A group of seven people traveled to Ethiopia over winter break from Dec. 29 to Jan. 13 to visit a school and orphanage supported by the Brittany’s Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Elizabethtown. The group was made up of students, graduates and faculty members who were joined by volunteers from the Brittany’s Hope Foundation.

Brittany’s Hope organized the logistics of the trip, while Dr. Margaret McFarland, professor of social work, encouraged students from Elizabethtown College to attend the trip.

“It is the poorest country I have ever visited, but the people have such strength and ability to survive on so little,” McFarland said. “I wanted to take a student group so they could experience and understand the concept of living with so little.” The travelers landed in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, and started their trip by helping out in Bahir Dar and continued to Injibara.

The purpose of the trip was to visit a school and orphanage in Ethiopia and evaluate the current programs, interact with the children in the school and orphanage and to determine the children’s and program’s needs. These international programs are important to Brittany’s Hope and the organization makes an effort to visit Ethiopia at least once a year.

The group first visited the Dawn of Hope School in Bahir Dar. The group distributed blankets and school supplies to the children at the school and their families and interacted with them as well. They also talked with the mothers of each child about how they are working to improve their children’s lives, according to Rustin Dudley, a senior social work major at Etown and intern at Brittany’s Hope.

The group also visited the Injibara Children’s Home, an orphanage in Injibara. The group talked and visited with the children. They also visited the schools these children attend. Dudley especially enjoyed celebrating Christmas in Ethiopia with these children.

Dudley has been involved with Brittany’s Hope since she was a volunteer during her first year. She has been an intern for the organization since August, so when the trip was organized she was asked to join. She has traveled previously with the organization to Vietnam. “I wanted to go as a professional, to better understand the services the agency is providing, but I also wanted to go as an individual, so that I could give back some of my time to the community and gain exposure to a culture unlike my own,” Dudley said. According to Dudley, one of the most important experiences was “seeing the happiness and joy in the eyes of the children there.”

Brittany’s Hope Foundation aims to “facilitate adoptions of special needs, older and sibling children by providing financial grants for special waiting children,” according to their website. They seek out families who can give love and support to these children and want to raise awareness of “the unique joys of parenting a special child,” according to their website.

The trip also had lasting effects on the volunteers, as well. For Dudley, the effect was the importance of improving others’ lives. “I don’t know where I’ll end up or what I’m going to do exactly, but that isn’t what matters. As long as I keep working toward the greater good, I’ll be happy,” Dudley said.