Surgical Success Stories - Marta & Jante + One! (#350, #351 & #352)

Marta had a more challenging surgery than most. She is 50 years old and gave birth to seven children, five of whom are still living. Her prolapse had been present for five years and had become quite severe. We keep her in our thoughts and prayers as she fully recovers!

The doctors did not send the name of this beautiful patient who had travelled quite far to come and see them in Soddo. She is widowed and had very severe prolapse. She was brought in by her daughter who had heard they were able to help people with this problem. She has given birth to four children and they are all still alive. Her prolapse had been present for four years but is now a part of her history, not her present or her future! She did well after her surgery and made the long journey home to rest and recover.

Jatane had very severe prolapse and she stated that she started having trouble 20 years ago… 20 years! She’s 50 and widowed. She has given birth to 5 children and 4 of them have survived. She lives with her oldest son who accompanied her. When asked if she planned on remarrying, she just lovingly looked over at her son and said that he takes good care of her and why would she want to remarry? It was a sweet moment. Her surgery went extremely well!

Surgical Success Stories - Bantale, Bizunesh & Aribe (#347, #348 & #349)

Bantale, who is 60, had a severe prolapse hat had developed over just one year. She has given birth to five children and three of them are still living. She did great postoperatively and is now resting at home.

Bizunesh is 45 years old. She had eight children and five of them are still alive. She had suffered from her prolapse for one year and is now free from this trouble! She was able to go home after a couple of days with in the hospital.

Aribe, who is 55, has given birth to three children and all of them are still alive. Her prolapse had been present for three years and she was able to return home the same day of her surgery!

Surgical Success Stories - Yalise, Zerome & Hirut (#344, #345 & #346)

Yalise is 68 years old. She gave birth to five children but only one is still living. After surgeries the doctors report that she is truly a changed woman!

Zerome is 65 years old and gave birth to nine children and six are still living. Her prolapse had been present for two years and under anesthesia was more severe than was expected. But she did well and is now resting at home.

Hirut is 65 years old. She gave birth to six children and five are still alive. Her prolapse had become quite severe over the three years that she suffered from it but she is now prolapse free!

Surgical Success Stories - Meselch & Gete (#342 & #343)

Meselch is 50 years old, married and has five children. She’s had her prolapse for two years and that amazing smile has definitely grown even bigger after her successful surgery!

Gete is also 50 years old. She has been pregnant 10 times and has eight living children. She suffered from her prolapse for three years but is now prolapse free.

Surgical Success Story -Demekech (#341)

Demekech, who is only 40, had extremely severe prolapse for the past 2 years. She needed one of the more involved surgeries that we do but she did well and was able to return to her husband and her four children in about 2 days.

Thank you for your support!

Surgical Success Stories - Boule & Lucy (#339 & #340)

The doctors had the pleasure of operating on Boule, who is 45 and has had prolapse for the last four months. They were able to address her prolapse as well as tie her tubes as she is done with child bearing and getting pregnant again might cause her prolapse to return. She has six children and she was accompanied by her husband! Everyone has to wear masks now but they were able to coax her into taking her’s off for the photo.

Dinkenesh (Lucy), who is 50, has dealt with her prolapse for over a year. She is divorced and was pregnant eight times but only has two living children. She is so glad to now be free of this problem!

A Powerful Pair: The making of Gems & Java Home Edition

Ever turned a 650-person fundraiser that takes 4,000 volunteer hours to produce into a totally virtual event?

Yeah, neither had we.

If you watched Gems & Java Home Edition, you know that it was a polished, professional, high-quality show that looked like a fundraiser produced by an organization with many more resources than ours!! We owe so much of that incredible result to a very generous pair of industry experts who helped to craft this virtual event from scratch.

Dave in his gorgeous home studio.

Dave Wettlaufer, who owns River Valley Studio, and Bob Breen, owner of Armor Pro Audio Visual, are the dynamic duo that gave of their time and talent at a VERY discounted rate to help us create Gems & Java Home Edition.

“I grew up with the idea of helping to support people in other parts of the world. It’s something you do,” Dave told us.

“It’s something I really enjoy doing. Because I’m retired, I don’t have to extract every last dollar to try to live on.”

Dave had worked with us before, producing videos from an in-person Gems & Java event. We connected Bob and Dave and the dream team was born! They tell a funny story about the way they met, just recently, during the coronavirus pandemic. Bob was outfitting a church for digital services, and found that the facility was perfectly set up with audio hook-ups within the walls. It was a job done, years earlier, by Dave!

Bob Breen working the board.

Bob was so tickled, he sent Dave an e-mail to say thanks.

“Fate and the good Lord put us together,” Bob said. “This is so fun.”

These two men spent hours and hours and hours filming, editing and producing our show to get it just right.

They don’t see it as a sacrifice. They were excited to contribute their services.

“It’s awesome to have the opportunity to use my talents - or whatever they are - to genuinely benefit somebody else,” Bob said. “It’s such a great organization because it is just people directly trying to make a difference in the most efficient way possible.”

““This is fun for us - in addition to all the things we believe are important about the work.””

— Bob Breen, producer

He was particularly drawn in by the low overhead costs of our organization, since we run 100% on volunteer power.

Dave said that was an appealing factor for him, too.

“You’re all volunteers. Not to denigrate any others, but some have pretty fancy buildings,” he said of other non-profit organizations.

Both Bob and Dave have spent their careers working with music and video. Dave owned a small business, and has seen several waves of technology - from cassettes to CDs to digital files!

Bob spent several years working in “big rock n’roll” scene in Los Angeles before he bought Armor Pro Audio Visual.

He worked on a David Lee Roth record and “had Motley Crue laugh at me when looking for adaptor cables,” Bob said with a chuckle.

Bob Breen

Dave, who’s now retired, is a classic lifelong learner.

“It’s fun to learn new aspects of those things,” he said.

In addition to being talent professionals that donated their skills through greatly reduced rates, these two men are a joy to work with. They’re patient, flexible, and funny!

We could not have done Gems & Java Home Edition without Bob and Dave and we are beyond grateful for their support of our work.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Bob and Dave!!

Great radio, even better community support from Heart FM

Turn your radio dial to 104.7 FM.

We’ve seen 104.7 Heart FM in action for years now, and this is one community-minded station.

Heart FM has been a loyal supporter of our work for years, sharing updates online and helping to spread the word through the airwaves. The station was the media sponsor for Gems & Java Home Edition, the second consecutive year at that level of sponsorship.

We are so grateful for that dedication to give back. From interviews to stories to commercials, this kind of advertising and promotion means everything to a team like ours, which is run entirely by volunteers.

Check out this lively interview the station’s director Dan Henry did with our founder, Shelley Green.

Heart FM does great work in the Oxford County community, boosting so many worthy causes, and we feel so lucky to have this radio station supporting our work.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your contributions over the years, 104.7 Heart FM!

A decade of support from Green Private Wealth Counsel

Green Private Wealth Counsel is the definition of generous, loyal supporter - this Woodstock financial management firm has been in our corner for a decade!

Though the coronavirus pandemic changed our plans for Gems & Java, Green Private Wealth didn’t waver. The company was our presenting sponsor for the second year in a row, delivering a much-needed boost to our bottom line as we took our event virtual.

Paul Green, of Green Private Wealth Counsel, watches Gems & Java Home Edition on Oct. 30, 2020.

The firm’s Paul Green watched Gems & Java Home Edition and said he was really impressed. He promised his reflections weren’t biased by his close connection to the work (Paul’s sister Shelley is our founder!).

“Fantastic! Really great job on this production! Thanks to all who have helped connect me to the work and people Hearts for Ethiopoia supports. I am so pleased to see the money I have given has an amazing impact on so many precious lives,” Paul said.

“Sincere thanks to all who make it possible for me to simply write a cheque and know its impact!”

He told us the virtual fundraiser was so high-quality, it could have been done by a much larger non-profit organization with national or international reach. What a compliment for our 100% volunteer team!

Thanks so much to Paul and the entire team at Green Private Wealth Counsel for the generous support and sponsorship.

Time & Talent: Val Easton's Singing Lessons

Val Easton sings when she walks. She sings when she is helping sort purses during our sort and clean preparation for Gems & Java. She sings! And, it is beautiful to hear.

So, when the call went out for our volunteers to find ways to use their talents to help raise funds for Hearts for Ethiopia, Val knew just what to do. Teach others to sing.

Val Easton is offering singing lessons to help raise money for our Time & Talent campaign.

Val will teach one or two young people who want to learn to sing proudly and with confidence, honing their tone and tune. She will offer singing lessons on-line, or safely socially distanced in her basement. She was inspire by a young student she took under her wing during COVID-19 lock-down.

From April to the end of June, Val was teaching a seven year old over the internet three times a week. All the proceeds from this time frame were donated to Tesfa’s orphanage in Ethiopia. Val and her young student will continue, but there is room for at least one or two more students to blossom under Val’s cheery, positive guidance.

Inspired to do more, Val determined there are others ways she can convince her friends and family to support our fundraising efforts. Twice this summer, she has received a fee for cleaning the sheets and tidying up at the cottage after her son had been there with friends. He graciously paid his mom to take care of this necessary task, knowing the funds were supporting a good cause. It was a win-win for Val and her son, and more cash will be collected in the fall when he once again returns to the cottage. Good thinking Val!

Finally, Val is well known by her friends and family for her delicious cooking and hospitality. They are also very supportive of Val’s work for Hearts for Ethiopia. So, Val is offering to cook a fancy dinner for those inside her circle, safely distanced, hopefully served outside if the weather (and the bees) permits, for a generous fee. There may be a line up for this one, as a warm heart and a generous and gifted hand are always a winning combination.

Val has been a long-time volunteer at Hearts for Ethiopia. She believes in the good this organization does. She believes in the good people who are attracted to this work, and she has long been inspired by all they accomplish to help others.

Thanks Val Easton for inspiring us with your Time, and Talent.