Days 4 and 5 – Hearing Stories…Making Changes

On Thursday I started early with meeting all of our 56 blind students who are enrolled in the program. Some were new and had to be enrolled for the first time, others needed reminding of the goals of the program…that they are to be in school all day and not begging. Most are doing very well. It was encouraging to hear of how well the kids were doing. One funny story was when I was doing the interviews myself with my limited Tigrinya. I would ask them about their age, their grade, how they were doing in their life, if they had any problems etc. When I asked them with whom they were living, I would then write down the name of their roomate. One young man said, “Benny”…so so I wrote it down, thinking I had never heard that name before. Then another later said the same name and I wondered who was this “Benny” that they were living with. Finally, another said “Benny” and I asked, “are you all living together…you and him and him
and Benny?” The kids looked at each other then laughed and said, “Alone….in Tigrinya Benny means ALONE”. I laughed and said, “oh my goodness…I was wondering who this Benny guy was!” After we finished at 5:30pm, I went to a friend’s home with some other foreigners to have dinner. They were our friends when we lived here before. After dinner, I was dropped at the House of Promise #1 with the 14 kids who are living there. They were eating dinner, laughing and visiting and as I watched them, I was really amazed at how much they live and function like a family. They wanted to know where all the kids who have left for adoption have gone, and we spread out an atlas on the ground to point to each location. Afterwards, I had the privilege of sharing with one girl, age 12, about her new family in America and giving her gifts from them. She smiled from ear to ear, hugging my neck after each gift saying, “Thank you Pam, I love you, I am
so happy!” When I went to leave it was already 10:30pm so I mentioned that I needed some bodyguards to walk me home the ¾ of a block. Three of the boys, age 13 and 14 jumped up immediately and one boy, Merid, said, “Wait me…” then he disappeared. He returned with a puffy jacket, his pants rolled to his shins, and one fuzzy glove on one hand only. He was walking with a swagger and said, “now I am ready” in as deep a voice as he could muster. I laughed and laughed. Really, I love those boys. They are all about to age out of our adoption program, being too old to pass the embassy guidelines for moving to America. I wish I could have the joy of sharing with them about a family who would take them and love them as their own. They are so amazing!

On Friday I shared lunch with a former caseworker and his wife and heard how difficult things have been for them lately. She nearly died in a public bus accident and missed her opportunity to finish her freshman year at government university. When this happens, the opportunity is lost forever, despite the reason. Now, her only option is private college costing about $500/year for 3 years. This seems a small amount to many Americans, but to this young couple who earns $100 per month, it is very cost-prohibitive. There are no student loans or scholarship programs from which to draw. As he said, “God wills it – either He will provide or she will not go.” Such faith often grows from doing without, as many of our Ethiopian friends know too well. In the afternoon, I had the sweet privilege of meeting with two more families who had been caring for orphans who were waiting for a family. The first two, a brother and sister ages 13 and 10 were so thrilled to pose in their new t-shirts bearing the name of their new town! The second family lived in a home about 10 x 10 with 2 small beds and dirt walls and a dirt floor. Their oldest daughter had died and they had her only child living with them in addition to their 4 others. All 7 of them living together in this small room. They wanted only for her to have a better life, and an opportunity to grow with her own mom and dad. I got to show her pictures of her new family, and of her new home in America. The grandmother reminded me with tears in her eyes that she was entrusting this child to me, and to this new family, and that she was trusting God first and the family second to raise this little girl as if she were their very own daughter. A big responsibility, I thought. In the evening, I visited the House of Promise orphanage again and this time I brought new movies from America. They were giddy to be watching Madagascar 2 and as we all piled around together on the mattress, they snuggled me and draped their arms and heads all over each other as if they were one large body. Again, I was humbled by their loving spirits and their eagerness to embrace one another. So many stories wrapped up in this little room…the little one who had spent his first 4 years in prison with his mother before coming to our home, the 3 who had been living in a brothel with their grown sister after their mother died, the 3 who had cared for their mother while she died of HIV and provided hospice care up to her death before coming to join this “family”. Beautiful faces, laughing at Moto Moto and Alex the Lion, and squeezing my hand or rubbing my arm gently as they sat at my side. “This”, I tell myself, “is what makes it ALL worthwhile!”