I mentioned in June that I met the President of the Southern Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia at a reception for our agency's in-country representative. I was able to spend some time with His Excellency, President Shiferaw Shigutie, and talk about the Sidama people. Both he and my daughter are Sidama. At that reception, he told me he would send me a Sidama dictionary when he returned to Ethiopia as a gift to us and a way to help us preserve some of our daughter's Sidama culture.
Well, I know President Shiferaw Shigutie must be a very busy man, being the President of SNNPR, and everything. I certainly wouldn't fault him for not following through. But this month I got an email from him telling me the books were on their way. How cool is that? And a few days later... the package arrived.
Included, was a Sidaamuaffo to Amharic to English dictionary, and a Sidaamuaffo grammar book. It may take a little work to decode the books, as all the words in the dictionary are alphabetical by Sidaamuaafo and the grammar book is only in Sidaamuaffo.
But these are treasures indeed! I'm very grateful to have these Sidama resources that I can pass on to my daughter. (and hopefully learn some Sidaamuaffo in the process!)
And I'm eternally grateful to President Shiferaw Shigutie for taking time out of his busy schedule to send those to me. He is very proud of his Sidama heritage and I know he wants my daughter to be proud to be Sidama too. I'll do everything I can to facilitate that.
Is it totally weird that I don't want to throw away the envelope with the "Ethiopia Worldwide Express" and Amharic characters on it?
What a treasure! That is so special. I had the chance to go to Russia once and a family gave me their copy of The Little Red Hen in their language.
ReplyDeleteSweet!
You have the coolest connections! I wouldn't throw away that package either! Bring me those books, I'll read them to you - ha!
ReplyDeleteW-O-W!!! That is extraordinary! What a generous man to want to send some educational material to you and then to follow up on that! And, yeah, I'd totally keep the package, too. :) Awesome!
ReplyDeleteso fab!
ReplyDeleteWow! How generous is that! You must have made quite an impression on him too. I am sure Marlie will be proud of everything about herself.
ReplyDeleteOMG!! Totally green with envy over here - Elsa is Sidama too, as you know. You and Marlie will have to teach us a few things. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! What a great legacy to leave Marlie. And I don't think it's weird at all to keep the envelope. I would keep it too.
ReplyDeleteI met him while he was here too. He gave me his card and asked me to look him up when I came to Awassa. I mentioned it to Girma, who was SO EXCITED about the possibility of taking me to see his excellency. Girma was like a 6 year old kid ready to go to Disney world, until he remembered that it was Sunday and the President would not be in his office. Girma was very disappointed.
ReplyDeletevery very cool...
ReplyDeleteI tried to call you earlier today, but I guess you were too busy with your international connections...
;-) - your favorite sis
That is so not weird. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today and leaving me a little "blog crack" love. You're kids are beautiful, your house sure is purple, and you are now on my blogroll, OK? OK.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. What a nice gift to receive in the mail!
ReplyDeleteHow very very cool! What a thoughtful gesture. I'm so happy you have these!
ReplyDeleteI think that was one of the best gifts a person could receive. Keep the package. Definitely.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog. Will be adding you to my roll so I can check back often.
Thanks for your visit yesterday. It was great fun.
Wowzer, waaaayy cool Julie, way cool!
ReplyDeleteI can't image what it feels like to open your home and your heart to a child in such great need. And what a gift to have to connect him to where he comes from. That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteMakes my little piece of the world seem smaller but thanks for visiting today:-) The whole feature thing has been so encouraging.
Wow, I'm impressed! We don't meet fancy folks like that usually in Northeastern Wisconsin. Unless you count the Fabulous Brett Favre! BTW, thanks for coming by and visiting The Great State of Wisconsin today!
ReplyDeleteThat is so way cool!!!!!!! What a wonderful Gift to give to your daughter! and I'm sure as resourceful as you are, you will have those books decoded in no time at all :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome!! Do not throw the packaging away, that is way cool. You must be so excited to have that for Marlie.
ReplyDeleteKeep the packaging! That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Do you have any idea where to pick up a copy in the US?? Our son is Sidama, and says so many words that we'd love to understand! I would keep the packaging as well!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled onto your blog today and what caught my attention was the link to Addis Ababa at first and then to the fact that you adopted.
ReplyDeleteWe know that God is leading us to adopt and have considered Ethiopia because we have a heart connection there. One of our friends is a missionary there and we feel like we have a vested interest there.
I will be saving your blog to my favorites and look forward to checking out your blog when I have a few more minutes.
No -- not weird at all! I totally understand not wanting to throw things away! If you saw my house you would understand my understanding!
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a good weekend.