Arlene Thies

Home in Ethiopia Arlene Thies

Born and raised in Alva, Oklahoma, Arlene Thies, in Home in Ethiopia an Oklahoma Family Story journeys through her extraordinary experiences that placed her, and family, half-way around the world to Africa-Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. In the early 1960s, Arlene, a young mother of three children, and her husband, Zeke, an agronomist, accepted an Oklahoma State University (then called A& M)/government assignment to train Ethiopian farmers. That decision began the discovery of dramatic cultural contrast. Arlene portrays the trip preparation that started in Bozeman, Montana, where her husband was employed at Montana State College-flights to Washington D. C., Rome, Athens, and arrival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She describes confrontation with the land, language, daily living, native customs that were so different, sometimes shocking, then the values she was raised with in rural, Northwest Oklahoma, and her encounters with the Emperor's family. Now, 86 years old, Arlene appreciates her experience in Ethiopia that enriched her as a human being and where she made lifelong friends. Arlene tells her story in intimate narration and many photographs. She now lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.