Stories from Africa: Drought in Ethiopia

After my time in the DRC and Rwanda, I headed back to Ethiopia to see, and potentially give advise on, an emergency nutrition program that was starting up. This time we traveled south of Addis Ababa into the Riff Valley, about 4 hours out of the city. Once again I saw the skinny cows and the skinny horse drawn carts sharing the 2 lane highway with cars, memories from my previous trip to Ethiopia. As we drove I also saw the picturesque "flattened" trees that I associate with the African savannah. This part of Ethiopia had been experiencing a drought - the rains didn't come, and then when they did come they came torrentially, causing flooding in some parts. The corn crop was ruined and so FH was distributing chickpea seeds to plant to take the place of the corn.

When we got to the village I was able to ask some of the families questions about their experience with the drought, and I found that they were using 3 out of 4 common coping mechanisms: reduction in consumption of meals (2x instead of 3 or 4x a day), increased consumption of wild foods (they were eating wild cabbage), and sale of productive assets (selling goats). The remaining coping mechanism is migration. I also saw some of the thinnest children I had ever seen. Not all the children were affected, but enough that it was noticeable. Of course I was hoping to take a photo, more to prove that this situation actually exists, but found out that taking photos was prohibited. I was told the government is embarrassed about this manifestation of hunger, which shows to the global community their inability to care for their own people.

We walked up to a house at dusk to talk to the mother. Her twins, Malina and Umar, came out to greet us. Malina took my hand and walked me up to her house. I was touched, because in some places I visit in Africa, children still run away from "muzungus" (white people). We asked the mother what she was cooking for dinner that night. Some neighbor children were hanging around so she was embarrassed to answer the question. We shooed the children away, and then she told us that they would be having coffee and cabbage for dinner. (Now this isn't your typical Starbucks coffee. They were probably drinking "poor man's coffee" which is made from roasted barley.) That's it - coffee and cabbage were all this mother and four children were eating that night. Can you imagine?

Stories from Africa: Reflections on the Kigali Genocide Memorial

As I planned my trip to the DRC and Ethiopia and discovered that I would pass through Rwanda, I made it my goal to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial museum. I'm glad I did. It is a very well done exhibit, on par with the Smithsonian. The main floor covers the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. It details the historical background of the Hutus and Tutsis and the political situation leading up to that fateful April. It includes video testimonies of people that survived the massacre, plus a sacred room filled with bones and skulls of victims, followed by another room with photographs of victims brought in by family members. There are several places to sit and ponder. Upstairs are exhibits about other recent genocides - the Armenian, Cambodian, Bosnian, the Holocaust, etc. Besides being a memorial, it's purpose is to be a site of learning...to prevent future genocides.

This is what stood out to me. On that night when it started in April, 1994, barricades were set up all over Kigali. Kigali is a very hilly city, urban, approximately 800,000 people. Where can you flee when that kind of madness sweeps through? There was no where to go, no obvious place to escape to. There were stories of Hutus who hid Tutsis to save their lives. One lady who had a reputation of being crazy hid people in her house. When authorities came by to search her house, she pretended to absolutely lose her mind. The authorities left without searching her house and the people hidden inside remained safe. Another man who feared that the Tutsis would attack the Hutus pre-genocide had dug a series of trenches in his field. He ended up hiding Tutsis in the trenches, covering them with boards, then a layer of dirt, and then finally planted sweet potatoes in the dirt. I guess there were secret access points for him to get them food and water. And they were saved. Then there was a story about a boy who was fleeing for his life, and saw another boy, injured, lying on the ground. He debated picking him up and carrying him to safety. He even knew his name. But then a car full of Hutus drove up and men got out of the car and started chasing him. He ran. He hid, and then to his horror saw the Hutu men beat to death the boy he chose not to help.

The decisions these people made to help or not to help had to be made in a split second. Would I have looked to the interest of my neighbor before my own? I am under no delusion to say that I would. But it made me consider that these split-second decisions are character-based...based on personal character that is developed over the years by small and seemingly unimportant decisions that are made everyday. Hmmm...

Stories from Africa: God Moment #2

It was Sunday night and I'd just spent a relaxing 24h in Kigali, Rwanda with some FH friends, and was now ready to fly onto Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I went through security and then in line to check-in (they do things in reverse there). Once I was at the ticket counter I was told that the flight could not accommodate me, that I needed to stand off to the side with some other disgruntled fliers, and if I wanted more information I could talk to "the tall man over there" who was the manager. So I waited for a bit with the disgruntled, and when the manager walked over I asked him politely about the situation. He explained that the flight was overbooked and a smaller plane than requested had been sent, which meant that a handful of people would not be able to fly to Addis that night. But, we would be compensated for the inconvenience.

So me and the disgruntled waited for the next 3 hours for the small Ethiopian Airline staff to finish loading the flying passengers and come back to settle matters with those who had to stay behind. While I waited, things to worry about went through my mind - would I get on Monday's flight? How do I get a hold of my contacts in Ethiopia to let them know I would not be arriving tonight? I'd already spent my Rwandan francs, how will I get more for the taxi rides I'll need to take the next day? etc. In the meantime, whenever a Ethiopian Airline staff member appeared, one of the bumped customers would go over and yell and argue, trying to manipulate their way onto the flight. After 3 hours, the manager finally came back and explained to us that the airline would put us up at a hotel that night, and if we came to the airline office downtown the next morning we could receive our compensation (which ended up being $100 cash, SWEET!) And that they guaranteed 110% that we would get on the Monday night flight.

The manager explained this to the crowd in French and Amharic, and then came up to me to explain the situation in English. The first thing he said to me was that I was the only passenger that didn't yell or complain at him, and who accepted his explanation from the start. He wanted to know why. The only answer that came to my mind, which I spoke out loud was..."because of Jesus." The manager's face lit up - maybe he was a believer because then he said that he and I both knew there were more important things than missing a flight, like SALVATION! And, who knows, maybe I wasn't supposed to be on the flight - God is the only one who knows the future for sure. As I walked away to find the taxi that would take me to the hotel, I remembered my one Amharic word, "Amasayganaloo" (meaning Thank You). The manager smiled back.

My good attitude brightened his stressful evening!

Stories from Africa: Men, in 3 parts

My first week working in the DRC was different because of a noted absence. For an entire week I had no women to interact with socially. None. It felt very strange...and isolating. Which perhaps made the following incidents all the more poignant.

Men, part 1: On my 3rd day in Kalamie I was visiting a child growth monitoring activity and a protected water spring in the project work zone. My trip coordinator Jean was unable to accompany me, and instead he sent along Tom, who speaks both English and Swahili, to be my translator. In between observing the field activities, Tom asked me questions that I'm typically asked in these situations, such as "Are you married? Do you have a family? etc. And I typically answer honestly..."No,..(as I hold up my hands)..no rings", "Hopefully some day", "I'm looking for a husband from my own culture", etc. We finally got a chance to stop for a lunch snack and as the other members of the party were munching on bread and sipping cokes, Tom comes over to me and proceeds to propose that I marry him. Mind you, I met him 5 HOURS before this moment. He launches into a speech about him being man with international connections, a Christian, and since we're both single and wanting to get married, we should marry each other. I kept saying that I "was flattered, but..." (insert any rational reason here). I tried to not be rude and to remain kind. He kept going on and on, trying to convince me to accept. Finally he asked me to pray about it, and he would get back to me the following day. Needless to say, the 3 hour drive back to Kalamie was rather awkward. The next day Tom asked again, and I was much more frank with him. "I'm flattered but no, I don't want to marry you, I want to marry someone from my own culture." Once again he kept trying to convince me otherwise. But then he let it go. The worst part was when he called me into his office an hour later, and proceeded to show me a photo he had taken of me the previous day and posted on his laptop, and then say "I see this picture of you, and I am admiring it." This started to border on harassment, and the making of a very uncomfortable work environment. Fortunately Tom left for his regular worksite the next day. A week later I found out that he was emailing another white expat staff member and trying to convince her to marry him, while all this was going on with me.

Men, part 2: While in Kalamie I was staying at the UN base. An older (potentially smarmy) gentleman, who I had never had any interaction with, came up to the bar where you pay for meals in the restaurant and paid for my breakfast one morning. It felt creepy, because in Africa there is no free meal - people always want something from you. But I never had any interaction again. Whew!

Men, part 3: Over the course of the week I met the man who had the room next to mine in the UN guesthouse quarters. His name was Oscar, he was Norwegian, and worked for the UN. On Saturday I was in the restaurant watching the Olympic track and field events. Oscar came in just after his countryman had won the javelin throw. I used this fact to strike up a conversation, and in the end Oscar and I watched the rest of the T&F events together, chatting about what we were seeing on the TV. Very non-threatening (finally!) and just plain fun!

Stories from Africa: God Intervention #1

For the last 3 weeks I've been in the DRC and Ethiopia on a "technical assistance" offering trip for FH. I flew Ethiopian Airlines - 9h from DC to Rome, refuel, and 6h to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Makes for a long day/night. Once I arrived in Addis, my flight to Kigali, Rwanda was delayed 5 hours. So I contacted the gal coordinating the international logistics part of my trip, to let her know we needed a Plan B, since it would be dark once I reached the Rwanda/DRC border and thus likely closed. (The original plan was to take a 5h taxi ride from Kigali to Cyangugu, cross the border to DRC Bukavu, and then catch an AirServ flight from Bukavu to Kalemie the following day). The “God thing” is that Plan B ended up being much better. Once in Kigali, I met up with Dan, a regional FH staff member, who speaks French and we traveled by taxi 3h to Gisenye, found a hotel, and first thing the next morning crossed the border into DRC Goma, and got to the airport just in time to catch the AirServ flight to Kalemie. And once in Kalemie we found out the Bukavu -> Kalemie flight (my original one) had been canceled. Good thing for Plan B! More soon...

A moment of silence

This is the first time I've been in the US in quite sometime on September 11th. And now I'm in DC where one of the attacks actually happened. As I walked/Metro'd to work, the city did seem more solemn, more formal than usual (well, Congress is back from recess, so that probably had something to do with it). As I walked by the Judiciary building across the street from Union Station, park maintenance men were lowering all the State flags to half mast. Squeaky in their rigging from lack of use I suppose. The Express paper highlighted the Pentagon memorial being unveiled today - finally, it's about time!

It's Done!

What's done!? Julie writing her FIRST grant proposal, that's what! Today with 7 minutes to spare before the 5 PM deadline, I submitted the equivalent of a 19 page proposal applying for $2.2 million from USDA for a Food for Education grant for Uganda. I say equivalent because it was an online submission, meaning there were lots of little boxes to cut and paste into from the report-like document that I had put together. It got a little stressful when I came across a section that wasn't in any of the directions or examples, so my boss boss Dave came through and emailed me text to cut and paste in within the last hour. Once our office manager Kevin (who usually does the proposal submitting) had checked my online entries and clicked "submit", we did high 5's all around and I did my little happy dance. And then it was over; kind of anti-climatic.

So I sent out my "thank you - we made a great team" email to the crew of 5 out in Uganda who burned the midnight oil to answer my questions (What months exactly are kids in school? How many school terms are there?...) and write significant parts of the proposal. So I can't really take all the credit for it - I was just one of many. But, the buck stopped with me, so if I failed, the proposal writing project would have failed.

So...that's been my life for the last 2.5 weeks. Too many nights at the office to finish up 12 hour days this week. I'm going home...

PEPFAR

This afternoon my boss boss Dave got to attend the signing of the PEPFAR bill by President Bush, allocating $50 billion for HIV/AIDS programming in Africa. A pretty exciting thing to happen on my birthday! (More exciting than sharing a b-day with the Governator!)

Rafting through the Grand Canyon

I know, you're jealous. July 1-7 found myself, my brother, and my dad rafting down the Colorado. It was a fabulous trip soaking in the beauty of God's creation, rediscovering my joyful self, and truly being on vacation. The rapids were cool too!

School Feeding

In my profession we tend to focus on the "critical window" of nutrition for kiddos 0-2 years. This is when the effects of malnutrition are more reversible, where the biggest bang for your humanitarian health aid is found. But...what about kids that are older than that? They still are hungry too. This week I had the opportunity to attend a roundtable discussion on school feeding, mostly focused on Africa. The Honorable George McGovern, former Senator of SD and instigator of funding for school feeding domestically and abroad, was the opening speaker. At 85, he's still a very coherent statesman. It was an awe inspiring moment to hear him speak to us, a small group of 40 school feeding implementors, donors, and policy makers. He said "dollar for dollar, the best return we get on foreign aid is the education of girls." And what gets girls to school? School feeding, either in the traditional form of a cooked meal, or more likely in the form of a take home food ration for the whole family to benefit from. Perhaps a food ration offsets the home labor lost when a daughter attends school. Educated girls tend to get married later, have fewer children, are stronger socially, and potentially have a better prenatal nutritional status giving the next generation of babies a head start (birthweight wise)in life. For me it was a good reminder that food is much more than nutrition, and that hunger is worth feeding no matter the age of the person.

Thoughts that make you go Hmmm....

When food prices soar 48%, we just spend 48% more on our groceries, but they eat 48% less than before.

Not quite the same as a blockade, but just as exciting...

Where I work on Mass and 3rd NE has it's share of sirens going by. So I thought nothing of it until I heard a second screaming vehicle go by in quick succession. When I looked out my window, I saw that the firetruck was laying hose on the road. Hmmm... And then we saw lots of people walking around our corner and down the sidewalk. Looked like an evacuation! So we ran down the hallway to the front side window, and Kevin our IT guy said he saw smoke coming out of the tall building next door. So of course we had to go outside and gawk. The fire crew had hoisted 3 ladders over to the 5 story building under renovation and were chopping with axes into a vertical conduit that was leaking smoke and discoloring the top floor exterior wall. Some bursts of material came out - my theory is it was some kind of flame retardant foam bits that were flying out - and that was about all there was for excitement. But good to know the DC fire department is on top of things - they had sent out at least 6 trucks to handle the emergency.

Local Determinants of Malnutrition - the Paper

OK, so this week I ended up being a bit of a workaholic. I put in at least 9 extra hours. That's a whole extra day. (I'm hoping for comp time.) All in order to get a final paper ready to present at a conference that we co-hosted - "Food Security Capacity Building and Beyond: Excellence in Nutrition and Agriculture." (Cover at right with some freaking colors - really my colleagues are NOT a part of the BLUE MEN GROUP!) My role was to simply add the results from our Ethiopian workshop experience and tweek the Bolivian workshop results to reflect the newest data we collected. But it ended up being a lot more extensive than I originally anticipated (hence the hours spent burning the midnight oil...) But the paper turned out well, all 95 pages of it, and I got to present it at the conference yesterday. I finally had time to prep my slides on Wednesday afternoon, got a call from Tom our Health Director that night with some really important changes that needed to be made, requiring me to get to the office early on Thursday morning to adjust the presentation slides before I hustled over to the conference site. By the way, did I tell you it was a humid day. When I left my house I looked normal, but by the time I arrived at the conference, my hair was ridiculously curly and my face was dripping! And then the first guy who was supposed to be presenting hadn't shown up yet, so they asked if I wouldn't mind going first. (Fortunately he did show up at the last minute, so I could stop sweating and start breathing again!). I'm not the best public speaker, because I seriously dislike it, but once I got past the theoretically stuff and could talk from my own experience I starting getting into a rhythm - my "song and dance routine" as I call it. And by the Q&A time I was flying - they threw at least 12 questions at me and I was shooting back great answers left and right. And my boss Dave agreed - my best part was the Q&A time. People yesterday and even today said they really enjoyed my presentation. Wow! (The coolest part for me was getting invited to be 2nd author on the final paper. Since I never pursued publishing my MS thesis, this was the next best thing!)

An interesting finding

The workshop I taught in Ethiopia was participatory, and in the middle of it we went to the field to collect data for 2 days. We interviewed mothers of positive deviant (PD) children (WAZ>-1 for you nutrition techies out there!) and mothers of children that were at least moderately malnourished (WAZ<-2). A positive "deviant" child is a child that for some "unexplained" reason is growing well, or relatively well, in the midst of a village of malnourished children. Our research interviews were focused on discovering those "unexplained" reasons, at least as they pertain to child feeding practices, child care and health seeking practices, and psychosocial factors. One of our most surprising findings was that children that were currently breastfeeding were MORE LIKELY to be MALNOURISHED! WHAT! Isn't breastfeeding supposed to be good for babies?

But when we looked at this result in the context of the families we interviewed and the breastfeeding practices of the area it made more sense. The international recommendations are for children to breastfeed until age 2 (unless the mother is HIV+ and then recommended to exclusively BF only until the baby is 6 months). The average age of our subjects was 33 months (range 12-59m), and 78% of the malnourished kids were BF, while only 47% of the PD kids were BF. So that's alot of older toddlers nursing. As we discussed this phenomenon we discovered that there were also several "older" kids that were ONLY nursing, and not eating any solid foods or hardly any solids! OK, now that's a major problem! Our assessment was that there was a severe mismanagement of breastfeeding going on, for reasons we could only guess why (lack of knowledge, lack of foods to offer for complementary feeding, believing breastmilk was enough, etc). So the plan of action is to start with getting correct information about breastfeeding and introduction of complementary foods out there. Whew! What a crazy situation!

Back by popular demand

I got back from Ethiopia last Saturday. It was a great trip - the food was wonderful! I really got the hang of scooping up the stew-like wats with pieces of the injera bread. Did you know that Ethiopians saying the Lord's Prayer pray "give us this day our daily injera...?" Pretty cool! I also loved the coffee. The traditional macciato of concentrated coffee poured into steamed milk. So yum! Reminded me of Peruvian style coffee. I got to attend a coffee ceremony (basically a group of people hanging out and making coffee) and they let me roast the beans. I had to consistently push back and forth with a metal tool (kind of like sauteeing) the beans on a hot sheet of metal over a coal fire until they turned a dark roasted brown color. A little tricky in the dark (the electrical power was often out)! Fortunately the true coffee bean roaster was looking over my shoulder to make sure I didn't burn them. Traditionally they crush the beans in a mortar and pestle contraption but this shop actually had an electric grinder (the power went back on). And then they boil the coffee grounds and water together in a clay pitcher over the coal fire and place it on your table when it's ready. Then a lady of the table (they chose me again for this role)pours it into the tiny cups (about 3 oz). I managed to pour at least an ounce on the table too (oops!)

Ethiopia- here I come!

It's hard to believe that in one week from today I'll be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! I'm headed out there to train local FH staff in a workshop called Local Determinants of Malnutrition. Over the course of 8 days we'll learn the ins and out of a questionnaire our DC Health Director (Tom) designed, use it to conduct interviews and collect data, look for significant variables that may be factors related to malnutrition or positive deviance, and then make an action plan to apply what we learn to upcoming health program activities. Last week I was a bit more apprehensive because I still hadn't mastered the statistical analysis program that we'll be using (and that I need to be explaining!). But after an internet session with Tom (he only works virtually in DC) my "confidence (interval)" rose considerably! (How's that for cheesy!) It's exciting and timely material as Ethiopia will be starting a new Child Survival program if the grant gets approved. I just hope that they will be able to understand my American accent, that I'll remember to speak SLOWLY, and that I can understand their accent as well!

as we forgive

The screening of the documentary _as we forgive_ was amazing! On par with the film Invisible Children about the situation in Uganda. What would you do if your family had been murdered by your neighbors, and then 40,000 of those neighbors (genocide prisoners) were released from prison at once because it was impossible to prosecute all the killers. Would you be willing to look that neighbor in the eye? Would you be able to forgive? If you had gotten caught up in the lies and propaganda and killed your friend, could you humble yourself to ask your friend's wife or child to forgive your unthinkable act? What would it take for you to feel free again? Can killers and victims live side by side in harmony?

This 53 minute film showed in a very real way the consequences of the Rwandan genocide. Two sets of killers and victims are brought together by reconciliation mediators. You see their pain, fight against bitterness, and for some, the freedom that offering forgiveness and receiving forgiveness brings. It reminded me a lot of the Truth and Reconciliation Council that brought about much healing in South Africa in the aftermath of apartheid. Which got me to thinking, how would our country be different if we had gone through the reconciliation process after slavery became outlawed, after the Civil War? Would today's gang violence, racial poverty, and overcrowded jails be non-existent? Would there have never been the LA riots?

Check it out: www.asweforgivemovie.com

International food crisis

More overview info on the international food crisis and a quote from our boss boss man Dave in DC...
http://www.mnnonline.org/article/11136
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2041382120080320?
pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Tomorrow I'm going to go see a screening of _As We Forgive_ on the Hill, "which tells the story of two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who murdered their families during the 1994 genocide. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the Rwandan government released over 50,000 genocide perpetrators back into the very communities they helped destroy. Without the hope of justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution, reconciliation. In _As We Forgive_, director and producer Laura Waters Hinson explores the extraordinary journey of two women from death to life through forgiveness.This documentary tells of Rwanda’s rebirth through the reconciliation of victims and perpetrators. The film focuses on what Africa can teach us and the potential that reconciliation has to transform families, neighborhoods, cities, and even nations."

I'll let you know what I think about it.

Networking

Today I got to have lunch with another RD who is also in a Nutrition Specialist position for an NGO here in Washington. She was throwing out acronyms and technical vocabulary, and, I understood what she was talking about! We were able to each contribute to the other's knowledge base - me, telling her about how we did growth promotion in a development context in Bolivia (her organization does more relief type work), and her, telling me about what collaborative groups to network with to meet other nutritionists out of our normal sphere of influence. I really enjoyed talking with her!

Food Shortages

Crazy stuff going on in Haiti this week. This might not normally be on my radar, but at the moment my office mate Mitzi is trying to confirm dates to do an AIDS training in Haiti, that was supposed to happen in April, which now doesn't look likely. I am enjoying sharing an office with Mitzi - she is a focused worker, so she motivates me to do the same, but at the same time she might turn around and say something random or silly, which gives me the freedom to do likewise. We're a good combo. And she's helping me to fill my social calendar.
So back to the problems with food shortages and inflated food prices in Haiti...and Bolivia...and Mexico...and many other countries around the world at the moment. Problems that have been steadily brewing for at least the past year. What is going on? What was the decision in the global economy that finally pushed things over the edge? And why the heck is the US growing biofuel (corn becoming ethanol) on good farmland, a crop that requires so much water that in 10 years the water table will be so low that wells will dry up in Kansas?! My theory is it's all interrelated. Our decisions in the US affect our brothers and sisters around the world in more ways than we can ever fathom.

Getting settled in

Yesterday I had my furniture delivered to my new place. Yep, that's right - I have a place to live, with only a 30 minute commute from my front door to my office door. I got permission to be gone a few hours from work to receive the shipment, and I ended up needing 4 of them! Turns out the delivery guys were not that familiar with DC. And, their primary language was Spanish. Good thing I speak that language! After several cell phone calls, many times of them getting lost (plus, I think they stopped and ate lunch, I don't blame them!), later borrowing a map of DC from my roommate Megan, I basically OnStared them in to my neighborhood. As they were moving the furniture up to my new room, one of the delivery guys asked how I knew Spanish. I explained that I lived in Bolivia for a few years. To that he replied, "And how many boyfriends did you have?" So I said, "...too many to count". :)

End of week 1

I did it, I survived week 1! Every afternoon I was getting a headache at around 2pm but it would go away once I got home. I think it's stress. But today, no headache. That's improvement. I learned something new about Ethiopia. They count their hours differently - daylight and nighttime. Our 12noon is 6 Ethiopian daylight. Makes a lot of sense to me! (This came up when a co-worker and I were trying to set up at conference call with Ethiopian health staff. We came into work early to catch them (7h ahead of us) before they left work for the day!)

And good news, I have a place to live! I will be moving in some stuff this Saturday, and hopefully move in completely on April 12, once I have furniture. More in the blog to come...

First Day at the Office

Well, I survived my first day back to work! Within the first hour I found out that I'll be headed to Ethiopia in May to teach a multi-day seminar (by myself!) that I only partially attended in Bolivia. The good news about that (and the bad news I guess!) is that I already know how much work I'll need to put in to organize and prep for it. A LOT! I got issued a cell phone too (so my temporary number is 703-627-2132 if you'd like to ring me up.) However the amazing miracle of the day was running into Katelyn, my friend's sister, on the sidewalk as I was walking to the Union Station Metro station and she was walking home from her internship. Crazy! What are the odds that I would run into the only other person I know in DC randomly!

Next stop...Washington, DC

Welcome to my newest blog! Remember that position in Washington, DC I was hoping to get? I have happy news to report! On April 1 (no joke!) I'll be starting a job in DC with Food for the Hungry as Maternal and Child Nutrition Specialist! So in lieu of mailed out newsletters and monthly email updates, I'll be letting you know what I'm up to and how God is moving through Food for the Hungry via this blog space. Please bookmark this page and check back occasionally - I look forward to reading your comments!
Love and hugs, Julie