Last Day in Ethiopia

I’m awake after only a few hours of sleep, as we prepare to fly to Rwanda this morning. I couldn’t go to sleep last night, even though I knew this would be an early morning. My mind and heart were so full from yesterday.

We only had a few hours with the children from Drawn From Water, but our whole team fell so in love with the thirteen children there, that we all moaned and groaned when it was time to go.

After being with such larger groups of children every day, it was so nice to spend one on one time with children, and especially with these cuties!


Drawn from Water is an organization I had never heard of before this trip. But, I have been amazed at what they are doing since I first read about their ministry. They rescue children that are considered evil or possessed by their tribe. This determination is based on the order that their teeth come in, or if they are born out of wedlock. It seems so crazy to us who do not live in a tribe in the middle of remote Ethiopia…but to them, this is just a ritual that has gone on for generations. What breaks my heart the most is that they throw these children in the river and drown them. This is, of course, where the name Drawn From Water came from.

Now that Drawn From Water is involved, they rescue the children from families before the tribal leaders throw them in the river to drown them. The families do not want this for their children, but they are forced to be a part of this nightmare. So, they leave their children in town, in specific places, so that Drawn from Water will pick them up. They have rescued around 30 children, and have now begun a church near this tribe’s location. The director of the orphanage told us that what this tribe really needs is the Gospel. And, I love hearing that.

He said “They do not know about God. They do not know about a better way to live.” This ministry’s hope and dream is to raise these children for as long as needed, and eventually reunite them with their parents, as the tribe grows in their understanding of right and wrong…and hopefully discontinues this tribal tradition altogether.

So, of course for that reason, most of the children here were not adoptable. But, I have also never seen a better situation for children who are not living with their parents than I saw yesterday.
They are living in a very nice home environment, with only four children to a room. They have three older children or toddlers, and one infant, with a live-in nanny in each room as well. These nannies are AMAZING and love the children so much. I loved watching these sweet children cling to their caretakers, who they have obviously attached to as they would a parent.
In fact, the children were not too sure about us when we arrived. This was very different than the first few days’ experiences. We were usually attacked, as children grabbed at us, holding onto us, asking our names, and kissing our cheeks. But, this time, it was obvious that they were not used to seeing white people, and were NOT about to come to us without hesitation.

They were very reserved and many even cried when we came close. But, of course, with a few lollipops, some crafts, and some toy cars, they warmed up quickly.
This little boy, Tarafe (tara-fay), was Mr. Serious when we arrived.He would make no eye contact, and just hid behind the director’s legs. By the end of our day, he was covered in bubbles, lollipop stickiness, and smiles.
I nicknamed him Bubba, because he reminded me of Bubba Gump. And, oh my goodness, the belly! I don’t know how many times I jiggled it. It made me SO happy to see him smile. Look at these beautiful eyes.
And, then there was the big girls, who didn’t take long at all to get used to us, and especially all our craft supplies. I’ve never seen such amazing uses of pipecleaners!! They are so cute, and they took such good care of all the little ones, making them hats and necklaces, and helping them get used to us.
But, my biggest “project” of all was getting Little Miss Princess to warm up to me.
When we first arrived, she was screaming and crying when we even looked her way. She was in her nanny’s lap and would NOT budge. So, I sat down a few feet away and showed her some foam stickers we had. I handed them to her, and she put them on her little cross. Slowly, I started adding them to her hand, and then her arm, and then her sweet little face. Then, she started putting them on mine. I knew at that moment I would break in.
I got a couple of cars and began rolling them down my arms, and then down hers. She eventually rolled them all over me and I would laugh and act like I was tickled.
She never broke a smile though. She was still Miss Serious. I eventually moved closer and closer but she was so onto me. She knew exactly what I was doing and I kept giving her the space she needed.
Eventually I got her to come down off the stairs and roll cars in the floor with me. Then, as she would bring me cars I would kiss her face. Then, the nanny said something in Amharic to her and she reached out and kissed me on the lips! I was in heaven. Then, I kept asking for more, and she kept giving them to me.
But, she still wouldn’t come outside where all the other kids were. So, at one point, I just picked her up and showed her the door and told her we would get a lollipop. This is the face she made about that:

She cried but I kept walking saying “Yeah, Ghawe (yow-ee)!!” I handed her a sucker and she sat in my lap, and wouldn’t budge for the longest time. We played cars for a LONG time, and then I introduced her to bubbles.

Oh my goodness, the girl could not get enough. She went through an entire large bottle of bubbles and never broke concentration. At that point, she was totally used to all of us and was completely comfortable with any of us coming up to her or touching her.

It was an amazing experience to watch as a child began to trust. I know she must have been so scared and it broke my heart. But, I also wanted her to know that it was okay! By the time we left, she was waving goodbye to our van. Sweet sweet girl. She made my day.

After such a wonderful time with these kiddos, we were talking about how each day just keeps getting better! And, we still have quite a few days to go!

Since it was our last night in Ethiopia, we went out to a traditional Ethiopian dinner, complete with singing and dancing. It was actually very good food, although not all of it was recognizable! There were veggies and lamb and lots of good spicy sauces which I loved. And, the coolest part was getting popcorn after dinner was over! It was just like home!

It was a great end to our time in Ethiopia, and even though we were very tired and still had packing to do, it was an experience I won’t forget.

Now, we’re off to Rwanda, and I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about being there. I’m already so teary about it, and I can only imagine my emotion when I touch down in the country I’ve dreamed about for a year now.

We won’t have GREAT internet there, so I won’t be able to send these blog posts to Mark as regularly. But, you know I will have lots to say in the next week. And, as you can tell by the novels I’ve written so far, they may be a bit wordy. Bear with me….I have a hard time leaving anything out about these PRECIOUS KIDS!!!

Day #4 in Ethiopia

As I start the daily update, I’m starting to wonder how many nights in a row I can sit and describe our days in orphanages. I guess I’m feeling the weight of what I am writing about tonight. I’m realizing that to read my blog each day must take a lot of your emotional energy…because it’s new stories every day of loss and pain in these beautiful children’s lives. I feel the same way at times, actually. I just want to shut my eyes because there is such need. But, then, I think about all these precious children who do not get to do that. They don’t escape it. It is their every day reality. Luckily, there is hope and joy among the loss. And, we can see smiles that somewhat make up for the void you know these children have in their lives.

Today we spent the day in a local orphanage (which I have already forgotten the name of), run by an order of Franciscan nuns. As soon as we entered the place, I was really surprised to see how happy it was. As soon as we walked up the steps, you walk into a play yard that has all kinds of play equipment (although not exactly the quality we would have in America). Children were playing, talking, swinging, and running around. And, of course, as soon as we brought out the soccer balls and footballs, they were showing all kinds of amazing skills at every sport that uses a ball. It was great to see there was such a great place for them to be active…to be children! And, this was the mountain view from where they play. Pretty nice!

The Sister who runs the orphanage was a spunky, petite woman with more heart than could possibly fit in her body. She talked constantly of the grace of God and the blessings He has poured on these children. She relies completely on the church in America to fund her costs, and even though all of her funds from Ethiopia have been cut off, she said repeatedly, “The Lord always provides enough for the children.”
She knew every detail about every child in her care, and took care of them all in such a loving way.
At the very same time, she held an authority that was absolutely respected by the kids. You could tell there was structure, predictability, and high expectations for these children, and it showed in their manners, their confidence, and their happiness. At one point, I was having a conversation with the Sister, and we were partially blocking the doorway to the play yard. A young girl ran up and was attempting to go outside, and she began to run between us. Sister Lupe gently took her by the arm, had her go around us, and explained in Arhamic, very gently but matter-of-factly that she should never interrupt adults that way.

That is a silly example, but in the moment I thought how great it was that they are being brought up just as a mother would bring up her children. In fact, she said many times that she tries as much as possible to “make it like home”. She does a great job at that.

She told us how the orphanage began (in 1933), and described how most of the children arrive in her care (after being abandoned, or having parents who die). Many are HIV positive, and some have special needs. Most of the children given to her by the government are over 10. And, many, many children have been adopted out of here as well. She fully supports adoption and is so pleased that couples from many different countries have traveled to bring a child from here into their home.

She showed me many pictures of children who have gone on to live with their adoptive parents, and she was so proud of each one.

We visited the different areas of the orphanage first, including the precious baby room. Unfortunately, the entire room of babies had chicken pox, so we weren’t able to touch and hold them, since we’re visiting other orphanages this week. But, I was able to walk through with the nun who takes care of them, and she told me their stories. She described this precious one as weighing one kilo when he was abandoned. He is now the “most smiley baby” in the room and developmentally right on track.

This precious one was only a couple weeks old and was very malnourished when they found her. She is now alert and happy and even while I was there, received so many loving cuddles and kisses.

Overall, you could see how much these nuns just adore these children. They are not doing this because it’s a job. They’re doing this because it’s their calling and their mission in life. There is such a huge difference between the two. (And it made me very thankful that our little one is in an orphanage run by nuns as well!!)

After seeing the baby room, I helped myself to a little tour of the floor. I saw the girls and boys rooms, and loved seeing so many special stuffed animals on their neatly made beds. They had lots of windows and light and, again, you can tell that the nuns make the place as happy as they can. There were decorations everywhere for Christmas (Ethiopian Christmas is not until January 7th) and Sister Lupe told me that she lets the children do all the decorating for Christmas themselves.

I asked a couple of the girls about this, and they showed me all the ways they decorated. It was so cute and reminded me very much of my girls decorating back home. They had Christmas trees, an Advent countdown with stuffed animals, a plastic nativity scene that lit up, and some pictures on the wall. They all wanted their picture made by the Christmas tree, and wanted me to wait until the lights blinked before I snapped the picture.

They will also receive gift bags on Christmas Day, filled with donations that people have brought over the last couple of months. We were able to give her many supplies for the children as well, including diapers, socks, clothes, underwear, school supplies, candy, and more soccer balls. She also had some games and craft supplies that she would give each child on Christmas.

Throughout the morning we spent a lot of time just hanging out and getting to know the kids. Lots more face painting, bubble blowing, soccer playing, and picture-taking. (They LOVE their picture taken! I have so many pictures of children posing one after another in the same spot! But, it’s worth it to take them all, because they light up at seeing themselves on camera.

We each attached to certain kids, and talked tonight at our team meeting about our relationships with these little ones. I believe that is how God arranges it. We attach to specific children, and then we are able to remember them and pray for them by name. In a way, we become their advocate and their “praying parent” from afar.

For all of us, this was a hard day, though. These children are old enough to know they are missing a family. Most of them have lost their parents at an older age, and are not only grieving that loss, but also desperate to belong to a family again. All of us were asked if we would let them come and live with us. And, the response we were told to give, was “We will pray that you find a family.” Oh, it kills me! They each deserve the love of a mom and dad. And, to see them crave it is hard. I left wanting to adopt a house full of them. 

One of the girls that asked me this question was named Promise. She was the first one I met, and we instantly became connected. She was in her room when I was walking around by myself. She told me her name, and I just melted. (Our girl name---if we are given a girl---is Isabelle, which means God’s Promise, so I’m especially connected to the word “promise”. ) She was a 15 year old girl and very well-spoken and smart! At one point, she asked about my family….how many children I had, where my mother and father live, and if I will have more children. I told her we are adopting from Rwanda. And, she smiled and said “That is very very good.” Then she said “If you ever think about adopting from Ethiopia, please think of me.”

She only has one more year before she is not able to be adopted at all. So, it was very hard for me not to just start the process today!! She made me a special bracelet with the beads we gave her for a craft, and she asked me to pray for her when I looked at my bracelet. I promised her that I would. 

I do think that the nuns do such a wonderful job of taking care of the children, and even make an individual education plan for each older child. A couple of the children are getting the opportunity to go study abroad for their university, and I was so impressed to hear that the nuns are the ones providing them this chance. One beautiful young woman, who was already 17, is leaving in July to study nursing in Germany. And every single one of the kids are in a very good school, studying so they can also go to university. I can tell that many children will emerge from this orphanage with the skills to go far in life.

And, that makes me so happy.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. We got the chance to do a VBS lesson with these kids, and they were such good listeners. I think they really “got” the message that they are God’s treasure, and that is just so wonderful to watch. We made crosses with tissue paper for their beds, and they all worked so hard on them. Again, they each asked for a picture with their cross. They were very proud of their own work.

As we left, we said a prayer over the children and the sisters, and then they sang us a song. We all thought it was going to be a prayer or a blessing. But, instead it was a song about how sad they were to see us go and how it made them cry. It was almost funny because it caught us so off guard. We just stood there crying not knowing what to say! It was very sad to think about how many times they have sung this song, as people come and go from their lives.

I’m just going to throw this out there, for whoever might be on the brink of deciding about adoption. If you feel that God is stirring this in you, please don’t ignore it. Please follow it. All God needs is your tiny “yes”, and He will make a way for you. There are so many hurting children who long to have someone tell them they are worthy of a family’s love. If you want to talk about adoption in any way, please contact me. I just think about all the resources, all the love that so many of us have. I pray that more of us will be open to how God can use our family for His glory through adoption.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure religion is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27

New Years 2011 in Korah, Ethiopia

Today was another day in Korah....and it's really hard to believe how much has happened in one day! First, I want to share a few pics of the sweet faces I have met today and a link to a Facebook Album to where all the pics from this trip will be stored:

Today was another day in Korah…and it’s really hard to believe how much happened in one day. But first, I thought I would share the sweet faces of some of the kids I have met:

We woke up this morning, after getting some good catch-up sleep, ready to go back and visit these children we met yesterday. On the way to the church, we got the awesome opportunity to buy lunch for the kids. But, NOT in the way you would think. We had no chik-fil-a drive thru or grocery store to stop by.

Instead, we found this guy with his herd of sheep:

And, we got to pick out five to be lunch. They tied them up and put them in the floor of our van! There were sheep under my feet!!

Although I wasn’t there to see the slaughtering, some of the guys from our team did partake in the killing of the sheep. It’s a guy thing, I guess.

We just saw the final product, which looked like this:

You roll the meat up inside this spongy like pancake, which is a very traditional Ethiopian meal.

What isn’t traditional is for a group of children, many of whom eat only what they can find on the street or in the dump, eating sheep for lunch on a Saturday!

The ministry there usually does not feed the children on Saturdays, so this was a big surprise for them. And, it is usually only on holidays or special occasions that they receive meat to eat!

They were all so precious getting their plate full of food from us, bowing their little heads to say thank you, and then enjoying every last bit. I have a video showing them all eating he food, and I will hopefully be able to download it at some point. (Probably not while I’m on this trip!) They were all so happy and thankful. We talked tonight during our “processing time” about what it was like to truly feed the hungry. And, not just bread and water…but a feast in their eyes. As one person said, I would buy them sheep every day! It was a blessing for us to give, and a true blessing to watch them receive.

So, while the sheep were cooking in the morning, we got to join the kids for their usual Saturday morning Bible program. It is so great to listen to their songs…sung with such heart and soul…and rhythm!! Then, a few of the children did a “drama” as they called it, which was very good! The skit was all about a witch doctor trying to convince people to follow her, and how easily people were drawn to the evil spirit and ignored the voice of God. Then, missionaries came to teach the people about following God. They drove out the evil spirits and prayed over each person.


After the skit, two of the older girls gave their testimony, and although we couldn’t understand a word of it, we were so impressed by all that they were doing in this program! It was really good stuff!

After they finished, it was time to do VBS for the first time. We knew it would be crazy because there were over 200 kids crammed in one room. But, it went well, all things considered. We sang some songs and shared the Bible Story of the Lost Sheep. We talked about how much the Lord loves them and knows them and cares about them. And, that they are God’s greatest treasure.

As we teach these lessons, I pray constantly that the truth will seep deep into their souls. I know on a daily basis, many of them may not feel treasured or special, and our one little lesson may not go that far. But, I pray that the Lord continues to speak this into their lives at least through those who visit them, that they will know somehow that God has called them by name, and chosen them.

This little girl was so proud of her picture. I was talking to some other kids, and she tugged on my shirt and asked "May I have a photo with you?" When I showed her the picture, she had the biggest smile ever. So precious. I doubt she had ever seen herself before....

After VBS, we headed down the road to play soccer, blow bubbles, do face paint, and just hang out. As we walked through street after street of absolute poverty, it was easy to get overwhelmed. At any given point, you have 8 kids hanging on you, literally grabbing your shirt and walking in front and behind and beside you. I had children holding onto my arms with two others holding my hands, while also carrying another little girl, my bag, and my camera. As we walked down steep hills, it was hard not to say “Just let go for a minute! I need some space!” But, I would literally look down into their eyes, and think how much they craved these moments. At one point, a new girl had run up and grabbed my hand that I had not seen before. I was very tired and she was not. So, as I was thinking about letting go, I looked down and heard this: ”This is your only chance to show her what she’s worth. She’ll be gone as quickly as she came.” So, I did. I told her she was beautiful and stroked her face (while she still gripped my hand)…and an instant later, she was off running home as her mom yelled at her to come. She was gone as quick as she came…

When we got to the park, I was amazed at the beauty! Right in the middle of the poorest part of Ethiopia, was a beautiful place for the kids to play!

We began to do face paint in one area, while the boys played soccer. But, before we knew it, we were literally overrun with kids. I can’t even describe the crowd that face paint drew…and there were moments when we literally had to ask them to back up because of the pushing and shoving to get a turn (and that was even with four “organized” lines! It was overwhelming, but so fun to see them light up at their new art. They didn’t even know what it looked like (and it wasn’t that great!), but they were so proud.

Here is a small glimpse of the craziness.

This was after we broke up the bigger crowd and were starting to put it all away. Multiply that by a dozen and that’s how many children wanted hearts, stars, crosses, and flowers. Wow. That really may have been my least favorite of chaotic moments.

As we headed back, I began walking with two of my special friends from the last two days, Betty and Tezita. (I mentioned Tezita yesterday, but totally misspelled her name.) Betty is the best big sister I’ve ever seen, and carried her precious baby sister on her back ALL DAY LONG. Her little sister, Huet (hue-it) is three years old and weighed about what Abby Kate does. I carried her a few times to give Betty a break, and I loved getting to love on every one of these sweet girls.

Once again, I found myself drawn to the older girls. Betty wanted me to come to her house for coffee really bad. And, asked me countless times if I would visit her there. She was a sweet and very kind girl, and spoke very good English. She said she works very hard at school, and wants to be able to take care of her family someday. I have no doubt that she will. I didn’t get to go get coffee at her house, but I am hoping to get to deliver a picture of our family to her on Monday when we drop back by Korah.

Tezita never left my side all day today or yesterday, and was very protective of me. Anytime I would walk over a stone or near a hole, she would tell me to be very careful, or would move me to the other side of her so I was safe. She was constantly teaching me words in Amharic and asking me what things were in English. She was a very smart girl. Here she is to my left.

I asked Tezita where her house was as we were walking, thinking she could point it out along the way…and she said “the church”. I asked her “Do you sleep at the church?” She does. I asked her if she had brothers or sisters. Her response: “No brothers, no sisters, no father, no mother.”

I hugged her even tighter and told her I would be praying for her. She is one of the sweet orphans who have been absolutely blessed by the ministry in Korah. She is going to school, being fed, and given a place to lay her head, when otherwise she would be a street child in the dump. It broke my heart. (And I told Mark she needs to come home with us)

In the afternoon, we went on two more home visits, where we saw heartbreak of a whole other level. Again, the smallest rooms you’ve ever seen, which served as a home for an entire family. Both of the women we visited today had lost their husbands and were now trying to support a family on their own. One was very sick with a heart condition and had sold most of her belongings to feed her babies, since her husband had died six months ago. This is her house:

And, this is her sweet face:

THIS is one of her sweet children. Isn’t she CUTE?

The other woman’s husband had also died after an illness, and she was also just trying to survive. Both of them had such sad stories and lived in such poor conditions, and were very similar to the two we visited yesterday in level of need. But, for only $120, our team was able to take care of the rent and food for all four families we visited for a month!

It’s amazing how little it really takes to help. Even though the need is still so big, we can all make a significant difference in the lives of these people, with the abundant blessings we’ve been given.
After we said goodbye to the children, we took a drive around the dump to see the rest of the land.

It was amazingly awful to see where these people are living. Right now, for a few reasons, we aren’t allowed in the most terrible part, but here are some pictures from the van window.

As we drove, we got to listen to a 16 year old boy who has been rescued from this life, who was riding in our van with us. Here he is with Sumer, who runs Project 61. He told us details about living there that were just unbelievable.

He knew what trash truck carried food, plastic, and fabric. He knew what time the Hilton Hotel dropped off their food trash and woke up before the sun came up so he could be there on time. And, he described the violent fights that broke out between children as they scrambled to get the best food off the trucks. He said the best trucks were from Hilton, Sheraton, and Ethiopian Airlines.

He described how the vulture birds would snatch food right out from your hand and how dirty and nasty they were. He talked about the hyenas, the sizes of cows because they ate so much. They had to run from the female hyenas because they would chase them down for food.

None of these kids go to school. None of them leave the dump. And, none of them have the ability to get themselves out. They sell what they collect from the waste of others, for pennies, and eat out of the garbage.

It was just unbelievable.

But, it made the significance of what Project 61 is doing even more apparent. They have sent 250 children straight out of this life and into a nice boarding school, where they receive an education, medical care, healthy food, and a happy life. They are continuing to work with the other children who still live near the dump (the ones we worked with this week), to continue to give them hope, education, and a healthy lifestyle too.

It’s just amazing to see what is being done. These are sights I never thought I’d see. But, I’m so glad I have.