MEETING DAY!

We have just made arrangements with a man that runs a orphanage. He has young girls that have been raped and their babies. He also has a daycare for mums that work. Their children go there through the day; he feeds and takes care of them. There are 140 children in this compound. His rent per month is $250 – 2500 birr. We have told him we will pay for one month's rent. The milk he uses for the children – ages 0-5 is very important also. We will be buying him about 60 cans of milk.

These people in this country amaze me with their loving kindness towards each other. They are as my friend Tammy would say, Jesus with skin on.

This morning we are heading to the circus for an hour and a half. We will be back here by 10:30. Solomon will pick us up at 11:00 am. He will take us to the baby house, and then on to meet our girls. I am rather nervous. Meeting our girls is not the same as meeting all these little children in the streets! There is only ONE first meeting of our girls. I am praying that our boys are able to do some very good video and photo footage!! I am praying that our girls are ready to meet us.

These are the pictures of the circus. This circus is a bunch of street kids who are ministered to through a local Youth Group. They learn dances and acrobatic type acts and then they follow this up by putting on performances, complete with music. They were truly remarkable.

Receiving a Money Gift From Family

What was so neat to see was when a young person would perform - singing, how their family members would come up and kiss them during the singing and tuck money into their top. This was their way of showing their pride in their children/family.

The young people have some costumes, but not many. Donations are raised to help them buy costumes. We were able to leave them with enough money to buy three children new outfits. I would love to have been able to do more, but we were very careful to not leave cash anywhere, but to actually do the shopping, to ensure that it was truly spent on the needed items. If we had had more time we would have taken the director shopping and spent the money, so if people who stay at the Oziopia have a chance to do this, see Abebe, and he will be able to hook you up with the Youth Group director. This group keeps these young people from being idle on the streets. It gives them a purpose and something to be proud of.

AUGUST 24, 2008 - That same day, written at night

Today was simply amazing. No other words to describe when you meet your children for the first time. You see a brand new baby and they are beautiful – they are yours. But meeting your child as a fully grown child is over the top. Our girls are gorgeous. They are perfect. Absolutely amazing. What we saw in video and picture does not do them justice! I suppose I should begin at the beginning, so bear with me!! *smile*

Solomon arrived at the guesthouse at 11:00 am to pick us up.. We headed to the Transition House first, with the plan to see the Baby House later. As we were driving through these crazy streets we smacked side mirrors with this other minibus going the opposite way. We stopped dead in traffic and our driver lent out and called to the other driver, who had also stopped. Neither pulled over – they just stopped in traffic and all cars either drove patiently around them or waited. Some honked their horns.

Fender-Bender or Mirror Smack

A decision was made who was at fault – one mirror was cracked on the glass, and the other broken at the back. Off we drove again. I felt bad that that happened on our drive. The driving is something to be sure!! There are no traffic lights; people just drive slowly or quickly depending on how much traffic there is. They honk or they wait.

Traffic Jam

There can be as many as four lanes of traffic on a two way street. You might be driving and a car is driving directly towards you and five feet from you he will swerve to the left or right to go around you. Once we were driving and a car was parked on the side of the road with a guy standing beside the door talking to a guy who was working under the hood.

Suddenly this car came up on our right hand side (the same lane the car was parked in), dashed around us and just barely missed rearending that car and taking out that man from the road! Inches. He looked at us as we passed and made a gesture. I took it as a gesture of relief!! *laugh* No doubt! Some calls are closer than others!

A Vehicle We Saw in the Ditch

Soon we were driving up this little lane towards the green door of the transition home.

Videotaping the Drive Up the Lane to the Green Door

At the Green Door

I was concerned that I knew when we were meeting the girls, so that the boys had the cameras and I was ready for the ‘big moment’. I did not want to be holding the cameras and miss it with arms full of stuff. Solomon had said we would see the Toddlers and the Baby House, but suddenly it seemed things were all out of order. I learned later it was because today was the day that Ethiopia was expecting a gold medal and we had to be back in front of a TV in time for the race! *smile*

(We were very privileged to be here yesterday when a gold medal was won. I was in the internet café when hooting and honking and yelling went on. Two cars drove by with guys hanging out the windows waving Ethiopian flags; they had just won a gold for some other sport.)

We walked through this gateway into the entrance to the compound.

Fikru

I was immediately taken aback and brought to tears when I saw sweet Fikru. I looked at him and with tears welling in my eyes I said, “FIKRU!!!” I approached him, bent down towards him, and he stood up. I said, “I know your mummy!! She is my friend, Corrie.” He smiled at me and someone translated. I knew then that I would have a hard time making it through. As it turned out, I was more affected by Fikru than our girls. I think because he was the first one I saw, and because I knew that God had ordained his adoption and he was a special child. I gave him a hug and then we moved on.

Fikru

Corrie: Your boy is absolutely shining. He sparkles. He is TINY. You were thinking he would be huge. *laugh* He is a tiny little thing. So delicate – like our girls. Just a wee mite. He is beautiful. Solomon, the director, told me (later, unsolicited information) that Fikru is "a special boy, gifted academically, and very distinct." Corrie, God truly blessed you with this child! I can’t wait to see you together! Leave me a comment telling me when Bruce is coming!!!! We are trying to plan our last days, and maybe Bruce will be here and I would LOVE to be at TH when he comes!!!! Also, I can tell Fikru what day his Daddy will be here. Oh, you are blessed!

After we passed by Fikru, we headed down some steps to the Director Solomon’s office. I was mistaken. The bigger Solomon, the one who met us at the airport, is not the one who matches the children. Solomon, slim, is the one who does that. Our Mesai called him Ababa. He told us he considers the children his children. He tells the workers they are not employees and to not consider this a job. If they do that, they will not treat the children as their own. They are your children, he tells them. Love them as such. And it is quite clear that they do.

We went into Solomon’s office and shortly after we were introduced, one of the Solomons said to us, “Look, here comes a girl.” I didn’t realize our girls were already coming. Moments later, the girls walked through the door looking like Ethiopian princesses with their beautiful yellow and white dresses, complete with headdresses. Gadisae threw herself into my arms and hung on firmly. I felt the immediate freedom to hug her tightly – no feelings of reserve, or should I do this, should I hold back. No, it was simply, this is my girl and I can hold her.

First Meeting

A few moments later, she pulled back and went to Ray. Mesai came to me. I was amazed at how incredibly delicate their little bodies were! So beautiful, so completely flawless. So smooth, and soft. Their little hands were cool – perhaps from nerves?

After they had hugged us, I said to them, “Konjo.” Mesai, in her perfect little light voice said, “Thank you.” As clear as a bell.

I then pointed to the boys and said, “Wundin.” Without any prompting Gadisae and Mesai immediately walked to the boys. Gadisae reached up to her big brother and wrapped her arms around his neck. She then moved onto Dane, while Mesai, a step behind, approached Colt.

When they had done hugging us, Gadisae spied the doll on my chair. She immediately made a beeline for it, jabbering away in her little voice. She reminds me of my friend, Paola’s little girls, Sara and Lucie, when they were little. She is bubbly and full of laughter. A real cute little sprite!

Mesai picked up her doll – the one with long hair, and Gadisae reached for it and wanted hers. Mesai’s face scrunched up and she said something to Gadisae. I gently took the doll from Gadisae and returned it to Mesai, saying, “Big sister, little sister.” So she could see that big sister got the big girl doll, and little sister got the little sister doll.

The girls then sat on our laps and I showed Gadisae what the little thing the doll was holding was for. It was a soother. I took it off the hand of the doll and put it to Gadisae’s mouth and said, “Wahh!” She laughed. Then I held it to the baby’s mouth. She understood. She loved her dolly after that.

The girls were exactly the size I was expecting! People who visited them said they were taller than they expected. *One friend,* who shall remain nameless *grin*, tried to make me believe they were a lot older and just looked small. LOL But they are definitely just tiny little girls like I was expecting.

While the girls sat on our laps, or talked to each other in their little voices, we sat and listened to Solomon D. fill us in. He gave us an incredible verbal blessing over the girls. He promised amazing things for their future. What a wonderful thing that was! For people who believe in the power of the spoken word, our girls will have a great future and be wonderful people.

Ababa - Solomon the Director - Mesai

He then proceeded to give us the official documents: court order, visa, immigration. As he was giving me the papers for Mesai, Gadisae said, “Gadisae.” And I said, “Mesai.” When her papers came I showed her the picture of herself and she lit up, “GADISAE!” “Yes, Gadisae!” I said to her.

Once we were done the official business we headed to the Toddler House. As we walked through the door all the little children began saying, “Good morning, Mummy. Good morning, Daddy.” They were sitting at their tables waiting for their lunch. At first they were just a sea of little faces, but then one by one I recognized the different little faces. As I looked around I took pictures of the ones that I knew.

Solomon D. made it quite clear to me that the pictures were for my use only. He did not want them on the internet.

It was amazing. As I was standing there looking at the little people, my gaze glanced twice off this little girl at the end of the table. She was familiar, but yet, my mind was not registering. Suddenly I twigged, “You are SELAM! I know your mummy!!” I burst out. It was so exciting to see in the flesh the little ones that I had come to know through photos! She had grown her hair and she looked different. She smiled at me.

I got some beautiful close ups of the children I recognized. I will try to get more today. I know how important these pictures are when you are waiting.

Right after this, one little boy stood up, closed his eyes and folded his hands and prayed a mealtime prayer. The children all recited it with him and then began to eat. Our girls ate and then Gadisae wanted to try on Ray's glasses.

Mesai was quick to try also. They were so funny. Then they tried on Dane’s glasses. Luckily we brought them some sunglasses of their own, which we will give them today.

After lunch was done, we headed out to the Coffee Ceremony. Here there were tiny cups of coffee and sweetened popcorn. Our children quickly got very comfortable and were chasing Colt and Dane up and down the compound. They were very much like brothers and sisters right away

Coffee Ceremony

At one time, it was so cute. Ray and I were sitting talking to Solomon and Gadisae came rushing laughing and squealing up onto the platform where the coffee ceremony takes place. She was trying to get away from Colt. Ray reached out and said, “Here.” And she quickly hid herself in the safety of his arms – a true daddy’s girl.

After we had done the coffee ceremony Solomon talked to us at length again about the adoption and other things. I don’t have this on dvd; I wish I did, because it was neat to hear what he had to say. Right after this we were going to head out to the Baby House. The girls were to stay behind for a night. At this time, we had our girls, so it was odd to say goodbye to them. But like Solomon said, they just understand how things are. I asked him if it was a cultural thing. The losing people, shifting and moving on in a healthy manner. He said it was. It makes sense. Our western society is not used to the loss that the African people have always endured.. So we grieve deeply. The African people have had a different history to us, so the children accept things easier than we do, and as Solomon says, they learn that things are for the best and they embrace them and grow from them.

The girls said goodbye to us and we left to the Baby House.

Some Beautiful New Housing Near Baby House

The Contrast: Across the Street From New Housing

This baby house is outstanding!! It is seriously a palace! There are marble floors and staircases. It is over 5000 square feet. There are 50 babies there. I couldn’t get much solid information out of them. They did say there were referrals for all the babies. I didn’t hear of any that were still not referred.

The Entry Gates

The Baby Palace

The Protected Walls - Razor Wire

View From Baby House

Jenny and Rob: I saw your sweet Kalkidan. I didn’t know she was your baby. I saw this adorable little girl, with a huge smile, and bright eyes, and I asked, “Is this baby referred?” And Solomon said that she was just getting referred this week. I said, “So some mummy is getting wonderful news this week and I will have seen the baby right before she hears!”

It was wonderful to know that I knew specifically this baby. She is a living doll! Truly they all are!! As I went around with my list, I was told very emphatically that there were to be NO pictures. This came from the top. (I presume, Sue.) I could only ask for the certain babies and then take notes on them.

Jeff and Lesley: your baby boy is ALL BOY!! I knew he was a boy, just by looking at him. He is healthy and solid and he just loves his caregiver.

Dianne and Chris: your little Hana is a miniature doll!! When the caregiver picked her up, the woman laughed and said, “This one is huge!” She said this because your little girl is a peanut with a lot of hair!!! We all laughed. I asked her how much she weighed. She brought out the scale and weighed her. 4:02 kg. She was very smiley!

Leah – your little Yabsira was having his bottle and not very interested in me.. But he is beautiful!!!! You are going to love this precious little one!

Alison and Ian: Your little girl was very quiet, but curious. She did not smile, but she was clearly content with her caregiver.

Julie: your Yetinayet – was a real snuggler! She weighs 4.3 kg. And as her caregiver said, “This is another huge one!” *smile*

Emily – I couldn’t take pictures for you. There were so many gorgeous babies. Truly, Ethiopia has the most beautiful children, hands down!!!

Karen and Alicia – I am sorry, but due to my feeling lightheaded I left the Baby room and did not find your little, Kidist and Yodit. I am so sorry.

I hope that helps you waiting mummies and daddies. There are clearly many, many babies in there. So either there is a HUGE data base of parents not on our Yahoo Group, or there are referrals yet to come. I am sorry, but I can’t tell you any more than that.

I was told in the Transition House that all the children were referred. I am not sure if this is so, or if they just don’t want to rock the boat back home. So assume that there are no new children at this time.

While we were at the Baby House I had a light headed spell again. Ray told me later that he felt a little lightheaded. Please pray that I don’t get more of them, and that I don’t panic about it and cause myself a panic attack! I haven’t had one of those in 7 years, but being over here, and having so much to do, and knowing I have the responsibility of the girls, is a bit overwhelming. Not to mention that we are 10 hours out of sinc, eating foreign foods, not getting good sleep, running constantly, etc!!

Now let me tell you what happens when I go to the internet shop. Okay, I walk in with my USB jump drive. I plug it in, log on, and get started. All of that takes about 10-15 minutes!!!! Then I open my email and it takes me about 45 minutes to read my email – the pages load so slowly. After this, I email my latest blog post to dear, dear, Denise, *grin*. And every day I try a new way to send photos. So far – no good. But today, I have a new plan. I have shrunk some pictures, so I am going to try again. If they do not work, have no fear. I have so many photos you will have to come back to view them later. They are incredible. I love taking pictures, as much as I enjoy writing, so I think they will be worth your time!

And now off to write the post on buying MILK!!