Adoption Blog

Letter From Rachel

Wednesday April 30

Happy Easter!

April 27 was Ethiopian Easter…so of course we had to celebrate American style and Ethiopian style.  American:  the children had their first ever Easter egg hunt!  A family brought us all the eggs and candy to be able to do this, and it was a blast.  The children weren’t sure what was going on, but they knew that candy was involved.  No egg was left undiscovered.  Ethiopian:  Ethiopians fast for 2 months before Easter…no dairy and meat, amongst other things.  So, Easter Sunday is celebrated with a huge feast.  Many Ethiopians buy a sheep to make their stews and sauces.  The TH staff and children enjoyed a special lunch that day.  Then we took the older children out for ice cream!  Next, on to Fortuna’s (TH nurse & director) for dinner….and ate more sheep.

Letter from Rachel

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Transition Home Happenings

Over the weekend, we celebrated the birthday of one of the children living at the transition home.  Fortuna, Barrett, and I took the nine older children out for pizza and ice cream.  What a treat!  They weren't exactly sure how to eat the pizza at first, but they quickly got the hang of it!  The children love being out and about and were so happy to walk down the street wearing their birthday hats.  It was an honor for the TH staff to celebrate with this child…to let him know how special and loved he is, and how thankful to God we are for his life.

Cultural Lesson:  Food

A Meal in Ethiopia
A meal in Ethiopia is an experience. Like any other part of their culture, it is community oriented and relational!  And it all revolves around injera.  What is injera?  It is the sourdough pancake-like bread of Ethiopia.  It uses a grain called Tef, which is not found in the United States.  Injera serves many purposes….not only is it consumed as part of the meal, it is also a "tablecloth" or plate, and an eating utensil.  The injera is spread out on a mesob, a handmade wicker table/tray with a dome cover.  The entire mesob of injera is covered with an assortment of individual stews and sauces, which contain meats, vegetables, and lentils (see picture!).  Ethiopians are known to prepare the hottest and most peppery food in all of Africa, using what is called Ber-beri spice.  To eat, you tear off a piece of injera roll and use it to grab your choice of food (feel free to mix)…then, put it all into your mouth!  Everyone eats from the same table.  Don't be surprised if the person sitting beside you wants to feed you…this is very cultural.  The word belonging to this act is "Enibla" which means "let's eat together."  When all the food and injera have been consumed, the meal is over!  Of course, then comes coffee…

Letter from Rachel

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Transition Home Happenings
We are happy to announce that we have hired a teacher at the transition home!  His name is Michael…he is a Christian, fluent in English, and is in his third year of college in order to become a teacher.  Michael will be coming four mornings a week and working with the children on their English, reading, writing, and Bible studies.  It is our hope that this further prepares the children for their adoptive families.

Child Interview: Life here from a 10-year old girl’s perspective
What do you like about the Transition Home?    I’m very happy living here.  I like to play with the kids and the toys.  I love all the staff and I don’t like it when some of them leave to go to their homes at night.

What is something you love to do?  I love going to church.  I wish I could spend the whole Sunday there.  I like learning lots of things.  Last week we learned that we have to respect the things God has given us.  Plus, after church we get to go to the pastry shop and eat cakes and drink orange soda.

What do you think America will be like?  (with a huge smile) I think the country is beautiful.  I have seen pictures of the beach and lakes, but they also seem kinda scary.

Why are you excited about being adopted?  Because I love my adoptive family and I’m ready to see them.

What will you want your new family to know about Ethiopia?  I will tell them how much I love the people in Ethiopia.  I can teach them about the cultural dresses and the food.

Letter From Rachel

Transition Home Happenings

Some exciting things having been going on around here!  God has brought AWAA together with a new organization called Kingdom Vision International (KVI).  As stated on their website, KVI is “a Christian organization committed to the relief, development, and advocacy of disadvantaged children and their families.”  During the past two weeks I have been able to spend time with the KVI director and visit at their office and orphanage in Nazareth.  It has been fun to dream and discuss our partnership together, which has just become official!  We will not only be partnering with them in getting orphans adopted into their forever families, but also supporting their work to keep children with their families and to see those families thrive.  KVI’s vision is to serve children holistically through child sponsorship and family empowerment.  We praise God and believe that He will do great things as we join together with KVI.

Letter from Rachel

Transition Home Happenings

We’ve had three families here over the past week, which is always an exciting time!  We love showing off the home and staff here, and we are blessed by the many clothes, toys, and other essential items that are brought!  Currently we are fortunate that one of the adoptive fathers is a practicing pediatrician, with a lot of medical mission’s experience.  Obviously there are many health concerns that come about with orphans.  The doctor did a full examination on all the children, educated our staff on common health issues in orphanages, and taught us how to best care for the children amongst these challenges.  We are excited about the continued development of programs here at the transition home, and at the top of our list is certainly the health of your children. 

Meet our Nurse, Fortuna – She is THE WOMAN!

We praise God for Fortuna!  She is far more than the nurse here.  It is obvious that God provided far more than a "nurse", as she also functions as director of the home by taking care of all employee and home management.  Dedicated to and adoring of the children, she often spends the night to watch over a sick child.  She is such a faithful employee who puts every bit of her heart into caring for the children, home, and staff.

Letter from Rachel

Updates

On Monday we traveled to Ambo, a town about an hour outside of Addis Ababa. It is such a beautiful drive out in the mountains and countryside.  We visited with an organization called New Hope Centerfor Children and Handicapped.  On their property they have a school and a residential facility for approximately 60 children.  The children are ages 5-12. We also visited an SOS orphanage, an organization that has orphanages all over Ethiopia.  Lastly, we visited the Kale Heywet church which is the sponsoring church for Compassion International.  They serve almost 300 children through this program, and we were able to play with the children for a bit.  All in all, it was a very fulfilling day!  Our vision is that these places will be great to take the Visiting Orphans mission teams.  We also visited another orphanage in Addis Ababa, and are hopeful to partner with them in placing orphans with their forever families.

Letter from Rachel

Updates
Last Friday we picked up 6 new children from the orphanage; 3 little babies and 3 girls between the ages of 4 and 6.  We now have 17 children total!  It’s definitely fun to have a full house and our current children were happy to get more children to play with!  (thank goodness for earplugs…they start playing EARLY!)  It has been very cool to watch the children adjust to us…initially many of them were scared by our white faces kissing on theirs!  If we don’t serve any other purpose around here, at least we can help them become accustomed to what they will be seeing a lot of once they are in America!