August 2025
Volunteerism in Sendafa
From July 11th through 21st a mission team organized by Living Word Community Church joined forces with many Ethiopians to serve the people of Sendafa Beke, Ethiopia in potentially life changing ways. The team members from the USA took vacation and paid their own way to experience this wonderful opportunity to work in the Sendafa Health Center or in the schools and the community. The Ethiopians who we partnered with took a week off their usual jobs to volunteer their time, expertise and energy to work alongside the Americans to help the people get needed medical care and education opportunities. 32 Americans and 81 Ethiopians volunteered to make these efforts a remarkable success.
Teaching ESL
The 17 members of the community team and 8 Ethiopian volunteers taught English as a Second Language (ESL) to 300 elementary and middle school children in the mornings. Health and hygiene topics were used as the subjects to teach simple concepts using the English language. Despite the enormous number of students, it was a tremendous success, and the students learned a lot!
Home Visits
In the afternoons, the Community team members visited 19 homes to interact with many who have received care through Project Adopt A Village. The beneficiaries were provided with vinyl to cover the dirt floors in their homes in addition to hygiene care kits. The team members listened to the stories of how Dr. Frew and the PAAV team have favorably influenced their lives.
Medical/Surgical/Dental/Eye Care
An American contingent of 4 family physicians, a family nurse practitioner, and 4 nurses joined forces with 22 Ethiopian volunteer primary care doctors to see 3,114 patients with a very wide spectrum of medical conditions during the 5 day clinic. Additionally, 191 women between the ages of 30 to 59 were screened for cervical cancer. 4 were positive and referred for treatment.
2 Ethiopian general surgeons and 1 American surgeon joined with several American and Ethiopian nurses to do 141 surgical cases ranging from removing worrisome skin lesions to repairing hernias.
4 Ethiopian dentists joined with 1 American dentist to treat 226 patients with tooth repair and extractions.
4 Ethiopian optometrists saw 1582 patients for highly needed and sought after medical eye care.
An Ethiopian radiologist performed 233 ultrasound investigations to enhance the diagnostic capabilities of the other American and Ethiopian doctors to optimize the appropriate treatments.
Overall, the combined effort of Ethiopian and American doctors and nurses was able to favorably impact the lives of many individuals who live in Sendafa Beke and the surrounding area.
When Project Adopt A Village was initiated in 2006, one of the key desires and goals was to empower the Ethiopians to carry on. As you can see by the number of Ethiopian volunteers, Dr. Frew and the PAAV team have created an opportunity for many to be involved to provide needed service to thousands of individuals in Sendafa Beke. Like the experience of the American volunteers, the Ethiopians who participate in this outreach opportunity are favorably impacted and want to return each year and invite their friends to join as well. Collectively, we all are “blessed to be a blessing” as we work together to show love and compassion to the people to whom we serve.
