Rise Up, Inc.

05/03/2026

🦞 ONE WEEK TO GO 🧺
We’re just one week away from our annual Crawfish Boil—and basket mania is in full swing over here!
We’ve been busy tagging these beauties and getting them ready just in time for all your summer adventures. These handmade elephant grass and goat leather baskets from Ghana aren’t just good-looking—they’re built to WORK. Library runs, beach days, ball games, church socials… if you’ve got things to carry, these baskets are ready to go with you.
Come hungry, bring a friend, and plan to leave with your new favorite go-everywhere basket.
More than that, this night is about something bigger. Every dollar raised helps remove the barriers that keep children from going to school—and the impact lasts for generations.
This year, your support will go directly toward:
✨ Building a kitchen at our new orphanage for high school girls pursuing their education
✨ Adding bathrooms and handwashing stations at our early childhood center
✨ Preparing to break ground on a K–8 school in a new Konso village
✨ Beginning work on a community water well to serve an entire village
Every project removes one more obstacle so a child can learn. So please come to see us Saturday, May 9th from 4-8pm. Shop, eat, listen to some great music and enjoy an evening of relaxation with friends, all for an amazing cause. Find out more about our mission at www.riseuped.org.

04/27/2026

Meet Amarech Telee.

Amarech is from one of Konso's small rural villages. Her village is a three-hour walk from her current school. She is the only girl among six brothers, in a family where daily survival often came before schooling. From a young age, she was needed at home—but she never let go of her desire to learn. At just six years old, Amarech developed a severe infection in her knee. What began as a treatable wound became life-threatening as her family struggled to access medical care. After long journeys between distant hospitals, she finally received treatment for a serious infection. Shortly after recovering from the infection that caused her problems, she had a accident that left her other leg badly injured, and without immediate treatment, the infection returned. By the time she reached care, amputation was the only option. Because of the severity of the procedure, her brothers were forced to give blood to help save her life.

Most would have stopped there. Amarech did not.

At seven, she began school—walking each day on crutches up and down the steep hills surrounding her village. She pressed on through primary school, determined to continue despite every obstacle in her path. After passing her grade 8 exams, she moved to Karat to attend high school, living in a small rented room. But once again, finances threatened to end her education. By grade 11, she was on the verge of dropping out, but she was given an opportunity through Rise Up.

Today, Amarech is back in school, filled with hope and determination. She dreams of finishing high school and going on to university—something that once felt impossibly out of reach. Amarech is one of 40 girls we are currently supporting—girls who are determined to rise above immense challenges for the chance at an education. Your support provides housing, school fees, and daily necessities for these students. More than that, it gives them a future. Will you join us in helping Amarech and the 39 other girls continue their education? Help us continue our life changing work by donating at www.riseuped.org or by attending one of our upcoming fundraising events.

04/22/2026

Last July we and our partners the Konso Development Association/KDA finished a block of 4 classrooms in the Konso village of Koriya Dokatu, In Southern Ethiopia. These 4 classrooms have been utilized as an early childhood center for the village. It's so exciting to see the smiling faces on these little ones as they are learning. These projects will make a lasting difference in the lives of these children and their families. I received these photos and an update on the school from our director this morning. I'm always happy to get these. In the coming weeks, we will be breaking ground on new bathrooms and washrooms for this school, both of which are greatly needed. We are so thankful for the contributions from all who make these projects possible. We have a lot of exciting projects in the works that we can't wait to share with everyone.
Photo Credits Chuchu Yohannes

04/20/2026

03/08/2026

Happy

"... It is by standing up for the rights of girls and women that we truly measure up as men."
- Desmond Tutu

12/10/2025

It’s easy to get distracted by what seems like a constant barrage of bad things happening in the world. We see and hear about these things anytime we turn on a screen. I’m not immune to those distractions, in fact, I find myself in a constant battle to try to see the good in the world. With that said, I want to share some of those good things. My work with Rise Up, Inc. is entering its tenth year. That’s huge as many NGO’s don’t make it past the three year mark. Not only has Rise Up made it ten years, but we’ve completed some incredible accomplishments during that time. So I’m excited to share with you the good news of our newest project.

Last summer while in Ethiopia, I was presented with a unique opportunity for Rise Up. A local group reached out to me about the great number of older children who had been orphaned. These children lived with friends or family, many in the farthest reaches of Konso. I was told about the children’s need for education and their inability to obtain it. These kids go to grade school in their local villages but don’t have the opportunity to go to high school because of the distance and other obligations. A local mission group in the main Konso town of Karat offered all of their dorms to 40 girls if they would like to live in town and attend high school. Of course many girls wanted to attend but there were still many obstacles that would keep these girls from being able to go.

First and foremost we had to ensure their safety and provide local female support. Once we had that in place, the mission offered the dorms and water for free. However, there were still obstacles. The mission wasn’t able to offer anything else the girls would need during the school year. After meeting with the director of the mission and our partners the Konso Development Association, we started a scholarship program that would bring 40 girls from the farthest areas of Konso into town to live at the mission and attend Karat High School.

Our scholarship program provides each girl with safety, support, food, healthcare, uniforms, school supplies and any other day to day supply needed. For very little money, we are able to help these girls graduate high school then move onto college. These scholarships will have a lasting impact on both the girls and their families. This is life changing for these girls and I’m really excited that we are able to help. We will be hosting fundraisers in the near future to help them with their education. Please stay tuned for more good news and ways you can help. Let’s work together to change this world for the better, one day at a time.