Tell Me Something Good--People, They Never Cease to Amaze...

photo courtesy of CNN.com

Whether it’s good or bad news, people never cease to amaze me. In this case, though, it’s good, as well as inspirational news. Browsing CNN.com, a headline read, “Manicurist sells house, car to build school,” of course I had to read further.

A Washington, DC manicurist, Lidia Schaefer, was born in Feres Mai (a large village in Northern Ethiopia), but moved to the U.S. in the mid-70s due to the civil war that was taking place. During the 90s she visited her native village and was disturbed by what she witnessed, children walking three hours each way to attend school, which was held under a tree, not even in a building. What further put Lidia over the edge was learning about the death of Medhine, in 1989; she was one of the girls Lidia had met on her trip. While on her long trek home from school, Medhine was attacked and killed by hyenas. Itching to do something, Lidia began setting aside all her tips, a third of her pay and eventually sold her house and car to raise enough money to build a school for the village.

With such a huge task at hand, Lidia’s clients, colleagues, and friends began donating money, holding raffles, created items to sell, all the while she was lobbying the Ethiopian government to donate land in a central location so the school could serve as many children as possible in nearby villages; the nearest school was about 18 miles away.

To sum up the story, Lidia raised over $250k for the school, which was completed in 2006. Today, nearly 1500 students are educated in the school, which is an eight-building campus that houses 16 classrooms, a library and a science lab. She was honored with a village wide procession when she went back for the dedication, along with the school being named after her (Lidia had planned on naming it after Medhine, but the government, which runs the school named it after her).

Inspired by her deeds, Ethiopian communities around the U.S. followed her example; they launched efforts to build more schools in her region. So far, they have raised enough money to build 12 schools, which are due for completion next month, July 2009.

To read the whole story, click here. To get involved or to learn more about Lidia’s work, check out Lidia Schaefer’s website.