My trip to Ethiopia was much more than I had ever anticipated and I feel so privileged and blessed to have the opportunity to go and serve the orphaned children at Lola Children’s Home. Throughout the entire trip I saw God at work. From the people that I met in Addis and Mekele, to the interactions between my team, everything was done to glorify God.
We departed Washington DC for Addis at noon on Saturday, May 21st. Our team had just officially met each other, outside of the telephone and e-mail conversations over the last few weeks and we were off on a 15 hour flight to Africa.
On our way to the hotel, we saw Addis. The poverty was overwhelming. I felt completely immobilized, and unsure of how to process everything that I was seeing. There were children running around with no shoes, homes (truly shacks) made out of corrugated tin materials. They were simple lean-to’s that served as homes or storefronts. People milling around on the street. Crippled, lame, hungry. The disparity between where I had just come from and where I now was felt like it was too much. The flight the next morning to Mekele was pretty uneventful, except for my bag being searched and them finding SCISSORS in it! Somehow I forgot to put those in my checked bag! Sorry Ethiopian Airlines!
Abebe (the Director of Lola Children’s Home) and Yonas, his good friend, assistant and fellow orphan, greeted us with big smiles and hugs at the airport! When I mentioned that I was a friend of a friend, Abebe gave me a huge hug and said he had been praying that I would come!
The scenery in Mekele reminded me of biblical times. Horse drawn carts, men shepherding sheep and goats, as well as cattle down the side of the road. Mountains in the distance. The road into Mekele was paved, but all of the side roads were either dirt or cobblestone.
We were off to Lola’s!! As soon as we walked in we were met by the children…and they were all so beautiful!
The kids played suitcase races with our luggage for the first hour! Then we did a craft where they decorated a plastic bowl to make a drum, and we gave them pencils for drumsticks. They were at this activity for over an hour…which is amazing at that age.
There are currently 13 children at Lola’s and the ages of the kids were 3 months, up to 10 years.
Abebe introduced us to the children, and had them come around and shake our hands. I just wanted to kiss their little faces!Each has a story. For some, their mother died in childbirth, and their father could not provide for them. Others, were a causality of poverty, in that their mother could not provide for them so she became a turned to a life of crime and the children went to an orphanage because they did not have any family to care for them. Another child was brought to the orphanage because his mom tried to harm him when she found out that he was HIV+. These burdens that the kids carry with them broke my heart…and I know that they broke the Lord’s heart.
At Lola’s, there are children that are HIV+. All were receiving ARV treatment 2 times per day. This medication is provided by the government. If the children are able to receive this medication, they can expect to have a normal, healthy life. HIV, when treatment is followed appropriately, becomes a chronic yet manageable disease, much like diabetes. The children at Lola’s that were HIV+ were beautiful children of God. They were full of energy and as healthy as the HIV- children.
And so began our painting expedition. We were tasked with transforming (all according to God’s agenda) the dining room, baby room, big kids room, adult and kid’s bathroom with paint and murals. We also were asked to paint the outside of the compound walls, and to move dirt and rocks to make way for the playground that we donated to Lola’s.
For lunch, we ate at Lola’s everyday. This was the highlight of my day because we were able to talk to Abebe and hear his story and his vision for Lola’s.
Abebe realizes that most of the children will not be adopted because there are currently 163 million orphans in the world. His focus is on orphan care. He wants to make sure that each child receives:
· An education (the best school for children 8+ costs $8/month)
· Knowledge of the Lord and Christ our Savior
· Money when they leave the orphanage (accomplished by setting up a bank account for each child)
· Vocational training (his dream is to obtain land from the government for a dairy farm. This would provide a sustainable income for Lola’s, as well as provide training for the children so that if they did not go to university they could leave Lola’s and find a job to support themselves).
Additionally, Abebe realized, that God willing:
· He would like to build a clinic and hire a full time nurse to staff it. This clinic would be accessible to the community as well as Lola’s. The cost is $100/month to hire a full time nurse.
· He would like to educate the children that are 8 and under at Lola’s. To hire a quality teacher, the cost is approximately $100/month.
More to come.....
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