i can’t read your mind but my guess would be that you think traveling to ethiopia to help others is a fairly noble cause.  maybe so.  at the least, i thought i was pretty noble at the outset. 

then i realized i had so much more to learn than i had to offer.  last year when i was here the project (building the wall… in case you  have short term memory loss) had a foreman who liked to talk on his cell phone, give orders, and insert himself in the work only near its completion.  maybe, at the time, that’s what the project needed.  or maybe not.

this time around the project has a new bossman named, mamaroo (yes, the coolest name ever!).  from him, i have everything to learn.

as the leader of the project he immerses himself in the work.  if that’s not admirable enough, his leadership, from an outside view, shows him doing the same amount and type of work (hard manual labor) as everyone else under his leading.  essentially, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make the project a success.  he cares about the people working with him and the project itself.  after 6 days of work, i’d say that mamaroo is the definition of servant leadership.

and so it stands, as i set foot in ethiopia for the second time, i am reminded that i’m nothing greater than these ethiopian friends who i’m working alongside.  maybe i do have something to teach or offer (and hopefully i freely give of that) but i’m finding i have so much to learn.

ethiopia is teaching me to have a moldable, teachable spirit because there are leaders like mamaroo with valuable lessons to teach.

honestly, all this learning might just change my life.

-chris townley-