Made It to Ethiopia
Although I had viritually no access to the internet the past week, the time has been wonderful. The World Vision staff in Kenya and Ethiopia have been great. The hard part, really, is saying “good-bye” to them. We really get to know one another over our travels and I always feel a little teary when I have to leave.
The ADPs to which I have traveled in both Kenya and Ethiopia were approximately four hour drives. Fortunately, the roads were good--far better than in Uganda. I had a wonderful visit with Rael, the 15 year old girl that Beth and I sponsor in Kabernet which is due north of Nairobi. We drove by and then over the Great Rift Valley to get Kabernet which is in the mountains about the size of those in New Hampshire. When I arrived at Rael's home there was a big crowd--this clearly was a village event. I wish everyone of you who sponsor a child had the opportunity to visit your child. It is a wonderful experience and hard to describe. There is great joy, thanksgiving, and celebration. It's hard to leave. Today I had a great day visiting the two children that Beth and I sponsor in Ethiopia, Abaynah and Bereket. At Abaynah's there were a number of villagers who sang and danced as we arrived and little Abaynah had a sign around her neck with my name on it and in the back someone held a sign that read "We love you." It was a great visit and Abaynah is a sweet little girl. Her mother and father were very excited at the gifts. The WV staff helped me buy food stuffs and I bought a 50 lb bag of maize for each family in addition to cooking oil, salt, coffee beans, matches, candy and cookies. At the end when I prayed with the family, a tear ran down the father's cheek. Once again, it was hard to say "good-bye" to them. When I got to Bereket's house, there were fewer people, but they sang and danced as well. Bereket's father brought her out and handed her to me to hold, and I held her for the entire time I was there. She held on tightly as I watched the people dance outside, and then she sat on my lap inside their house. I don't think she said two words the whole time--she would just shyly look up at me once in a while and smile. I wanted to bring her back with me. Her mother and father were very excited as well. We had to walk to their house which was probably about 1/4 mile down hill in the process of which we had to jump over a stream. The bag of maize was too heavy to carry so they got a neighbor to bring it down on his donkey. By the way, there are zillions of donkey's in Ethiopia. They are beasts of burden and carry water, wood, and virtually anything else you can think of. They carry it on their backs and pull carts filled with things. It's interesting how different Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia are from one another geographically, agriculturally, climatically, and culturally. Kenya is probably the most well off, followed by Ethiopia, and lastly Uganda which seems to me to be far poorer than the other two, although I have seen the same kind of poverty in both Kenya and Ethiopia as I did in Uganda. It has probably been much more comfortable here in East Africa weatherwise than in Medfield. It is the rainy season in both Uganda and Ethiopia, and in Kenya it is winter, although their rainy season starts next month. In any case I would estimate that the temperatures have been between the low 60's and mid 70's. I am at a nice little hotel right now in some town about two hours north of Addis and am meeting with the two WV Ethiopia staff persons who are going to take me to the area that the well we are paying for through the 30 hour famine will be drilled. So I am looking forward to seeing the area, meeting some of the people, and taking pictures to show to you after I return. After the visit, they will drop me off at the Ghion Hotel in downtown Addis Ababa tomorrow afternoon and I should have an opportunity to walk around a bit and visit a market or two on Friday night and Saturday before my flight leaves. I want to thank everyone for your prayers--it truly has been a remarkable trip!
