** PLEASE NOTE: The photographs shown here were scanned from 35mm transparencies from 1968 - 1975 (pre-digital). As such, they may not have the sharpness and detail of digital originals. There may also be some lack of color accuracy due to the age of the original slides. And the occasional bits of dust that weren't removed after the scan may also be present. **

In 1967, my father was recruited from Oklahoma State University to go to Ethiopia where he taught English at the Haile Selassie I University, College of Agriculture in Alemaya, now Haramaya University. Fresh out of high school, I attended my Freshman year of college there. We returned to the States in 1968 where I finished my degree at OSU in 1972.

Upon graduation, I returned to Ethiopia as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1973 and trained to be a junior-secondary teacher. Training was in the town of Dila (ዲላ). I was assigned to Hirna (ሂርና) on the high road from Harar (ሐረር) to Addis Abeba (አዲስ አበባ) where I taught seventh and eighth grade English, Math, and Social Studies.

During the break between school years, I volunteered to work for the UN Smallpox Eradication Program. After a brief training, I was assigned to Gondar (ጎንደር) and worked with full-time Smallpox volunteers.

I was in Addis when Haile Selassie was overthrown on September 12, 1974. I wandered the streets of Addis and took a number of pictures, much to the horror of the Peace Corps office. I felt no danger. I returned to my school in Hirna a few days later to teach my final year. I left Ethiopia with a heavy heart in 1975.