Timeline Of The 2002 Mission...

The trip spanned nine days from October 20th to the 28th, 2002. Below are the details of what was planned for each day of the trip.

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Day One: Sunday October 20, 2002

• Departed from SeaTac Sunday evening about 6 PM on a redeye flight to London.

Day Two: Monday October 21, 2002

• Arrived at Heathrow airport in London about 11 AM for a ten hour layover before our fight to Addis Ababa.
• While some of the group chose to sleep, some others briefly explored London during the layover.
• We left London about 9PM (another redeye) for Addis Ababa with one short stop in Rome.

Day Three: Tuesday October 22, 2002

• Arrived in Addis Ababa about 9AM and checked in at our hotel
• Afternoon sight seeing tour of Addis Ababa including the National Museum where we saw "Lucy".
• Visited the Ethnographic Museum at the Addis Ababa University
• That evening we attended a reception for our group hosted by Rotary District 9200 held in the atrium room of the Hilton with a nice Ethiopian food buffet. Most of us were able to meet our assigned local Rotary hosts that night and get to know them a bit.

Day Four: Wednesday October 23, 2002

• Visited the Cheshire Home in the morning and visited with many of the children. This was the first of several very powerful and emotional visits for us all. (Please see the page about the Cheshire Home.)
• In the afternoon we visited the Fistula Hospital and met Dr. Catherine Hamlin and most of her staff, saw many of the patients and toured the facility. This was the our second very powerful and emotional experience for us all. (Please see the page about the Fistula Hospital.)
• In the early evening we had a briefing and training session on Polio immunization at the hotel from the Ministry of Health staff.
• The entire group were treated to a fabulous traditional Ethiopian dinner served "family style" at the Ghion Hotel. We were entertained by local performers with local tribal music on traditional Ethiopian instruments and dance (several of our group joined in the dances which was quite a sight!)
• Two local Addis Ababa Rotarians were awarded Paul Harris Fellowships for their worthy efforts

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Day Five: Thursday October 24, 2002

• Visited the Rotary Village and met several of the residents and saw some of the business started through the micro-banking project. This was another very powerful and emotional experience for us all. (Please see the page about the Rotary Village.)
• In the afternoon we attended the official NID Launching Ceremony at the Presidential Palace where Ethiopian President Giorghis officially launched the NID weekend. He was also presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship award by Rosemary Aragon.
• In the evening there was a large dinner at the very deluxe Sheraton Hotel to officially charter the Entoto Rotary Club.

Days Six and Seven: Friday and Saturday October 25 & 26, 2002

• Everyone met their immunizing hosts early in the morning and ventured out to various clinics to help with immunizations.
• About 25 from the group remained in Addis Ababa to immunize locally and nearby villages.
• Many of the balance of the group headed out to more remote locations where they would be staying for the next two days (some going to very remote areas left the night before)
• Everyone staying in Addis Ababa was on their own for the evening. Most were met by their assigned local Rotary hosts and spent the time sharing their experiences and seeing and learning more about the city.

Day Eight: Sunday October 27, 2002

• Everyone staying in Addis Ababa again met their immunizing hosts early in the morning and ventured out to various clinics to help with immunizations.
• Those in the remote villages traveled back and arrived back in Addis Ababa in the afternoon and early evening.
• In the afternoon we visited a local AIDS orphanage, distributed clothing and school supplies we all brought over and spent some time with the children exploring their "care packages" with them and trying to give them some hope. This was another yet another very powerful and emotional experience for us all. (Please see the page about the AIDS orphanage.)
• Sunday evening there was a large media reception and NID closing ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel for the group with many local politicians, Rotarians and dignitaries attending. We were all given some very nice Ethiopia made coffee mugs and certificates of thanks for our efforts on the NID project.

Day Nine: Monday October 28, 2002

• Everyone checked out of the hotel early that morning. Some of the group got on the return flight to head home, back through Rome, London then Seattle.
• Most of the group had opted to either stay in Ethiopia for a few more days to sightsee or travel on to Kenya for a 3 day photo game safari to the Keekorock Lodge in the Masai Mara Game Reserve is southwest Kenya (we all needed some R&R after the hard and emotional week we just had).