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Blog-Worthy

It was just as I was contemplating how imagine1day’s new blog would be different than the many diary-obsessed missives floating about in the blogsphere that I found myself tête á tête with a medium sized brown cow. No, I wasn’t waxing philosophic about being blog-worthy at a petting zoo or cattle ranch, I was deep in thought at my desk in imagine1day’s Ethiopian Regional Office. It seems Ol’ Betsy had breached our UN army trained office guard and maneuvered her way past our gate and through our welcoming open front door (now this isn’t a commentary on UN efficacy but a cow was standing in front of me, she was unarmed and without an appointment). It occurred to me that maybe imagine1day was a different sort of organization. We don’t exactly do bovine interviews but gosh darn it, we do things differently.

On December 11th last year imagine1day launched into the world of quality primary education in Ethiopia. A month later we had delivered furniture to support eleven schools. Within six months we were cutting the ribbon at the opening of a brand new school in the remote mountains of Tigray. Today, we’re onto school number three and have earned framed, stamped, certifiable accolades from the local government for our action based implementation. We’re not sitting around contemplating that often you see; we’re on the ground making big moves.

So we have proved that we can move, but can we shake? Absolutely, and that’s when we love our jobs most; shaking things up means we’re innovators, it also means we’re experiencing a lot of things for the first time. I’ve never had a sit down with a cow, nor do I think anyone has built a school in the Ethiopian mountains in 72 days. Try either, some amusing and noteworthy experiences materialize. We want to share them all with you. Transparency is our promise and for the purpose of this blog that means we want you to hear about Betsy the cow, the legendary Bandit of Atsemba (stay tuned) and the bumps and bemusements as we move and shake our way to reaching our goals.

We’re a small family of diligent imagine1dayers in both Vancouver and Ethiopia, we have a hands-on Board of Directors, and partners and donors around the world. We hope you tune into this blog, share in our adventures and feel connected to each of us. As well, we hope to hear about how imagine1day is shaking up your day. You are a part of a different brand of grassroots development. Not quite the kind of grassroots that Betsy was looking for, but part of something different, something exciting, something we are confident will be blog-worthy.

I look forward sharing with you,

Tina
Communications Officer, imagine1day Ethiopia