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I've neglected this blog for quite some time. Life continues to become more and more full, thankfully it is all great stuff! Facebook has been much easier to keep up with so meet me there if you want! Maybe someday I will get back to posting here but I'm checking out for the time being.

Zeway Trip Video

The youngest member of our Zeway team, Drew, is 13-years-old. He put together this awesome video below from our trip. I think I've watched it 5 times, not wanting to forget a moment or a face. Please take time to watch the video.

Guess Who Lost Her First Tooth?

Lily let me pull her tooth! I was so honored she would trust me to pull her little tooth out. My brave girl did not cry at all even when it took me 3 attempts to get her tooth out. I was more nervous than Lily. She lucked out that my parents were over at the time and her grandfather was the high paying tooth fairy. She told us she is saving up to buy a horse.

Day 3 Recap

I'm way behind updating this blog on our ET trip. Aside from travel and busyness related to Chris's Ironman (yes, my husband is a total bad ass) my latest excuse is my fried computer and Dell's delay in shipment of a new laptop. I'm using Chris's computer right now.

I'm looking over my notes from Wednesday, May 27, wondering where to begin, wondering how so much happened on this one day. I can't share it all here without rambling but will try to hit the highlights.

I awoke in Ethiopia on my birthday. Seriously I could not have dreamt up a better gift. I still can't believe I'm here and that I get to be a part of this project. Plus I get to begin each day with the most delicious Ethiopian macchiatos (or 3-4 throughout the day).

We spent the morning playing with children in Bulbula, a village near Zeway. These children are part of FHI's child development program. The children are incredible, inspiring, strong. They are financially poor beyond our limited American imagination yet they sport the most dazzling smiles and infectious spirits.



They taught us their version of the duck, duck goose game --- wow, our version is so lame.

Next up we visited a child in the Child Head of Household program (CHH). Pictured below in the denim jacket is Meko (age 12) and her sister (age 17) who have lived on their own for 3 years. There is an obvious affection between them. The older sister quit school to care for Meko. She cooks, knits crafts for income, makes sure her sister gets to and from school on time and completes her homework each day. I'm in awe of this big sister who has been "mom" since age 14, and continues to love with a level of selflessness that I can only hope to emulate.

Kasim, Meko's FH social worker, is in the photo on the left. This guy radiates big time joy. Chris and I could not help but laugh and smile with Kasim around. His passion is contagious. After asking him about his typical day and wondering how in the world he fit so much in a 24 hour period, I asked him - "how do you recharge, do you get a day off???" He looked at me with great confusion and replied that he has the best job in the world. I began to realize our own culture of evenings and weekends off...does not occur here yet there seems to be no "burn out."

Next we met Leul, one of the younger kids in the CHH program. While foster families and adoption by non-relatives are uncommon in Ethiopia, Leul is one of the CHH children who has been placed with a foster family. He is now attending school regularly and excelling.

We also met Mieso today. After his parents died he went to a more rural area of Ethiopia to live with his grandmother. However because there was not a nearby school FHI helped to find him a foster family in Bulbula where he can now attend school.

The biggest thing I prayed about before coming on this trip was that I would see the hope. I felt anxious about coming here, meeting these children, catching a glimpse of how they live and then having to walk away, get on a plane and return home, knowing they were still orphaned, struggling and alone. Truly, with each home visit, in spite of the incredible poverty, I have seen great hope -siblings, caring neighbors, foster families, school attendance. I'm sitting there in these tiny mud huts and as bizarre as it might sound, I'm seeing hope. I'm so excited to be a part of this project and to have the opportunity to see change for the better and to see these kids SMILE.

And to top it off, sweet friends sang happy birthday to me at Lake Zeway. Beautiful, beautiful day.

Day 1 and 2 Recap

We left Austin around noon, May 24. Our route took us to Washington D.C., then to Frankfurt and finally to Addis Ababa, arriving 8pm, May 25 (ET is 8 hours ahead of Austin). It feels familiar to be back, a bit like a homecoming. I kept fighting back tears thinking of not only our son's adoption but that this country is a huge part of him, and now a part of me too. I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be back in Ethiopia.

From the airport we were off to Bole Rock (hotel) where we would spend the night before driving to Zeway in the morning. We were thrilled to connect with our children via Skype knowing it was very unlikely we would be able to call/email while in Zeway. Lily's first question was, "have you seen any giraffe or zebras yet?" Next it was lights out, time for bed, turn back on the lights, battle mosquitoes, then lights off once again. I'm still glad to be back:-)

Tuesday, May 26 - Our group met up for breakfast with Kristen, an FHI staff who has been living in Zeway the past 3 years. She was on her way back to the U.S. to work on a master's degree at the University of Denver. You could see in her eyes how hard it was to leave. I wondered what it had been like for her living in rural Africa for 3 years, the impact she was able to take part in, the needs that still needed to be met, and the only white face in Zeway (population 30K). Here we also met Rob from FHI. Rob would become our glue - keeping us together, on task, on time, and out of trouble. I love this picture of Rob looking at his watch. His patience was remarkable.

We walked 6 blocks to the FHI office in Addis for a team meeting before heading to Zeway. Reading I Corinthians 12:12 and John 13, we discussed team unity and serving one another and ended our meeting by washing one another's feet. It was a first for me and humbling to have my feet washed. It definitely thickened the glue of our team.

We loaded up to caravan to Zeway. I looked forward to the 120 km drive, to see more of Ethiopia. We saw acacia and fig trees, camels, women walking carrying heavy bundles of wood strapped across their backs, small children herding cattle, goats and sheep. Driving in Ethiopia would be a challenge even for NYC cab drivers. Mike Gould, our worship pastor from Grace, was riding with us and aptly compared it to playing Frogger. Our driver, Alem, was wonderful, and aside from one very near head on collision, we felt very safe.

And then...we arrived to Zeway. This is where our trip really gets going. This is where we began to learn why we had come so far from Austin to Zeway. We chose to go on this trip primarily based on James 1:27 which says "pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows..." Chris and I felt strongly God wanted us to go VISIT these orphans in Zeway. And, so here we are. We would quickly realize this trip held much more.

Arriving at the FHI compound in Zeway we joined a meeting underway between FHI staff and Zeway area community leaders (includes community leaders from Zeway and other nearby villages, including Christian, Muslim, teachers, govt, etc.). FHI had been working to engage the local community for quite some time. The staff shared a presentation on the CHH (Child Head of Household) project we started last Fall, explaining why we were in town. One of the community leaders then stood and shared the impact it made on him that we would travel so far to help orphans in his own community, and that because of it, he wanted to do more, get involved. The rest of the community leaders agreed. We had just arrived and already God was allowing us to see the fruit of our trip. We would later learn that leaders from Zeway and nearby villages committed to support 8-10 additional orphans in each of the villages! This is huge. We are talking about people who are already quite poor compared to U.S. standards committing to provide food, shelter, clothing, education, etc. to the most vulnerable in their communities - orphans. It was humbling. All we did was walk into a room. By obeying God's call to visit orphans, He was allowing us to be a part of something incredible.

And it is only 2pm.

After this meeting we broke into 3 teams and loaded up to go meet the orphans we have been supporting and praying for since last Fall. These faces we have been studying in photos, we would now get to meet face-to-face.

My team (Chris was in a different group) drove out to meet Beyelign, pronounced like "violin" but with a "B". This boy is in his early teens and lives with two brothers in a room smaller than my closet. Their home is one room with a dirt floor, and mud walls. Beyelign is going to school, his favorite subject is physics and he enjoys playing soccer. This small room he lives in, is part of the compound where his family lived before his parents died. Now he and his brothers rent out the rest of the compound to another family for income. We asked Beyelign about the meaning of his name. This is important in Ethiopia as parents continue to give their children names with personal meaning. Beyelign shared that his father died while his mom was pregnant with him. His name means "I wish you could have met your father." All I could think about what how his name sounded like the word "violin" which to me, its music often sounds soulful and haunting. When I asked what he would like to do after finishing school he replied, "I would like to do something to help orphans like me succeed." Much of Beyelign's story is heartbreaking. Yet I walked away hopeful. He has two older brothers. The family renting out the rest of the compound looks out for them and sometimes invites them into their home after dark, shares injera with them. At least there is someone closeby looking out for him. He is going to school and thinking about his future. He has a FHI social worker who sees him weekly and is building a relationship with him. It is not a life we would hope for our children but there is hope.

Our next visit was with Sophia. Sophia walks aided by crutches. She lives alone in a tiny 1 room, mud walls, dirt floor house that floods when it rains. She is in the 9th grade and also does embroidery to earn income. She hopes to one day start a small business with her craft. FHI is helping her look into this. She was cheerful and sweet. She loves children and storytelling. I loved her smile. She talked about her faith in Christ and how it filled her with joy and light. Again, I sat there and felt hopeful because she was hopeful.

We met back up with our group at the FHI compound, grabbed dinner and then checked into our Zeway hotel...which literally does not have a name. Our toilet did not flush. No water ran from the sink or the shower. I looked at the bed and was thankful I brought my own pillow, but wished I had also brought a set of sheets. Then I remembered all we had seen that day, got over my American over indulged self and crashed to sleep. Well, we might have stayed up a bit.

HOME

We arrived home yesterday after 24 hours travel. Aside from only sleeping two of those hours our flights and connections went smoothly. I slept 11 hours last night and woke up thankful not only for the sleep but to be in my own bed and under the same roof as my children. All of my 450 photos are stored on Chris's hard drive but hopefully I can get some posted this evening when he returns home from work. We had such limited internet access but I did journal each day and will post lots of those details.

The trip was incredible - heartbreaking but full of HOPE. Thank you to everyone who has supported us in this project. We are grateful to be included in your prayers. You are as much a part of this as we are. Thank you for walking alongside us.

We Are Here!

We were blessed with smooth travel and are now in Ethiopia!  I did not know what to expect flying back here but definitely fought back tears as we landed.  This is the place of my son's birth, his heritage and it holds a piece of my heart.  It is very special to be back.  We just grabbed a bite to eat and are checked into our hotel for the night.  We leave tomorrow for Zeway.  We will break into a few teams and do home visits with the children supported through this project.  We do not expect to have an internet connection for several days.  Will try to update when we can.  Keep praying for us!