Logging Miles and Building Schools in Ethiopia

By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor

On Sunday, Jan. 9, a team of American runners (most with northern Michigan roots) will leave the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on a 250-mile run. For 10 days they’ll jog through the ancient Rift Valley, sleep in highland villages and raise awareness with folks back home about rural poverty and lack of schools. Ten marathons in ten days! On Jan. 20 they’ll arrive in Yirgacheffe, one of the world’s great coffee-growing regions.

Photo by Timothy Young

Chris Treter, President of Traverse City-based Higher Grounds Trading Co., conceived of the Run Across Ethiopia with Hans Voss of the Michigan Land Use Institute and Timothy Young of Honor, Mich.-based Food for Thought. At the request of locals in Ethiopia, the project’s goal is to raise $100,000 to build a rural school, and awareness in general, surrounding lack of education and water access.

I and a small team of journalists, videographers and musicians — including Northern Express writer Anne Stanton and Earthworks musicians Daisy Mae and Seth Bernard — will join the Run Across Ethiopia as documentarians and cultural ambassadors. In particular, I’ll pen a feature for The Rotarian, Rotary International’s magazine, about Rotary’s involvement (Empire resident Norm Plumstead, a member of the Traverse City Sunrise club, is one of the runners). I also hope to tap into issues of poverty and social justice, coffee and agriculture, and the environment.

I’ll update this blog daily, or as much as our Internet access allows, with text, photos and video from the field. Check back often!