July 6, 2010 8:30PM

Whew, obviously it has been awhile. I have written so much in my head

– jotted down notes of rememberance here and there.

But overall, what I’ve said before is just ringing truer and truer.

It’s all just too much.

Really. The poverty and devastation is just too much – my heart and

even my brain can’t process it all. Maybe enough to function and “take

in” life here, but not nearly enough to process it and then put it on

paper.

There aren’t any words. Which is why pictures have been my method of

communication these past few weeks.

(Plus I have this horrible blogging disease – where I lose my filter –

I start typing and say more than I maybe should. This is the number

one reason the old blog went buh-bye. Hard to write but not write.

Hard to say but not say. I am more of a verbal vomitter when it comes

to blogging. Ha…just what everyone should read!)

I feel like Josie is in much of the same place as me. When I try to

fish for information to see what SHE is processing and taking in, I

ask things like “what do you like about Ethiopia?” or “does Ethiopia

look like Dallas?” and she says things like “church” and “yes”…and

that’s it. Haha I see it in her eyes as we are out and about – she is

taking so much in. I asuume, though, that she and I are processing at

about the same speed right now…super super slow.

Yesterday began our week long Vacation Bible School at International

Evangelical Church (IEC). Our team is heading up the weeklong program

for 4 year olds through 12 year olds. We have about 80 kids coming,

and Jeremiah and I are in charge of all the music. David and T, two

Ethiopian college guys are helping.

It is hilarious.

We are using a VBS curriculum that has solidified my belief that my

mom should copyright and sell all the original curriculums she has

written…these songs and stories and skits are killing me.

Curriculum!!!

But that’s okay. The kids are enjoying their days and we are cracking

up while doing a motion (from the curriculum) for almost every word of

every song. To watch these kids try to keep up with this many motions

is so funny! To watch us is probably even funnier.

So yesterday and today started reasonably early…as we have to be at

the church by 8:30…we live about 30 minutes away from the church…break

that down into a 10 minute walk to the taxi stop/underpass Tur High

Loch and about 10 minutes of standing in the mud, haggling with

contract taxis, OR waiting for a mini bus then about a 10 to 15

minutes ride in the vehicle you piled yourself and your children and

your backpack and your laptop into.

I can’t quite put my finger on what makes getting ready and out the

door with two kids early in the morning harder in Ethiopia…to be

honest, before we boarded that plane out of the US, I hadn’t mastered

this small feat in Dallas. Figuring out getting myself ready, getting

a 3 year old fed, ready, and occupied while feeding and getting ready

an infant before 10AM was still pretty daunting. That reads so

pathetic. But it should read very true. At least for me.

Anyway, so getting up and ready and out the door to catch a taxi to

VBS these past two days has been a little eventful. But so far we’ve

made it.

It’s 8:30PM now and Jeremiah is still at the church/school. Poor guy!

He will pull two 12 hour days this week. VBS from 8:30-Noon, teaching

his class from 2-4:45PM and then two days this week (same as every

week) leading a discussion group for Dr. Andersons class from

5:00PM-7:45PM…taxis at night seem to be crammed and take much longer

to catch, so he will probably not be home until 9:30 or so. KILLER!

To pass the time alone, I am watching Aljazeera news. Now there’s

something I’ve never said before! (I won’t have to watch long, though,

because the World Cup semi final starts soon!! Go Netherlands! ☺ )

June 29, 2010

10:00PM

Wow.

Today we met a hero.

Really really amazing.

We went on a tour of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital today, and we

met and got to visit with Dr. Catherine Hamlin.

I can’t think of any words in my vocabulary to adequately describe

this woman and the impact she is making in Ethiopia.

She has been called a “new Mother Theresa of our age” by the New York

Times. Oprah has interviewed her and given money for a building on the

grounds. She knows the Queen.

I was speechless meeting her. I mumbled out, “it is such an honor to

meet you”, but just as soon as I got those words out, tears found

their way onto my cheeks and I was done for.

Truly amazing. I am still stunned that we got to speak with this very

normal and yet extraordinary woman.

I have stored away all that we saw and heard about at the Fistula

Hospital, and I will revisit it all often in my head and heart, I’m

sure. My sensitivities were for sure heightened as I walked the

hospital grounds wearing my own little Lucy Dawn.

This is an issue that breaks my heart. Women, some very very young

women going into labor days away from a hospital. Their bodies needing

assistance in delivery, so they labor for days…the baby dies in the

birth canal and causes great damage to the Mama’s body…she is left

(among many things) broken hearted, and an outcast, because now she

constantly leaks urine and/or feces.

Women come from ALL over to get surgery to fix this situation at the

Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital that Dr. Hamlin founded and continues to

operate at. (side note – she is EIGHTY SIX!!!) Fathers and brothers

literally carry their broken hearted, hurting, smelly and frail

daughters and sisters for days to bring them to the hospital.

Not one is turned away.

These women wait on the grounds in front of the hospital until they

are admitted and examined before getting a bed and having their

surgery scheduled.

As we walked up to the office for our tour, we passed dozens of women,

wrapped in blankets, face downcast, and wet cement and puddles under

them all.

It’s too much.

But wow. To meet a woman who is doing so much to heal. Not just these

women, but the way the hospital cares and educates truly is changing

Ethiopia.

I still can’t believe we met her. We’ll have to be sure to have Lucy

read her autobiography someday since her hand was kissed by Dr.

Hamlin. ☺ If you haven’t read it, I cannot recommend any higher her

book, The Hospital By The River. You will not regret reading it,

educating yourself and finding a way to be involved in what God is

doing through Dr. Hamlin and her hospital.

P.S. The other thing worth noting from today is that a large light

fixture fell in the kitchen. Josie and I were making pizza dough and

Lucy was laying on a blanket on the floor. I layed Lucy down for a nap

in her bed, and when I came back to the kitchen Josie was playing with

her princesses next to Lucy’s blanket. I asked her to help me again

with the dough, so she came to the other side of the kitchen and as

she helped me stir, the light fixture went CRASH on the floor. She

screamed, and cried. I was stunned. Her princesses were covered in

glass, little tiny pieces were on Lucy’s blanket. But no one was hurt.

Just in the knick of time. Thank you Lord. And can I just say what in

the world is my problem with being overseas and lightbulbs breaking?!

June 24, 2010

Heather, Lucy and I spent the morning exploring an area of town called

“Bole” (Bow-lay) – a long stretch of road leading to the airport.

Supposedly this is a wealthier, newer area of town. We have heard lots

of people talk about Bole, so we decided to check it out for

ourselves.

We met and had a macchiato at Kaldi’s and then walked and walked and

walked. Most impressive, was a public trash can! I can’t say there was

any trash IN it, but it was the first public trash can I’ve seen!

Three children were our shadows for about six blocks, even waiting for

us while we went inside a shop.

Begging is fine with me – being pushy is another thing.

We had given them biscuits as well as coins, and they continued to

follow us…and then one of the boys unzipped the front pocket of my

backpack and that was enough.

We asked an adult to ask them to stop following us. It made me sad,

but it was the only way. I hated it though.

After our adventures on Bole Road, we went to the Deborah House, which

is an SIM run home for a handful of homeless girls to grow up in.

It’s located “near” (a relative term here) the guesthouse.

It was a very simple house, with a housemother and 12 teenage girls

making it their home. Iron bunk beds, two picnic tables, outside

toilets and “showers”, no decorations, one tv and a corner designated

for the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

The girls loved my two girls and through broken English they had a blast.

It could be very detrimental how nuts everyone here is over Josie.

They go nuts over Lucy too, but she’s a little young for it to make

too much of an impact. ☺

I wasn’t paying close attention to the time, so we left a little later

than I had planned. And since we were gone all day, we had to figure

something out fast for dinner. Darn. Where’s Chick Fil A when you need

it? We walked awhile and the sun was starting to go downwards so we

quickly made our way into Loyal, the grocery store/restaurant we

shopped at while living at the guesthouse, and ordered two Fantas to

sip while we waited for our pizza “take away”…hmm…”pizza” should be in

quotes too!

As Josie downed her Fanta and the power went out, I looked outside and

saw the rain POUND down on the pavement. Hmmm, getting dark, two small

pizza boxes, two small children no cell phone, husband in class and

pouring rain.

After a quick pep talk trying to hype myself up for what was sure to

be a lovely walk to find a taxi, we did just that. And we found a taxi

that drove us all the way to our house gate.

Ahhh….long, good day. Glad to be home, glad to have the girls in bed,

glad Jeremiah will be home soon to eat “pizza” and very glad to be in

dry clothes.

(pictures sent 7/1)

A new friend made on our hot 3 mile hike through fields and hills and green green grass in Debrazeit (sp?) - by Lake Bubagaya.

Papa and Josie appreciating the view from a 2,000+ year old tree. SO huge and SO old.

Josie enjoying a splash with Julie in Bubagaya Crater Lake (Josie stayed in the closed-in "pool" part). Papa swam in the 75+ feet deep Crater Lake. YIKES!

Mama not even contemplating getting into that water :) Trying to soothe a baby's aching tummy instead.

Josie playing "King of the Sword!" (??) on the multitude of steps at SIM's retreat center on Lake Bubabgaya

Jeremiah, happy to use his knife, making a spear out of bamboo to get some fish. It was a good thought.

Contract Taxi Ride. Pretty sure we've got a thumb-sucker on our hands. AH!!!

Josie barefoot and out the backdoor cleaning, making soup, and missing her cousins who she knows would LOVE this life.

Jeremiah, Mary, Tommy (L-R) passing our "neighbors" homes and walking the 10 minute trek to Tur High Loch, the underpass where we pick up mini-bus taxis.

Josie tree-hugging the lone tree in the front yard while she waited for the turtle (which we found out in Amharic...EEllie=turtle. Awesome.)

Making Pizza Dough (please note solution to always holding Lucy)

The near-miss disaster. Light fixture out of no where just fell from the ceiling (what is my deal with light bulbs?!) Thanking God that Lucy had just been laid down for a nap and Josie had left her princess play to come back to making pizza dough. Princess Belle was not so lucky. Mama was a little shaken up. Tiny pieces of glass all over Lucy's blanket. Literally fell right where Josie was playing 2 minutes before.

Lucy's method of transportation - the Beco. A happy Beco Baby, though. Cooing and laughing and raising eyebrows in expression all the time.

Teacher Jeremiah discussing Old Testament Sacrifices and Jesus' sacrifice with a student on a break to grab coffee before class resumed. (note the massive puddles...rainy season...Mama and Lucy got SOAKED walking to class)

Survey of Bible Doctrine class. Jeremiah teaching the Doctrine of Salvation.

All of Jeremiah's students. For many, this is their very first college course. They love him! (and they loved meeting Lucy too!) They all have offered him a full time position as their teacher. :)

A little debriefing after class.

Sisters spending a good morning hour playing and reading in Josie's bed.

Jeremiah prepping for class in the office out by the laundry room

Josie loving rainy season.

June 21,2010

Yesterday we moved into “our” house! Technically we moved in last

night, although the move started after church.

We left the gusthouse with gusto…it is a really great place, just not

that appealing for a family with two small children…so we were pumped

to move into our new house.

The house is on the opposite side of town from the guesthouse, so we

will have to learn new mini bus stops, among other new things.

So we drove down a bunch of confusing side-streets and finally

entered our gate and pulled into the drive. We quickly unloaded our

bazillion bags (between Tommy, Mary and us I think we had 10 or so)

and went to get the key from the “next door neighbor” (this is called

a neighborhood, but all houses are hidden behind big cinder block

walls topped with barbed wire and locked aluminum gates, so “next door

neighbor” seems a little too friendly).

That’s when the day got interesting …

The people we are renting from were somewhere in the air on their way

to Canada for 4 months, and the keys to the house were no where to be

found.

The daily rain had started and we found ourselves under awnings and

rationing fruit snacks for Josie to pass the time and stay dry.

After two hours of waiting and the guys all trying to track down the

keys (knocking on neighbors gates, calling the guards, the

houseworker, etc), we finally got a key.

But the key wasn’t our ticket inside. Vic and Jeremiah drove all the

way across town to meet the houseworker to borrow her key, and then

drove all the way back only to discover the keys wouldn’t open the

doors.

Whhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyy?????

Pouring Rain.

Locked Outside.

Darkness.

Our laughing gradually faded into frustration.

We were all thrilled and pretty tired when Tefsa, the head guard,

walked through the gate jingling a set of keys. Turns out, he was

expecting us on Saturday night, not Sunday afternoon…ah, how simple it

would have been if we would have had cell phones to text.

Solutions to problems in Ethiopia are a looooong process. This is not

your typical microwave-I-want-it-I-get-it America, that’s for sure.

We drug ourselves, our children (in our case at least) and our luggage

inside and with all of the excitement of having our own space, we

pretty much forgot about the hassle of just getting through the door.

Tesfa, the head guard, has two extra thumbs, and is very smart. He has

a business degree, but because of his extra thumbs, he cannot find

work. Isn’t that awful? Ugh, it is so frustrating to me the way people

with the most minute differences are shunned here. They are given a

limit.

I know too many people with differences and disabilities that are

making beautiful contributions to those around them and constantly

exceeding the limitations that their situations bring. Seeing that

Tesfa just has two extra thumbs, but no chance to succeed here is kind

of infuriating.

Not only that, but he is kind and really thoughtful.

Tonight was a long night. And about an hour after we finally got

inside, Tesfa knocked on the door offering to go get groceries for us.

He felt so badly that we were locked out of the house for so long. It

was so sweet of him to offer and I quickly wrote down a list so we

could have some bread for dinner and at least eggs for breakfast

tomorrow. Oh, and a couple Fantas…Josie’s Ethiopian beverage of choice

(she’s NEVER had this much soda…EVER!!! But when you can’t drink water

everywhere and the camelbak is empty, you drink Fanta. Then you brush

your teeth. A lot.)

So he walked to the store for me, and an hour later, we had bread,

bananas, water, eggs and Fanta! We were set!

Ah…it’s nice to be (in a) home.

I’m yawning though, that’s for sure. Ready to hit the sack fast.

June 20, 2010

Last night we went to a “forengi friendly” restaurant called Island

Breeze in an area of town called Piassa. Jeremiah had heard they made

pizza that actually tastes like the kind of pizza we eat at home.

Aaaaaand, since he is currently going through self-diagnosed pizza

withdrawals, we piled into a mini bus and set out to heal his ache.

The mini bus let us out a bit early, so we had to walk maybe a quarter

mile to the restaurant.

On our walk, we passed two small children on beggar’s mats, counting change.

I have a very hard time not giving to the beggars. On a quick 5 minute

walk between a mini bus drop off and a mini bus pick up, it’s typical

to pass maybe 25 or more beggars on mats on both sides of the

sidewalk. Some are amputees, some living with deformed limbs, some

blind, some laying under blankets next to very small children, some

very small children themselves, some just average looking people

begging.

I think I’ve said before that often while we are on the streets, my

eyes and attention are predominately downward. As in, on Josie, and on

the ground my feet (that I cant really see) are stepping on. So while

Jeremiah is looking upwards leading us, seeing billboards and stop

lights and buildings, I’m seeing beggar after beggar down on the

ground.

So back to the two little kids we saw tonight.

They were making stacks of coins on their mats, and since it was the

end of the day, I figured they were counting up their days “earnings”.

They weren’t begging, directly, but it was clear that they were

beggars by the position of their mats, the clothes on their backs, and

the dirt on their faces.

So, I gave them each some money.

I thought I gave them each 1Birr, which is 1/13 of a US dollar,

basically, but much more than a coin’s worth. Instead, I gave the boy

1Birr and accidentally gave the girl 5Birr. BIG deal.

Her eyes got wide and I realized what I did, but no matter – I smiled

and kept walking. I was happy to give, especially because they weren’t

pushy or rude…I did glance over my shoulder though, and I watched her

run very quickly to a man nearby and eagerly hand him the bill. He

took it, added it to a wad in his hand, and shoved them all into his

pocket. She then ran back to her mat to continue counting.

My heart sunk. And scenes from Slumdog Millionare and August Rush

flashed through my mind.

He was her bookie. Or often referred to as her pimp.

I was had.

It sickened me to watch a scene like that play out right before me. I

tried not to let my mind completely wander with her life’s

hypothetical scenarios, but it was hard.

Would she get more bread tonight because she earned an extra 5Birr?

Would she escape abuse tonight because of her extra addition to the

man’s end-of-day-tally? Would she see any of that money?

Another virus, another face to go with it.

I cried for the rest of the walk. I think the past two weeks have

caught up with me. I kept saying to Jeremiah, “It’s just too much.

It’s too much”.

And it really is. It is too too much for us.

Not for Him, but for us.

I told Jeremiah over dinner (which he very much enjoyed – fire baked

pizza rivaling Fireside Pies, maybe? Mmmm maybe not.) that if we ever

live in Ethiopia, I would hands down HAVE to be involved in helping

the children here. It is obvious so many, maybe even most, live in

captivity.

Captivity of all kinds – one of which is just the cyclical pattern

they are thrust into. There is great need for a total re-education of

what life can be like…that it doesn’t have to be the same as mom’s or

dad’s or grandma’s or grandpa’s. There is freedom to be had. There is

unique giftedness that is being wasted. There are little hands that

were made for specific things. Instead lots of those hands are

extended on the side of the road begging.

I tried to sort through my thoughts at dinner, but it really was and

is “too much”.

I understand, though, why on the whole “global social justice” is on

the top of most Christian college students’ interests.

It has been a long time since I’ve been to a third world country. And

before this trip, my short term trips (excluding Ukraine) were well

organized group trips. Which essentially means there was a well placed

buffer of familiarity. Understandable for highschoolers, I guess, but

I’m not so sure anymore.

This trip is different. This trip is in your face. Ethiopia up close

and personal. It may be just for six weeks. But we really live here.

We grocery shop (that’s interesting – and expensive!), we cook (often

without electricity), we walk the muddy streets, we get wet in the

rain, we try to catch the mini buses (and get booted out of line by

over eager and slightly rude individuals), we use dial up, etc etc. No

one is trying to make it easier. No one is holding our hand as we take

baby steps.

We are really here. And for the most part, without a buffer.

It is helping me to really SEE where we are, and although it is too

much for me, it’s very beneficial.

All that to say, my heart is once again heavy as I get ready to lay my

head down on a comfy pillow placed neatly on a big bed sitting pretty

in an enclosed home surrounded by a secure fence and gate in Ethiopia.

(pictures sent 6/24)

Josie lost in translation about to play tag between services at church

After being held (basically) for 2 weeks straight, we are working on a solution...this one is not a winner.

The first batch of laundry on the clothesline...burp cloths of course.

What helps Ellie sleep at night. Our gate. (and guards quarters on far right)

Our kitchen.

Jeremiah grading his student's first papers in the dining room.

Josie enjoying the tv (and dvds) in the living room.

Eating next to Samone, a friend of our next door neighbors in Dallas!

Appreciation Injera Lunch for Rainy Season ETC teachers...Josie being delightful :)

Waiting for the Cheesy Lentil Bake to well, bake. Too bad the oven has no legible settings. That was fun.

Happy (late) Father's Day to Papa! (had to wait for the sports shop to get the water bottle in to give it!)

Josie feeding our house's pet turtle that lives in the red bushes and comes out every once in awhile for a tomato.

USA! USA! Josie jumping for joy right after we scored! YES!

Enjoying a late night snack of the tortillas Mama made dipped in honey that Mama did not make.

Jeremiah is making me send this picture of his dinner. hahahahahaha I think we miss Chuy's :)