bracelets & soccer balls

so there you have it! we'll be spending 2 weeks in ethiopia! we'll fly from new york city to cairo on the 23rd & 24th. after an 11 hour layover (and dinner on the nile!), we'll finally arrive in addis ababa early on the 25th. but our final destination will be awassa - a lake city approx 270 miles and a 5-6 hr car ride south of addis. 

i know what you're thinking. ethiopia isn't exactly topping travelchannel.com's top 10 vacation spots. :) my first time in africa was for our honeymoon, and we spent 2 glorious weeks in morocco (read all about our trip here and here). while we do plan to spend a couple of days at the sabana beach resort of lake langano, and we'll hopefully find time to take an overnight trip to arba minch & the nechisar national park and possibly spend time w/ the people of the omo tribe, this trip won't be honeymoon part deux. the majority of our trip will be spent w/ the awassa children's project.

 {source: awassa children's project}

the awassa children's project was founded 10 years ago as a school and orphanage to help children and families orphaned or affected by HIV/AIDS. they provide housing, food, healthcare and education to around 100 orphans. they also provide vocation training to over 100 adult students in computers as well as wood, electrical and metal work. and cooler still, they have a program called one love theatre that educates thousands of people throughout ethiopia each year about HIV/AIDS.

we're not sure what exactly we'll be doing in awassa yet - but we're pretty thrilled. we'll have up to 9 days w/ the kiddos. :) 9 DAYS of soccer!  9 DAYS of singing songs! 9 DAYS of hugs and high fives! 9 DAYS!!!

{source: kyle lamere - ishootrockstars.com}

despite being so excited that i just couldn't hide it any longer - there's a reason behind announcing our trip 2 months early. are you ready for it? 

we're not fundraising for our trip. while airplane tickets and hotel stays and car rentals and - heck - vaccinations can get a bit expensive, we've luckily saved enough to cover everything. but we want your help! we want to collect a few things to share w/ the kiddos at the awassa children's project.

here's what we need:

1 // for you non-crafters ... SOCCER BALLS! wade mentioned in his post that they spent a good majority of his trip playing soccer w/ tightly rolled plastic bags. we'd love to take quite a few deflated soccer balls w/ us to leave with the children.

2 // for you crafters ... BRACELETS! i love craft hope - that combines the love for crafts w/ the desire to change the world. consider this my very own craft hope, i'm looking for blog readers and friends to help me make homemade bracelets to share w/ the kids and other kids we meet while in ethiopia. it's amazing that something so little can mean so much to a child. :) make a bracelet or make 20. have your little ones get involved. or have a girls night. to get those creative juices flowing ... i rounded up a few of my favorite bracelet DIYs:

{clockwise from upper left: honestlywtf, honestlywtf, v & co, flax & twine}

okay so there you have it! DEADLINE: MAY 11TH. we have a little under 2 months to collect everything. :) email me to sign up and to get all the details or with additional ideas!