What's UNION? It's Understanding Needs In Other Nations, and it's HOPE International Development Agency's educational program for volunteers to go overseas and to live and learn with people in the developing world. It's also my job :)

I'd love to share more, but seeing as I need to be on a plane in about 3 minutes, I'll have to cut and paste from our website. We are taking a group of high school students from Abbotsford, BC, and a few board members of an awesome event called Run For Water, to experience life in Ethiopia and to learn, among other things, how clean water is transforming the lives of families and communities in Southern Ethiopia.

More to come... but final boarding call means I should probably get on board!

xo

Yale Secondary School Ethiopia Team

We are excited to send a special UNION team to Ethiopia in March 2011. Senior students from Yale Secondary School in Abbotsford, BC will participate along with Stan Wiebe, Renita Wiebe, and Jana Ratzlaff – all dedicated and passionate advocates for clean water in Ethiopia. Stan, Renita, and Jana, as well as many of the students, are actively involved in the Abbotsford-based Run For Water, an annual community event that raises substantial funds for HOPE International Development Agency’s projects for clean water in Ethiopia. Together, the team will learn first-hand about needs and development as they journey from our privileged society to experience life alongside struggling communities in Ethiopia.
Prior to their overseas travel, the team will explore the causes of hunger and poverty, the need for community development, the practice of crossing cultural boundaries, and the Amharic language. They will share with their friends, family, and community about their goals and what they hope to see, learn, and understand from this unique experience.
In Ethiopia, the team will first visit HOPE International Development Agency’s programs for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa. They will learn first-hand about the effects of the disease in a country where AIDS is responsible for 30 percent of all adult deaths, and see the life-changing impact that support for education, food, and basic care is making in the lives of children who have lost one or both of their parents.
The team will also travel to Southern Ethiopia to witness the living conditions of rural communities without access to clean water. They will discover how the gift of clean water can change lives and see how water plays a foundational role for nearly every development issue the communities face: health, education, financial security, peace, human rights, and gender equality.
In taking this journey to Ethiopia, and by engaging their home community of Abbotsford, the team is committed to making a difference for Ethiopian communities in need.