Rooney returns from Ethiopia

Among the questions Alice Rooney faced from Evergreen Elementary first-graders Monday: Do they have slides in Ethiopia?

Rooney recently returned from a roughly three-month volunteer-teaching trip in a suburb of Addis-Abbaba, and shared some of her experiences with the elementary students. Rooney shadowed first grade teacher Arlene Wilson's class prior to leaving for Ethiopia, and then returned to issue a report on the trip to her students.

Wilson's students prepared drawings for the Ethiopian students. Her Ethiopian students in turn prepared drawings for the Wrangell students. Rooney guest taught three days out of each week, and spent the rest of the time working at a downtown food center serving injera, a traditional Ethiopian dish made from an unleavened cake, and soup to up to 700 people each day. Rooney also shared videos and photos of her time in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as an assortment of souvenirs.

"I prepared for this for like a year and a half," she said. "I had a chance to learn some Amharic, had the classroom experience, and tried to get as prepared as I could, which really was very helpful. I tried to learn as much as I could before I went."

The best part of travelling overseas was meeting new people, Rooney said.

"I think just meeting these interesting people, and having these long conversations," she said. "Wandering around on the street. They're very friendly and open talking to people. Connecting with people."

She also enjoyed working with her students.

"The children were delightful," she said. "What's not to love about five- and six-year-olds?"

The most challenging part of the trip was the native wildlife.

"The bugs," she said, and laughed. "Bedbugs, fleas, whatever."

In addition, Amharic, Ethiopia's official language, posed some difficulties.

"Power, water, and cell phone service were all very erratic," she said, in an e-mail. "We took our water from five-gallon jerry jugs, packing it in buckets up two flights to wash or flush toilets. Many local foods did not agree with me, so I lost twenty pounds."

Rooney's trip was coordinated by the New Zealand-based Global Volunteer Network, which is dedicated to matching volunteers with programs worldwide.