DAY THREE - ADVENTURES IN MEKELLE

We headed out early for walk to take pictures and drink some Machiatto at my favorite café near our old house. I simply INHALE these walks…seeing the babies, kissing any child I want (we call that “Ferunjee Privilege” but in reality, greeting with cheek kisses is very cultural here and children aren’t usually permitted to resist one. I take FULL advantage of this!

We spent the day drinking LOTS of coffee ( I think I counted 8 cups?) planning for our 42 blind students (and hearing about the 23 who are now waiting in line to join the program), unloading and sorting donations, taking more photos of children, getting hair braided (Amanda and Jane), and meeting with the Operation Rescue founder, Maricano for some strategic planning.

The day ended with meeting our 42 blind students at the Bible society, taking photos, interacting with them, hearing about the large number who have ranked in the top 8 of their classes, and the 8 who will join university this fall. They raised the usual concerns…food prices have gone up (4 fold, actually) and they need canes, they need talking watches, and their voice recorders have stopped working. I told them once again, as God provides, I will get them what they need. Several raised their hands to thank us for coming, tell us how much they appreciate their sponsors, etc. We made plans to meet with the girls on Wednesday, to discuss “personal” things, and to meet with boys and their musical voices and instruments on Saturday morning. We will be taping background music for our new video. We were exhausted at the end of the day, as it had been very full. We vowed that we would get up even earlier the next day, as there was always more to do than time would allow. Our beds felt very good once again.