Ethiopia Day 2 - Firtuna

On our second day in Ethiopia we had plans to visit our little girl we sponsor - Firtuna.  We sponsor her through HopeChest.org if anyone is interested!

Firtuna  -  Friday, November 18, 2011

Had a great night sleep.  It gets cold at night.  I knew that from what I've read and heard.  But, it gets really cold at night!  Most places to stay do not have heat; electric but no heat.  Asked for another blanket :)

We were served a wonderful egg omelet, toast, and awesome coffee for breakfast.  Checked email and facebook.  And met Mollie, Becca and Kirk.  I knew of these families through their blogs so it was so nice to meet in person finally!

We took a walk to a nearby grocery for apple juice and milk.  Bought a chocolate bar - wishing we brought more chocolate with us.  Note for next time - bring lots of chocolate :)

Beky picked us up about 11 am to take us goat shopping and then head out to Kind Hearts care point.  Friday is a fasting day so many do not sell meat on this day.  We drove to Kebeta and searched for a goat.  Two hours later I finally asked Beky to please just take us to the care point so we could meet and play with Firtuna.

Goat Shopping - he travels in the trunk

Sharing the road

We finally arrived to Kind Hearts at 1 pm.  We were warmly welcomed by the mission team and in-country staff.  They directed us straight to Firtuna.

All the children (140) were all sitting quietly on the ground enjoying their goat stew and injera.  This was a very special meal for them provided by the mission team/sponsors.  The children were loving it; scooping stew into their mouths quickly following it with bottle soda - another special treat.

I couldn't believe it when I saw her!  She was wearing a shirt that I bought her and sent in a care package.  She shyly looked at us and immediately looked away.  Karen Wistrom, leader of the team, told me not to worry - that she knew exactly who I was and to just give her a few minutes.

It didn't take long.  She slowly approached me and stood by my side while I fussed over her.  Within a few minutes she was constantly by my side, holding my hand.

Koen and Frank helped pass out food to the children; lined up like an assembly line passing plates along.  Koen was happy and eager to help with this.  He makes me so proud at how good his heart is.

After lunch we played with all the children and attended one of Firtuna's class.  We helped them with a craft project and took lots of pictures.  The children loved having their pictures taken.  Breaking out into huge smiles when we showed them their picture on the camera - insisting on more.

The children loved having us; hanging on us, giving us hugs and kisses constantly.  They LOVED Koen and would call him by name.

It was a very special day for all of us.  Some of these children walk 45 minutes to get to the care point; 5 year olds walking alone on rock and dirt roads.  It's a very special place for them.

The children were beautiful; dirty with torn clothing, worn shoes - some mismatched.  Koen noticed right away that Firtuna shoes did not match.

We had a special meeting with Fikre, one of the directors at the care point.  He sat down with us along with Firtuna so we could present her with some gifts for her and her caretaker.

We asked who takes care of her (her mom), if she had siblings, how far away she lived.  Her mom is at home with her baby brother.  She lives about 5 minutes away.  We asked her how old she is.  She said 5.  She was 5 a year and a half ago when we started sponsoring her :)

Someone sent for her mom and she showed up to meet us.

We presented Firtuna with a bunch of gemmed barretts, socks and jeans.  We bought her mother hand lotion, soap, comb, chapstick, sewing kit, pocket tissues, slippers, toothbrush, toothpaste, nail kit, gum and a bag of dried apricots.  I put it all into a drawstring backpack.

When we met Firtuna's mom Fikre introduced us and gave her our care package.  She immediately embraced me tightly.  It was an emotional, touching meeting.  When we hugged I noticed how she smelled like a camp fire and I couldn't help but think of how she has to cook all of her food over an open fire having none of the conveniences I so take for granted.

Firtuna would seek me out through the afternoon; coming to me to hold my hand and every once in awhile I would feel her kiss the top of my hand.  When we took a group picture at the end of the day I searched for her and zoomed in with my camera to find her looking right at me smiling.

I can't express how grateful I feel to have been apart of their day.  A most wonderful experience.  I don't think I will ever forget the faces of those children.

Saying Goodbye

Koen saying goodbye to Billy.  Poor Billy will sacrifice himself on Monday to feed the children.  You know there is a question on a customs form one must fill out to re-enter the US - "did you handle livestock?"  oops.

Beky drove us back to BJoes and we took about 30 minutes to refresh and then met Mollie, Becca and Kirk at Lime Tree Restaurant for dinner.  Koen slept through dinner again :)

Side notes

 

Saw a few disturbing things on our drive today. A naked man on the side of the dirt road just crawling along. I asked Beky what this was about.  He said for 18 million people there is only one psychiatric hospital so the mentally ill are on their own.

And the horses in the middle of the street are infected.  They stand there so the cars driving by keep the flies from biting their infected areas.  The horses have no owners so no one to put them down.  They look so sad.

Met Yoftahe - one of the drivers.  Find that he attended a year at Lancaster Mennonite High in 1990.  Stayed with a foster family.  Need to check with Patrick and see if he knows him.