Well...

The trip is over.  But not really over.  The stories continue-Britukan, Belachew, each of  sponsored children, Messaye, many others we have not yet shared on this blog, many others that we only caught a glimpse of, and countless others that we don't know at all.  Our stories have changed.  Our worlds are bigger, and our hearts are more open.  We have learned not to be overwhelmed by huge problems and suffering, but to look at one person and do what we can in the moment.  We have learned that what we can do might seem small, but that it can be miraculously multiplied.  We know there is hope.  Even though we are home and our lives are back in full swing, we have not forgotten.  We will remember.  We will pray, and we will work hard to stay connected and let our new friends know that we love them.  

And something else.  Out of this experience and the teamwork it has inspired, and because of Jesus, a well is being dug!  Somehow our love for the people of Ethiopia and our desire to inspire others to be part of the amazing joy of compassion and giving, blossomed into a partnership with Healing Hands, International.  Big gifts and little gifts and open hearts and many stories are raising six thousand dollars.  A well will be dug somewhere in Ethiopia!  We don't know where it will be yet or who will get to drink the water.  We don't know exactly how individual lives will be changed or how it will look for this community to see hope.  Right now we can only imagine and pray and give and tell the story.  But, we will get to see some of it!  We can never know all that it means, but after the well is dug, some of us will go and tell the story to the people who drink the water.  And tell their stories to the givers who worked together to do something big.  And sing praise to the One who gives living water.  He is awesome!

Want to join us??  Here's the link to get you started...

Team Ethiopia Well

Heading Home

The trip is drawing to a close.  We have 5 hours left on our 19 hour flight from Addis to Washington D.C.  Two of our team members are already home.  There is so much left to say and so many stories we haven't told, but hopefully you have seen a little of what we have seen and felt a little of what we have felt.  Besides learning about Ethiopia and the people there, we have learned a lot about teamwork and a lot about ourselves.

Our last story is Ella's story.  Ella is 9.  She has two cousins that are adopted from Ethiopia.  She came on this trip with her mom, her aunt, and one of her cousins, Will.  She graciously agreed to share her experience with you.


Ella, why did you want to come on this trip?  To help kids and to play with them.

Did you do that?  Yes (nods her head).

What was a sad thing you saw?  That lots of people there didn't have homes and they didn't have any food.

What was the happiest thing you saw?  That when we went to the orphanages the kids weren't scared of us.  They were happy to see us.

Did you ever feel scared?  Once I was outside playing with Lucia (Lucia was an 8 year old who came on this trip with her mother), and we were going to go inside to help paint.  When we tried to go through the glass door the guard for the day care grabbed us and pushed us down the stairs.  He said we couldn't go through the glass door, so we tried to go in the wooden door.  He was standing there, but when he wasn't looking we went in and ran up the stairs to our moms.  (Most of the buildings in Addis have gates and often guards.  This day we were helping paint a day care facility.)

What was something fun you did?  Playing with the children.  It was fun playing on the playground at the transition home.  We pushed the kids on the swings.  I also really loved holding babies.

What did you eat?  Mostly French fries and sometimes spaghetti.

Tell me about the Ethiopian amusement park you went to.  The one thing I did there was to meet Josef, and his favorite thing to do was ride the carousel.

Who is Josef?  He is my sponsored child (through Compassion).

Was Ethiopia hot or cold?  It was cold in the morning and night.  In the noontime, it got really hot.

What will you remember about your trip?  Probably the people I met there, like Bethlehem (a child), Wubechet and Destaw (our guide and our driver) and Lonka.  Lonka was a baby girl that Will named "Balloon."  He wanted to take her home.

What did you learn by going on this trip?  I learned that I should appreciate what I have and not complain.

Are you glad you went?  Yes!

What did you miss most about your home in the United States?  I mostly missed my grandmas.

Would you like to go back to Ethiopia?  Yes.  And when I go there next time, I would like to go outside of Addis.


The American children on this trip did so well!  What an awesome experience for them!  It really was an ideal way to involve children on a mission trip since we spent so much time with children and playing.  They enjoyed playing together at the guest house too.  They had sleepovers in each other's rooms, and they even put on a gymnastics/acrobatics show for us at the end of the week. They were all very patient and agreeable.  They were great at just jumping in and playing with children they didn't know and who spoke a different language.  They are even handling this long journey home remarkably well.

So, how will our lives change as a result of this experience?  All of us have left a piece of ourselves in a land in Africa.  We have new friends, we have new people to pray for and help support, we have a bigger picture of the world.  Ella is right - we will better appreciate what we have and hopefully we will complain less.  Maybe we will see the people around us at home through new eyes and love them better.

Thank you for joining us on this adventure!  May your hearts and lives change a little by what you have read.

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."  I Timothy 6:17-19

May we all live the life that is truly life.

Hope for Ethiopia

There is hope.  We keep seeing it, in different places and with different faces.  Different hands working, but the same love.  Today we saw Hope for Korah, an organization that focuses on the area in Addis Ababa called Korah.  This part of the city is centered around a leprosy hospital and around a trash dump where many people try to survive by sorting through the garbage to find anything salvageable.  Hope for Korah runs a feeding program that gives breakfast to 60 children.  They also have a program that teaches women to make hand crafted items to sell.  The women work each day, and as payment they get rent and food for their families. They also have childcare on site for their children who are not yet school-aged.  The goal is for the ladies to learn a skill that they can eventually use to sustain their families. 

Messaye is one of the ladies in the program.  She is 40 years old.  Hope has come for her, starting with treatment for her son who had a terrible case of scabies.  Shemelis, who was interpreting, remembers that the boy had sores everywhere and that he was constantly moving because he was so itchy.  Messaye had scabies also.  They had come from their home in the countryside to look for help.  She was begging to provide for her 3 sons.  They were living in a tiny one room home with only a bed.  Mom and one son slept on the bed and the other 2 sons slept under the bed.  She told us that now she has work and food and even a mattress!  Her boys are in school.  Mark, who is here from Canada with his wife and 2 sons for 8 months working with this mission, mentioned that Messaye is friendly and a peacemaker among the 43 women in the program.  She had the idea to dye some of the reeds that they weave into baskets.  The baskets with some color have been very popular.  There is hope for Messaye and her sons.

It was more difficult to see the hope when we visited the government orphanage this morning.  There are about 150 children there - from newborn to 8 years of age.  The resources are quite limited.  We brought lots of formula for the babies and lots of cloth diapers, wipes, some clothes for older children, diaper rash ointment and antifungal creams, dental supplies, a few soft blankets.  We held babies and hugged children.  We sang and played and prayed.  Even though we tried not to, we cried.  We felt that our gifts and our presence there was too little to be hope or make a difference, but we asked the One who multiplied loaves and fishes to feed hungry people to multiply what we have given.  

"But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish."  

Psalm 9:18

Thursday pictures

Our team was able to help a coffee ceremony!  Will even helped to break the bread!  The other photos are from our traditional Ethiopian dinner Thursday night which included a show filled with traditional dancing and singing.  

Thursday-Miskaye

Now it's your turn to visit an orphanage!  Today we are going to Miskaye Children's Welfare orphanage in Addis Ababa.  There's a place for you in the back of the 14 passenger van.  Not crowded, but a little hot at times and definitely a little bumpy.  There is a strong smell of exhaust fumes you are probably not used to. Make sure you bring your drinking water along; we will be out all day.  You can hold the "bag of fun," with the activities we want to share with the children.  

Watch out the window on the way-you will see little stores along the street selling anything from fruit to household items like sleeping pads.  You might see butcher shops with large sides of fresh meat hanging in them.  Look, there is Bridgestone Tire!  Over there is a place to have your hair done-inside you can see a chart on the wall showing the different hairstyles that are available.  People are out and about, and still dressed in their good clothes since this is the day after Christmas.  There is quite a bit of traffic, with no clear traffic rules or pattern.  Everyone is just heading to their destination and trying to let the other vehicles do the same-like a mixture of look-out-for-yourself and let-the-other-guy-go, that somehow seems to work without much honking and with apparently few accidents.  See the dirt roads leading off the main road into residential areas with tiny houses, almost all within a locked gate.  Some of the neighborhoods, while still with small homes, have satellite dishes on several roofs.  We will pass by an area of homes that can really only be called shelters.  Tarps suspended on sticks.  You might see some boxes made out of scrap pieces of metal roofing.  They are up off the ground on little stilts.  Maybe they are like lockers, a place for some of the people living on the streets to keep their possessions.

Oh my!  Now we are going through a dirt alley which is just a little bigger than one lane, with rocks on either side and a large truck parked in it.  Listen to Destaw, our driver, holler at the truck driver to see if he will move.  He says we can make it past.  It sure doesn't look like it, but Destaw is willing to give it a try.  Wow!  We made it through with literally only inches to spare.  Hold your nose-now that we are past the truck we can tell it is a sewage truck.  Destaw keeps on amazing us with his driving skills.

We are stopped.  Timar, the social worker for the orphanage gets on board and rides the last bit of the way with us.  As we get out of the van and go through the gate, we hear children singing, and as we get close, we can hear what they are singing, "Welcome!  We are so happy you are here!..."  Come around the corner - there they are - 14 boys and girls in several neat rows, smiling and singing with gusto.  How awesome!  Don't you feel special that they are singing for you?  

The children are shuffled off to their schoolroom, and Timar takes us in to see the little ones.  First stop, toddler playroom.  Look, is that Horton Hears a Who they are watching?  It looks like it, but it is in Amharic and the reception is a little fuzzy.  Say hello!  Squat down and touch some hands.  Be sure to smile big :).  

We can come back later to visit some more.  Now we are going upstairs to see the little babies.  There are 5 in a room with cribs around the periphery and one nanny sitting on a large mat in the middle, holding one of the little guys.  His nose is running, but she is quick to wipe it.  She tries to put him down, but he cries everytime.  Do you want to hold this sweet little girl?  She is 6 months old, with sweet little bare feet and a happy smile.  I think she likes you!  Look at the little one clinging to Israel, our guide.  Israel says that her mother was 15 years old and that her father was not around, so her mother relinquished her to the orphanage because she couldn't take care of her.  All of these babies have been matched with adoptive families!

Check out the photo on the wall above one of the toddler cribs in the other room.  It's a smiling man and woman, must be that one's new mommy and daddy.  How sweet is that?  

Come back down stairs now.  We are heading out to see the older children again.  As we approach the free-standing school room, we hear them reciting English numbers.  Do you see that little one pointing to a number chart with a stick from outside?  He points to each number in turn and says the name of the number, and then the class repeats it.  "One, one; two, two; three, three; etc."  They once again are speaking with great volume and apparent enthusiasm.  Come on in and sit down at one of the bench desks with some of the children.  They're singing for us again!  Joy to the World; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Baa Baa Black Sheep.  So fun to hear them sing in English!  Pretty sure they are still learning the individual words and what the song means.

Now we will sing for them-you know these songs!  Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger, Jesus Loves the Little Children, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.  They must think we are a little silly.  Go get the "bag of fun."  It has crayons and coloring books.  We can color together.  If you want, you can go back and hold babies or play with toddlers instead.  Let's just spend time together with the children.  

These children are super polite.  They sit quietly and color.  They share, and don't speak unless they are spoken to.  Can you get Bona to talk?  I've been sitting beside him coloring, trying my best to get him to speak or smile, but he must be too shy.  Next to him is Selam.  She is more outgoing. 

Try out those rocket balloons!  Now the kids are warming up and laughing!  The balloons go spinning up into the air and around the room willy nilly.  What fun!  Will decides to try it outside.  The first outside balloon goes up, up, up and over the wall to parts unknown!  

Lunchtime for the children.  Come out into the courtyard.  You can learn to roast the raw coffee beans for the coffee ceremony.  You can even wear a traditional scarf and sit on the little stool!  Don't you love the smell of the roasting beans?

Try the Ethiopian food.  Take your rolled up injera bread and spread it out on your plate.  They will put the meat dishes on top of it, and you can tear off pieces of the bread to use to pick up the food and get it to your mouth.  Try not to make a mess!  A little spicy, but delicious, right?  So kind of them to share food and coffiee with us.

Look!  The little ones are dancing to music on a speaker here in the courtyard!  They have the moves!  Some of this is part of their regional music and dance-many of the children here are from the north part of Ethiopia, with a different culture than those from Addis.  They are all amazing dancers!

Time to say goodbye.  What a great visit!  We are supposed to go to another site where they have a "read and feed" program now, but maybe you are tired.  How 'bout you rest-we can take you there tomorrow!

Christmas pictures

Once again, we are not allowed to post pictures of the children:(  You will have to try to enjoy some pictures of us!

Melkam Gena...Merry Christmas from Ethiopia

The joy of Christmas was so beautiful at the America World transition home!  The children were all dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothes (white linen type fabric with colorful...often gold adornments).  They were so proud of the tree they had decorated the the day before...paper chains and popsicle stick reindeer.  An entire day Christmas ceremony was planned.  We heard a reading from the Bible from one of the older girls living in the transition home, the children sang songs, our team sang some songs, there was an acrobatic performance (an instructor comes to the transition home to work with the children...he even came on Christmas day to run the performance).  The children were very talented...they made rather impressive pyramids and had a little flyer (the girl always being thrown to the top) who had great balance and obviously no fear!  My favorite part of the acrobatic performance was when an autistic boy kept jumping on the mats to do somersaults.  Everyone was so patient with him. The instructor would help him do a couple somersaults then gently guide him to the side of the mat.  No one got angry, yelled or forced him...it was so sweet.

Following the performances was lunch.  The children were thrilled to have their Ethiopian food, popcorn, bread and soda!!  Tables were moved to the lawn so everyone got to eat outside together.  It was then the time every child was waiting for...presents!!  Our team had the honor of collecting gifts for the children prior to departure.  Thank you to all those of you who helped.  I even had a dear friend hand make a unique bag for each child...they can use these bags to carry all of their personal items in:)  The children also had a letter in their bag from their family in America.  The children not yet matched with a family had a letter from the AW staff.  The day was topped off with cake, candy canes and the nannies got some chocolate!

There are several special needs children at the transition home who are waiting for families.  We were able to see their sweet personalities and gentle spirits.  They will no doubt be a blessing to their forever families one day!