Orphanage Visits

Today was kind of a hectic day. I think a bit of fatigue is starting to set in for a few. We split into three groups. Each group visited a different place. The group I was in visited the AWA Transitional Home. This is a home where orphans who have been matched with a family go to stay during the adoption process. My niece, Jo, was at this home before my brother and his wife flew here to finalize the adoption. I took some pictures of Jo for her former nanny. Unfortunately she was not working today. I left the pictures with the staff and they will get them to her. Part of the group spent time with the kids there. The rest started painting a seascape mural on two adjoining walls. Our time there was short and we were not able to complete the mural. We got a good start on the major part of the drawings. A group may go back tomorrow to try to complete it. I spent a little time doing both activities. The other group split between Kids Care and Kingdom Vision Orphanage.

Afterward we all met at the Hilton Hotel. I purchased a beautiful hand painted storyboard depicting the story of King David's rise to prominence. This was nice little break and time to refresh.

Then we went to Mother Theresa HIV orphanage. This is a fairly large institution. I am not saying anything bad about them because they are still being faithful to God's calling to love these children. It really makes me appreciate what several of the directors of the smaller orphanages in Uganda said. They did not want a larger
institution for an orphanage but a smaller home that is more structured like a family. From what I've seen this certainly seems to be the better option. The difficult thing about this is it needs more people to run it. Canaan's Children Home is an example where a larger orphanage works but still has a family feeling to it. Canaan's had an open door to the community during the day but after a certain hour, only the orphans in the program were in the facility. Today's orphanage really had a feeling of a warehouse. It was a striking contrast. It may be because this an orphanage with 450 children where nearly all of them have HIV. Because of this it is still is not
treated on an equal footing as other orphanages. The children here looked more sickly than anywhere else we've been. The kids were just as loving and craved your attention. We toured the entire place. The visited the different dormitories for the boys and girls and different age groups. Finally we went into the ward with sick children. There was this tiny premature baby who was born a month ago and still looks like she is still a month shy of normal development. Back in the US this baby would be in the ICU hooked up to all sorts of monitors, here this poor child is just in a crib. Fortunately her mother was there constantly at her side. There were also two tiny frail little malnourished girls who had tuberculosis who struggled for every breath. About all you could do was comfort them with a gentle touch and pray over them. They were literally to weak to move. Praise God for these people who have not forgotten any of God's children.

In the evening we went out for a traditional Ethiopian dinner. The food was very good. It is served family style and you eat with your hands. It is rude to lick you fingers and belching at the table is acceptable. The food on the common dinner plate is very colorful. I tried just about everything that we were served. During dinner a
traditional Ethiopian band was playing. After dinner the music was accompanied by traditional dance. The dancing was extremely energetic and told a story. It was very enjoyable to see how rich the culture is here.

Today photographs were forbidden at both locations so I am including a couple photos of everyday life in Addis Ababa.