Project Underwear Ethiopia!! Why Ethiopia? The first true friend I made in Venice was an Ethiopian girl named Konjit. We met during an Italian course. This was in 1987. We were the slowest of the class and so we immediately bonded. She married an Italian and I was soon to marry one myself. We were both foreigners struggling with the Italian language and culture. Whenever I introduced Konjit to my Italian friends, they would ask, "What's your name again? Ganga?" And so from there on end, I've always called this dear friend of mine, Ganga. What a beautiful baby and   oh so happy with her new underwear!         Can you find your         underwear in         these photos?   Ganga has always described her culture to me and I, of course, was always very, very interested in learning about some faraway land. Her house is filled with beautiful and interesting Ethiopia art and furniture. On special holidays, Ganga prepares delicious-typical Ethiopian food. And whenever she went back home, she'd bring me souvenirs from her country. Naturally, with such a positive and warm influence, I was attracted to visiting Ethiopia. Over the years, we often discussed the possibility of me visiting Ethiopia with her one day. Having such a close friend who is from Ethiopia, it was only a matter of time before I visited her mother country. In December of 2000, Ganga's husband, Domenico, went to Ethiopia to join her for the holidays. At that time, I had accumulated quite a bit of underwear. In fact, the cathecism classes of St. Aidan's, in Livonia (MI) collected hundreds of childrens' underwear for my Project Underwear. Add that to other private donations and collections, I soon stockpiled approximately 1,000 pairs of underwear. Sooner or later I had to get rid of this stuff. The shelter of the Godanaw Project is made of a metal shipping container. The green plastic buckets on the ground are shoeshine kits given to the kids so that they can earn some pocket change shinning shoes on the streets. With Domenico departing for Ethiopia, I decided to "seal my fate" by having him take one humungous duffle bag of underwear with him. You have to understand that it wasn't easy for me to ask this favor of Domenico because he is a simple man who can travel the world with just one toothbrush. But in the end, for the love of children, Domenico took the heavy bag to Ethiopia and that my friends "sealed my fate." I knew that if hundreds of childrens' underwear were already in Ethiopia, waiting for me, then I would be living according to the "law of expectation" in which everything would clear the way for me to make it to Ethiopia. "According to your faith be it unto you. " - Matt. 9:29 With the underwear now in Ethiopia, I expected to go there, I expected to get the time off work, I expected to have the money for the airline ticket, etc. And I did! The library of the shelter. Empty. Please send books,   even if they're in English, to the Godanaw Rehab. Integrated Project,   P.O. Box 1581, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Attn: Mr. Mulatu Tafesse.   Ganga had planned to be in Ethiopia sometime in July and August. And, like a perfect plan, I was granted a three week vacation during that time. So finally, after all these years, our schedules were in sync and we were ready to travel together. Ganga and Domenico helped with the extra baggage allowance enabling me to take two extra HUGE bags to Ethiopia for free! I soon found myself in a tiny, humid hotel room in Addis Ababa cramped with three huge bags of underwear PLUS my backpack. Dinner consists of injera and lentils. Ethiopians do not use forks and knives to eat. Before every meal they thoroughly wash their hands and use only their right hand to eat. Although I am unable to travel the world with just one toothbrush, I do pride myself in travelling light. I always travel with a clothesline and clothes pins so that I can wash the few articles of clothing that I have. Add a sleeping bag, sleeping sheets, first-aid kit, and a few trial-size toiletries, I'm totally equipped carrying very little weight and occupying very little space. I find this is the best way to travel. However, not so when I had THREE huge excess bags on me plus my backpack. For someone who insists on travelling light, there was an initial shock and panic when I realized I was travelling with such a heavy load. But I soon saw that this "heavy load" was actually an abundance. A good abundance. Not a heavy load. A blessing. I had so much underwear that it took me 10 days in Addis Ababa to distribute it. I estimate that I reached 500 children. In the Toukoul orphanage of the S.O.S. Les Enfants Ethiopie, the children were incredibly well-behaved and they all bowed in gratitude when they received their gift. Director of the big children, Yemesrach Lakew, oversaw and assisted with the distribution. One orphanage, the S.O.S. Enfants Ethiopie had 287 children. When I first visited them, I had already distributed lots of underwear to other shelters and orphanages. I didn't know exactly how many pairs I had left but I thought the S.O.S. orphanage was like the other shelters - somewhat small. When the director said that he would permit me and, moreover, would be pleased if I distributed the underwear to his children, I was very happy. We set an appointment for that afternoon. Then I asked, "By the way, how many children are there?" "287" he answered. Oh no. According to Mr. Tafesse, Director of the shelter, the boys were very happy for their brand new underwear . . . "They liked the underwear so much that they all agreed it was too nice of a garment to wear as underpants - opting instead to use them as pajamas." The boys don't have pajamas. Any used pajamas for boys (or girls) would be welcomed in this shelter. Send them to: Godanaw Rehab. Integrated Project, P.O. Box 1581, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Attn: Mr. Mulatu Tafesse. I was worried sick that I wouldn't have enough underwear to reach all 287 of them. It would be very embarrassing for me if the underwear ran out. Fortunately, I always have some small toys or candies to compensate in case of such an event. But nevertheless, my goal was to reach each child in that orphanage. So I started to pray. I just prayed to God that I would have enough underwear for everyone. I didn't want to leave anyone out. "Please, God, bless this underwear and just let there be enough for all these poor and parentless children," I kept praying. And strangely enough, the more underwear I gave out, the more there was left in the bag. It seemed as if the underwear was multiplying. For me, this was a small miracle. All 287 kids each received two pairs of underwear - one to wear and one to wash. And I still had plenty of underwear left!! I'd go back to my tiny, humid hotel room, look at all these full bags, and wonder, "Is there an end to this? Will I ever be able to get rid of all this stuff?" Ato Mulatu Tafesse - Director of the Godanaw Project - surrounded by his "Manager." He also describes the Rosary as "my Catholic machine gun." Contributing his own time and energy, Mr. Tafesse saw to it that I distributed the underwear to several small orphanages and slum areas. Slowly, slowly, one thing lead to another and through friends of friends, lots of networking, telephone calls, meetings, etc. I was able to meet the right people, who guided me in the right direction, who lead me to the right experiences. It took 10 days in Addis Ababa to distribute almost everything and although I was panic-stricken and nervous at first (due to all my inventory), I learned that everything will come about in its own way on its own time. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in Africa - and not in the U.S. - in which the pace and organization is not the same. In a nutshell, I just had to learn to relax, follow my leads, and everything would turn out just fine. Which it did. All the children in this small orphanage received new underwear.