Support LaDena's (AKA: ሰርካለም) Odyssey

Dear Friends, Family, and all those who our Mother’s life has touched,

A year ago, our Mom had a tummy ache and went to the hospital as she sensed something was amiss. The doctors informed her she had stage 4 colon cancer that spread everywhere and immediately proceeded with emergency surgery. As she awoke the next day, she opted not to go through chemotherapy and likely “die in a couple of months.” If you know our Mom, she opted out of chemo and proclaimed she would heal herself!

She now has around-the-clock professional care and is allowing any donations to be used for her continued care, recognizing she always puts others first. Although her mind is as sharp as ever, the cancer is providing her with much pain. Of course, only she would welcome this stage gracefully and with humor as she prepares for her next great adventure. She is grateful for being in service and truly embodying her favorite African idiom: “One Person can become like a medicine for a thousand.”

She’d also like to use this campaign to call on everyone she touched, from tens of thousands of refugees she considered her family to her more immediate family, where joyous effort became her default as the matriarch, keeping us all connected. She also appreciates donations to support her philanthropic wishes for many charitable projects, from the North Woods of the Upper Penisula of Michigan to the arid mountains of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and everywhere between.

Her very proud sons,

Jonas and Simeon