DAY FIVE - ADVENTURES IN MEKELLE

We went to Hewani today and looked at new possibilities for replicating an ORE project in that community. Marciano (the founder of ORE) and Getachew went with us. It was market day and I had never experienced anything like it…we truly were treated like ALIENS from another planet because of our white skin. I scared many children and had to coax even some adults to touch me…it was a hoot. Then the kindergarten kids from ORE put on a birthday party celebration for two 5 year olds, complete with fancy robes and crowns. It was precious. A highlight was watching Y, the 8yr old HIV positive girl living in our HIV house, and R, who recently joined the home from a prison, enjoying the songs and smiling from ear to ear. Seeing them singing and dancing and so happy in school just makes it all seem worthwhile! Then we started working on the carnival supplies – we will have one tomorrow from 11am to 1:30pm for al the ORE kids, complete with me dressed as a pirate. Some carpenter made the displays and games today and painted them. The great thing is that Jane worked out a "swap" whereby she took photos of all the carepenters and will get them developed in exchange for the work they are doing....isn't she clever? You go girl!

Yesterday with the blind girls was an absolute delight. Teaching them how to use their new brailler, seeing their joy at learning how to play tactile Tic Tac Toe, and their joy at having all their Braille books catalogued and labeled…it was so much fun. I got to teach them about pregnancy prevention, abstinence, how to use their reusable sanitary pads, etc. WITHOUT a translator…now THAT was a hoot! One of those things you wish you had on video but then it would not have been appropriate, but it was FUNNY! The best part was when they all said..."aaaoooohhhh...yes, Miss Pom....we KNOWWW....yes, we get what you are saying!" in the best English they could muster. Love it.

Bought a hat at market today in Hiwane for one of our baby boys we are placing from Nazareth. Can’t wait to hug that little guy next week. Getting lots of snuggles in the meantime. Tonight we visited a neighbor who recently learned she was HIV positive and is now too weak to walk. She is stuck in bed, being told that she has bad nutrition so that is why the meds are not working. But her husband left as soon as she got the positive result 2 months ago, and she is left trying to survive with her 2 year old baby. His name was N. He was precious. We offered the care home if she needs alternative care, so she would know that there was another option for him, but made sure she got money for some better food that she says her new neighbors would prepare. Her old neighbors all kicked her out when they heard she was positive. She had already sold her bed and tv to pay for food for she and her son. She was just lying on the floor in a little pile with her little guy looking on in fear. It was really really sad. She is only 22 years old.

ORE is dreaming and fundraising now for a new building, which will have offices and maybe one or two rooms for guests, and then an auditorium on the upper level. Also, they have added so now they have 339 children in their project, with sponsors for 220 or so. They are now needing $40 US per child. That covers most of the overhead associated with their program for those kids.

Learning to trust is HARD for me, as you know, but I sense that God has really been saying a lot to me about this the last 3 days. Plan for tomorrow is carnival and maybe coffee with the dean of the Veterinary school. Then dinner with another family. Saturday is singing with the blind students then coffee with Getachew and his wife and 2 kids. Later that day we’ll be hanging out with the care home kids and taking more video. Sunday is Tambien trip day and some rock churches. Then Monday is clinic day – we will be ordering and paying for a couple examination beds, cabinets, etc. so that they will be ready for a grand opening in a couple weeks with sister kiros from Hiwane coming in to examine and HIV test ALL 339 students in their project. There are several “prospects” for the HIV care home, which has 2 precious kids now and we have had 3 more brought to our attention this week, plus 4 possible children in the ORE project that might need alternative care.

Anyway, I just wanted to give an update so you knew we were still doing well. All are healthy, apart from my throat, which is hoarse and is bringing giggles or confused looks whenever I speak. On next Tuesday we will leave for Addis and immediately take a driver and car to Adama/Nazareth. We will stay one night in Adama, then return on Wednesday afternoon and will have two days in Addis before coming home.

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.

DAY TWO - TRIP TO MEKELLE

Monday morning, we awoke very early. Actually, it was in the middle of the night, because my clock was off and I thought that we were 9 hours ahead but we were only 7, so I got up at like 3am and waited for my wake-up call. I even went downstairs and woke up the poor little guest services man who was asleep on his cot behind the desk, thinking he had forgotten us. Silly me! Needless to say, it made for a very long day for Jane and I, the two early birds! We left at 5:45 to make the 23 bag trek to the airport once again, this time a bit more tired, but very eager to arrive in Mekelle, our primary destination. We wrestled with our ticket agent and the supervisors for nearly an hour over our luggage, which was 155kg more than they allow. We were told it might not all fit, we might not all fit, we were going to be charged $200, etc. etc. until finally we settled on a $50 excess baggage fee and the hope of having at least half of our bags arrive with us. As it turned out, we watched most of them be loaded on to our small Faulker plane, and all but one arrived with us in Mekelle. The other one had been accidentally unloaded in Axum, our short stop on the way from Addis, and since it wasn’t labeled properly (it had fallen off) they needed to hang onto it for 24 hours to make sure it didn’t “blow up”. Once it made it for that 24 hour period without exploding, then they assured us they would send it on to Mekelle. (Afternote: It DID arrive yesterday morning, as promised, and they eagerly handed it over at our local Ethiopian Airlines office. I really do love that airline!)

Arriving in Mekelle is always like a homecoming for me. First of all, I love that the passengers all clap when the plane touches down, and the women often make that tongue clicking the roof of their mouth shrill call of praise, as they do in weddings and celebrations. I love walking off the plane, seeing the beautiful terrain of Tigray, and feeling the dry wind as we disembark the plane and walk across the tarmac. Waiting inside were our friends Laura and Kiros, as well as Getachew, the NGO director with whom we partner for most of our work in Ethiopia. We unloaded our bags, made it to the cars, and headed to the new HIV care home where we would unload the 11 bags of donations (minus the one that was missing) so they could be sorted later in the week. It always feels REALLY good to unload those heavy bags, and praise God that He enabled us to get those 500 pounds of clothes, medical equipment, shoes, medicines, baby supplies, electronics, and Braille supplies to their destination. Thank you Jesus!

After resting a bit and a snack, we headed to Missionaries of Charity to search for the birthmother of an HIV positive little girl who was our first care home resident 16 months ago in Mekelle. The little gal is now a happy, healthy toddler in America, and I brought pictures to show her mother how well she was doing. Unfortunately, the mom had left, with no indication of where she had gone. She had been very sick when she placed the girl, so I wasn’t sure what that meant for her.

We headed to Operation Rescue where we enjoyed interacting with the little ones. My first hug was from “Sara”, one of our 6 year old residents at House of Promise No. 1. She was BEAUTIFUL and gave me a wonderful embrace. Next, I saw her older sister “Mimi” who greeted me with a smile, told me thank you when I mentioned bringing new DVD’s and wanting to spend some time with her, and later brought her report card to me to show me her wonderful grades from grade 3, when she stood number one in her class. Just 2 years ago she was struggling to survive in a shanty house with her 21 year old sister, begging with her nephew on her back, and rarely eating one meal a day. Now she is a beautiful young girl, and I beamed internally knowing that this week I would have the chance to tell these two girls we have a new family for them in America, and they will be joining me in Kansas by next spring. These are the highlights of my time here.

We took loads of pictures, drank coffee, made plans for the week, and became acquainted with the 3 new residents at House of Promise I and the new HIV care home, House of Promise III. Little “Lydia”, our 9 year old HIV positive girl was so tiny and fragile, but beamed when given attention. She has frequented our laps so far this week. She and another 9 year old boy and his mother are all living together, going to school, and receiving ARV medications. The home is lovely, with purple walls, and will soon be filled with 10 children. Already we have been told this week of 2 kids struggling to survive together in Mekelle, another 8 year old boy languishing in the hospital with no possible caregivers, and a 10 year old girl who will go for her T-cell count next week before we share with her that she had tested positive in April and now needs to begin medications. Seems it may be full before the month’s end. Thank you, God, for providing for at least these 10 children. There are an estimated 30,000 plus HIV+ children in Ethiopia. If not medicated, most don’t reach their 5th birthday.

By the way, all 3 ladies are doing SUPER and AMAZING so far…I am really impressed. They are taking photos, loving on children, buying momentos, seeing the devastation from poverty, HIV, increasing food prices and lack of education that have devastated this country up to this point. More changed lives, for sure. It is impossible to spend a good amount of time seeing real needs in Ethiopia and not leave here with a new perspective, or a new mindset about what is really important.

ANOTHER AMAZING JOURNEY TO ETHIOPIA - TRAVEL LOG

I decided it would be fun to keep a travel log this trip, since I usually wish I had written things down and then forget lots of details when I get home. The other ladies travelling with me are also keeping journals, so they can help me fill in the missing blanks later. Anyway, our journey started out on Saturday, October 11th with all of us meeting in Washington D.C. from our various points of entry. The travelers who joined me on this trip included our cousin, Jane, and two new women, Peggy and Amanda, who will have the opportunity to meet their new child grandchild at the tail end of our trip. Amanda and her husband had just been referred an infant in September, and she and her mother have travelled with us to help meet needs, bring over loads of donations, and get a feel for the “real” Ethiopia before bringing home this little one this winter. This is Jane’s 2nd trip, as she accompanied me in February to pick up our daughter Eyerusalem.

We left on Saturday evening around 8pm from Washington D.C. and after a long and uneventful flight, God blessed us with a safe landing Sunday night in Addis Ababa. Getting 4 ladies, 8 carry-on bags and purses, plus 11 checked bags, all maxed to exactly 50 lbs. was a challenge. It is always a bit chaotic trying to get luggage into a taxi and to your hotel. Unfortunately, the driver for our guest house hadn’t been informed that we needed a minibus. We spent a good 30 minutes fighting off “baggage handlers” who were searching for tips while negotiating with a new minivan to carry our luggage to the guest house. When we finally arrived, 120 birr the poorer ($13 bucks), we checked into very comfortable rooms, secured our luggage in my room, and went to bed. There is nothing more comfortable than taking a shower that first night and slipping into bed. Of course, my shower would have been a bit nicer if the hot water tank had been turned on more than 30 minutes before my arrival, so I shivered into bed clean, but not warm.