It is Friday evening (Oct 23) rather late and I am bushed. Today was packed full! After sending emails this morning (which is a trial of your patience), we headed out for the Orphans and Widows’ Home that we started early this summer. It is a beautiful facility with 8 children (all adoptable) and 6 widows (who are precious). There was a newcomer - a 5-year-old girl. The rest are all boys that have been there awhile. It was so fun to watch them play. The little boy who is HIV positive looks so good! He has energy and has definitely put on weight … and he is a charmer! Tezera is the director of this wonderful haven, and I always feel invigorated and strengthened just being around her. She is unique in every sense of the word.
I spent time with the nurse that Adoption Ministry has hired to work at both orphanages compiling a list of meds and other nursing paraphernalia as well as talking about sanitary procedures, etc. Then we met the lawyer who is processing our kids, getting them ready for adoption. (Ethiopia definitely moves at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace than we do! Again, my patience was tested to the max.) The lawyer was a very kind, patient man who I really liked. He joined us for a delicious lunch Tezera’s staff prepared for us. I loved all the old ladies and reveled in watching the children’s enthusiasm over every little thing. They are so happy …. and they have absolutely nothing to play with except each other!
After time with the Joseph Children’s Director …. we visited one little 5-year-old boy in his home. It is the poorest hovel I have yet to set foot in. His mother is very pretty and young and what with rent at $1.00 a month and the price of food …. her hit and miss servant jobs cannot sustain her and her mother and her son. The little boy is being supported in school by the orphanage and is doing well. Monday, we are going to visit all the children’s schools and get a teacher’s report on their progress academically as well as how they do socially.
Then came the saddest part of our day. We visited one of our orphanage babies in the hospital where he was hooked up to an IV. He is a very sick little baby. Mark and I wanted to take him and run! Each child has a caretaker with them 24 hours a day and you provide your own everything and there are 4 cribs in a small room. This baby has a wonderful nanny who is like a mother to him and she tenderly stays by his bed and feeds and changes him. She is very sweet. Please, all who are reading this, please pray for this little baby boy. The doctors think it is his heart and want him to have an echocardiogram. In order to do that, he has to be transported to Addis. I honestly am afraid he will not last long. He needs a divine touch … or wisdom to know what to do for him. We have an appointment to talk with his pediatrician tomorrow afternoon.
I will close this very busy day. It is hot and dusty, but I am loving this warm weather! We drive about in little 3 wheel glorified motor cycles, but I like them because they have no doors or windows and the breeze is refreshing, plus they are a lot cheaper than a taxi. It’s an adventure!!
God’s blessings on each of you …
Joy
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