Travel Day #8 July 6, 2013
I am not even really sure where to start with this day. I knew before I
came to Ethiopia that the need was great, the people were for the most part
poor. Of course I grew up with the cliché “Eat your dinner! There are children
starving in Africa!” But honestly this week has been so eye-opening and I do not have the words to describe or explain how destitute and desperate these people
are.
Yesterday we went up into the mountains and played with the children, and
today we got the opportunity to visit an organization on Entoto Mountain with
those same children called Endihnew Hope for Entoto. Endinew (pronounced
En-dee-no) “Mesfin” decided to start Endihnew Hope after seeing the needs of
the mountain children. Endihnew means “this is”; This is Hope. He visits three
times a week. For two of the days he visits with families and tries to meet
their needs and on Saturdays he gathers 160 children together and feeds them. Most
of the children are HIV positive. He explained to us that there is not enough
money for food for the kids, they need sponsors, and the organization needs
general support. He asked us to help him pass out the food and that was when I
realized that there was not enough food at that moment to go around. These
children were starving and desperate and were just calling and yelling to
Mesfin for a baggy of ingera with rice. It was like trying to get a t-shirt at
a basketball game from the little shooter things, except it was not a t-shirt,
it was food, and not getting any meant they would not have food that day or for
days to come. It was a mob scene. I have never seen anything like it. When we
realized there was not enough food we started passing out two peanut butter
crackers per kid, but even those ran out.
There was this little girl that was
being trampled by the older kids. She was sobbing. I scooped her up and carried
her to where the food was being handed out. They told me it was all gone and I
just broke down with her in my arms. How would this sweet little girl ever have
a chance? She was probably around 4 years old. I just hugged her tight and
kissed her sweet, dirty little face and snuggled her. Her name is Hermela. Someone found us two
peanut butter crackers. She nibbled and savored those crackers for several
minutes. She did not know when more food would be coming and she was trying to
make it last as long as possible.
Hermela
Hermela's mum Mekedes and little brother
Mesfin and Hermela
We were getting ready to hand out donations and to avoid another mob we
had the kids form two lines: one for girls and one for boys. Even in lines they
were desperate and pushing and not letting other kids in. All sense of
community flies out the window when basic needs are not met. I took my little
girl and we got in the girl line. She just laid her head on my shoulder; Mesfin
came and told me that her mom had brought her today because she was HIV
positive and had a bad respiratory infection and she needed medicine, but they
did not have any to give her. Her mom came to say hi to me and to tell me that I
did not need to hold her, but she grabbed for me as soon as I put her down.
Someone handed her a stuffed otter holding a heart. It might have been the
sweetest thing I have ever seen. She snuggled the otter and talked to it like a
baby and rocked it and gave it Eskimo kisses. We slowly got to the front of the
line. She got a pair of flip-flops, and a lollipop. She was so happy and her
mom thanked me again and again. I tried to go back to the van to get a granola
bar for her, but I could find her or her mom anywhere after that.
We continued playing with the kids for a while, until they were finished.
By this time it was well past 2 o’clock, so naturally we were hungry for lunch.
It’s so hard to be hungry after what we saw. It’s so hard not to feel guilty
for what we have. That has been one of my biggest struggles on this trip is why
God would bless some and not others. I do whole-heartedly believe that we are
blessed so we can bless. These people do not have anything, but they have
blessed me in return. It does not erase the uncomfortable feeling I have when we
leave and go to lunch, no biggie deal for us. We are just visiting, but that is
their reality. It’s difficult to wrap my brain around the vast spectrum that is
our lives in comparison.
We did leave and go to lunch. Restaurant eating in Ethiopia takes forever.
We went to Island Breeze today, which offers “American” food. We were there for
probably 3 hours. By the time we left, we really did not have time to go to H4H like
we had planned, plus it was pouring down rain. We headed back to the house and
had time to relax and wind down before getting donations ready to take to H4H
tomorrow.
After dinner was our team meeting. It was a really difficult day for
everyone to process and deal with. There were a lot of tears. The longer we are
here the more each one of these people are like family, and it hurts me to see
them upset and hurting.
UPDATE: We are currently accepting donations on behalf of Endihnew Hope
for Entoto. If this organization touched your heart like it did mine, please
give. You can commit monthly or give a one time donation. Also please read http://ordinaryheroblog.blogspot.com/
for more information on Endihnew Hope for Entoto and how you can help.
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