MONROE - When Monroe artist Jennifer Rikkers reached out to families similar to her own on social media after welcoming her youngest daughter home from Ethiopia, she found a surprising resource that allowed her a connection to the region where her daughter had been born.

"I was really craving a connection to my daughter's home country, " Rikkers said. "A way to stay connected, but also to offer something back. For us to nurture the connection to Ethiopia, to her home country, and specifically to this region which is a very rural, vulnerable region, was very, very important to me."

Roots Ethiopia, an organization based in Middleton, is dedicated to improving three cores pieces of life in villages throughout Ethiopia. The group raises funds for microloans to help women create small businesses; sponsor students who would otherwise not be able to attend school; and provides supplies for schools struggling to do so on their own. Headed by a former Madison teacher, the organization volunteers to make everyday life better for regions like Hosanna, the area Rikkers and fellow Monroe artist Chris Callahan visited a year ago. The bustling city of 400,000, a four-hour drive south of the country's capital city, is the region where Rikkers' now 6-year-old daughter Tessa was born.

When Rikkers saw a post by Roots Ethiopia founder Meghan Walsh, she decided to take part. Using her experience as an artist, as well as being a parent of four, Rikkers visited classrooms in the region and taught the students art. Students of all ages took advantage of the rarely-given brushes to create works of art, one of which involved the tools themselves hung on the classroom wall. Other activities included using a colorful parachute to play games - a common pastime in U.S schools, but a unique notion for students there.

Rikkers said enthusiasm for the activity has even given administrators a tool in their dealings with students.

"To have something just for play is

unusual. It's not super common, so to have something that colorful and large - they had never seen anything like it," Rikkers said. "They really are in need of all sorts of resources and supplies there, so to have a simple oil pastel or crayons and paper to just create on was really exciting. The kids really liked it. There was a lot of great energy and excitement when we went into the classrooms."

The week-long trip opened her eyes to similarities halfway across the globe, Rikkers said. Her daughter's given Ethiopian name of Tesfanesh, which means "you are hope," was an inspiration for the nine months worth of artwork Rikkers created after visiting the southern regions of Ethiopia. It was a theme she took note of during her experiences in the country, and brought back to include in her artwork.

"When you're there, often times it's easy to just see the poverty and to see the differences, but when you acclimate to the environment, what you really see is the hope all around you," Rikkers said. "A lot of the works are based on hope."

After seeing all of the connections made possible through the organization, Rikkers teamed up with Callahan and photographer Lauren Werner, who sits on the Roots Ethiopia board of directors as a source of ethical photography, to create a local event.

That event, named "Artful Giving," is set for Saturday in Middleton. It's billed as a night of art and food with Callahan displaying artisan jewelry in addition to Rikkers' art and Werner's photography. Those attending can also experience a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony before partaking in dessert supplied by a Chicago-based chocolatier.

The event's purpose is to raise funds for microloans for women in southern Ethiopia. These types of funds are also referred to as Income Generating Activities. IGAs total $325 per business idea, and the organization has boasted a total of 211 small businesses in rural Ethiopia to date.

"This is a woman-driven fundraiser to empower women in Ethiopia," Rikkers said.

According to Roots Ethiopia, there are six steps in the process of helping a woman create her own small business. The plans begin with a contribution, which is then used to help a woman meet with a consultant to evaluate a choice of business and create a plan. From there, the loan recipient gets training in business mechanics such as accounting. The first disbursement of funds is given before step four, in which the business plan is implemented through the purchase of produce and livestock necessary to make the business successful - Rikkers said owning a donkey in the area is "vital" - followed by an evaluation and continued training with support from the Roots Ethiopia team. Finally, step six outlines the results of the venture, which include outcomes such as nutritional and housing security, or even regular or first-time school attendance for the family's children.

Rikkers plans to see more changes come to fruition during her next week-long trip to the same region of Ethiopia, scheduled for October.

"It is community-identified," Rikkers said. "That could possibly be one of the most powerful things Roots Ethiopia does, because if you empower women, if you give her the ability to not be dependent on anybody else, eventually she is able to feed her children, to send them to school and there's this ripple effect.

"For me, it's exciting to be a part of an organization to create that ripple effect across the world."