Christmas in Ethiopia

BY IMOGEN NEALE

Ethiopia isn't usually the first place that springs to mind when people are planning their Christmas holiday.

But that's exactly where Otara youth workers Michelle and Asaua Tiatia are heading this weekend.

The Takanini couple will farewell their own five children on Boxing Day to spend two weeks working with street children and former prostitutes in one of Africa's poorest nations.

The trip is organised by United States charity Mocha Club which gets its name from the fact people donate US$7 - the cost of two mocha coffees - a month to its projects.

Mrs Tiatia stumbled across the charity when a US-based friend posted a link on Facebook and was drawn to the fact she could visit Ethiopia to see firsthand the difference her money was making.

It's a trip she's wanted to make since she was six years old and watched news footage of the mid-80s famine that killed more than a million people.

Earlier this year she finally got her chance and headed off to Africa.

It was a "massive culture shock" and when she got back home she cried every day, she says.

"I took some time off work - and in the first week I spent a lot of time in bed crying.

"I was trying to process it all - the number of people on the streets and knowing how much space we have in our house.

"I looked at adopting kids ... they're living on the streets without parents."

Now she's about to make the same trip with her husband.

Mr Tiatia says one of the reasons he's going this time is because he couldn't relate to anything Michelle was trying to tell him about the overwhelming experience.

"It's really hard to explain to anyone who hasn't been there," she says.

"They only have electricity every second day because of the drought so it's really hard."

On the trip the couple will work with a programme in Nazareth that helps women find a way out of prostitution and into mainstream jobs.

They'll also work with street kids in an orphanage in Ambo, running activities and teaching English.

Mr Tiatia says the trip "will put all my youth work experience to good use".

As for the Tiatias' own children, they're staying with extended family - this time.

"We've talked to the kids about it," Mrs Tiatia says. "They want to come too."

Next year 12-year-old Jamal may get his chance. He's already got a few teachers lined up to sponsor him and he says the possibility is "exciting".

The trip has an unexpected benefit: Ethiopia has a different calendar so the Tiatias will get to celebrate Christmas twice - once with their children on Christmas Day in New Zealand and then again on Ethiopia's Christmas Day on Thursday, January 7.

The couple have already packed up boxes of clothes, shoes, sports equipment and art materials to take with them so they have Christmas presents to give out to the African children.

And although the trip is getting closer Mrs Tiatia is still welcoming donations and gifts but says what they really need now is financial support.

The trip is costing the couple $9000 and they've raised a third of that by selling home-made lasagnes and cakes.
 Donations can be made through the Mocha Club website www.mochaclub.org by entering either Michelle or Asaua's name into the space provided or emailing her at michelle.tiatia@gmail.com.

"Africa just seems like it's too big a problem to do anything about but if we all just do our part change will come," she says.

"This is our opportunity to do something."

- © Fairfax NZ News