Let's Talk Ethiopia!

At church today, the group from our church who recently traveled to Ethiopia including Dave spoke during what is called learning & sharing.  It is a time between the two worship services where a certain topic or event takes place.  It is also a time for everyone to gather together to enjoy some coffee, donuts, and conversation.

Each week is a certain topic and today's topic was a recap of the Ethiopia mission trip.  Dave posted a few blogs about his trip and he has shared several stories along with many pictures with me since he has been home.  Today I got to hear stories from some of the others who traveled with Dave.  Many individuals gave a personal story about how they were able to connect with one of the boys who lived at Kolfe.  It is truly remarkable to hear some of the youth to reference their sponsored son their brother.  Truly amazing and tear jerking.  The group also wore their traditional Ethiopian outfit.  They all did a great job and sparked many questions as well as an interest to learn more.

Dave and I along with a few others started our sponsorship program at our church 2 years ago and were semi successful.  We were successful because we were able to establish a relationship with Children's Hopechest.  We were successful as we gained many sponsors and we were successful because we caused enough stirring to get a group of individuals to leave their comfort zone by traveling to Ethiopia for a week. 

But now we can be truly successful thanks to the energy the new group members bring to the table, the love and desire to make this relationship succeed and be long lasting, and the stronger connection my church, Olivet, has with these amazing young men.  

After the presentation this morning a woman who is very active in our church and who we have gotten to know thanked me for bringing Ethiopia to the church.  She thanked me.  Now I know I did not personally bring Ethiopia to our church as we have others within our church who are either Ethiopian themselves or adopted from Ethiopia but I wanted to cry as she spoke to me.  I needed to hear those words so badly because of how I have been feeling for the past 5 weeks.  Dave traveling with people I didn't know and to have an experience without me to my girls' birth country put me in a place that I never want to visit again.  It tore me to pieces so to be thanked meant more than I could ever express in any blog post.

Today was a good day but I'm glad it is over.  I'm glad the group got to share their story with the church as they needed to.  But now the rest of the group who did not travel can now get back involved with Kolfe.  It is going to be an exciting few months while we gather a plan, roll out the sponsorships again, and get the rest of the church excited about Ethiopia and Kolfe!

FINALLY!

Ever since Dave returned from Ethiopia this past month, I have been anxiously awaiting to see a picture of Dave with Melkamu, our sponsored son from Kolfe.  You have no idea how many times I have asked Dave to see this picture but Dave simply told me he didn't take any pictures as there were individuals in his group who stepped up and took most all the photos from the trip.

Today Dave received an email with this picture.  How amazing is this photo?  I love it so much that it is now my desktop picture on my work computer.  Thank you Julie for taking this amazing photo!  This picture is yet another reason why I wish I could have gone on the trip with Dave.  I would have loved to have seen Melkamu again and to visit with all the young men at Kolfe.

Melkamu is in the red and his best friend Dawit (amazing young man) is in the green.

I have been burned. I have been bruised.

I am back in the U.S. this week, back at work, back doing things with my family. I am grateful for all of these things yet much of me is still left behind in Ethiopia. 

I have such memories of playing soccer with the children at Trees of Glory. Memories of volleyball and soccer with the boys of Kolfe. Watching the youth on our team interacting with their peers half a world away, teaching them four square and being taught Ethiopia games and dances. 

I have been burned. 

Today the skin is peeling on my face from the burn that the bright sunshine of Ethiopia left. A reminder that while my time in Ethiopia was full of highlights, the harsh reality is that there are so many children left in a situation that is not comfortable. 

I have been bruised.

This is a photo of the side of my leg. It is a bruise that received over one week ago while playing soccer on a field of rocks. It is a reminder of the pain and burden that each of these orphans bears each day. 

I was able to return to my family and my home knowing that I have family that loves, supports and cares for me. The boys at Kolfe remained there, with many of them asking for a 'mom', even if just a virtual one unable to give a hug or wipe away their tears. 

On Sunday I attended church in Addis Ababa and part of the message related to the overwhelming burden that is placed on us, and the importance of not giving into this burden. Despite many challenges, I am not ready to let this burden overcome me and will persist in being a voice for the orphan.

One More Day

And Dave will finally be home!

You think with Dave being all the way across the globe in Ethiopia, I would have very little contact with him. Well that is sort of the case but thank goodness internet and phone is everywhere. Yesterday I got to talk to Dave on the phone. I felt bad as it was very late for him (9 hours ahead) but I was beyond relieved to hear his voice, hear about his day, and to share with him my days.

While Dave told me about his day, I started to feel like my struggles being a single parent is nothing and that I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Dave’s heart is aching right now and he is filled with so many emotions. I know I am ready for him to come home and I know he is ready to see his girls (and me) again but he doesn’t want to leave Ethiopia. Dave got a tremendous opportunity to travel with an amazing group from our church and introduce them to a country we love. From the sounds of it, everyone has fallen in love with Ethiopia and it sounds like some if not all of them want to return soon. Amazing! This group of adults and young adults will be able to come back and share their experiences with the congregation, with their friends, their family, and anyone that will listen. I am personally excited to hear about their trip from others besides Dave and to hear how this trip has changed them (and if it changed them). I am thinking our church is going to be able to do some great things for Ethiopia!

Like I said, I listened to him talk and I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I should not have complained about my week especially to Dave. At least not now when he is wrapping up his trip and managing his emotions. But my week was not a joy ride. It was hard. Lack of sleep, girls bouncing off walls, being stuck inside thanks to a two part winter storm, and no personal time has turned me into a crazy person. Big kudos to all the single parents out there as they have a very hard job!

I have to say thank goodness for an awesome daycare as my girls are being well taken care of, I am amongst adults, and I managed to get a fairly good night's sleep last night. 

Dave will be home soon!  YIPPEE!

Day 1 - Kolfe Boys Orphanage

Today we spent the day at Kolfe, getting to know the boys. It was such fun to see the group interact with the boys, playing soccer, american football and many games such as hide and seek and the human tug-of-war.

For those familiar with Kolfe, you understand the brilliance that are the boys of Kolfe, but also may realize the challenges that a group of 150 pre-teen and teenage boys present when living in an orphanage setting.

As the Olivet organization we discussed many of these challenges before agreeing to lock our hands in partnership with these boys. As our relationship has been built with Children's Hopechest and Kolfe, these challenges have proven to be true.

Today, four boys from Kolfe were able to address the leadership at Olivet, Hopechest USA and Hopechest Ethiopia together in one room. We were able to listen to them describe their wants and needs, and expectations of us working together. In turn, we were able to define and re-set expectations. It was a great meeting and one that needed to happen. Hopefully from this point forward our relationships can continue to grow in both trust and love amongst all parties.

While we were meeting the rest of our group was out on the soccer field playing with the boys. The youth on our trip had so much fun interacting with the boys. They played hard and laughed a lot. It is so gratifying being able to watch these peers from two different sides of the globe come together as one in play.

We finished the evening with dinner at Carnivore Addis (isn't that the best name ever for a restaurant!) which was a great experience and our first option to try traditional Ethiopian food. It was also the second meal at which machiatto's were served, and over half the group had fallen in love with this delicious treat.

Dorms at Kolfe

Hopechest leadership Mesiker and Ben Savage

Playing some American "football" with the boys at Kolfe.

The newest boy at Kolfe, he overcomes his handicap (deaf) with amazing sweetness and the help of his brothers at Kolfe.

Travel to Addis Ababa

Our travel plans began with a two-hour delay in Fargo, as we waited for the plane to arrive from Chicago. As luck would have it our connecting flight to Frankfurt was also delayed so it all worked out and there were no missed flights or anxieties.

The rest of the flight went ok, as well as two 6+ hour flights back to back can be I guess. We had a three-hour layover in Germany, and there was little to do there outside of breakfast (it was 2:30am our time back home.)

Some photos from our trip.

Walking through the airport in Chicago.

Leftover cots from the big storm in Frankfurt over Christmas.

Getting some sleep on the flight.

Our arrival to Addis Ababa and long waiting line for our Visa.