Day 44: Wake up, go

Helloooo!

This morning I woke up got started getting ready and then all of a sudden Hannah was knocking at my door. Opened the door and she started telling me that the LIVES project people were ready to go right now. If you know me personally, I am almost always wearing makeup and this morning I just didn't have time to put any on. But, it was okay! I got dressed and headed out to meet our driver Sintayeo and Dr. Solomon. We got into the Land Cruiser and away we went to the Rift Valley.

When we arrived in the town about two hours southeast of Addis, we stopped for coffee. Hannah and I both tried a cup of traditional coffee. It wasn't bad! It kind of tasted like tea mixed with coffee. After our 'coffee break' we went to the agricultural center in the town and met two experts. One of them was an artificial insemination technician and the other was an expert on dairy cattle. Our first stop was at an urban farm. Hannah asked some questions about their chickens and I asked a few questions about their two dairy cows. To my surprise, these two local dairy cows were producing around 4 liters a day, max.

Our next stop was at a village about 20 minutes from town. We were welcomed to a farm with about four different sets of grandchildren with one set of grandparents. All the children's parents were out working in the field. Hannah asked the main farmer (the woman) about her chickens and I followed up asking about the cattle. They only owned indigenous breeds because they did not have the management system or resources for the exotic breed, Holstein Friesian. The average milk yield for these cows each day was around 1.5-2 liters. They family were the only ones consuming the milk but I was not sure on what to advise the farmer to do to boost production.

Our next stop was actually in a field. The farmer was letting his indigenous cattle graze while his wife was working in the fields. I asked him a few questions and found his answers to be almost the same to last farmer's.

Our final stop for the day was at a family village. Four brothers all married and brought their wives to live and work on the 'family village'. All the men were working in the fields so Hannah was able to ask about the chickens they had while I played with the baby goat. Dr. Solomon and I had stepped back from Hannah's interview and started talking about dairy cattle here. He told me that the AI-conception rates were low, around 25-26% percent. The LIVES project even brought in synchronization tools, heat-detection patches, etc. but because the AI-technicians may be busy or the farmer may not really be sure whether the cow is in heat, they miss the cycle. Another factor may be bad semen. It is stored in liquid nitrogen tanks but improper storage in the tanks or misuse can cause the semen to go bad. The production in these rural areas is very low for several reasons. The breed is probably the number one factor. It's just a fact that Zebu cattle are just not as productive as the exotic breeds. But, the local cattle are more disease resistant and require way-less management. Whereas the higher producing breeds require a lot more management and are more susceptible to disease. So, how do we sort this out? As of right now, it is possible for there to be cross breeding between the local and exotic breeds. I've seen it before at previous farms that I have been to. The big issue that comes next in that is the problem of conception rates with AI.

So, as you see it's a continuing problem. They need more reliable AI services, quality exotic bull semen, and general knowledge. Everything always seems to lead back to knowledge. We know the problem so through several different projects that are currently being worked on can lead to solving those problems.

Yes, those are windmills!

Pretty rooster!

Traditional Coffee

Corn!

This is flooding. 

The local breed of cattle at the first village we visited. 

The family village.

Tomorrow, we go to Debre Zeit to finish up my surveys! We will visit four farms and I'll be all set with my interviews! After that, I believe I'll be spending most of my time writing my final research paper. Two more weeks and then it'll be time to head home! 

Day 43: Little Things

Hello friends!

Today was such a nice day. Tigist and her two daughters picked us up and we all went to church. The service was very good today. It was all about our blessings that God has given us and the ability to be us and serve in his name. Some lines during the songs really stuck out to me today.

"There is hope in the promise of the cross and this hope is an anchor for my soul."

I know I am so blessed to be here, beginning to really live out God's purpose in my life. All the times that I have been upset or uncomfortable here, was just another challenge that God has placed in my life. God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. Being able to come here and see everything first hand has really opened my eyes. There's so much I want to do but rather than focusing on such a big picture, I want to focus on making someday's life or even just someone's day a little better everyday of my life.

That's just a little something I've begun to realize as my time winds down. A few of the other interns and I were all talking about what we want to do and how the internship has affected that. Well, we may not know exactly what our futures will look like but we now know that the little things can really change someone's life. It truly is the little things.

God blessed me with an Ethiopian mother, Tigist. He has blessed me two wonderful girls Aryia and Stulta, who can laugh at me while I laugh at myself. He has blessed me with such an amazing life and great opportunity for which I will forever be thankful. He also gave me all of you. I know that I am not in this alone. Everyone back home is supporting me and I cannot thank all of you enough. I never take of my best friends, brothers bracelet off. It says 'No one fights alone.' Every little challenge I have faced and will face, I keep that saying in mind because of all of you.

Thank you. Ãmeseginalehu.

Day 42: Saturday

Hi everyone!

I woke up this morning around 8:30 with no alarm clock and it was pretty fantastic. I got ready for my day and went to meet Hannah to see what we wanted to do today. We went and got some groceries. I got some cereal, milk, and a chocolate bar. The chocolate is a really good way to get me through the week! Just have a few pieces every day. For the rest of the day, we will just take it easy. Which will be nice especially after our long week visiting a bunch of different places. Tomorrow, we will go to church with Tigist and possibly lunch, depending on her schedule. I really enjoy these weekends relaxing. I hope you all have a great day!

Day 41: I'm on top of the world

Hello!

Today's blog post title is brought to you by 10,000+ ft of elevation and one of my favorite Imagine Dragons song.

Imagine a cold wind on your face, literally driving through the clouds, and waving at the locals as you drive by. I was at complete peace today while driving about an hour and a half north of Debre Berhan. The view was breathtaking and the locals are friendly (and will try to sell you just about anything). We even saw some funky looking monkeys. I'm not sure what kind they are but there were all over the place in the forest area before the town Debre Sina. They sat and waited for us to give them food but we didn't have any for them! We stopped in Debre Sina for Mikhel to get some coffee. We hadn't even gotten out of the truck yet and there were at least three boys on each of side trying to sell us gum and random things. Even if you said no, they still tried to hand you the things they were selling. It made Hannah and I both laugh pretty hard. After our stop, we drove back through the mountains and even stopped at a stream to get pictures. I have to say that the below pictures really do not even do justice! There were times where I just to put down my phone and really admire what was in front of me. We made it back to ILRI around 5:00 pm. Hannah and I decided to just take the evening easy. Tomorrow, we will catch up on sleep and decide what to do when we get to it!

Thank y'all for reading and looking. I hope you were as blown away as I was!