Ethiopia: Where Love and Community are Abundantly Strong Just Like Their Coffee in the Beautiful Ethiopia

Have you ever had the inner calling to go somewhere and then you brushed it off to be like, “Nah..that’s ridiculous.” Well that is how usually all of my travels come about and this special trip to Ethiopia takes the cake.

In mid-February, I felt this weird pull to go to Ethiopia - out of nowhere! And so I looked it up on the government travel site and the first words read, “Reconsider travel.” So I closed my computer and said no to the spirit guides.

Well they had another idea.

The next day I’m reading a book gifted from a friend called, “The Soul of Money,” which by the way was a book I was reading on and off for 6 months. That is very unlike me. I typically fly through a book, but this one would put me to sleep but I refused to not finish it. It was a gift and there had to be a message inside the pages for me. And well there it was that night, the next chapter was the nonprofit’s journey to Ethiopia. I nearly dropped the book. I was like, “WHAT!” The story was beautiful by the way as it was about these women getting visions in their dreams about running water below them despite it being a desert land and having no water for months on end; however the men of the village wouldn’t listen to them. Spoiler: With the help of the nonprofit, they did drilling and in fact there was running water that now supplied fresh water for many villages. See the synergy of listening to those inner messages.

Well, I still wasn’t buying it.

So the universe played with me more. Next up, my Uber driver was from Ethiopia. Then, on the Morning Show, they had Ethiopian takeout. And cherry on top, my mom calls to tell me about an Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago featured on the news, which I never told her I was thinking about going to Ethiopia.

So clearly, the spirit guides won and there I was booking a ticket and tour to go to Ethiopia. But after a dream I woke up with the instinct to change the dates of the trip and to fundraise. And let’s just say both they were right about. I started a fundraiser for the hospital in Turmi to get life-saving support for infants and moms, which I’m happy to share have been delivered to the hospital in August and are already being set up in the hospital to allow them to see more patients safely.. 

Now I’ll share a little thing about the fundraiser, as well as, the beautiful people of Ethiopia. 

When I first started the fundraiser, it didn’t feel right for me to be asking people for aid. And then while I was there I met the only woman of the Hamar tribe, Kuna, who speaks English and I had this brilliant idea to film her asking the world - allow the people of Turmi to be given a voice to get the help they need. I realized I was simply just a vessel to aid them. Through the sharing of Kuna’s video, we raised over $5,000 dollars and a donated CPAP machine. It’s incredible! Now you may be thinking, “Why didn’t or couldn’t you raise more?” And those exact thoughts crossed my mind too. I thought wow on the internet we see stories of large amounts raised and how can this small amount be enough. I almost felt ashamed. And then it hit me, every penny matters. Our intention was to do good and this amount will help more than we know.. And I can tell you based on the reactions from the people in Turmi, this amount changed their world. So many said, “We aren’t forgotten in the world. We matter.” And that’s exactly it…WE ALL MATTER. And any amount can change the world of others. What I thought wasn’t enough is more than enough for saving the lives of children in Turmi. We have two CPAP machines and 15 beds being delivered, which is life changing. The other nearest hospital for aid is 3+ hours by bus. To have this equipment in their town will help save the lives of many children to come. So the next time you feel the urge to help another, do it. Or to raise awareness/money for something, do it. Every bit matters and no amount is too small to make a difference. 

Now to share about Ethiopia, a place that changed me forever, truly. It’s a place filled with so much love and community. One does not leave one behind or out. There is a beauty in the richness of their community over daily coffee gatherings. By the way, be prepared for 3 rounds of coffee and feeling jet-fueled for the day, but it’s an exact representation of their relationships = the coffee is strong and their relationships are even stronger. Coffee originated in Ethiopia, yet they don’t boast about it. It’s a natural gift of the land. It all started with a fun, legendary story that dates back to the 9th century in a town called, Kaffa. Coffee was discovered by a goat herder, Kaldi, who saw his goats dance with energy and were not sleeping. Ha! They were so caffeinated, clearly. The herders decided to burn the beans and the aroma kept them awake. And boom the birth of coffee began. Kaldi shared the wild red coffee beans with a monastery where monks boiled them to stay awake during long night prayers. Then before brewing began, the tribes ate the beans raw mixed with animal fat for energy, natural energy boost. And here we complicate it with SO many different energy drinks. Just chew some beans. And then coffee began its journey across the world being traded on routes to the Ottoman Empire, Europe, Americas, and more..along the way transforming how we wake up to start our day and evolving its usage from chewing to roasting and drinking. How many of us have to thank the goats and Kaldi for our morning cup of joe? Ha! A goat discovering our crown jewel to morning beverages, we have to love it! 

In Turmi, I lived the town life and went to the weekly outdoor market where trading of goods happens, made jewelry by hand, and cooked meals inside of family's homes. I watched how they shared food with each other even if they didn’t have much. Kuna told me as I watched a homeless man walk into her yard to drink water out of her bucket that we always have something to give and God will always provide more - if in that moment you have something to help someone, you give; She said the man knew he was always welcome to come to her home for food or water. She said, “Today I have, so I give, tomorrow maybe I don’t have, but God will take care of that.”  I was always welcomed as one of them into their homes and families - never an outsider. How often do we invite others to join us at our table? Are we open and inviting or closed off and cold? The people of Turmi not just showed it but lived it too, always having a seat at the table open for anyone. I encourage us to do the same.

I had the incredible experience of living with a Hamar tribe family during my time in Turmi, and it is one that is imprinted in me for life. We tend to think this whole world is modernized or striving to, and yet we couldn’t be more wrong. There are some parts of this world that are living in a way where time doesn’t exist - not that time has stopped and they are stuck in the olden days - no it’s simply where time is fluid and solely operates by the sun rising each day and going down each night with the moon to dance in the sky. Where they don’t have a calendar or days of the week or even know how old they are. It’s a place where they are grateful to be alive each day and operate with God’s power, nature, and the land that provides for them. That is what it’s like living with the Hamar tribe, and it is so beautiful. I had never felt such a sense of peace. Many come to try to teach the tribes how to change their ways, and in reality, they taught me how to slow down and live with the sun and moon. We should always be open to learning, instead of forcing our ways thinking it’s better, many times it’s not. Some of the highlights of living with the tribe included making a fire with two sticks (that’s right no charcoal or gasoline, friends), making lunch in the field pulling moringa leaves and mixing it with flour and water to have a scrumptious dumpling lunch under a tree, be treated to ceremonial coffee by the family in their hut, learning about their traditions and how they make their clothes out of goat skin, having fresh honey from a hive high up in a tree that they climbed to get, getting my fortune told through their legendary reader based on butter on the skin, eating freshly cooked goat for dinner where I saw my friend get killed (it was the BEST meal I may have ever had), sleeping on the ground on a cowskin amongst the animals and tribe members, and most importantly, watching countless shooting stars across the milky way in the sky. A sight I will never forget. And we rose with the sun to start another day. Trusting in God to carry us through each day and to live another day with grace. 

They value their faiths and trust in God is everything. They have many religions across the country, but one thing in unison, they believe in God to protect and care for them each day. They also don’t worry about what they cannot control. For example, inflation has been impacted globally and many shortages due to the Iranian war, yet they do not ask why the price has gone up or why there is no water delivered or no diesel at the pumps. They simply carry on with life and choose not to stress and worry about it because they cannot change the price or bring the diesel so why bother asking and worrying. A fascinating perspective. Especially when we are often trained to question, “Why?” to anything not going our way. 

Anyone I crossed paths with as I traveled through the southern region visiting various tribes and towns had a gentle warmth to them. They lived life in utter contentment and didn’t view themselves as ‘poor.’ Even if I had an item they had never seen before, they had curiosity towards it but not a ‘ugh, I don’t have that.’ A page out of their book many of us should adopt. 

They cook all of their meals and there truly is an abundance of food. They live off the land with only outdoor weekly markets and pretty much no grocery stores. So there is this truth in eating with what the land provides and the season. As we drove, we would see bananas and wow they were DELICIOUS! I ate four in a row like a monkey ha. Sorry Chiquita, your bananas are nowhere near the same. And then two hours later we were in a town and the guide said, “Oh no more bananas here. We are no longer in the banana area.” And just like that. What you wanted was not available like the abundant grocery stores we have. The food is incredible! Flavorful and full of love. So many spices are used and many dishes cooked for hours - that’s why it’s so full of love. It’s not a quick UberEats meal or microwaved snack..nope it’s made pure from the source, cared for its ingredient usage and cooked to perfection.  A speciality to the culture is to eat raw meat - that’s right. It started from when they were at war with Italy and didn’t want to start a fire to cook their food to show the ‘enemy’ where they were so they ate it raw and it’s stayed a tradition. I did not dabble but I loved seeing the joy in others that ate this delicacy. They also eat primarily with their hands with the use of the famous injera. Injera is like a pancake made out of teff, a tiny ancient grain that is a nutritional powerhouse packed with protein, dietary fiber, iron, and calcium. It’s also naturally gluten-free and now used in many gluten-free treats in the U.S. A big thanks to Ethiopia who is the main producer of this grain and where it originated. So next time you’re eating your meal, maybe have a little playful fun and eat with a pancake or anything similar and eat with your hands! 🙂

My two favorite principles are honoring your word and owning your time. They believe that you own your time and no one else does - not your job or any person. You do. So you can decide how to use your time. Which leads to honoring your word. They believe it’s the most valuable thing that you have and there is this undeniable trust amongst each other. You know if someone promised to come for coffee or to help fix something, they will come. And if they don’t come at the time they said, you know they will still come and something came up they had to handle because they own their own time. Such a simple concept and such a way to remove animosity and anger towards each other if one is late. They simply had something to do, but they will be here. Ghosting doesn’t exist there.

Even more so is spending time with each other and saying hi when you see them. How often do we ignore someone we know that we see in passing or even worse, try to act like we don’t see them? I witnessed on a daily basis folks run across the street to go say, “Hi” to a friend sitting at a coffee spot or at the market even though I know they saw that person the day before. Yet, they would say hi like it’s been ages filled with excitement. I asked Kuna why and she said, “Well we never know if it’s the last time we see each other so we have to be grateful each time we are alive, well and give love to one another.” So beautiful and so true. So the next time you see someone you know, say hi with joy and I promise you, you will feel SO good. 

So I leave you with a few takeaways:

Own your time and honor your word, it’s that simple. 

Follow those urges to go somewhere even when it doesn’t make sense, it will.

Support others no matter how small of the amount, it will matter. 

Be kind.

Update August 2026: 

Turmi Hospital received all of the equipment for their hospital. A special ceremony was held in honor of Monica, along with the donors, to grant them many blessings and express the immense gratitude of the town. One CPAP was donated, along with 15 medical-grade beds and due to increased prices from the war, the remaining funds were used to purchase a great sterilising machine for surgical equipment instead of the second CPAP. Transportation costs and taxes were covered by Ethical Ethiopian Experiences. All of the hospital staff gathered around, along with the hospital director and the doctors and the head of the region to make speeches at the ceremony as shown below. They thanked Monica and gave her a certificate and some Hamar jewelry (all to be held by the incredible Fiona and Geta of Ethical Ethiopian Experiences). The speeches included gratitude to how amazing it was for Monica to go out of her way to raise the money for the hospital, and how her kindness will continue to touch the lives of so many people here, in Turmi, for many many years to come. They wished God's blessings upon her and everyone who contributed to the fundraiser. 

(Photos below sent via WhatsApp from the ceremony)