Thank you for your participation in a Help One Now Learning Journey! The Help One Now ethos is to remain invisible in our communities and focus our efforts on resourcing key leaders instead. Help One Now leads a limited number of Learning Journeys for committed, long-term supporters (Church Partners, Child Sponsors, Foundation members, and Love Hope Partners) each year. On these Journeys, emphasis will be placed on connecting with a community, building deep relationships with the local leaders, and brainstorming how you can unlock your human capital to partner together and support their work back home.
On this trip, we are excited for you to:
● meet and fall in love with our local leaders and the children they serve
● learn from our local leaders by hearing their stories and engaging in their communities. Doing this helps us, the visitors, understand the unique issues in different environments
● see the impact of our projects firsthand and gain a new understanding of how complex working in these communities can be
● become advocates of the country, people and orphans that you meet when you return home. You are the tribe; we need you to run with these
stories and partner with us to make an impact
Be on the lookout for emailed updates and a detailed trip packet containing exciting and important information for your upcoming trip! In the meantime, here are some notes for your consideration as you begin to prepare for your trip! If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact Madeline, our trips coordinator, at trips@helponenow.com!
Trip Needs
Shots
There are currently no required vaccinations for Ethiopia; however, we recommend Hep A & B, Tetanus, and Yellow Fever. Some people choose to get a Typhoid shot as well.
If you take prescription medicine, make sure you bring enough for the entire trip and be sure to leave it in their original containers. The following medication is recommended as precautions:
● Malaria Medication- There are several prescriptions available. Please check with your travel nurse.
● Cipro- This is an antibiotic that your doctor or travel nurse can prescribe for you to use in the event of severe diarrhea that does not resolve with Immodium
Please see your local travel clinic for more details about shots and prescriptions.
Passport & Visa
Upon arriving in Ethiopia, you must present a passport with an expiration date further out than six months. You will purchase your visa at the airport for $20.
Packing List
- passport
- shot record (just in case)
- snacks- There may be times where it makes more sense to eat snacks for lunch on the go so please plan accordingly.
- sunscreen
- mosquito repellant
- water bottle
- jacket (It gets cool at night and will most likely rain.)
- closed toe, sturdy shoes
Additional Costs
Help One Now will be handling on the ground expenses such as lodging, transportation, meals, etc., but it's always nice to have some cash on you for souvenirs, gifts, alcoholic drinks, etc. That said, you also don't want to have too much cash on you. We recommend bring $200 with you. You will be able to exchange US currency for Ethiopian Birr at the airport upon arrival.
Ethiopian exchanges prefers crisp bills and large denominations. When exchanging currency in Ethiopia, it is best to have a nice new $100 bill.
We recommend notifying your bank and/or credit card company that you will be traveling to prevent them from declining due to suspected fraud.
Phones/ Communication
There are international data plans available; however, it is important that you check with your provider to make sure Ethiopia is covered in the plan.
The safest way to avoid huge roaming charges is to turn off your data when you leave the States and use wifi for communication. If you have an iPhone, you can send iMessages over wifi for free.
Help One Now will purchase trip cancellation and medical evacuation insurance for each of you. You will receive an insurance card to print out and keep with your passport a week before your departure.
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program
You will each be registered with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). This is a free service provided by the US Government for citizens traveling abroad that will allow the US Embassy in Ethiopia to better assist you in the event of an emergency.
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