Press: “Dinner planned to help Ethiopian street children”

Ten years after Eayoall Atsbeha left Africa for the United States, he returned in 2011 to his hometown of Gara Muleta, Ethiopia, for a visit.

He was struck by the poverty he saw the youth of the town living in.

“I saw all these kids on the street that my mom was trying to help,” he said.

Atsbeha’s family still lived in the small village. His mother, Amni Tefera, was doing all she could, with help from the church she helps lead. Tefera provided the impoverished youths a place to stay and food, but she didn’t have enough space or resources to meet all the needs.

Atsbeha, a student at Rocky Mountain College at the time, returned to Billings with the burden of wanting to help. The physical education major was attending Rocky on a cross country scholarship, a member of the school’s team.

On a practice run with teammate and friend Joel Harris, Atsbeha began to share his desire to do something to help the youth.

“And Joel said, ‘maybe we could raise some money,’” Atsbeha said.

That was how GARA, a fundraising organization, came into existence. “Gara” is the Amharic word for “mountain,” and Gara Muleta means “the mountain you can see.” In a sense, Atsbeha said, he and Harris are trying to move mountains to help others.

As part of that, the pair will put on an Authentic Ethiopian Food fundraising dinner on Jan. 31 at the Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic. The clinic is sponsoring the event.

Harris, who grew up in Fort Smith, came to Rocky in 2007 to study literature and philosophy.

“I think when Eayoall told me the story of what was going on and that he wanted to be part of helping out, it was a compelling story, and I wanted to be part of it,” Harris said.

They organized a dinner in April 2012. It was a success, raising about $3,000, and it gave them seed money to help get a project, a dormitory and education center in Gara Muleta, off the ground.

Another event, the Mountain Man 5K Race in 2014, raised about another $3,000. The group has also sold T-shirts and held other get-togethers.

“We’ve been sending money in small increments, sending it as they need it for building materials and things,” Harris said.

The building is getting close to completion, and with that has come some very encouraging news, Harris said. The Ethiopian government and Compassion International have agreed to partner with the Gara Muleta church in helping pay for the ongoing operation of the center.

“It feels like our first project has wheels and some sustainability, which is exciting,” he said.

That’s the goal of GARA, the two men agree, doing small-scale targeted projects where they can see how the money is being used, who they’re working with and how they can help them get to a point of sustainability.

In keeping with that grassroots theme, GARA also hopes to help raise money for micro-finance projects. The point isn’t to shoulder people aside, Harris said, but to help them do what they’re already doing.

It’s a philosophy shared by the Yellowstone Naturopathic Clinic, said Dr. Patricia Holl, a chiropractor at the Billings center.

“There’s an old saying, ‘Ride a horse in the direction it’s going,’” Holl said. “Not save the world, but support things already in place.”

Holl first met Atsbeha and Harris at a World Water Day last year and was interested to hear their story. She realized their work aligns well with the philosophy of the clinic.

Dr. Margaret Beeson, a naturopathic doctor and owner of the clinic, has traveled to Guatemala to do medical outreach, Holl said.

“So these are the kinds of projects we want to support,” she said.

Holl talked to the two men about putting on a dinner, and she gave Atsbeha her card, to talk further about the clinic sponsoring the event.

“And he took me up on it,” she said. “We want to support this, and, ultimately maybe do outreach medically. Our commitment runs deep on projects like this.”