Schools, Kindness, & Facts

PROCESS

The first step in the United States was to find schools that accepted international students. We researched the handful of schools in Denver that did accept international students and found that two of them were much better than the others. One is the Denver Waldorf School and the other is East High School. We have already toured the Waldorf School and love the palpable passion for education and commitment to the students that everyone involved has. East High School offers a bit wider array of classes and extra curricular activities though. Honestly, we feel that Rakeb would love either school so we decided to have her apply to both and see what happens. 

Rakeb & Fikerte

RAKEB

Aaron and I were invited over to Rakeb’s home for lunch one day shortly after I had met her. Her home is located within walking distance of the African Union, but her neighborhood is comprised of small tin and cinder block homes, dusty walkways, and tiny window shops. What her home may have lacked in what we consider essential, was more than made up for in kindness. Her mother, Fikerte, and sister, Akleysia, both welcomed us in with open arms. In their tiny living room, Fikerte made us traditional Ethiopian food and topped it off with the best coffee I have ever had in my life.

The African Union behind Rakeb's neighborhood

ETHIOPIA

The country is the second most populous in Africa behind only Nigeria. The population is pretty much split down the middle with 50% of the people being Christian and 50% being Muslim. The nation is divided into 9 different regions, which are more-or-less drawn along ethnic lines. All of this makes for a densely populated country with a few different points of contention, and this has provided many problems throughout its history. We’ll start with a point of pride for all Ethiopians though. While every other country in Africa was colonized at some point in their history, Ethiopia was the sole exception. They were occupied by the Italians for 5 years (1936-1941), but never fully succumbed to them.