07 November 2011 Bracknell, United Kingdom [Philip Brown, tedNEWS] On 5 November Newbold College Gap Year students Saskia Heibutzki, Marieke Hulzinga, Judy Lewis, Julie Zielke, Spencer Tonack and Nicklas Risager along with Henrik Jorgensen (Head of Student Experience) returned from a two week trip to Dembidollo, West Wollega, Ethiopia. This was the third consecutive year Newbold College has organised an educational and humanitarian trip to this little known part of Ethiopia. The purpose of this annual trip is to allow Gap Year students to learn about the cultural richness and the challenges of this very different part of the world as well as offer some kind of humanitarian help to the people of the area.
Newbold students stayed in a Christian community run by the Sisters of Charity. This is a special order within the Catholic Church made up of women who have dedicated a part of their life to work with the poorest of the 
poor. Their work includes a hostel for girls from very poor backgrounds, microfinance programmes, women’s centres, medical centres and kindergartens with feeding centres. Newbold students considered it a privilege to get some insight into this community and its work as well as assist and support some of their ventures. The theme of the Newbold-sponsored trip was “the Footwashers of Ethiopia” as the focus was on people who were suffering from the little known foot disease Podoconiosis (Podo). Podo is a non-infectious but very debilitatingtype of elephantiasis, caused by extended exposure to a silica fibre in the soil. The fibre attacks the lymphatic system and causes a swelling of the foot and lower leg. It is believed that Podo is preventable by better hygiene of the feet and by wearing shoes.
Newbold students were able to spend some time at the local medical clinic on their Podo Days seeing firsthand the suffering of these patients. Students were given the opportunity to wash these people’s feet with a special herbal soap, soak their feet in bleach, give them a special ointment to rub on their feet and legs and give them a new pair of shoes. This experience was communion with footwashing on a whole different and possibly more real level than ever experienced previously!
On one day of the visit Newbold students decided to give the girls in the hostel a special treat. They washed the girls’ feet, painted their nails and gave each the equivalent of £10 so they could go to the market the following day, buy themselves a pair of new shoes and whatever else they might need or want. It was a real joy for Newbold students to see the sparkle in these Ethiopian girls’ eyes as they showed off their new shoes and skirts on the“catwalk” for them on the final evening of the visit to Dembidollo.
The children in the area had also been promised new shoes and the Newbold Gap Year student group was supposed to have helped out distributing these shoes. However, to the students’ disappointment the supplies of children shoes had been exhausted and a new promised shoe drop during the visit never materialised. With the little money Newbold students had brought with them, they decided to use some of it to buy shoes for the 130 children in the kindergarten run by the sisters. On the last day of the visit each of the children received a new pair of shoes.
While in Dembidollo Newbold students painted a new building to be used as a children’s centre. One Sabbath also included a visit to the local Seventh-day Adventist church and school where new and much needed English language teaching material donated by the Newbold College library was delivered.
Visits to places like Dembidollo where people are suffering in so many ways can leave one feeling that what has been done is of so little significance – and in some ways it is. However, what the Newbold Gap Year students who had this recent experience can do, must do and will do is tell their stories and make sure the children of Dembidollo, Ethiopia are not forgotten. So you can expect to hear more concerning the “Footwashers of Ethiopia.”! [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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