It's hard to believe that one month ago I was in Ethiopia! The memories are still so fresh in my mind.
My next step is to pick a location in Ethiopia for sponsorship. The two options are a soccer ministry for street kids in Addis or the children at Grace Baptist Church in Kombolcha. There are several things I need to be finalized before I can post the information here.
Once a location has been picked, I will be looking for sponsors. I hope that some of my faithful readers will become sponsors!
I know some of you are asking what "sponsorship" means.
Here are the details:
The Hopechest staff in Ethiopia talks with each child as well as their guardian/parent and teacher to find out as much as possible about each child at the location chosen. That information will be included in the child's "profile" along with their picture. Once you are matched with your sponsor child, you will register with Hopechest through their website and you can immediately send a letter and pictures to your sponsored child to introduce yourself/your family.
Approximately $34 per month ensures that your sponsor child will have two nutritious meals every day, along with other basic needs; clothing, medical care, education, school supplies and Christian discipleship met.
I have met the children in the soccer ministry and at Kombolcha. The needs are great but we can make a difference one child at a time.
What is the first thing that went through your mind when you saw the picture?
Recycling, trash? Or something else?
While we were in Ethiopia my view of an empty water bottle changed.
Here, at home, my husband will tell you that I will not throw away an empty plastic bottle. Yes, even at Chick-Fil-A I put the empty plastic milk bottle in my purse so we can recycle it at home. I hate to throw away anything that can be recycled. In Ethiopia, I thought recycling wasn't an option so a put my empty water bottles in the trash. That is until I saw our driver throw an empty bottle out the car window. At home we call that littering but not in the countryside of Ethiopia... an empty water bottle is treasured. Many children outside major cities have to walk miles to school, to the market and to water. They typically carry water home from a well in a 3, 5 or 10 gallon container. Most families cannot afford to buy small water bottles. I learned that throwing an empty water bottle out to a child is a gift. It's a chance for a child to carry a reasonable amount of water with them daily.
Once we learned this everyone in our van would pass empty water bottles up to the front. Tom, Solomon or Simon would toss them out when they saw a child walking down the road. We would all look to see if the child would pick up the bottle. Every time they would run out to get it. Many times we would get a wave.
We we arrived at Kind Heart, Heather had gathered up several water bottles to toss out the window on the ride back to Addis. One little boy peered into our van and saw all the bottles. Through our translator we asked if he wanted them. He answered, "Yes, all of them."
It's hard to forget that something we think of as trash or recycling could be so valuable to a child.
Tuesday was to be a day of shopping. Instead we visited two additional locations. One was Green Light Ministries.
Green Light Ministries works with preschool children who are extremely vulnerable. The children would be left at home or playing on the streets if this FREE preschool was not open. They have a small room to house the children and a dangerous outside area for the children to play. Like so many locations we visited, Green Light Ministries does not have ongoing funding. We were able to do some shopping at the post office. I was able to see Samuel one last time. He asked if I was coming back again. I said, yes and I would find him when I arrived in Addis.
Tuesday night we left Addis. Twenty-four hours later I arrived home. I have not stopped thinking about the children we met in Ethiopia.
On Monday we headed out of Addis to Kind Heart. Here we meet 56 pre-kindergarten children who are considered "extremely vulnerable". These children's parents are day laborers. They are very poor and may only eat a few days a week. They are fed lunch ONLY on Wednesdays. We arrived on Monday- not a lunch day. The children were hungry, again we saw children eating grass. We just could not bear the thought of playing actively with them when they were so weak from hunger. As we spoke to the director, he explained their number one need is FOOD!
At this point we made the decision to go into town to buy some food for the children. Buying food in Ethiopia is slightly different than buying it in the USA. We had to find a store that sold rice. Once we found the place they had to carry to rice out of the store to the industrial scale where it was weighed and poured into sacks. We bought 17 kilos of rice and 3 gallons of cooking oil at this store.
Then we had to find a produce store for onions, oranges and bananas. The children would eat lunch on Monday.
One of our team members is actively looking for sponsors for this location.
If you donated money towards the Ethiopia trip, part of it went to buying food for this location.
After visiting Kind Heart we headed back to Addis for lunch. Then we went to the AWAA transition home. I was able to love on several families children!
We also stopped to see the street kids play soccer!
If you want to give a gift to children in need this Christmas season check out HopeMongers. We had the privilege of meeting Sam Henry, Chief Monger (his words!) and his family in Ethiopia. HopeMongers' goal is to connect YOU directly with people and help you find tangible opportunities to make a lasting difference in their lives. We visited several Ethiopian orphanages in desperate need. HopeMongers has their needs listed on this website. Check it out, you can make a difference in a child's life for as little as $10.
It was another early wake up in Ethiopia. Saturday is a day of shopping, people all over Addis go to the market place. In order to beat the traffic we left very early. We drove on perfectly paved roads for 2 hours... ah pure joy. We went to a Woliso which we later learned was 99% Muslim.
You could feel the spiritual darkness as we entered the area. I could not shake the feeling.
We visited Woliso Emanuel orphanage. There we met Job, a pastor, church planter and orphanage director. This orphanage houses 43 children (ages 5 - 15) and three babies. They had no formula for the babies when we arrived, they were using cow's milk with a little water and teff added. The children at the orphanage walk 5 kilometers to school each way. The orphanage does not have on going funding, they receive occasional gifts from visitors and that's it. They trust that funds will be donated to help feed and clothe the children, not to mention paying the staff. On the grounds they have converted a dung barn into a church. There we were privileged to hear some of the children sing songs of praise.
The team gave $900 to the Hopechest Africa Director to purchase food and formula for this orphanage. If you donated money, please know that a portion of your funds went to this location.
We started our day by visiting Hope for the Hopeless- it's an outreach to street kids in Addis. I was completely blown away by this small transition center/orphanage. The director is a man after God's own heart. He and his staff minister to street kids from age 5 to 15 years. Yes, you read that correctly- they minister to children who live in the streets of Addis. Their staff invites boys and girls to come to their transition center for a meal, a shower, a place to wash their clothes.... the children can come and go but the goal is to have them stay. If they choose to stay they will live in this location for 3-6 months (until they relearn to obey instructions from adults) then they will go to the orphanage outside Addis. The goal is to transition the child back to their family (if it is safe) or to live with a guardian. During their 3-6 month stay in Addis they attend school, receive discipleship, the child works with a psychologist to help the healing process. Healing from what you ask? Many of these children have been exposed to physical and/or sexual violence, they have learned survival techniques required to survive on the streets of Addis. Many of the boys we met had scars on their faces and heads as a result of street fights with other street kids. The children are not forced to stay, it is completely their choice, and some choose to leave because they will not abide by the rules. The staff learns everything about these children in order to rebuild their lives, their future.
We hung out with the children, drew with chalk, gave them balloons and listened to their stories. Pete had an IPOD with speakers with him. One little boy took to the music right away never leaving Pete's side. Another little boy who was about 8 years old traveled 500 kilometers by bus (alone!) from his village to escape his drunken, abusive father…because of Hope for the Hopeless he has hope for the future. Later that afternoon we would meet one of the two girls, Meron, who live at Hope for the Hopeless. Meron's story is told in Tom Davis' book- Red Letters. Meron's parents were sick so they sent her to a relative who enslaved her and abused her. She ran away to find her parents but learned they had died. Now she was alone on the streets of Addis with no place to turn. She stayed awake for 3 days trying to avoid the street gangs of boys only to be discovered.... unthinkable things happened to her. The staff for Hope for the Hopeless found her and brought her back to the transition center. This is were she began to heal.
After we left Hope for the Hopeless we went to Compassion Family International. This is a drop in center for vulnerable children. If it were not for this center these children ages 2 to 8 years old would be home alone or on the streets while their parents are at work. We were so touched by this ministry and the children we asked what the most important need was. We were told mattresses. The children at this location napped at their desks! Needless to say they did not nap for very long! We were able to provide money to purchase mattresses and bedding.
At this point we were suppose to be meeting some people for dinner. However the Holy Spirit prompted us to talk about Hope for the Hopeless. Our group huddled together and decided that we would go back to provide them money for food- their biggest need. When Tom called the director to say were were on our way, the director said that they had been praying for a miracle all day. They had run out of food and had no money in the bank. Karen and her van stopped along the way to purchase bought 10 kilos of bananas, 10 kilos of oranges, 9 kilos of carrots and 7 loaves of bread and delivered it with the funds to the transition center. When the funds and food were presented to the director there was not a dry eye in the group. The transition staff were openly weeping. You could feel the Holy Spirit among us. I cannot adequately describe the intensity of the moment but I know that we were an answer to prayer. For those of you who donated money, please know you were a big part of today. Here is a clip of our team at Hope for the Hopeless.
After 4 hours of playing with the children at Grace Baptist Church, we prayed for the pastor and his team then we were ready for the journey back to Addis. The pastor asked if we could take his cousin back with us. We agreed. The cousin was a young woman in her 20's. She had a baby with her. It was not long before we realized she was very sick. She said she had some sort of intestinal issue. Every 20-30 minutes we had to stop the car because she was so sick. The road was not like on many US highways where there are rest stops, fast food places or gas stations along the way. No, the road to Addis from Kombolcha is miles and miles of nothing. So, our traveler had no choice but to be sick on the side of the road. We gave her water and wipes to clean up a bit, we gave her Tums and Bonine but nothing helped. A few hours into the journey she said she could not go on. She had an aunt in a village a few miles ahead, she asked if we would let her out at the village entrance.
Our driver stopped so they could get out of the van. I wondered how far would she have to walk to her aunt's home? Many Ethiopians walk miles each day but this woman was sick, she was probably dehydrated, she had to carry a baby.... Would her aunt be home? We had no choice but to let her go.
Our drivers were concerned about driving on the treacherous roads after dark AND were concerned that restaurants were not safe (sanitary enough) for westerners so we did not stop to eat. We enjoyed granola, peanut butter crackers and nuts for lunch. This was much more than many of the children at Grace Baptist Church would eat that day. The journey to the guest house took a little over 9 hours.
Right before I went to bed Tom L. was talking to me. I said something to him that made no sense. I knew I wasn't making any sense so I headed for my room. I went to bed around midnight feeling very emotional. I thought it was from all we had seen in the last few days. Soon I realized it was something more serious. I heard voices in my head. When I closed my eyes I saw a wolf and a cat talking in my head, their voices would not stop. I saw alligator wallpaper that was not there. I opened my eyes and I saw little people in the corner of our room... they were as tall as gnomes. I asked Heather and Karen if they saw the little people. They did not. Karen quickly realized that I was hallucinating which was quite a relief to me. I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. It was a side effect of the malaria medicine I was taking. Heather prayed that I would stop hearing the voices so I would be able to sleep. I slept fitfully but the voices were gone. I was able to switch to another malaria medicine (thanks to Pete) which did not have the same side effects. I was ready for Friday.
We left the guest house at 4:30AM. We were told that the drive to Kombolcha would take about 6 hours. Little did we know that the trip would take about 11 hours. Evidently, the Ethiopian government decided that they should pave most of the road from Addis to Kombolcha.
I experienced the most treacherous drive I can recall. We dodged, people, camels, horses, carts, goats, cows, dogs, other cars/trucks.... We climbed a mountain and reached 10,600 feet, driving through fog so thick that we could not see more than 10 feet in front of us. Our driver was amazing. He navigated the van through potholes and thick gooey mud.
Entering the fog...
crossing the "dry" river bed
When we finally arrived in Kombolcha we were greeted by 120 children that were "at risk". Many are single or double orphans (meaning one or both of their parents have died). Some children live with guardians who cannot afford to feed them... they can only provide shelter.
The children were skin and bones. Some were eating grass because they were so hungry. There was a little boy who looked like Henry. I wondered, if we had not adopted Henry would be be starving too? It's hard to look into the eyes of hungry children knowing that I could not bring comfort and healing to each one of them at that moment. We played with them for a little bit, learned their names and heard the story of Grace Baptist Church. Grace provides the children with an education but is unable to feed them. This location is available for sponsorship!
After playing with the children we went to the hotel. How I longed for a US hotel. The towels were as large as a hand towel! Our beds were surrounded by mosquito netting which Heather and I used while we slept.
On Thursday we headed back to Grace Baptist Church to play with the children. The children were sooo excited to see us again. We tried to blow up some balloons and play with each child but there were way too many kids per adult. We were able to create four stations- A bible craft, bible story, parachute game and a children's game station. The kids LOVED it. They all rotated through each station so we were able to spend time with each group of children. Tom L and I played duck, duck, goose, London bridges, and head and shoulders, knees and toes with the kids. The girls wanted to be sooo close to me. They touched my skin, kissed my hands and face... they pressed their bodies against mine so tightly I had to wonder if they were touched, loved, encouraged at home. The children were eating grass because they were not fed. It was so heartbreaking to see.
We asked the pastor what the most immediate need was. He answered FOOD. We were able to give him $2,000 for food. (If you gave me money I was able to donate money to this site on your behalf.)
This weekend was my grandmother's memorial service. My sister and I flew to AZ to attend the service. It was a sweet time to remember my grandmother with family.
Sunday was Orphan Sunday. Rob wore this shirt- sharing the plight of orphans along with his sermon on social justice.
Sunday night was the lantern walk at nursery school. It is inspired by St. Martin, a fourth century army officer who - according to legend - went out into the night searching for people in need of help. As we walked around the pond the only light was from our home made lanterns and candles along the path. We hung our lanterns in the trees. Then we warmed up in front of the bonfire and ate baked apples and cookies.
Pete and Andrea adopted their little girl from Ethiopia last year. Check out his blog post: What are you going to do about it? Or you can read his post below.
Nearly three years ago, shortly after making the decision to adopt a baby girl from Africa, Andrea and I had an after dinner conversation that ended up laying the foundation for a mission and a passion that we never could have imagined.
As we sat around our dinner table that night, we were just beginning the process of getting informed on the basics of the country that would present us with our third child - Ethiopia. We had just begun learning about this poor landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa - bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Somalia to the east. We learned of a third-world country roughly the size of state of Texas that had been ravaged by HIV/AIDS, famine, poverty, drought and flood, and home to an estimated five million orphans. That’s right, five million orphans.
And one of them was my baby girl Gabrielle.
As we sat around the dinner table that night, we discussed what Gabrielle might want to know someday about her native country, her culture, her heritage, the circumstances, and the reasons. We vividly imagined the day that Gabrielle would approach us, look into our eyes, and ask us THE question:“What happened to my mother and father?”
As we speculated on how this conversation may unfold, we realized that although we might not have a specific answer to this critical question (unfortunately it’s very common for Ethiopian orphans to be left without a trace of his or her family history) we recognized that we could at least explain the likely circumstances leading her to becoming one of the five million orphans: poverty, disease, hunger. Strangely, this gave us some level of comfort - comfort that we could provide Gabrielle with a rationale (as awful and evil as it is) that might satisfy her need for answers at some level.
BUT our comfort evaporated when we thought further about her next logical question: “What did you do about it?”
It was at that very point that Andrea and I started to realize that this adoption was just the beginning of something much more than simply adding another child to our family. “What did you do about it?”
Can you imagine getting that question from your little girl and not having an answer? We had to have an answer, a good answer! We could no longer ignore the massive injustice and problems occurring on the continent that was to provide us with our daughter. We now had skin in the game…. “What did you do about it?”
Can you imagine having an awareness of the fact that there are five million orphans in Ethiopia alone and doing NOTHING about it? “What did you do about it?”
Can you imagine knowing that 5500 Africans die every day of AIDS (a preventable and treatable disease) and doing NOTHING about it? “What did you do about it?”
Can you imagine knowing that nearly a million Africans die each year of Malaria and doing NOTHING about it? “What did you do about it?”
I plan on having a really good answer to this question when it comes out my little girl’s mouth. And if it goes well with Gabrielle, I may just repeat my answer the day when I meet God face to face and have to give Him an account.... What's your answer? (http://www.hopechest.org/)
