Kitchen at detention center
Trying on his new shoes -
now he needs new pants
So, I guess I've got some explaining to do. After going on and on about how excited I was to travel to Ethiopia and how I promised to tell you all about it, you get - NOTHING. And to be honest, my decision to stay silent about my trip has been quite intentional. You see, I just don't know where to start. I've sat down several times over the last 6 days, looked over my pictures and even logged into my blog. But nothing has come to me. This is an entirely new predicament for someone who is rarely at a loss for words, but it's the truth. I think my experience in Ethiopia was just too immense... too monumental for me to put into words.
I'm not a particularly emotional person. Although most of my teammates broke down at least once or twice during our trip, I didn't shed a tear. I did, however, work at taking the whole experience in so that I would never forget one moment. The poverty in Ethiopia is immeasurable. I just can not explain (in even a minute way) how desperate the country's situation is. Because of this, I was prepared to serve orphans in unspeakably deplorable conditions. What I found were children who were well fed, well clothed, and quite remarkable. Many of the orphans spoke both Ethiopian and English (and several spoke a third language also.) They were smart, loving and happy children. At Kai's orphanage in China, the babies did not cry. From what I've read, infants lose their instinct to cry when crying doesn't get the expected results. For example, if your diaper is changed on a strict schedule instead of when you're dirty, you stop crying to get your diaper changed (it doesn't work so why do it?) I was pleasantly surprised to see that the babies in the orphanages we visited in Ethiopia cried. I could truly tell that the nannies wanted to take care of the babies, even if the ratios were not always in their favor.
We spent time working at two orphanages in Addis - Hannah's Hope and Bethzatha. Hannah's Hope is a transition home run by All God's Children (the organization who arranged our trip.) Most of the children at Hannah's Hope have already been matched with a family in the U.S. and have come to live there from a state-run orphanage. Hannah's Hope is a beautiful, miraculous place. My guess is that families traveling to meet their little one's there have no idea how lovingly their children are being cared for.
Bethzatha is a state-run orphanage led by a Christian man named Samuel. Samuel was incredibly grateful that we had come to work there. The only time I "almost" cried in Ethiopia was when Samuel thanked our team and we had to say goodbye. There was so much more work we could have done if we had only had more time. It was obvious that Bethzatha does not have the funds that Hannah's Hope does. But with little support and far less staff, the orphanage was doing a really great job with the kids. I actually fell in love with a 9 year old little girl who had only been at Bethzatha for 2 days. She was scared and in isolation (as all new children to the orphanage are) but she and I really hit it off. Over the course of 2 or 3 days, our team painted approximately 15 rooms at Bethzatha.
Unfortunately, Ethiopia has very strict guidelines against publicly sharing pictures of their orphans. I truly have some breath-taking photos of the kids, but I can't post them on my blog. What I can show you, is pictures from a children's detention center that we visited twice. We brought the detention center 100 new blankets, several new soccer and basketballs, new soccer goals, and fitted most of the kids with new shoes. In contrast to the orphanages we visited, the conditions at the detention center were appalling. I guess juvenile delinquents fall pretty low in the pecking order when there's so little money to go around.
Overall, this trip left me hungry to serve again. It doesn't really matter where - Africa, Asia, Central America - where ever there is a need. On my next trip, I would love to bring David or J.D. There were so many times in Ethiopia that I wish they had been with me. Piper truly has the heart of an angel, but I think she lacks the maturity to serve in a developing country (at least right now.) Of course, I'm not planning to jet off anytime soon. With four kids who need their mommy at home, it'll definitely be some time before we prepare for our next endeavor.
