Zaaf's World

 

You are misled by Western media a lot. Of course, you might have figured this out by now. Every time I go to Africa I have to thank God for the opportunity to travel and to see the world for myself and I am happy to be able to form my own opinions. Take Ethiopia, for example. When most people think of Ethiopia they think famine or starving children. But Ethiopia is actually a country that is doing well and which has smart young people so ready to take their country to the next level. There is a great construction boom happening, there is all sorts of entrepreneurship and small businesses just waiting for an investor. I mean Ethiopia has good wine...yeah wine, who knew? Another major example is ZAAF, a wonderful leather goods and accessories business founded by the young and energetic Abai Schulze. Ethiopian leather is a valued commodity and so she is smart for combining her talented design sense and taking Ethiopian leather to the next level. I love her designs. I visited her shop while I was in Ethiopia last week. I wish this talented entrepreneur all the success in the world. Check out ZAAF collection online. 

Pretty Woman

 I am blogging from Ethiopia this morning. I am in Addis Ababa. I also have no voice. When I came home from Lithuania last week I came home with a cold. Over the weekend I overworked and the cold got worse. So now, here I am in Addis and I am supposed to lead a workshop on Thursday and Friday and I have no voice! I am resting all day today and sipping a disgusting concoction of garlic boiled with lemon and ginger and honey.

 

Anyway, I came here to tell you that I have developed a thing of staring unashamedly at the Ethiopian women. They are petite in stature and have exquisite features. Beautiful lips, gorgeous eyes, chiseled-looking noses,  all set in a symmetrical face. They carry features similar to Iman's, no? Many assume Iman is Ethiopian too, she is Somalian. But the women from East Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and even Kenya) carry similar facial features.

I think most of you know of Liya Kebede. She is Ethiopian. Anyway, here is Liya (above) in Ethiopia. She has founded a brand of clothing made from woven Ethiopian cotton. It's called LemLem NYC. Five per cent of the proceeds from all sales goes to Liya Kebede's Foundation. They do scarves, dresses, blouses/shirts...it's all flowy, light, beautiful and very reminiscent of Ethiopia. Speaking of pretty women: aren't the women in Lemlem's ads beauuuutiiiful?

On the agenda in Addis this week (if I ever get over my throat situation...) I'll do my workshops and bond with my colleagues in law. Also, I shall go to the market and explore and dine out with my Sistren who is Ugandan but lives here in Addis with her beautiful, young family.

 

Ethiopia

 

All Pictures via Pinterest

Today the little one and I are suffering from a stomach bug, so I am out of commission. But I wanted to share with you my upcoming travel plans. I am spending most of next week in Ethiopia. Hope to see a lot of their incredible churches. I'll take you with me through pictures. So stay tuned.