No photos for most of today. The mental pictures are enough for me and my descriptions will likely be more than enough for you. Wheat pancakes cooked by Melissa. We had a good chat while she cooked. Our team understood all week that the DFW people have been feeling the pain of loss of all they have worked on for two years. I realize through this conversation that they also feel failure. That never occured to me but I feel stupid for not realizing that additional depth of their pain. My compassion is deepened and I thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to find that out. Coffee at Kaffe, the Ethiopian version of Starbucks. There is no decaf in this country so I still can't have any. Off we go to buy meal tickets for a feeding center, which we can distribute to people on the street. This is the only feeding center the DFW people know of in the whole city. They feed 1000 people a day and I know that is only a drop in the bucket. The name is the Hope Center, the same name as where we go to feed the homeless in Murfreesboro back home. We break up into two groups, each with an interpretter. We do our best to go up to people who appear to be in the most need. (In Addis you can NEVER look any direction without seeing a need. There is no unemployment insurance, no social security for the old, maimed, and injured. There is poverty beyond what I've ever seen. Someone in our group mentions that America is the only country where poor people can be fat. You don't see that here.) We talk with them through the translator, asking them about their need, talk to them about God (most are Orthodox Christian), give them meal tickets, and pray with them. It takes a lot of time because of the need to translate. Several people will not take the tickets. One woman I speak too gestures to indicate that she is pregnant and whispers something in our translator's ear. Only later does he tell me that she shared she is HIV positive, and that most women don't go in for the free C-section because the scar will let everyone know they are infected -- thereby passing it on to their babies. Sad. And I believe the first time I have ever met or touched someone HIV positive. Makes me think a lot, and wonder that it has been so long in my life before this happened. Lunch at Sishu. Stark contrast to what we just experienced, but I eat well as tonight is another traditional meal.... Meet up with Travis, another Gladney Adoption Agency employee, for a tour of the three government orphanages in Addis. Six million orphans. There have been MANY small private orphanages wherever we have been in the city. Still surprising that there are only three govt orphanages in Addis. From the conditions, perhaps that is a good thing. Our experience in Russia somewhat prepared us for this, but not quite.... Orphanage 1: Kolfe Five months ago there were 100 boys there. Now there are 300. Bunk beds lined up like an army barracks. Kitchen with three women to cook. Other than that, NOT A SINGLE OTHER ADULT IN THE PLACE. No administrator to greet us. No caretaker. 300 boys left to fend for themselves with a prison-like structure of groups/gangs. Boys age 6+. Can you imagine your six-year-old in this situation? Boys recognize Chris because he adopted Leul from there. One boy has saved Leul's report card from school. He kept it, never knowing that he would be able to pass it on, but I guess as a piece of his friend who had been saved. Saved from that place. Shows there are connections and friendship and caring underneath what you need to do to just survive. Learn that one couple who visited Kolfe when adopting found out the names and shoe sizes of all the boys and sent them new shoes, which are a treat indeed based on what we saw. A week later the shoes were gone. Corruption in some form. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Orphanage 2: Kibebe Tsehi (or something like that) For children <5 or so. Much like infant homes where we got Daniel and Emily in Russia. Kids two to a bed. Some slept through our visit, some played with us. There are caretakers. We leave behind a roll of paper and crayons and pipe cleaners. I pray they will bring some joy. Orphanage 3: Kechene Girls ages 3+ and some boy siblings. Saw no caretakers near the dorms of the older girls but some with the littler kids. Kids asked to be picked up with arms outstretched. One little girl turns her back on me when I hold another child after she asked to be put down. There is playground, and trees. The nicest of the orphanages. Gets more government help, but that is relative. Cultural dinner at Yob Abyssinia. Tribal songs and dancing and Ethiopian food. We choose the buffet option. The dancing all starts from the shoulders. Different from anything I have ever seen. Dancer comes to our table and Chris and Tracy and Nicole try it out. A day of paradoxes.
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