Sponsor visit Day #2 - Part 2

After visiting Hanna, we were able to visit Rahima, our last sponsor child.  (Oh, I forgot to mention that Ethiopia celebrates Christmas this coming Tuesday.  We asked each family what they would do for Christmas, and Hanna's family indicated that they didn't have any money to do anything differently, so they would just pretend it was an ordinary day.  How sad!!  I'm all about Christmas and I can't imagine having to skip it because of lack of funds!!)

Rahima's family is Muslim so we knew they wouldn't celebrate Christmas and weren't sure how the visit would go as they know we are a Christian family.  Rahima's mother and young baby sister were home and they welcomed us with open arms.  Rahima was very shy, like Kidist, but sweet and smiley like all of the sponsor girls.  They spoiled us with kolo, popcorn, freshly baked cookies, other snacks, pop, and a coffee ceremony.  Those just never get old!

Rahima's family was very nice and very hospitable.  We enjoyed our visit a lot and did the usual question/answer and sharing of the backpack.  We tried to get her to speak some English and then made our girls speak some Amharic.  It is always very entertaining!  Rahima's house was a room in a small compound, and as there was a courtyard we were able to teach her frisbee.

The sponsor visits were amazing and we are so thankful for all of the work and coordinating that CCFC did for us and does for these families.  It has been a lot to digest and take in.  We are about to have supper and it will be interesting to debrief with the girls and get their feedback.  I will try to share some of their thoughts on our trip so far the next time I post.

Tomorrow we are off to Soddo - a 6 hour drive.  It feels like we are spending more time in the car than out of it these days, but it has all been worth it.  Thank you so much for those of you who have told me you've been praying - it means so much to us.  The kids have been doing great and haven't gotten carsick and although this trip has been exhausting, it has given us many life lessons!

Now for some pictures...

The owner of the compound had a baby goat she was feeding with a bottle.  So cute!

Rahima, pouring us some delicious coffee

The girls enjoyed all of the snacks and pop

Presenting the backpack

She had the best reactions - so fun to watch her!

Playing frisbee

Rahima, her mom, baby sister and our family

On the way we saw at least 20 of these stands, loaded with watermelon and pumpkin

We stopped in an amazing restaurant on the way back for lunch

Christmas is on Tue and many places are decorated, although it is incredibly tacky!

That's a coffee tree they are standing next to

Banana tree

Coffee cherry - the fruit is edible, and inside is the coffee bean.  Too cool!

E liked these sparkly rocks

My mom, enjoying the fresh fruit drinks

Our gang - driver is in front, CCFC staff on the other side of M

Tibs which came with it's own little stove

Just goofing around.

Sponsor visit #2 - Part 1

Well, today started out a bit differently than I had hoped.  I woke up with one of my bad headaches, and if I don't do something fast it gets bad really quickly!  I took an advil on an empty stomach, which is never a good idea for me, but I wanted to get over it before we left at 7:30.  It got super bad, and then I got super nauseous, and then it was time to go.

What a miserable first hour of driving!  We were stuck in a crazy traffic jam in Addis, breathing in diesel fuel, starting and stopping for what seemed like forever and I was wishing I had stayed back.  I had come to the point where I was going to have the van stop in Debre Zeit and would find a hotel and stay there in misery until they came back and got me.

Thankfully, the headache pain went away as the advil kicked in, and eventually the nausea subsided and I felt good as new.  I am sooo thankful that I am healthy again and that we all survived the food we ate yesterday!  :-)

Today we drove about 2.5 hours to Adama (Nazret).  It was a much more pleasant drive than yesterday, as we actually had paved roads the whole way.  Either the road has gotten a bit safer, or there wasn't as much traffic, or I just got used to it, but I didn't find that we had as many near-head on collisions as we have had on that road in the past.

We finally arrived in Adama - it is quite a nice city and looked to be a bit nicer to me than Addis.  We again got a tour of the CCFC offices (these are much nicer) and then drove to go see our first sponsor child of the day, Hanna.  We ended up driving to a market, and parked right in the middle of it.  We weren't sure if our hosts were going to buy something there, or why we stopped, but they came around and opened up the door.  It turns out that each of the little stalls has a home behind it - who knew?

Hanna and her mother greeted us and treated us to a coffee ceremony with popcorn.  She told us that we were in her uncle's house as hers was too small.  Her uncle's house was basically one "big" room with a curtain in the middle to separate the bed from the rest of the room.  Interestingly enough, the living area had a small fridge and a TV and a nice dresser.  We had a nice question and answer period with them and were thrilled to know that Hanna liked football (soccer), knowing that we had put one in her backpack.

She was excited to open her backpack and it was fun to show everything to her.  She is in Grade 6 and the same age as G but looks at least 3 or 4 years older.  At the end of our visit we were able to see her home, right next to her uncle's home.  I was very shocked - her home is a tiny square hole in a wall, with a single sized mattress and dresser that filled the entire space, and you couldn't even stand in there.  I will show pictures below - their "home" was smaller than any closet in our house, and the communal kitchen was tiny as well.

Other than the shock of that, it was interesting to see that Hanna was like a typical teenager.  Her mom struggled to get her to do chores, and Hanna just wanted to hang out with her friends and have fun.  That sounds so familiar!  :-)  Of the 3 sponsor kids we visited, Hanna had the least and seemed to have it the hardest as she had access to the TV at her uncle's and knew what else was out there.

OK, I'll see if I can post some pictures before I move on to the next sponsor visit.

E presenting Hanna with her backpack

Excitedly looking through the backpack.  You can see the TV and fridge behind and the curtain which divides the bed area from the living area (this is her uncle's house)

Her mom, looking through some pictures.  This is the other side of the room

The girls

G taught her how to play the recorder - she played her Grade 6 Christmas concert song and it was stuck in our heads the entire day!

All of us...don't judge my look -  I had a rough start today!  :-)

This is Hanna's house.  All of it.  She shares the bed with her mom

The communal kitchen, outside

The pots in front are what Hanna's mother sells.  Their house is directly behind this in the market.

A few Addis pictures

Enjoying our amazing breakfast at the guesthouse.

Pancakes and an Ethiopian dish - tomatoes, onion, a bit of spice on somewhat of a biscuit.  Yummy!

Spices for berbere, drying in the sun.

Some cute kids at the scarf factory.

The scarf factory - I'm pretty sure this is the exact same guy from 2.5 years ago.  Our guide told us that they make 2 scarves a day, which are sold for about $4 or $5 each....not sure how much they pay the workers but it can't be a lot.

These are the donations we spent all afternoon buying for the orphanage.  Oil, onions, tomatoes, teff flour, potatoes, soap, toilet paper, etc. etc.  This was about $500 - thanks so much for those who contributed so generously!

This is the view from our van - we often have to slow down for animals.

This pictures shows a bit of the countryside with a donkey on the road you'll see in the next picture.

Yes, there's a donkey under there.

CCFC office

At the school - we had about a hundred kids crowding around us, talking, yelling and laughing.  I have no idea what they said but I hope it was good.  :-)

The childcare facility sponsored by CCFC.

Meeting Kidist

We had to remember how to properly greet - seemed like it was 3 kisses for ladies, and 3 shoulder bumps for the men?

Coffee ceremony

The feast they put on - coffee, kolo (roasted wheat), popcorn, injera, noodles, rice, wat (stew) and more

Arvid was asked to say a blessing and cut the traditional bread.

Presenting the gifts

I presented a gift to her mother (notice the backpack from 2.5 years ago still in use and hanging on the wall)

Kidist immediately put on the sweater, sunglasses and headband

The girls, teaching her how to play frisbee

Universal language of skipping rope

Kidist's mother showed us how she fixes tires on wagons and carts - this is her job.

All of us

We thought we were done but they insisted that we go inside and eat.  This was great food - I just hope we don't get sick.  G was thrilled to have curly pasta (rotini, her favourite - who would have thought?) and I couldn't believe they managed to get Coke and Mirinda (orange pop) for us as well.

Our girls and their girls

Our amazing CCFC coordinator, Mekdes.  She is AMAZING!!