At the time, Kidest (whose name in Oromo means "the blessed child regardless of her bad circumstances") was attending a Seventh-day Adventist school. Kidest's grandmother was working several jobs to pay her tuition, but her health was failing and it looked like Kidest might have to drop out of school. Government-run schools in Ethiopia are free but are overcrowded and poorly run, Perdue says. The private schools, while modest, provide better teachers as well as sports and health programs.

When Perdue found out that tuition was less than $200 per year, he immediately cashed some travelers checks and offered to pay for Kidest's schooling. When he got back to Utah, he told friends and co-workers what had happened and they offered to sponsor other girls. Six years later there are now more than 600 sponsors in 40 states on several continents.

Greg Farley of St. George became a sponsor and then joined COEFF's board of directors. In the spring of 2006 he visited Ethiopia to see the project firsthand.

"We think we can prepare ourselves for a third-world country, but the poverty is so overwhelming," says Farley. The Perdues, he says, "want to get more and more girls off the street. And they want to get enough money to make sure these girls get at least one good meal a day."

Perdue has received a small grant that enabled him to quit his government job to work full time for COEFF. He travels to Ethiopia for a month several times a year to make sure the 22 private schools that COEFF girls attend continue to meet high standards.

Among COEFF's accomplishments last year: All eight of the students who took the 10th-grade national exam passed, "an amazing accomplishment considering more than 90 percent of students fail the exam," according to Perdue. COEFF also provided a second year of support for a school in rural Ethiopia, serving more than 250 girls and boys who would otherwise not get an education. The nonprofit also has begun a pilot project in Tanzania and hopes to eventually provide funds so young Ethiopian girls can attend college.

After last year's Mesgana Dancers tour, Perdue says he received a few "hate letters" asking why he was spending so much time helping Ethiopians instead of American children. "Sometimes people are jaded about Africa," he says, then adds, "I don't want to say 'prejudiced.' But I feel it's a world community now."

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The Mesgana Dancers will perform at Dixie State College in St. George on Aug. 24; the Murray Park Amphitheater on Aug. 29; at the Capitol Theatre on Sept. 1; and at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City on Sept. 4. For more information visit www.mesgana.com.

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E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com