I was featured in "Teen Vogue"!!!!

For those of you unfamiliar with Teen Vogue, it is, as the title explains, a nationally-distributed (possibly worldly-distributed, too- I've seen it sold in Canada and Europe) magazine for teens by the makers of Vogue. I have subscribed to it for years, and about two months ago, there was an article in it all about Ethiopian-born supermodel Liya Kebede's work in Ethiopia, starting her own organization to support the building and facilitation of hospitals there and being elected UN Ambassador to Women and Children. Well, as soon as I finished reading the article, I wrote a letter into the magazine explaining my gratitude at their inclusion of this great role model's work since I have such a personal connection to Ethiopia. I had never really expected it to be included in a later issue in the "Mail" section from readers- frankly, I had pretty much forgotten about it until I received my issue of it today. I almost fell over when I saw my name in bold letters written in such a widely-read publication, accompanied by my letter! I guess it goes to show that you should really expect the unexpected- I'm sure they get hundreds, if not thousands of letters, and they only have room to feature a few in each issue. I guess I'm a celebrity now! :-)

Unfortunately, I don't think they have a copy of the Liya Kebede article on the Teen Vogue website, but here is the letter I wrote in response to it:

I just wanted to thank you for your story about model Liya Kebede's humanitarian work in her home country. I just returned from Ethiopia, where we adopted my little sister, and I saw firsthand the poverty and devastation there. Because of my sister's roots, I feel a very strong connection to Ethiopia. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a widely known celebrity lending her efforts to strengthen this beautiful and rich culture. I'd like to add that I can completely see where Ms. Kebede's stunning beauty originates- the people there, my sister being no exception, are gorgeous!

The article is on newstands everywhere now! :-)