Former Volunteer Shares her Volunteer Experience with "Eyes From Ethiopia"

This Tuesday several staff from GVN and GVN Foundation went to Porirua to check out an exhibit done by a former GVN Volunteer, Kate McPherson. In 2009, Kate decided she wanted to share her volunteer experience and began to work on the incredible exhibit we got to see! Her experience forever left an impression on her and as a result, she came away with an incredible story to tell and show!

Kate, a resident of New Zealand, volunteered with GVN's Ethiopia program in November 2008. She took her passion for photography with her and delighted the local children with the ability to capture themselves and their surroundings permanently to film. With only six weeks to share her skills and love of photography with the kids, the results are amazing. Seeing them up-close was inspiring; I think we all appreciated the ability of children in an Ethiopian village to share their life with potentially thousands of others-what a statement! Not only are their photos on display at a museum thousands of miles away, but people from anywhere in the world can view these pictures online!

For me, the best part was reading the caption located next to one of the printed books;

All profits from the sale of prints are donated back to the children’s home to fund their education and living expenses.

What more could you ask for? Not everyone has the ability or desire to donate large sums of money or spend their lives in remote Ethiopian villages eating injera (if you are not familiar with this gem of a meal, click here. I especially enjoy the paragraph on consumption and how, " injera is thus simultaneously food, eating utensil and plate. When the entire 'tablecloth' of injera is gone, the meal is over.") The important thing is that everyone has an ability; an ability to do something to improve the lives of others and enrich their own! Kate, much more creative than myself, has done a fantastic job of pursuing her own passions while finding a way to channel them into a humanitarian effort.

If you are interested in finding out more about some of the work GVN Foundation does in Ethiopia or would like to donate to our projects, check out our website. If you would like help thinking up a fantastic and creative idea that we don't currently offer...well, I can offer my tremendous support. But luckily for you, my wildly creative and amazing coworkers Eliza and Lauren are a brilliant resource and sounding board. We are always looking for new ways to continue supporting our projects and love to hear new ideas!

Caitie Goddard
Programs Development Coordinator