Meeting Sara

UPDATED WITH PHOTOS

I am exhausted!! Last night I was up about five times, and then at 4:00 am I woke and felt awake. I did go back to sleep, but then Ray was up at 6:45 raring to go. Uggh! But that is not the only reason why; we did so much today!

After a quick breakfast, we headed out. We had hired a driver for the day again and we planned to be at the Compassion office for 9:30 am. As we arrived, I noticed I did not have my memory card for my camera, so back we all went. First though, we picked up our Compassion translator and guide, Yoseph. He turned out to be a great friend for us all. And the most bizarre thing of all is he knows and loves our friend, Sandi!!!!! He was blown out of the water when I told him that we were on our way with supplies to help begin an orphanage.

Let me just give you an insight into tomorrows post (I am posting this post that I wrote yesterday, but today’s news – meeting the gorgeous girls and FAYA shopping, will have to wait til tomorrow, as a writer can’t be rushed! ROLOL!! I have too much fun writing my story to rush it. So SORRRRRY, *grin* Y’all have to wait til tomorrow for the big news *grinnnn* Suffice it to say, meeting the girls was surreal!!!! Prepare for an amazing report!)

Yoseph looked at a picture of our girls and when he saw it he studied it. He was so overcome by it that his eyes shined up. He asked me for a copy of the picture to show his coworkers what we were doing. He was so moved.

We next headed to Sara’s project. The roads were progressively getting worse; we had to drive incredibly slowly, as the ruts in the lanes were often bigger than the car width and we had to find alternate routes in.

We passed little children sitting at the side of the road shelling fruit for sale. Two such children were about 4 and 6 – very sweet. What I noticed on our drive is how free everyone is. The children just run up and down the roads, with no worries about the ‘stranger danger’ that we have to teach our children. Well-off and poor alike, they walk together and cohabitat without the look of distaste that many people would have towards those with so much less than themselves.

We saw people carrying goats on their shoulders, or walking down the road holding a goat’s foot, as he hobbled along beside the man. Once we saw two men walking down the street with a donkey between them; the donkey walked with two legs down and two legs in the men’s hands. We passed many interesting sights, including a group of donkeys carrying straw packages so big that we could barely see the donkeys!

Donkeys Under the Piles of Hay

We soon arrived at the Project and parked the car. An odd thing happened as soon as we went into the office – I started feeling that the room felt a little close. It kind of freaked me out, as I began to wonder if I was going to pass out. I knew I had had very little sleep the night before, had eaten a very light breakfast, my insides were still not back in shape, and I was half way around the world eating food I was not familiar with.

We moved onto the next office and I felt I had better make mention of not feeling well. I told them I thought I needed some sugar. One man went running to get me some, while another got some bottled water for me. I went and sat in the car and ate a bit of a granola bar, while feeling rather conspicuous! Here I was in Ethiopia, nearly having a fainting spell – perhaps because I hadn’t had enough to eat earlier, and my blood sugar might have been low. I felt bad for those children, though they didn’t understand, who regularly didn’t get enough to eat.

I took it slow for a while, and about 30 minutes later, I felt fine. From there we got back in the car and headed to Sara’s house. It was a short distance away. She lives in a house that her mother rents from her aunt. In poorer African standards, her house was very nice! Comfy couches and nicely coloured stucco interior walls. Her mother rents it from her aunt.

I gave Sara her backpack, which was filled to the brim with treats. I had been told she had siblings, so she got a bit spoiled since there was no one to share her things with. She very quietly removed each item from the bag but didn’t say anything.

We were taken on a tour of the classrooms and library. The library did not have a lot of books for children, so right there I made the decision to bring our wonderful book collection over to them. We had a whole suitcase full of children’s fun knowledge books – full of pictures and understandable stories, plus juvenile novels. We ended up going back to our room and getting a bunch of school supplies for the project as well. Our friendly Project Director, Aucheou (sp), was so funny. He was seriously just like Eddie Murphy -both in looks and in actions. He said he had others tell him that. We loved him!

Crazy "Eddie" When We Gave Him School Supplies

The children liked having their picture taken when they could see the screen and watch themselves. Sara was very shy the whole time we were there. She was very receptive to hugs, hand holding and she willingly gave us kisses, but she was quiet. Her mother says she is often a solemn child.

She Enjoyed the Cameras!

After we had seen the school we headed to a restaurant for lunch. The restaurant wasn’t open yet, but they let us in early. It was really nice. I believe it was probably mainly Italian foods. We ordered, ate lunch and chatted. Then Sara discovered my camera and began taking pictures of everyone. This bought a bunch of grins out from her quiet little personality! It was very cute. Her mother was on a meat fast, so she had a vegetable dish. Sara was asked what she wanted to drink: Coka (Coke) *smile*

Mr. Eddie Murphy Himself

From here we went through a number of backroads. We headed to an area where people were sitting on the sides of the road selling food. At one point Yoseph told us that the driver said it was too dangerous, so we would go somewhere else. We did a u-turn and headed to another area.

As I am writing this, little sister has just arrived back with fresh bread. Every morning one of the family heads out to a local vendor and buys fresh bread. It is very tender.

At this store Yoseph, ever conscious of not spending too much money told the vender that we want 1 kg of rice. I looked at the small amount and thought that it would not last long. More, I said. He doubled the amount. Then he suggested Pasta to the man. They filled up a 2kg bag with pasta. Slowly, they chose items. I had to convince him that we wanted to spend money. Please, go around the shop and buy *anything* that Sara’s mother needs to fill her pantry. Matches, oil, soap, lentils, grain. One by one the pile got bigger.

Yoseph said to me, If you are willing to spend that much money then the thing she really needs is Teff. Teff is very expensive.

I said, Yes, we will buy Teff.

After we finished paying for all the goods, it only came to about $27. We left to go to the grain mill.

The Grain Mill

Some heavy duty bartering went on between Yoseph, the project worker that we called Eddie Murphy (really Ancheow), and the owner. They came up with a price. Yoseph told me: 563 for 50 kg.

I asked him how much that was. Show me.

Yoseph pointed to the big bags and said, Half a bag.

I calculated in my head for a minute how much a whole bag would be.$120. We will buy a whole bag.

Yoseph looked at me and said, That’s too much.

I looked between him and Ancheow and said with confusion, Too much for me? Or for Africa?

Ancheow said something to Yoseph and laughed. Yoseph said, Too much for you!

I said, No, we want to buy her everything she needs. Buy a whole bag.

Do you know how wonderful it felt to say that??? You people have given us the most incredible blessings by trusting us with your money to give to these wonderful people. But for the grace of God, there go you and I!!!

So the deal was done. Sara’s mother, who didn’t understand a word we were saying, smiled broadly after Yoseph told her. She was a very sweet, shy woman. Then then proceeded to hug me hugely about four times!!

As we left the grain mill, Yoseph told me, She is very close to heaven today. That was his way of telling us how happy she was. We had bought her enough teff grain to last her about a year. Praise God for all the people who were able to help us with donations!! And that was only about $150 spent!!

I told Yoseph we needed to help more people. Did he know people we could help.We had brought money and needed to find more families. He asked me how many families we could help. I told him we could do ten for sure. He and Ancheow had looks of wonder on their faces and there were shiny eyes. Yoseph said they had had a lot of Compassion families visit, but none who were so willing to give so much. I told him over and over that we had people in Canada who wanted to help the Ethiopian families. We had to find the families. This was not just about us; we had many loving people waiting to hear back home how they had been able to help. They just shook their heads in awe.

I tell you this to show you how appreciative these people are for those that are able to help!! And goodness, we spent so little!! We have to spend faster and find families faster!! We only have so many days where we can run around and find orphanages and families and then go shopping! We need more time!!!

Our plan is to spend about $2000 on the beds for FAYA, plus all their supplies, but we need to find more orphanages. Our time is limited. Abebe is making phone calls tomorrow morning to find out what a local orphanage needs. We have decided to not make two trips to the orphanage. He will call first and we will go shopping and then take the goods on one trip. This way we can get more done in our time.

On the way home from our Compassion visit we saw a store with tricycles out front. I am having Abebe call and find out how much they are and how many they have. I would love to buy some for FAYA but I am sure there are orphanages around here that have none also.. It is not easy to just find these orphanages and buy what they need. We need prayer that God will direct us to the right people to help us find places and get a good shopping list and be able to utilize our time to the max.

We are hoping to get together with Yoseph, Ancheow, and Sara again before we leave so that Gadisae and Mesai will have a chance to play with her before we leave. Our hope is that our girls will write back and forth to each other.

What I love about the Compassion project is that rather than building developments with the money like World Vision does, all the money goest directly to the child's education, evangelical growth in Jesus Christ, health, etc. So the child is affected much more directly.

Stickers, Balloons and Soccer Balls for the Kids

These little girls hung on me. They so wanted attention!!

Tigist, Helene, Bethlehem

The Project Director, the Compassion Translator, The Project Leader

The Children Saying Goodbye

"Eddie Murphy" Saying Good-Bye