The Hoying Water Project | A Glimmer of Hope

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The Hoying Water Project | A Glimmer of Hope

While I'm Waiting | John Waller

So, Greg and I are waiting... waiting on a call or email from our agency to tell us when we can go back to Ethiopia to pick up our boy. We are constantly praying for him, his health, his transitions from place to place and always wondering what time it is in Ethiopia and what he is probably doing. So while we wait, we have peace that he is in God's hands knowing that God is in control of all of this timing. This song has been on my mind constantly and I felt it appropriate to share.

Day Three Ethiopia Trip February 1, 2011

On Tuesday, our last day in Ethiopia, we woke up and had a leisurely morning and breakfast at the hotel. 

A photo of our hotel,  The Jemimah House

Around 10:00 a.m. we met Tsegaw, who would be our driver and tour guide for the day.  I cannot say enough about this man.  Everyone that we talked to absolutely loved him and by the end of the day, we did too!   Our friends said that he was a "rock star" and that he was.  He was funny, nice, very knowledgeable, well respected and the best possible person you would want to take you around the city.  So.. if you are ever in Ethiopia, you need to get together with this man.
First, we went to the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at the Addis Ababa University. 

The Institute of Ethiopian Studies

Addis Ababa University

It was interesting to see a college campus on the other side of the world, very similar to here I must say.  The institute was very beautiful.  We had a guide take us around and explain the exhibits.  I only understood about 1/3 of what he said but what I did get was very informative and interesting. There is so much diversity and history of Ethiopia which I would love to learn more of to share with Bejigo someday.  I was amazed at the fact that almost everything that we saw at the museum was so symbolic from their baptism rituals to their musical instruments.  After touring the museum, I gave Tsegaw my shopping list and he took us to some very specific stores to get the items that I wanted.  First off, a store to buy Bejigo an Ethiopian soccer jersey.  Very fun!  Then, Tsegaw took us to a silver shop for jewelry.  To enter this store, you had to walk underground and we would have never even seen this store without him.  As we entered the shop, I was amazed.  It was beautiful and all of the jewelry was handmade by the young man working there.  In this store, they just price the jewelry by weight.  So the owner would weigh the jewelry, make the calculation and then just show you the price on the calculator.  One of my favorite moments, was when I asked the owner how much for a specific piece of jewelry, Tsegaw looks at the calculator and says "we don't like that price," and then the owner re figures the price for us.  It was so great to have a trustworthy local there to help us out.

Next we went to lunch at the Lucy Resturant.  For those of you who don't know who Lucy is.  Lucy is
the skeletal remains of a female hominid, Australopithecus afarensis, found in Ethiopia in 1974 and dated at about 3 million years old. Lucy is the most complete australopithecine skeleton yet discovered, being about 40 percent intact.  So anyway, there is this restaurant at the museum where Lucy is. 

As we got out of the van, Tsegaw asked us if we wanted to stand on a turtle...was he serious???  Yep.  Here I am standing on top of this turtle.

It was beautiful outdoor gardens and then there was also a traditional house with tables inside.  We sat inside the traditional house which was amazing to see the craftsmanship that goes into one of those.  It was also interesting that although it was hot outside, about 70-80 degrees, it was nice and cool inside.  Tsegaw told us that because of how the leaves are on top of the house, it lets the warm air out and keeps it cool inside. 

Greg and I with Tsegaw

Inside the traditional house for lunch

Next, we headed to the music store where we purchased a CD from where Bejigo is from.  We asked them what the teenagers like to listen to there.  Their response, Michael Jackson and Beyonce.  So funny!  Then off to the spice store to purchase some berbere, a spice used in lots of Ethiopian dishes.  We were wondering of we would be able to get it into the US just because it was not marked and in a baggie, but we did.  

Tsegaw and I at the spice store

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our last shopping stop was a store to buy traditional clothes and then to a very neat cafe.  For those of you who know me,  I hate coffee, so I had a hot chocolate instead.  This was a new coffee shop opened by a famous singer who just came back from the US and opened it up a few months ago.  

 

We were pretty tired after our adventures in the city of Addis, so we went back to the hotel for dinner and packed up for our flight home later that night. Here were a few more pictures from around the city.  

Oops...I think something went wrong here

Pizza Hut...the only American franchise that I saw in Ethiopia

The main Christian Church

A fruit market

A barber shop.  We saw lots of these all over Ethiopia.  

 

 

We left Ethiopia for Amsterdam, Atlanta and then Dayton to find our van covered in 3/4 inch of ice.  I want to go back where it is warm!!!!! 

Day Two in Ethiopia January 31, 2011

After crashing to sleep from the previous day's activities, we woke up on Monday morning and had another good breakfast at the hotel.  We were then taken to the Holt Ethiopia offices to meet with the attorney who would be taking us to court.  The women working at the offices were very nice and working very hard for all of the adoptive families.  We were served coffee and tea.  We were instructed about what questions we would be asked by the judge and that she mostly wanted yes and no answers.  We were thinking though that Greg and I would go together as a couple before the judge...not so.  While waiting for out court appointment, we were able to look through Bejigo's file.  WOW!  Now I have more of an understanding of why this process takes so long.  In the file was all of the paperwork that we had compiled over months as well as it having to be translated into Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia.)  along with many other documents.  We found 2 very precious things in the file.  One was a picture of Bejigo at 2 months old, which would be the earliest picture that we have of him.  We also saw a picture of his birthmom.  What a beautiful woman!  He looks very much like her. Also at the office, I hear the song on their CD playing, "Thank you Lord, I thank you Lord!" which was so perfect timing for this whole experience and what was about to happen!

We then headed to the court, which was the highest court in Ethiopia.  When we pulled up to the building, this was not what I had expected.  It was just a plain building.  As we entered the building, we walked up several flights of stairs lined with people all looking very sad and upset.  There was one women in particular that caught both Greg and I's attention as we were walking.  She was sitting on the stairs, crying.  After discussing this with Greg, we think that she was Bejigo's birthmom, as we had just been staring at her picture 10 minutes before. 
We entered into a small room and sat down.  We did not wait very long and then our group of 4 couples were called in with the judge.  The judge was sitting down at a regular office desk.  She asked us a few questions such as, "Do we have other children? Do they know about this adoption? Are they happy about this adoption? Have we had adoption training? Have we met our child? Do we still want the child?"  Then, two of the families passed court, with us as being one of those families. Praise God!!!  The other 2 families were just missing a letter or signature so they will hopefully pass court in the next few weeks.  Then the judge said, "Then he is your son!!!"  We were ecstatic.  The moment that we have waited for for so long! 

 After the court hearing, we then went back to the hotel to change clothes and have lunch.  We were then taking out for a shopping trip.  There was a lot of traffic and it took us about 1 hour to get to where we were going.  The traffic was surprising.  The driving there is beyond anything that you can imagine.  No street signs, no traffic lights, just some sort of organized chaos that seems to work.  Drivers just politely honk their horns to get to where they need to be.  I also forgot to mention that their police are everywhere on the streets carrying machine guns! 

The men sitting in the blue camouflage were the police.

When we arrived at the shops, we had 40 minutes to shop.  I could have spent 40 minutes at one store.  They were filled with all types of fascinating items, clothes, hand carved art.  So our shopping was rushed, but I bought many great items including traditional clothes, sandals, a drum, Ethiopian crosses, a map, purse, t-shirt and other small things.  I felt like I was spending a lot of money but I really didn't just because 1 birr (Their 1 dollar bill) is only about 5 cents here.  So most items were very inexpensive!! I think that I spent 2000 birr total that day shopping!!!! 
While on this shopping trip, we encountered more beggars than we had anywhere else.  It was very hard.  They would come up to us on the street or in the van in a very non-threatening way asking for food or money. 
We then went back to our hotel for awhile and two other couples and us decided to go out for a nice dinner.  The hotel called a taxi for us but the taxi was running late, so one of the women at the hotel decided to drive us to the restaurant in her car.  There was not enough room for us all, so she made two trips.  Just a small taste of how sweet and generous the people are.  While riding to the restaurant, Avanti, I noticed the music playing in her car and I don't specifically remember the song that was playing it was a familiar Christian song. 
During dinner, which was wonderful Italian food, the power went out, but we were dining by candlelight so no big deal.  We were tired again from a long day and headed back to the hotel for bed.  Tomorrow.... sight-seeing around Addis Ababa with a rock star.... to be continued.

Day One of Ethiopia Trip January 29th and 30th 2011

After traveling approximately 24 hours, we arrived in Addis Ababa late Saturday night.  We checked into our hotel, which was beautiful, and attempted to sleep for a few hours. Besides the goats, cows, barking dogs, music playing, rock hard beds, and airplanes flying overhead, we kept noticing that you could actually hear the mosquitoes flying past your head.  So needless to say that we slept very little that night.  The next morning, we woke up and realized that our window was open and found dozens of mosquitoes in our room.  Not to worry though, we were taking our malaria medicine and you don't have to worry about getting malaria in Addis due to the altitude.  I immediately noticed the altitude as Addis Ababa, the capital city is 7546 ft high and I felt dizzy almost the entire time we were there.

That morning, we went down for breakfast at the hotel.  We were not sure what to expect.  The wonderful ladies at the hotel had prepared bread, fruit, fruit smoothie and other various things.  We ate some toast, and then one of the women brought us out french toast.  So we ate the french toast and then she brought us some syrup.....Oh well, was good anyway.    

At approximately 6:30 a.m.  we loaded up in a van with 2 other couples and headed out of the city to Durame, where Bejigo is currently living in an orphanage.  The drive down there took us approximately 6 hours on a mostly paved but very rough road.  Since we arrived in Addis late as night, I was not able to see much of the city as we drove to the hotel.  Now this morning, I got a taste of what life in Ethiopia is really like.  I saw so much poverty, more people than I have ever seen just walking.  Most people appeared to be walking looking for water for themselves or for their animals in the countryside carrying containers for water.  There were goats, donkeys and cows in the roads which the cars would slow down for, politely honk their horn, and then drive around.

I saw small children approximately 4 years old herding animals.  Children half dressed or with no clothes would be sitting out in a field apparently by themselves.  Men walk hand in hand as a sign of friendship.  Many people alongside of the road had their hands held out, which I thought they were trying to hitchhike, but apparently they were asking for help, food, money, etc.  Along the road we saw lots of Muslim mosques and churches.  There were different areas which would be mostly Muslim or Christian.

The countryside was absolutely stunning and not at all what I was expecting.  I thought that the land would be flat and dry, but on the way to Durame, it was mountainous and the farther south that we got, the more lush and green the land. Many of the houses were the traditional houses made with mud and wood and with thatched roofs.  I found these houses to be fascinating and beautiful.  I was told that 8-9 people may live in one of these houses with all of their animals and no separation between them.  If a man were rich, he would have a separate house for his animals.  We also saw men riding on horses and these men would be considered rich. 

Other houses were made with sticks or had tin roofs and were very small in size.  When we would arrive in a small town, people would lay out their items to sell on a sheet or blanket including clothes, shoes, and food.  As we drove, I found myself selfishly thinking how awful it would be to live like this, working so hard, living without running water or electricity, spending all day searching for water.  But the people of Ethiopia were so beautiful and kind and filled with joy.  They work together and there is such a sense of community among the people.  Two things that we rarely see in America.....people filled with joy despite how blessed they really are and a sense of community. I think that there is so much that we can learn from them. 
Along the road we stopped at a beautiful hotel to stretch our legs and get a drink.  Good thing that I brought my toilet paper with me as there was none available at most places.  We hopped back in the van and continued south.  At one point, we heard a "part" fall off of the car but did we stop.....No.  The driver just kept on driving.  If you know my husband Greg, his face was priceless thinking I can't believe that I part fell off and we did not stop!  The farther we drove, the van got louder and louder sounding like something was hitting it with a baseball bat.  We all began to wonder if we were actually going to make it to the orphanage to see our kids.  We then turned onto a gravel road and the drive got worse, not to mention the driver drives super fast and there are no lanes.  At one point, the driver got out of the van, got something out of the glove box to tie something dragging under the car up and then we proceeded down the road.  He had also stopped several times to add brake fluid to the van...not a good sign.  As we went around a mountain, we neared Durame, and our driver decided to stop for lunch.  At this point we were all anxious to meet our children. 

We enjoyed a Pepsi, which was good, but sweeter that ours here and a lunch of spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce.  After lunch, Greg tried to pass out some dum-dum suckers to the children on the streets who just overwhelmed Greg, snatched the suckers and took off as Greg yelled "Share with your friends." 
We finally arrived at the orphanage.  We got out of the van and entered the gates.  It was sort of like a compound with various buildings.  We were led through a beautiful garden like area to the entry way, where we were instructed to take off our shoes and put on some sandals. We entered the room and sat down in chairs.  One woman was preparing a coffee ceremony  for us and other nannies were present in the room.  There were two small boys sitting on the floor together and we wondered if one of them was Bejigo. I finally realized that IT WAS HIM sitting there!!!!!  I cried realizing that it was actually him and this moment that we had waited for for so long had finally come.  Oh how he had grown from the pictures that we had.  He sat with his weight shifted forward like he was just learning to sit up.  One of the nannies picked up the other boy and handed him to another couple.  Then the nanny picked up Bejigo and handed him to me!!!  He was so sweet and precious.  I could have held him there forever.  He was dressed in his traditional clothes.  His hair had grown from his last picture.  He was so clean and smelled so good.  His hair and skin were so soft.  He allowed us to hold him but was always looking around for his nannies.  He grabbed my fingers and my hair.  I could not see any teeth but definitely think that he was teething as he was slobbering on everything and had a runny nose. They would talk to him and say his name and he would just smile.  So precious!!!  He had a bad sounding cough, which w found out that he had just been in the hospital with pneumonia.  He loved Greg and just smiled at him and began cooing.  He laughed when Greg tickled his chubby little thighs and belly. After taking lots of pictures and cuddling for awhile, we went to another building were his room was.  He slept in a small room with a big window.  He had a small wood bed that was attached to two other beds with sweet baby girls in them. There was a mosquito net above his bed.   There was also a mattress on the floor that we used to sit down and feed him his bottle.  At first, one caregiver acted like she did not want to hand him over to me but Bejigo's head nanny told her to let me feed him which I was so happy about!  His main nanny, Sister Signat was so sweet.  You could just tell how very much she loved him and squeezed him tight.
I was so happy to know that he was so loved and taken care of.  We then met with the pediatrician and reviews his medical history. I was told that can roll, drinks milk from a bottle and juice from a cup or spoon,and sleeps and eats good. Our visit was very short, about 1 hour and then we were told that it was time to go.  I gave the nannies a blanket that I had made for him with his name on it which the nannies loved and a photo book that had pictures of us in it.  We gave him lots of hugs and kisses and told him that we loved him and that would be back soon to get him.

We got back in the van and headed back to Addis.  We arrived back in Addis at about 9:00 at night and immediately fell asleep.