Ethiopia Reads Event - Cocktails for Reading!

Bernos.org, in collaboration with Ethiopia Reads and Tsehai Publishers, is proud to host 'Cocktails for Reading' – an event that is in between a cocktail party and networking event among authors, publishers, readers and organizations involved with reading in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian diaspora community.

Our keynote speakers will be Yohannes Gebregeorgis, co-founder of Ethiopia Reads and recent CNN Hero, and Elias Wondimu, founder of Tsehai Publishers and Ambassador for Peace.



The Event will be held on:

October 11, 2008 beginning at 5:30 PM

Touchstone Gallery

406 7th Street NW – 2nd Floor

Washington, DC 20004


For more information, please contact Tsilat Petros with Ethiopia Reads at tsilat@ethiopiareads.org.

Hope for Children Event at the Embassy of Ethiopia

Additional information regarding the event that
will be held at the Embassy of Ethiopia this Friday.

First, the event is FREE.

Sidamo Coffee and Tea will be there, and they will be doing a coffee
ceremony. (www.sidamocoffeeandtea.com)

There will be Ethiopian food as well as Ferengi/Continental/American
food.

The event is kid-friendly, there will be a table for children to
color or play during the evening.

There will be a silent auction and there are A LOT of Ethiopian items
in the auction -- great, fun things including some wonderful art work
from an emerging Ethiopian artist.

If you are looking for ways to help and become involved in the
Ethiopian/Ethiopian-American community a number of other non-profits
will have representatives in attendance.


Please Join Us For

"A Night in Ethiopia"

To Support Hope for Children's

Youth Learning Center

Friday, September 26, 7 PM

The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC

Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,

Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont


Please bring your friends and family!

RSVP carhees@... / 301.229.9591

For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org

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We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and
informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a
tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope
for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda,
MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website,
www.hopeforchildrenus.org.

Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved
Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking
garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.

We hope to see you on the 26th!

Have you gotten your tickets to the Mesgana Dancer Tour yet?

September 20 @ GW Lisner Auditorium, Washington, DC
September 27 @ South Orange Performing Arts Center, South Orange, NJ

For more information visit www.coeef.org

Here is a sample of Smile at A Girl! Yippee!

Smile at A Girl - Ethiopia

Locals for Literacy: Celebrate girls while supporting educational programs for children in Ethiopia


August 11, 2008 –

Childhood friends who discovered a mutual love of international travel during a high-school trip to the USSR, Maine natives Dr. Laura Anderson and Catie Askegreen Dupont have teamed up to publish Dr. Anderson’s children’s book Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia which celebrates the joy of girlhood through verse and images. Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia offers a poetic reminder of how important it is to encourage girls to live, move, dream, and accept themselves with boldness and joy. All proceeds from sales of the book will go to support programs run by Ethiopia Reads and will put books into the hands of young boys and girls who’ve never before had access to libraries or written stories.

Smile at a Girl, Ethiopia showcases girls as they engage in a wide variety of enriching activities, from laughing with friends to playing drums, from dancing and traveling to dreaming and reading. The text reminds readers of the power of a positive word or gesture: “Whisper encouragement to a girl/’Just do the best you can do.’/Burst with pride and hug her/When she dares to try something new.” The text was inspired by an active childhood in coastal Maine and by Laura’s travels across 38 countries, during which she observed the challenges and opportunities that await girls in every corner of the globe.

“I have been lucky to see young girls at play and at work in cultures all over the world,” says Anderson, a clinical psychologist who works in the public school system on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. “There is nothing like the laughter of girls giggling freely in play.” Small town Maine introduced both Laura and Catie to the joy of story telling and showed them that books build imaginations and enhance opportunities.

Later in life, after traversing Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern Africa, Dr. Anderson developed a special appreciation for Ethiopia when visiting her childhood friend Catie Dupont who lived there with her family while working for the US Embassy. An active volunteer in Washington, DC, Dupont currently leads efforts to support the publication of Smile at a Girl Ethiopia.

So far, the project has received financial support from the Hanalei Hawaiian Civic Canoe Club, the Kapaa Rotary Club, and individual donors. Dupont aspires to raise $10,000 for the project.

Dr. Anderson’s text will be complemented by vivid photographs taken by Matthew Andrea, a DC-based volunteer who fell in love with Ethiopia after visiting in 2007. The book will be sold in the United States as a fundraiser for Ethiopia Reads and also distributed throughout the organization’s growing network of free libraries for children in Ethiopia. In keeping with Ethiopia Reads’ commitment to providing culturally relevant materials for children, Smile at a Girl Ethiopia will feature text in the Ethiopian language of Amharic.

About Ethiopia Reads
Based in Denver, CO and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Ethiopia Reads is a grassroots, volunteer-led non-profit organization that works to create a reading culture in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads plants libraries for children, publishes books in English as well as local languages and trains teachers and library workers to cultivate a love of reading in children. Co-founder Yohannes Gebregeorgis was recently named a “Hero” by CNN News. Board President Jane Kurtz is an internationally published children’s author and speaker.
Please visit www.ethiopiareads.org for more information.

Progress with Jihur School Project

Friends of Ethiopia Reads - this is a Non-profit that we are hopeful we will partner with. Locally headquartered in the Greater DC Metro Area.

Dear Friends,

This if to inform you that Grade Nine Classrooms and the Administration building of our Jihur School Project will be completed this summer. The Government has promised to furnish the classrooms and has already assigned five teachers.

The project has achieved a 25%completionon rate with Grade ten classrooms, laboratory facilities, library building and a football court remaining. You will agree with us that this is a major milestone.

On behalf of the Executive Committee and the 2000 boys and girls of the Jihur Elementary School we express our gratitude to you for making this possible. So far the project has attracted US60,000 donations but a lot more is expected from us. Our target is to raise an additional US60,000 in the next academic year. We have opened a PayPal account for donations. We have started accepting small monthly donations of $25. 50, 100 or 200 to ensure a continuous cash flow. All donations are tax deductible.

We count on your continued support and please let us know your monthly pledge for planning purposes.Remember this is a project very well managed with no overhead cost.

Members of the support group here in the US, the Executive Committee in Addis and the district committee in Ethiopia are all volunteers. The contractor is supervised by a supervising engineer provided by the Government.

You can get additional information on the project management structure from the project website.Visit our website www.jihurschool.com for on line donations through our PayPal account.

Sincerely,
Getinet W Giorgis
For the Diaspora Support Group

"A Night in Ethiopia" with Hope for Children

Please Join Us For

"A Night in Ethiopia"

To Support Hope for Children's

Youth Learning Center



Friday, September 26, 7 PM

The Ethiopian Embassy, 3506 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC



Hosted by Carol Rhees, Bonnie Harkness, Freda and Gary Temple,

Ruthann Bates, Catie Dupont



Please bring your friends and family!



RSVP carhees@aol.com / 301.229.9591

For more information, go to www.hopeforchildrenus.org





* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



We hope that you can join us on September 26 for a fun-filled and informative evening. If you are unable to attend but wish to make a tax-deductible contribution, checks should be made payable to Hope for Children US and should be mailed to 5801 Searl Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20816. You can also donate on-line at our website, www.hopeforchildrenus.org.





Parking: Parking in the evening is available in any of the reserved Embassy spots along International Drive. There is also a parking garage on Van Ness where you turn onto International Drive.



We hope to see you on the 26th!