If you'd like to be part of the project without leaving home...

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, I wish I could tag along to Ethiopia. I love adventure! But I have a full schedule this spring." Dear friend, do not despair. Along with reading this blog -- a sort of open diary of our experiences -- you can send your goodwill.  Post comments and encouragement here; it's good knowing these words have an audience.  Also, before we leave, you are welcome to support the project in a more tangible way: good old money.

If you would like to fund 

painting supplies such as tape, markers, and stencils that we'll gather here to take with us, or paint (which we purchase in Ethiopia), or books and school supplies we take for the children, you may send a tax deductible gift to:

IMAA (International Medical & Academic Alliance), P. O. Box 5, Loma Linda, CA 92453 Memo line: Happy Rooms Ethiopia

Gifts large and small are most welcome; $5 or $10 buys a lot of paint! 


If you'd like to help this writer (Rebecca Waring-Crane) with personal preparation and day-to-day living expenses in country, contact me: happyroominternationalATgmailDOTcom
Those gifts will NOT be tax deductible; but I will steward the funds well as I pack for the journey and cover costs once in Ethiopia.  My anticipated budget for charcoal tablets, Cliff Bars, shade umbrella, visa, etc., is $300.  If I have cash left at the end of our stay, I'll give it to the sisters at Dembi Dollo to help the children of the inmates.


Be assured that all funds post-marked on or before March 15 (the Ides of March!) count as most timely.

Stepping into the light

One December day in 2011 an email message came to me from Iris Landa:  

I am planning to go to Ethiopia at the end of March... maybe 3 to 4 weeks.  I know you are stretched financially, but wondering if you could raise funds to come.  It may be one of God's joyful surprises.!!

As a working artist, the mention of funds almost prompted dismissing the possibility out of hand. Instead I replied:

yes, i'd love to join you in ethiopia. ...  i'll wait on the spirit to light the next step of the journey. i'm open.

Iris knew then that I was meant to accompany her.  She took a leap of faith and began planning. Unaware of this certainty, I moved ahead with my quiet life homemaking, walking, painting and drawing, listening, and generating lots of joy and happiness but little else as an artist.


This past Wednesday, February 15, Iris called to tell me she had funding for another ticket.  She invited me to join her on the trip referenced in her December email.  My first thought: Wow.  Just wow. Followed by, "Yes! Oh, Iris! Of course, yes!" (I'm paraphrasing but the punctuation is correct.)  I stepped into the light.

Along with painting kindergarten rooms at a Learning Center near Addis where Iris has been once before, we will also spend time at a women's prison at Dembi Dollo near the Sudan boarder. Here is a photo of some of the women we will meet, taken by the sisters who help them and their children.

An artist and teacher I worked with in Kenya once told me, "So many circumstances in life are bearable if one is surrounded by beauty." The Happy Room Project strives to help make life more than bearable. It takes joy, color, and yes, beauty to places and people who, like you and I, need these simple, life-affirming reminders.  Thanks for joining the project and following this blog.