad-
ly affected
by mossy
foot began
to wash his
own feet in
the ditch
next to the
shanto
clinic
 It seems that everywhere we
go there is at least one young
boy around the age of 6 to 9
who sticks to me like I was go-
ing to take him home
botiti clinic

After two health clinic sites, we vis-

ited a mossy foot patient who had
recovered and started her own hair-
dressing shop in a nearby village.

It is beginning to be very saddening

to see so many Ethiopian people
along the roads we travel who hold
their hands out for food and money,
gesturing their hands from their
stomachs to their mouths. It is hard
to sit back and just watch.
day 6 - terepeza & the building site
we walked around the terepeza (meaning table) church compound today with a
few ethiopian friends that we had met up with at breakfast. they also took us to the
building site so we could take some crude measurements. after lunch we visited
the site for a second time with Gary. this time (since we were all white) kids started
gathering from surrounding houses and farms to watch us walk around the site.
It would be of great assistance if there were an American correspondent/building
supervisor here to oversee all operations full-time. Gary seriously hinted to me that
It would be great if someone young like me could be down here in Soddo keeping
everything running smoothly, that would be amazing I said!
the first Mossy Foot Project office, on the Kale Hewot Compound
current Mossy Foot Project staff
the west end of the site, looking west across soddo
 the mossy foot project has raised
over $30,000 to begin construction
of thier permanent headquarters
overlooking soddo. They will be
looking to raise over $100,000 more
dollars to over the next few years.
day 7 - soddo town
it was foggy and rainy (for the first time since I had arrived) so Kebede
and I cancelled our plans hike Mt. Damota. instead we visited the local
museum and tried on traditional dress, took a mini-bus to wolaita soddo
university where I met Ulrich Klocke, we also walked through the local
stadium (watched some soccer and volleyball). finally, we visited some
doctors that are living on the Soddo Christian Hospital compound and
the sterilization room where Kebede works.
 mt. damota

tona
complex SODDO
hotel
market
public current
school headquarters

private power
school station
soddo hospital
bus stop

wolaita
soddo
university
building
site

.6mi
1km

north soddo towards mt. damota

south soddo towards lake abaya
at the market I purchased some
gifts, afterwards I met up with
Jim and Sharon for lunch at
Dawit’s, yet another local Ethio-
pians home. the food here is so
tasty! gotta love the coffee and
popcorn for desert!

cobblestone program with GTZ & UCBP

day 8 - bolsa onca church
Daniel came to pick Sharon, Zebewos and I at the hotel in a larger than normal
bajaj. we were headed to church in Otona (up the hill to the east near terepeza),
the 3 hour service was filled with a very expressive pastor, beautiful song, kneel-
ing prayer and even dancing by an older man down the center of the church! after
church we met Ababich who was Sharon’s father’s housekeeper, we walked a bit,
had lunch at Bobete’s (Bob-Bi-Tey’s) house, walked past the place where Sharon
grew up and finally down the hill and back into town via dirt roads. I plopped down
on the steps in front of the hotel with a sprite and people watched the people star-
ing at me while I rested.
bobete’s kitchen
bobete’s living room & dining room
Later on in the night I asked Hasabu,
a good friend of Kebede’s if he could
show me how to ride a motorcycle, so
he called up a friend and we jumped
on one and made our way to the sta-
dium. it was a wonderful last night in
Soddo, riding around the dirt track as
lightning flashed in the distance while
my new friends cheered me on. I will
miss this place! So much life & growth
and love here, I have made an extend-
ed family in Southern Ethiopia!
... on the way out of Ethiopia we
stopped by both the SIM (Serving
in Missions)and IOCC (Interna-
tional Orthodox Christian Chari-
ties) headquarters to meet with
friends, relax and just exhale.
interesting things
if children were thought to have an eye infection they would heat up
the tip of a stick and burn the flesh of the temple of the affected eye

it is rude to point, but seemingly okay to snap for service

the red soil sparkles as if it has glitter in it (it is actually the volcanic
silica)

“esprice” means half tea + half coffee

soda is delievered in crates to homes and returned for recycling

end words
after covering my own travel funds, $150 was raised in addition for
The Mossy Foot Project, that is huge, I can truly say they are thankful!
and ofcourse there is still a huge amount of outreach that needs to be
fulfilled in the coming years in Ethiopia, some of which I have stated
in the previous pages. I would also ask that you please pray for the 5
new clinic sites this year that will be built for mossy foot patients in
rural areas.

a huge thank you, God bless (and hug next time I see you) to all who
have supported me and continue to in thier prayers! I have been in-
credibly grateful for everything the Lord has blessed me with. Includ-
ing you!
people index
jim & sharon daly founders and directors of The Mossy Foot Project USA
alayu supervisor of the baptist guesthouse in addis ababa, also a pastor
jeff & chris pastors from Koinonia Christian Fellowship Church in Hanford, California
gail davey a british researcher who has been studing podoconiosis in Ethiopia
mebrat the mossy foot project hostess, and a great person to be around!
hailye & dawit our drivers during our stay
meskele
zewdie pastor at the mossy foot project
bobete a friend of Sharon’s
kebede works in the sterelization room at soddo christian hospital, he wants to be a
nurse
ulrich klocke of gtz, project architect & manager over Woilaita Soddo University
daniel planning officer and computer tech at the mossy foot project
hasabu a sugeon’s nurse, and a good friend of kebede’s
 gavin alfred studer
480.251.8590
meta.architect@gmail.com
metaarchitecture.net