Two months ago, my knowledge and understanding of AHEAD was cursory that I never gave a thought to what it is and to what it could mean or to what degree I could be involved. In fact, when I agreed to take a message to the Getachew Bolodia Foundation (GBF) in Addis Ababa from AHEAD, in my mind, I was only accommodating the wish of a dear friend and nothing more. Lack of interest? No. It was not because I did not

know enough to be interested or not interested. Although I cannot, in truth, pinpoint why I was not interested although one of the founders was a very close friend, I, like many others was running after my daily tasks that, I never stopped for just a minute to appreciate the difference a person could make.

 

Addis Ababa opened my eyes. Not only mine but, also of my family. The simple telephone message I took to the President of GBF clearly showed us what a good intended individuals can do with very little resources. I was jolted back to my childhood and school days, to conditions which, in my unconscious mind believed have been changed just because my conditions had changed. I was jolted back because I was exposed to the truth that the cost of one McDonald sandwich out here in Canada could represent a choice for a Doctoral student back home whether to continue his education or terminate and join the mass of non-employed labourers looking for a job in the not-too-sure market. My meeting with the fellows of GBF was a real eye opener as they made it clear that 30 Ethiopian Birr a month meant a fortune to them as it made the difference

between continuing to go to school or not. Mostly coming from rural Ethiopia, the students have no other support than that given by the Government which is limited to free tuition and board. But how about the tools and other amenities required to barely survive?

 

This is where the thirty birr fellowship was trying to feel the gap and how little it sounds out here, it was and remains to be the reality back home. It was only when I was faced with those facts, facts I knew and lived in my previous life but, managed to forget all about that I understood and appreciated the purposes of AHEAD and the far thinking ability of its young founders. They also may not have known it when they decided to embark on a mission of a payback but, in truth their effort will and is making a difference.  That is when I recognized that AHEAD is about making a difference in a small but sure way. That is also when I recognized how blind I have been in not seeing that it is not only through big projects that changes for the better can be made but also through small dedicated efforts like the one started by the founders of AHEAD.

 

I believe that all of you here today are here because you also wanted to make a difference. What has been started gives us an opportunity to look back and do our part. The most striking thing is that it does not take much. As I have said earlier, a contribution equivalent to one McDonald sandwich  a month means that one fellow Ethiopian will be able to continue to go to a medical college and before we know it, she/he will, in turn, start to make a differences through the health service that will be available to our brethren. 

 

A simple act today will therefore translate into changing the life style of our people in Ethiopia for the better sometimes down the line. Just think about it. It may seem very little and probably ineffective but, the truth is the very small effort we make now will eventually result in saving of lives back home.  Remember that the most majestic mountains are but a collection of very small pebbles joined together for a purpose; and that is what AHEAD is all about. If we should only succeed to help one student, one future medical doctor, to complete his education because, together, we believed that we can make a difference and answered the call, that will be our mountain standing majestically for everyone to see that, we have not forgotten and that we also have a purpose.