This is Jane Campbell and Katy Gorden reporting on behalf of the team.
The best thing about being here is that the weather is AWESOME; the sun is shining, there is no wind, it’s 70 degrees… oh, and no snow! We hear it’s blizzarding in Fargo… that’s unfortunate. But really, if the best thing about being here were the weather, we probably wouldn’t have come.
On Tuesday of this week, the team had the privilege of meeting the boys at the Kolfe Orphanage for the first time. After touring the compound, the boys showed us how bad we are at soccer (excuse me, football). Everyone was sore the next day, especially David, due to a face plant from diving after the ball. No worries, we got it on camera. (Insert evil laugh here.)
The next day, we went to Fregenet Kidan Ehitsanat School in Addis Ababa, the same location as a library named Ethiopia Reads. Much to our dismay, the book Twilight was on the shelves. Vampires aren’t just taking over the U.S., they’re taking over the world. Eek! We didn’t see Harry Potter represented; everyone was deeply saddened. Anyway, the classes that we visited sang some songs for us in English and Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia. One class sang about how much they loved school and they thanked their moms for being able to go to school. We were reminded that when we may not want to go to school, some kids are extremely grateful for the opportunity to go. While there, we met a little boy named Nati, who was probably most excited by us being there. Everywhere we went around campus, he followed and made sure to do some sort of acrobatic trick to impress us, and it worked!
That afternoon, our team split into two groups. One group went to go shopping for the material needs of the Kolfe boys, while the other group, our group, went back to Kolfe for more time with the boys. While our group was at Kolfe, we learned some cultural dances from some of the boys, which Julie Boe loved. Katy and I also got an added tour from our new best friend, Filiman. The group that went shopping purchased multiple t-shirts, undershirts and underwear (among other things) for the boys.
Thursday morning, we took a long trek to the Trees of Glory just outside Addis Ababa. Here, we got a tour of the beautiful 11,000 square meter compound. After lunch and a coffee ceremony, we were given the chance to play some games with the kids. There was a volleyball game (which Katy was beast at and I was… not) and a soccer game going while the younger kids were learning fun songs. The hardest part of the day was having to say goodbye to the kids; they were just so grateful for our presence. After having a delicious pizza dinner at Island Breeze, we all went back to the Guest Home for a good, long slumber.
Today, we went to Alert, the leprosy colony/hospital in Addis Ababa. This trip was extremely eye-opening for everyone in the group. We saw people with stubs for hands and eyes sealed shut. In Korah, the city surrounding the hospital, many of the 75,000 people living there make handicrafts, such as floor mats, scarves, tablecloths and clothing, to gain income for their family. So, after seeing the people making their various crafts, everyone on the team bought something beautiful at the gift shop.
That afternoon, we went to the National Museum of Ethiopia and the Lion Zoo. The museum was really interesting, as most exhibits displayed the history of humans. At the Lion Zoo, most people enjoyed being able to see the lions from a safe distance.
All-in-all, the trip so far has been lots of fun, but also very humbling at the same time. We’re both extremely excited to keep going with our trip, but also excited to bring back our many stories to our friends at Olivet and in Fargo. Happy New Year to all and see you in five days!
