Cross Cultural Journeys is a travel company passionate about understanding indigenous cultures around the world. Through their foundation, they have partnered with GTLI to empower the women of Minogelti kebele , Hamer Woreda , South Omo Zone (home of 16 ethnic groups) in the SW corner of Ethiopia. Cross Cultural Journeys became acquainted with our
Gelte Mine, pictured with her daughter Kognang, is a 35-year-old Dasenech widow and mother of 7 children. When Gelte was asked how her family’s quality of life was affected by GTLI, she replied, “We eat much, much better and we no longer have diarrhea. I am now self-confident. I do not let the brothers of
The people of Guerenarema welcomed us in July with this heartwarming celebration! We were there to check up on the progress our Women’s Strengthening project, and we were greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm from both the women and men of the community. The people are thrilled that they have learned to read and write Amharic, the
Where we work in South Omo Zone, Ethiopia, less than 30% of the people have access to clean water. When a new well is constructed, it is often overused and quickly breaks down. The new well we constructed in Bandira this spring is now used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by everyone in
Our Hamar family of children are thriving; they are all doing well in school, and the two children who came to us malnourished (Temesgen and Zenabaw) are now healthy and growing. Our little Aregesh is still struggling with ear problems. She had surgery last fall on her right ear and this week she will “go
When GTLI first piloted Integrated Functional Vocational Literacy (IFVL), attendance averaged 15 people, with only three regular attendees. Lessons were simple learning exercises. Now, five years later, each of the 12 lessons are organized into six discrete learning activities that reinforce healthy hygiene and sanitation, reproductive health, and nutrition behaviors. In Gueranerama Dasenech, 51 adults (37 women and 14 men) have already
GTLI Board Member Johnnie Lloyd led a 3-day workshop for our field and management teams in Hawassa, Ethiopia in April. The main topic, effective communication, was new to most. We agreed that our new working definition of communication means the receiver understands the essence of the message sent by the sender. It was fun, energizing, and
A Dasenech woman grinds by hand the grain that she will use to prepare her family’s meal. This is a task she spends 2 to 3 hours on, every day. Despite her work load, she is finding the time to participate in our women’s strengthening project now underway in the Guerenarema community. Our project seeks to improve economic empowerment and stability
Amarech Benki is a 37 year-old BenaTsemay woman and the mother of nine children. Her two oldest children are married and her youngest is 18 months old. Prior participating in GTLI’s Reproductive Health project, Amarech had no understanding of basic sanitation and hygiene. She now feels strongly that she could have prevented the death of one of
Lori Pappas, GTLI Founder and Executive Director, was thrilled to share results from GTLI family planning initiatives at the fourth International Conference on Family Planning that took place in January in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. The conference drew researchers, implementers, policymakers, advocates, and representatives of local and international organizations. After her presentation Lori said, “The ICFP conference gave me