American Idol David Archuleta in Ethiopia

Wednesday we were notified that David Archuleta and three other performers, who were on an Armed Forces Entertainment Tour, had a 10 hour  lay-over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday and would be available for a youth and young adult fireside.  School is out for winter break there so those 12-30 years of age were invited from Addis and Debere Zeit to the Church for the 4:00-5:30 PM meeting.  Sue and I found out, so we caught the flight out on Wednesday evening and were ready Thursday afternoon to cover the event.  There were 135 young people and missionaries ready to be entertained.  It was a spiritual and enlightening meeting. 

  

 

American Idol runner-up David Archuleta

Ethiopian District President Habtu( left), David Archuleta, Elder Fuller, Jason Hewlett, and Dan Clark 

Susan was like a kid in a candy store

I don't know who the grumpy old guy is, but David and Susan had a good time!


Missionaries serving in Addis Ababa and DebereZeit

For a Thursday afternoon fireside, 135 young adults and missionaries was a good turnout. 

Jason Hewlett, the comedian of the group, is always playing to the crowd.  He kept people entertained all day

Jason Hewlett was very funny.  He had trained the muscles in his face to do crazy things.  He could make his nose wiggle like a rabbit.  He had the kids rolling in the isle. He also had an imitation of a raptor... funny.   good clean fun.

Dan Clark is a motivational speaker and an ex-pro-football player.  He pumped the youth up with a great testimony of the Savior and told some great stories.   

David's voice coach Dean Kaelin was a missionary in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and So.Africa.This was his first time back to Africa since then.  It was rather emotional for him.

Miss Africa Utah was also in attendance.  She was an Ethiopian orphan adopted nine years ago by a family in Ogden, UT when she was 14. She is a student at Weber State studying International Relations and was in Ethiopia doing some work for an NGO.

David sang four hymns for the audience and shared his testimony.  He has been home from his mission to Chile, South America for 4 months.

Ethiopian food is not my favorite.  Everyone but me seemed to enjoy it.  The pancake-like roll is called injera (sourdough flatbread) and is much like a thick crepe.  You roll it out flat and then use it as your bread and utensil.

On the injera you put very spicy meat, sauces, vegetables and rice with other things.

Elder and Sister Wold from Mesa, Arizona enjoyed the food

Elder and Sister Moses from Parma, Idaho, did not enjoy it as much 

The celebrities seemed to enjoy the food.  David was on a first name basis with the food server. 

Look at this, Susan liked the food so much she took two plates.  Not really, the plate with mostly rice is mine.

I took this because I thought the cultural performers were pretty girls.  I have said it before, Ethiopian people are very good looking.

David is a quite a shy, humble young man and when management told him he had been recognized he was a little embarrassed. The manager asked him if he would come on stage and sing a couple of songs. His voice coach had his guitar with him and so they performed. When David is on stage he flips into IDOL mode and is a great performer.

David sang two songs; "Stand By Me" by BB King and "Everybody Hurts" by REM

There were quite a few foreigners... Americans and  Europeans... in the audience and a group from the Philippines, but mostly Ethiopians.  We guessed there were between 200-250 in the restaurant. The audience went crazy...taking pictures, clapping, yelling, etc. when he started to sing. 

When he finished his two songs, he walked off stage and was mobbed.  He was quickly surrounded by his traveling companions and we all left the restaurant. 

This was a fun event to cover.  It was dropped in our lap Wednesday and we were out of Ethiopia on Friday morning.  The couples here in Kampala give us a hard time about not being real missionaries because our job is so fun and has perks.  We tell them, "Well, you know what P.A. stand for?  Party Animals."

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2nd Trip to Adjumani-- Sudanese Refugee Camp

When we visited Adjumani in April, the women of the camp told  Honorable (MP) Minister of the State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees that they were in desperate need of hygiene kits.  He promised to get them as soon as possible.  Elder and Sister Moore, a Senior Couple serving in Gulu, Uganda took up the project and immediately posted the need for hygiene kits on their blog.  The response came from all over the U.S.  Days for Girls, an international NGO joined in the effort and the Uganda Chapter helped Sister Moore get the project moving. Members of the Church, Primary, Young Women and Relief Society as well as non-members helped put kits together.  The Missionaries both Sisters and Elders assembled kits and even the five couples here in our building put kits together.  It was a great project that didn't involve the Church Humanitarian Services as it was small enough that it could be managed from Gulu.  The Days for Girls and the Camp Coordinators worked with the Moores to coordinate distribution.  Sister Hansen and I invited the Mission Medical Couple, Elder and Sister Squire, to ride up there so we could cover the event and enjoy the experience.

Elder and Sister Moore with the Humanitarian Driver and church member, Ssimbwa Buslwa

Susan and I on the left with Sswimba, Sister and Elder Squire then Sister Moore.

The hygiene kit consists of soap, panties, liners, shield, and instructions.  The shield snaps around the crotch of the panties and holds the liners which serve as a washable, reusable sanitary pad. 

Sister Moore directing traffic...Note the colorful dresses and a few young men hanging around the meeting for women of the camp ages 12-49.

I wanted to show the design on this woman's forehead...this is a tribal marking.

Boys gathering to find out what all the excitement was about...I tried to get them to smile but they were not interested.  The little girl in the background was laughing though. Cute kids.

Sister Hansen handing out kits

These women have been taken from their homes and are living in less than ideal conditions.  I see sadness in their eyes but they are doing the best they can.  The pictures to follow do not need a lot of explanation.

Several of the women were working on embroidery projects while they waited in line.  Their work was a beautiful satin stitch design.  When we asked her what she was going to do with it she indicated sleep with it so we assume it was going on her bed.  We were glad to know these women have things like this to do in their spare time.

Sis. Moore in pictured in the background in the red dress.  Several men served as interrupters for the large crowd of women.  We handed out 3200 hygiene kits.

Some beautiful young girls

Lots of smiles of appreciation for the kits.

The women, both young and old, were warm and friendly.  They definitely have a style of their own and Sudanese people tend to be quite tall. 

We had the opportunity to stop at Chobi Safari Lodge on the Nile River

East of Murchison Falls in the Murchison National Park.  This park is an extension of the big park at Paraa where we went in December. This section of the park is very wooded so it is hard to see the game.  We found some giraffe, cape buffalo but no elephants.  The hippos were in the water and we saw a few.  We were going to the lodge for lunch so our stay was only for a few hours.

A colorful gecko 

Ducks just taking off over the Nile

A gnarly tree 

Two interesting women we tagged along with at the park

A family of wart hogs performing " hakuna matata" on the grass at the lodge

On the way out of the park we saw these Cape Buffalo and 10 Giraffe so we grove off-road and got a closer look.

The giraffe is such a beautiful and graceful animal.  

We loved this trip and are looking forward to our next adventure

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