Strategy
Last Saturday Karyn and I participated in the first meeting of Children’s Home Ethiopia’s strategic planning for the next 3 years. I was honored to be a part of such an amazing group of people. Present were six CHE beneficiaries, six mothers who are on the parent committee for the SAFE Project, all the CHE staff, the chairman of CHE’s Board, and two representatives from The Forsaken Children (Karyn and me). It was exciting to hear all the ideas that this diverse group had swimming around in their minds. They saw problems I never knew existed and presented solutions that were profoundly insightful.
I was reminded on that day of the importance of pure knowledge. Why do I call the information exchanged in this meeting pure knowledge? Because it was not given by trained experts, read from any book, or derived from scientific calculations. Rather, it came straight from the people living, working, and experiencing life in the area of Addis Ababa where CHE operates. These are the true experts of what problems exist there and of the potential solutions for these problems.
Next weekend the strategizing will continue over a three day period. I am eager to participate and see how the strategic planning shapes the way the CHE staff, volunteers, beneficiaries, and especially I approach the challenges and opportunities before us
