Sharon Daly (on left) and Sterling College Team
Sharon Daly, Mossy Foot President, is currently in Soddo, Ethiopia on an extended 6 week visit at the Mossy Foot Project headquarters. This visit gives Sharon an opportunity to work with and encourage staff, visit the remote clinics, and see first hand the progress on developing property for future headquarters.
The visit will culminate with an important meeting in Addis Ababa with the Federal Ministry of Health Symposium from June 12-14 regarding treatment options for podoconiosis.
This past week Sharon hosted a team from Sterling College, Kansas led by Christian Dashiell, the school chaplain. The team included students as well as Christian’s mother Lisa, a nurse in Portland, Oregon, who once attended Sharon’s Alma Mater Rift Valley Academy in Kenya.
On their last day, the team traveled to Shanto to help with the building of a home for Birhane, a widow with four children. Two of Birhane’s children abandoned her because of her mossy foot disease. She was living in a little hut that had big open gaps in it that did not protect her family from the rain.
Sterling Team
The team arrived to an exuberant welcome from the neighbors and community workers. Team members worked on the house, nailing on poles, making mud balls, and throwing them up to the mudder. At first the Ethiopians did not want the ferenges (white people) to get their hands dirty but soon accepted the help and enjoyed their involvement. Birhane was profoundly touched that a new house was being built for her.
Sharon reports, “I am very grateful for this team’s time here with Mossy Foot, for their hearts to serve, and the way they related to the people.”