written on Tuesday, Feb. 14
We loaded up orphanage supplies and formula and headed west in our 4WD vehicle. The road from Addis to Nekemte is a long rough one with most of it under construction. The dust was unlike any I have ever experienced before. There were times when a truck would pass us where our car was in a dense cloud of red dust and we would have to wait for it to dissipate before we could go on.
Upon arrival in Nekemte we were glad to put our feet on solid ground, change our clothes and wash the accumulated layers of dust off. Someday soon that road will be a piece of cake, but right now traversing it is an adventure!
Right after breakfast Tuesday morning, Jeff and I headed to the orphanage. It was so nice to see the dear faces of our social worker, project coordinator and the nannies and they were delighted to get the needed supplies and formula.
I was made welcome by one of the more outgoing 2-year-olds who immediately took to me because I gave her a chewable vitamin and a dolly (bribing is okay in my book!) while the 2-year-old boy refused the vitamin and hid behind the nanny. He didn’t start interacting until a soccer ball was brought out; only then did he show us his “moves” by bouncing the ball and kicking it. He is quite coordinated! It is fascinating to observe the differences in personalities and to wonder what each future holds. The other sweet children toddled or crawled around and Jeff got new pictures of everyone as well as video. I introduced two children to their new adoptive families and gave them the gifts their families sent.
It is a gorgeous, warm day here in Nekemte and I am loving the weather! This afternoon we are going to drive to some other parts of the town that we haven’t seen much of so Jeff can get some good pictures and video to give to the families who adopt children from here. YWAM makes a life book for each child adopted from one of the Widows and Orphans Homes, and a CD of all their pictures and a DVD of all videos taken of them over the months is included. We also want to include a DVD of what the town and orphanage looks like.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Gimbie, a town two hours away. Fortunately, that road is a good one and will be a pleasant drive.
Ciao for now!
From Becky: I want to let our YWAM families know that the photos they send with Joy to share with birth families mean so very much and the project coordinators, social workers and nannies absolutely LOVE seeing these pictures of the children. A wonderful bonus is that these pictures are also hugely influential in our adoption work. When government officials come to the orphanage, they are shown where the children are and how they are doing. The project coordinator has told us that this shines a very favorable light on adoption and is a huge help in the orphanages’ work in every town we work in. We would appreciate it if even those families whose children have no birth family would make a book of pictures (as some have already done) for the orphanage staff, Joy would be happy to deliver them next time she goes to Ethiopia.
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