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| Sweet girl I saw. Couldn't resist a photo. |
Today was the long awaited visit to the Compassion project that we support in Akaki. Akaki is a district of Addis, but a much more rural and poor area. It is more what you would see on something like World Vision with the tiny tin shacks with no lights, one bed and maybe a few items inside. No real roads to places, but you drive anyway.
Lyle and I visited Akaki in May 2007 and enjoyed ourselves a lot. We've never forgotten the experience, the sites and the amazing visit we had with workers, children and especially our sponsor family. We have come to refer to them as a sponsor family, and not a sponsor child, because it is something in which you really do support the whole family. Sponsor one child enables the whole family to benefit during food shortages, need for medical care, education and learning about God.
As we got further from the city and into the more rural area, Lyle and I were able to recognize easily where we were and the homes we had previously seen. We arrived at the project and enjoyed meeting some of the new staff and seeing a couple of the staff we met previously. Not as much detail was done in going through accounting books and history of things as we had done that before, but they did recognize that both Lyle's and my mom hadn't been there and needed to know things as well. It was during this time that we gave them just over 100 pounds of donations, mostly school supplies and specific curriculum packages they requested. It was a very cool experience and we thank everyone who contributed to this, even in the smallest way.
We were getting ready for a coffee (bunna) ceremony and popcorn (fendisha) which is served only at special occasions when my mom's sponsor child came in. She had the most gorgeous smile and was beaming she was so happy to meet her sponsor. Her mother was with her. Tears of joy were flowing from the two, as well as my mom. There was so much gratitude and happiness. It was a real neat thing to watch as an outsider, which I had not done before.
The next two sponsor children arrived, together with their moms. One was Lyle's mom's child and the other was one of ours. Both were older than we expected so they were almost hard to recognize. They were beautiful young teens. Lyle's mom was beaming and you could really see the love shared between her and her child. For us, it was nice to meet a girl (Eskedar) that we had been writing for almost five years. It was also nice to see how she had grown since our only photo of her was still from when we started sponsoring her. Eskedar and Lyle's mom's child are very close friends, which was good for us as I ended up being tied up with Mihret a lot that I could not sit and visit easily with Eskedar all the time.
We enjoyed coke, water and coffee together. The kids sang traditional songs to us. Eskedar did a solo song as well and has an amazing voice. She really enjoys singing and is in the church choir. You could see her mom watching and filling with pride.
We had a small tour of the grounds and saw the large building (but very small by Canadian standards) used for hosting more than 2,000 people on Sundays for church. Incredible! While playing on the playground that would never meet Canadian safety requirements, Yisakor arrived. It was a true joy and my heart lept when I saw him. It was different with him because we've sponsored him for so long, and we met him and his family on our last trip. He had grown so much, but you could still see the same boy in his face.
Although Mikiyas and Yisakor had never previously met, they were attached like two peas in a pod. They played together. They ran together, often with their arms around each others waists. When we had lunch together, they even shared a chair. They were stuck like glue. Yisakor, thankfully, understood some English so they could do some minimal communicating. But their love and respect for each other went much deeper than I can ever describe. It was something you watched in awe.
Before starting the home visits and lunch, Lyle went with our hosts to the market and bought each family 100kgs of teff flour. Each 100kg bag was carried by one man, one the back of his shoulders/neck area. That was incredible too. Each bag is worth three months of salary but the time it will last depends on the size of the family. We got some cool pictures of kids all sitting together on the bags.
The first home visit was Yisakor's. He lived the furthest from the project and also had the nicest home, but nothing any of us or you would desire to live in. His was nicer due to inheritance and support from the community as his mom hosts weekly meetings and out of town special visitors when requested. Yisakor's mom was wearing black and in mourning as her brother had recently died. We gave Yisakor his back pack and all his treats from Canada. As we suspected, his soccer ball and his soccer t-shirt were his favorite. Mikiyas and him, always attached, went to his room, which Mikiyas later realized was the only bedroom and was shared by the entire family and the dining table. Mikiyas soon came back out to ask if we could send him toys from Canada as Yisakor had 3 toys. It was eye opening for Mikiyas to say the least.
The visit didn't go too long and we gathered each child and their mothers and headed for lunch at the Crowne Hotel. Here we had traditional Ethiopian, with no power. We also were often fed by our sponsor children and their mothers. To be fed by someone is an honor and is something of deep friendship. We fed fourteen people food, each having a drink, paid tax and tip, for $60.00 USD.
After lunch we headed back for home visits. First we said good bye to Yisakor and his mother. Tears were shed, pictures were taken and Mikiyas too was quite sad. He loved spending time with Yisakor and wanted to spend the rest of the day with him. It felt like it was cut too short.
My mom's child was the first home visit after lunch. A tiny house, but clean and tidy. She enjoyed receiving her new back pack and the gifts my mom brought her. Her home was a traditional home, made of mud and straw, as we saw the others to be too. The girl continued to beam and hold my mom's hand, never letting go. A truly thankful and joyful girl.
We then went to Eskedar's house. It too was very small, but this time one wall was attached to another home. It looked like it was a very small back room behind a curtain. Somehow we fit at least a dozen people into a room smaller than Mikiyas's bedroom. This room served as their bedroom, dining, living ..... Eskedar had grown so much so some of her items we gave her were a little young for her. She was so grateful regardless. But what she didn't know yet was that I had another idea for her before we left.
Finally we went to Lyle's mom's child's home. We had some more laughs there and enjoyed the final round of coffee (having had some at every house) and popcorn. The child's older brother had a lot of fun with Mihret. She really liked playing with him outside and it gave my arms a break. The mother was in black and in mourning as well as her husband (the dad) had died only one month and ten days prior.
It was time to say our goodbyes and drive off. As we left I gave Eskedar my Roots Canada hoodie jacket I had bought for the trip. She was thrilled and had it around her quickly. She had tears, as did I, and we embraced many times. It will be a joy to write her, and the others, when we get home, and send all the kids photos of the visit.
Lyle and I visited Akaki in May 2007 and enjoyed ourselves a lot. We've never forgotten the experience, the sites and the amazing visit we had with workers, children and especially our sponsor family. We have come to refer to them as a sponsor family, and not a sponsor child, because it is something in which you really do support the whole family. Sponsor one child enables the whole family to benefit during food shortages, need for medical care, education and learning about God.
As we got further from the city and into the more rural area, Lyle and I were able to recognize easily where we were and the homes we had previously seen. We arrived at the project and enjoyed meeting some of the new staff and seeing a couple of the staff we met previously. Not as much detail was done in going through accounting books and history of things as we had done that before, but they did recognize that both Lyle's and my mom hadn't been there and needed to know things as well. It was during this time that we gave them just over 100 pounds of donations, mostly school supplies and specific curriculum packages they requested. It was a very cool experience and we thank everyone who contributed to this, even in the smallest way.
We were getting ready for a coffee (bunna) ceremony and popcorn (fendisha) which is served only at special occasions when my mom's sponsor child came in. She had the most gorgeous smile and was beaming she was so happy to meet her sponsor. Her mother was with her. Tears of joy were flowing from the two, as well as my mom. There was so much gratitude and happiness. It was a real neat thing to watch as an outsider, which I had not done before.
The next two sponsor children arrived, together with their moms. One was Lyle's mom's child and the other was one of ours. Both were older than we expected so they were almost hard to recognize. They were beautiful young teens. Lyle's mom was beaming and you could really see the love shared between her and her child. For us, it was nice to meet a girl (Eskedar) that we had been writing for almost five years. It was also nice to see how she had grown since our only photo of her was still from when we started sponsoring her. Eskedar and Lyle's mom's child are very close friends, which was good for us as I ended up being tied up with Mihret a lot that I could not sit and visit easily with Eskedar all the time.
We enjoyed coke, water and coffee together. The kids sang traditional songs to us. Eskedar did a solo song as well and has an amazing voice. She really enjoys singing and is in the church choir. You could see her mom watching and filling with pride.
We had a small tour of the grounds and saw the large building (but very small by Canadian standards) used for hosting more than 2,000 people on Sundays for church. Incredible! While playing on the playground that would never meet Canadian safety requirements, Yisakor arrived. It was a true joy and my heart lept when I saw him. It was different with him because we've sponsored him for so long, and we met him and his family on our last trip. He had grown so much, but you could still see the same boy in his face.
Although Mikiyas and Yisakor had never previously met, they were attached like two peas in a pod. They played together. They ran together, often with their arms around each others waists. When we had lunch together, they even shared a chair. They were stuck like glue. Yisakor, thankfully, understood some English so they could do some minimal communicating. But their love and respect for each other went much deeper than I can ever describe. It was something you watched in awe.
Before starting the home visits and lunch, Lyle went with our hosts to the market and bought each family 100kgs of teff flour. Each 100kg bag was carried by one man, one the back of his shoulders/neck area. That was incredible too. Each bag is worth three months of salary but the time it will last depends on the size of the family. We got some cool pictures of kids all sitting together on the bags.
The first home visit was Yisakor's. He lived the furthest from the project and also had the nicest home, but nothing any of us or you would desire to live in. His was nicer due to inheritance and support from the community as his mom hosts weekly meetings and out of town special visitors when requested. Yisakor's mom was wearing black and in mourning as her brother had recently died. We gave Yisakor his back pack and all his treats from Canada. As we suspected, his soccer ball and his soccer t-shirt were his favorite. Mikiyas and him, always attached, went to his room, which Mikiyas later realized was the only bedroom and was shared by the entire family and the dining table. Mikiyas soon came back out to ask if we could send him toys from Canada as Yisakor had 3 toys. It was eye opening for Mikiyas to say the least.
The visit didn't go too long and we gathered each child and their mothers and headed for lunch at the Crowne Hotel. Here we had traditional Ethiopian, with no power. We also were often fed by our sponsor children and their mothers. To be fed by someone is an honor and is something of deep friendship. We fed fourteen people food, each having a drink, paid tax and tip, for $60.00 USD.
After lunch we headed back for home visits. First we said good bye to Yisakor and his mother. Tears were shed, pictures were taken and Mikiyas too was quite sad. He loved spending time with Yisakor and wanted to spend the rest of the day with him. It felt like it was cut too short.
My mom's child was the first home visit after lunch. A tiny house, but clean and tidy. She enjoyed receiving her new back pack and the gifts my mom brought her. Her home was a traditional home, made of mud and straw, as we saw the others to be too. The girl continued to beam and hold my mom's hand, never letting go. A truly thankful and joyful girl.
We then went to Eskedar's house. It too was very small, but this time one wall was attached to another home. It looked like it was a very small back room behind a curtain. Somehow we fit at least a dozen people into a room smaller than Mikiyas's bedroom. This room served as their bedroom, dining, living ..... Eskedar had grown so much so some of her items we gave her were a little young for her. She was so grateful regardless. But what she didn't know yet was that I had another idea for her before we left.
Finally we went to Lyle's mom's child's home. We had some more laughs there and enjoyed the final round of coffee (having had some at every house) and popcorn. The child's older brother had a lot of fun with Mihret. She really liked playing with him outside and it gave my arms a break. The mother was in black and in mourning as well as her husband (the dad) had died only one month and ten days prior.
It was time to say our goodbyes and drive off. As we left I gave Eskedar my Roots Canada hoodie jacket I had bought for the trip. She was thrilled and had it around her quickly. She had tears, as did I, and we embraced many times. It will be a joy to write her, and the others, when we get home, and send all the kids photos of the visit.
My mom with her sponsor child, and mother.
Lyle's mom with her sponsor child and mother.
Mikiyas with his "brother" Yisakor. An amazing connection!
Joy was had with the surprise bags of Teff!
Our sponsor families.
Mihret with one of many new friend. He works with there and grew up as a sponsor child.
Lyle's mom's sponsor child and one of ours are best of friends.
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