Travel Day #6, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Travel day #6 July 4, 2013

Kore is not far from the Life Center, about 10 minutes or so. It is the trash dump community. As in where all the trash in the city goes, and people live there, digging through the trash, living in mud huts or six to a 6x6 space.

We first went to the church where the Pastor Tesfaye preaches. The church building was one room, made of metal sheets and tarp. Just proof that the building does not have cost millions of dollars with all the bells and whistles to serve and worship. Tesfaye grew up in Kore, digging through the dump to survive. By the time he was 21 both of his parents died and he needed the dump to make it. He was hit in the face with a garbage truck door and injured badly on his face. The wound got infected and the infection created a bad odor and started to spread throughout his body. One day he was digging through the trash and a 17 year old boy from America found him and wanted to help. He shared Tesfaye’s story with his friends and family, when a neighbor decided to pay for his medical treatment. Tesfaye would not have lived if it would not have been for this kind stranger. The neighbor also sponsored Tesfaye to go to college and he went and got degrees in engineering and physics. Now, he runs the church in Kore and saves people’s lives by introducing them to Jesus Christ.

We were split into to group and were to go on house visits to get families sponsored. We had to take turns going in the houses because they were so small. They were all one room with one bed that the family would share, or the rest would sleep on the dirt floor. In the first house we went into the one daughter actually slept sitting up in a chair. They said it cost 300 burr to live there. I was shocked and amazed that people actually have to pay to live in these houses. 300 burr is like $12, so it’s not a lot by our standards, but these people do not have money for food, clothes, or anything else so $12 is a lot. The people we visited were thrilled just to have us there and have us praying for them. One old woman said, “No one ever comes and no one ever helps, you were truly sent by God.” These families can be sponsored for $50 a month, that’s it. Mind-blowing.

As we walked from house to house little kids with hold your hands and then would not let you go. They were very protective if anyone else wanted to hold your hand too. They need sponsors and that hope if they hold your hand, if you see their heart, you will sponsor them. My one little buddy kept telling me he was hungry. It broke my heart. I had snacks in my bag, but I couldn’t give them to him, because I would have literally been mobbed by kids. Not the fun kind of mobbing, but the scary desperate kind. We were instructed to not give anything to the kids. The kids that need it the most are the hardest to give it to. That weighs so heavy on my heart. You can’t just shake an experience like that. The little boys loved watching videos of Holden on my phone. He’s so silly and they laughed and laughed at him. I felt guilty even showing them. Holden, sweeter than pie, in his clean bedroom with his clean bed, in his clean clothes, all his own, playing with toys…not a care in the world. These kids probably cannot even wrap their brain around any of that.

My two little friends that would not let go of my hands

They act like 10 year old bad boys...but they are sweethearts!

Street in Kore

Kore House

These families though, they trust God with their whole hearts, they love him completely, they rely on him fully. It’s such a lesson in faith, I can’t even put it into words.

We left Kore and went to Metro Pizza for lunch. This felt wrong after what we had just seen. We ate pizza and had good reflection over what we had seen and how we felt. It’s just so emotionally heavy to see these things and process them on an American background, which is impossible, but that’s all we know.

Next we went to Kore Beth Coffee. Kore Beth Coffee is in Kore and was created in memory of Beth Venable who passed away last August. Beth had a heart for orphans, so some of the money that was raised on her behalf went to start a coffee business. Kore Beth Coffee brings mothers that have to provide for their families out of Kore and gives them sustainable living. We were given the opportunity to buy coffee (which I did).

We left Kore Beth and went to the market to buy Ethiopian souvenirs. It was fun going from shop to shop to haggle and buy from shop owners.

We went back to the Life Center and just relaxed before dinner. After dinner we were visiting with each other and Deborah told us she needed our attention. Michael (Lacey’s boyfriend since 4^th grade), was going to propose to Lacey tonight. Lacey had gone with Kelly to the airport to pick up lost bags and it was up to us to plan something really fun and romantic in the next 30 minutes. As it turned out, Lacey returned from the airport to a completely dark house. There was a trail of rose petals, lined with candles down the stairs and out to the back patio, where 4 guys were lined up with sparklers, leading the way to Michael who was standing in a heart of rose petals with candles all around. We were all huddled around the upstairs windows and when she said yes we lit roman candles out of the windows. It was so fun and exciting!!

After the engagement we celebrated with a dance party in the lobby of the life center. There were lots of laughs and dancing. This is such a great team, and I am so thankful God has brought these people into my life!

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Day #4 & 5

Travel day #4 July 2, 2013

I did wake around 4:30am but went back to sleep after a bit and woke around 6:45 when the Muslim call to worship started.

We got to meet an adoptive mama, Michelle and her sweet new baby Selah. They quickly fell into pace with our group, went with us on missions and was a huge blessing in many ways!

We enjoyed a breakfast of eggs, fruit, and banana bread.

The team gathered and left the Life Center at 9:30 and went to the Kidane Mehret Orphanage. This orphanage has been there since the 1930s, and is run by nuns from the church. They take in all ages, nationalities, and abilities. We visited and played with the kids for a long time. I became fast friends with this little boy, his name is Targus. Targus is ten years old and completely 100% stole my heart. He is a beautiful boy with eye-lashes that curl completely back to his eyelids. Seriously gorgeous. He was so quiet but clung to me. He loves football (soccer). He said he likes school, and his favorite subjects are math and English, but he comes "home" and just practices soccer until bedtime. He told me he’s practicing so he can get really good. His favorite team is Manchester United. They passed out candy sticks, kind of like pixie stix, he made sure to go get me one, which is so sweet. He asked me if I had kids so I showed him pictures of Holden and Adelaide. He thought Holden’s faces were so funny. He’s been at the orphanage for three years. I need to know more about him. 

Targus

Playground

"Yard"

Everywhere in Addis has a backdrop of beautiful mountains

The Catholic church that runs the orphanage

Kenya & Skyler Schone

"Hit your friends" game...or Ninja

Maddie and her sweet friend Mekedes

We left the orphanage and went to lunch at Lucy’s “fast” food. It was fun going to an Ethiopian restaurant. They had a huge menu. I ordered a pizza, thinking personal sized and it was large sized. No worries though, because what I didn’t eat, the sponsored kids we brought with us would. Lunch was really fun and I got to meet and get to know more of my team members, which is turning out to be a really really great team.

The goat head Maddie found on the side of the road. She really wanted to keep it, unfortunately I don't think the driver or the other team members were nearly as thrilled

After lunch we went to the Hope for the Hopeless house to help them move out. Hope for the Hopeless (H4H) is an organization that brings children in off the street, gets them sponsored and basically gives a future. They send them to school, feed them, clothe them, provide for other basic needs with help from sponsors. H4H had the opportunity to buy a large house so all of the current kids could go there, and they would have room to bring 12 more kids from the streets to the old house. We came in to visit with the kids and help their move, as well as to bring some housewares. We went to the first house and played with the kids for a while. They all had to say goodbye to their current caregiver (Sammy), which was really heart-breaking to watch. We then left and went to their new house, which was HUGE!! What a blessing for these kids to have the bathrooms, bedrooms, and common areas needed for such a large group of children. It was really neat to see. Moving them consisted of a couple of bags for clothes…that’s it. I’m pretty sure I saw one box of books too. The children were so proud of their beds. It took awhile to realize that they were so proud of their beds because that’s all they have.

By the time we left the H4H house it was late. Dinner was ready for us when we returned, so we ate and relaxed a bit before having a team meeting. At the team meeting we got to go around and share thoughts about our day. This was extremely emotional. I am an emotional person and can cry really easy especially when it involves children. So of course I cried at my turn…I got a chance to share about Targus, which is so close to my heart. It dawned on me that I may never see him again and thinking about him in those walls with the big heavy gate and barbed-wire makes me so sad.

 Travel Day #5 July 3, 2013

I was so happy to sleep all the way through the night! I went downstairs to read and Ryan was teaching Maddie (love her!!) how to make friendship bracelets to give out to the kids. I learned too and it was really fun and fast so I made a couple before breakfast. Breakfast was really good oatmeal and hardboiled eggs.

We left the house and headed to No Ordinary Love Ministries (NOLM). NOLM is a transition home for women and children that have been enslaved in human trafficking. All of these people were kidnapped or coerced into really terrible situations, so NOLM takes them in and rehabilitates them and then reunites them with their families. Ordinary Hero’s donors gave us the opportunity to give them three sheep for a special feast they were having. A lot of the mom’s and siblings of the children came to the house to join in the feast. After the past two days of seeing children without any parents at all, it was nice to see mom’s with their children and the pride and love they had for them. We played with them for a while and some of the girls got to braid some of our team’s hair. We then served them their meal. They sit in a room of benches in rows and eat their meal on their laps. This meal consisted of sheep, angera (a flat bread-like substance that they eat with most meals by scooping the meat or sauce up with it), something that looked like couscous and a roll with a glass of water. It was amazing to see these little kids eat in this way and they were cleaner than my kids eat with utensils and a table. J NOLM was so fun and definitely was a blessing to get to see them!

Jimmy & Rachel Gross explaining No Ordinary Love Ministries www.noordinarylove.org

Cooking up some sheep

The girls loved braiding hair. I was mad I just chopped mine.

All of the kids eating their sheep feast

The sweetest twins ever

Lee Ann and her little friend

Caitlin getting some snuggles

Donkeys in the middle of the road. This is not unusual.

After NOLM we went to lunch at a restaurant that was really nice. We ordered drinks and food so it wouldn’t be a two-hour lunch like Tuesday. I ordered cheese and spinach ravioli and it was very good.

Up next was FashionABLE. FashionABLE is an organization that helps women out of prostitution and into sustainable living by making scarves and selling them. They recently moved to a new building that would have room for 100 women compared to 20 at the old building. They didn’t have any of their new looms yet, but they did show us how they heated and dyed the fabric. We got the opportunity to go into their store and purchase scarves. I’m sure they love it when groups like ours come visit because we all probably bought one or two scarves.

The street boys have a self-organized soccer league and we promised we would play with them at 4:30, so despite the soggy conditions, they led us to their field that was a swamp after all of the rain. After much deliberation we decided we would still play. I decided I would watch since I didn’t want to get hurt or ruin my shoes. At the last minute though, I did get pulled into the USA against Ethiopia game. I did not contribute much, but it was really fun. The boys and some of the team members were completely covered in mud from top to bottom. After being beat by the Ethiopia team (no surprise there) we went back to the life center for dinner and showers. Our team meeting was short and sweet. Tomorrow is Korah…

Walking to the soccer field. There were so many of us. I would've loved to know what the locals thought