So, I am back from Ethiopia now and I have pretty much gotten adjusted back to living and working in Austin. I absolutely loved my time in Ethiopia! I learned so much about the global water crisis and about the lives of our Water to Thrive beneficiaries. The people of Ethiopia were consistently so friendly and welcoming. Despite not having many of the luxuries and comforts that we enjoy in the U.S., like running water, hot showers, washing machines, microwaves and accessible clean water, the people I met in the villages we visited were so joyful and thankful. They are grateful for the things they do have: friends, family, faith, love and happiness. It truly made me reflect on my life in the U.S. I think that a lot of times in the U.S., we connect happiness to material wealth and things. In reality, it is not things that create happiness. Our beneficiaries showed me that first hand. They lead hard and physically demanding lives, but the children are curious, playful and giggly, and the adults are humble and faithful, praising God over and over for the clean water they have received (I doubt any of us in the U.S. have thanked God for our tap water lately).

Driving for hours to water project sites gave me a lot of time to reflect on my life and all that I was learning on my trip. For most of the trip, we did not have Wifi or internet, which I actually enjoyed because it gave me time to disconnect from the busy world of texts, emails, and social media. Being in Ethiopia with Water to Thrive, I felt so purposeful. Visiting water projects and seeing the impact that Water to Thrive has made first-hand made me feel like I was part of something life changing. For me, it was a very natural transition going from the U.S. to living in Ethiopia, but I definitely experienced culture shock when I came home. I was thrown back into the world of Wifi and the Internet and back into my life of comfort and privilege, but I couldn’t stop thinking about my Ethiopian friends. So many people are drinking dirty water and getting sick everyday back in Ethiopia. I felt guilty for enjoying things in Austin, like drinking $6 smoothies and going shopping. I never really felt guilty about doing these things before. I have realized more how lucky I am to have an education, to have my own apartment, to have all the food and clean water I need. Many times since returning, I have wondered why I am so lucky to have these things and others are not as fortunate. But, sitting around and feeling guilty does not solve anything. I have learned that the way to solve problems, like the global water crisis, is to use my privilege to help others with less privilege. I don’t know why I have been so blessed in my life, but I do know that with my blessings comes a responsibility to share those blessings, to use my voice to amplify others’ voices and to use my education and experiences to create awareness around social issues.

I struggled with feeling less purposeful once I was back working in the office. However, I tried to remind myself that sorting through pictures from my trip, posting on social media for Water to Thrive and writing blogs to share my experiences are still important to spreading awareness about the water crisis. The path to meaningful change is not a sprint, but a marathon, and even small tasks like posting on Facebook contribute to more awareness, more donations and eventually more water wells built. Through my experiences so far this summer, I have learned more about the water crisis and become passionate about working to end it. I have been reaffirmed of my desire to help others, which I plan to carry out by working in the non-profit field. Now, I am on the hunt for a job where I can fulfill my passion of helping people. Whether I work with people affected by the global water crisis abroad or marginalized communities in the U.S., I am not sure (wish me luck on figuring that out). But, overall, thanks to CAPS, I have a better idea of what I want to do in my career. I am so thankful to CAPS for giving me this experience and truly helping me find my purpose.

Wow – so much has happened since I began my CAPS Fellowship! I moved to Austin, TX almost two weeks ago and moved into my own apartment for the first time.  I really enjoy being in my own apartment and I love living with Nosi as my housemate! Together we have started exploring Austin and we have found there is so much to do there! Austin is a unique blend of being proudly Texan, but welcoming to all, liberal and conservative and business-oriented with laid-back, bohemian vibes. So far I have found that the city possesses lots of live music, record stores, cute coffee shops, funky art museums and a profound (and inspiring) love for tacos. Nosi and I are staying in University of Texas housing so there is quite a few shops and restaurants within walking distance of our apartment, which is really nice.

After getting settled in at Austin, I started work at Water to Thrive! Water to Thrive raises money to build wells in communities in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, where there is little or no access to safe, drinkable water. The organization builds wells in the central hub of communities, provides easy access for the whole community to safe water and saves women and children from spending hours in a day walking miles to collect water. As an intern, I am currently working on marketing strategies for the organization and running their social media. So far, I have created a best practices guide for social media use (as volunteers also post on their social media), created a calendar to plan posts, created goals for the marketing of the organization and started posting in hopes to grow their social media following (shameless plug: you can find/follow us @WatertoThrive on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter😊).

After being placed with Water to Thrive a while ago, I was made aware of the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia with the Executive Director, Susanne, and another intern, Kendall. Of course this was an opportunity that I knew I couldn’t let go. So, after spending one week in the Water to Thrive office in Austin and meeting all of the amazing womenwho work in the office, I left for Ethiopia! We had to fly from Austin to Washington D.C. before flying to Ethiopia and we had a free night in D.C., so Kendall and I met up with CAPS fellows Jade and Maddie! They gave us a tour of their apartment and then we went to a rooftop restaurant in the city! The next day we boarded our plane and thirteen hours later landed in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. We have now been in Ethiopia for three days and I have already learned so much about Ethiopian society, customs, food and the Amharic language! Throughout our trip we will be visiting old and new water project sites and talking to the local people about their current access to clean water. I will still be running social media as well as taking pictures and blogging about our experiences for the Water to Thrive website. We have already visited four villages, and the people have been so friendly and welcoming to us when we enter their spaces. I am so excited to continue to travel throughout Ethiopia and learn more about the effects of the global water crisis and Ethiopian culture!