Milk For The Babies

After we had met our girls, Solomon drove us home. As we pulled up in front of our guest house he jumped out of the truck. When the gate opened, he barreled past the lady of the house and took off running to the house. I thought he needed to use the bathroom. As we entered the house, I realized what he was doing – the Olympics!!! He was JUST in time for the last five laps of the 10 km run. We all sat enraptured as we watched Ethiopia bring home another Gold!! We are proud to be associated with Ethiopia. Or as our wise son, Cassidy, and Solomon, the director says, Part Ethiopian!!

How remarkable is it to be in Ethiopia during the Olympics and be able to watch them bring home numerous gold medals!!

Once the Olympics was over, Solomon left and we began our planning for our afternoon. Abebe had taken the bulk of our money to the bank to exchange it for us.

We had a laugh at how Abebe walked through town with $5000 in 50,000 birr! The money here is in no larger than 100 birr notes, so you can imagine how much he was carrying. He showed us how furtive he was dashing through town with his precious briefcase. We have been very fortunate to meet Abebe. He is a remarkable young guy!!

Our Pal, Abebe

We had hired a driver again – I love this luxury!! So we headed off to get milk. The first place we went did not have it. So Abebe suggested that since we wanted so much, we should go to the factory.

When we got there they were closed and so we had to go on. We headed to another supermarket. Now that was fun!! The guys were just laughing. There is something so fun in doing the right thing. We had the money and were able to buy all this milk knowing that little ones would benefit from it!!

First Full Cart

What? No More?

All the Staff They Needed For Us! LOL!

We had staff watching us. I mean, we were hooting and laughing and having a good old time, tossing cans from one to another, filling the cart as fast as we could. Abebe jokingly tried to find more milk on the shelf, but we had emptied the stock pile. I told the girl, “We have lots of babies.” They laughed.

THEN we noticed the rack of cans that were twice that size! YEAH!! SO off Abeberan to get a shopping cart. He came barreling back like a mad man, having as much fun as we were.

We quickly filled up the cart and then headed to the front. They had five staff working to get us through the till and into boxes. When we were done we had spent about $900, but it sure felt good!!!

Delivering it to the Orphanage

I knew I wanted tricycles for FAYA and I had seen them at a shop. So we headed out again. When we found a shop (another one) there was actually a strip mall of children’s shops. We went into the first one and while there I realized they had more than just bikes. So we looked around, did some negotiating, and then bought a baby walker. This walker wheels, makes noise, can be pushed by an adult, and then turns into a rocker. Very cool!!

Discussing Walkers

From there we looked at cribs. We went through four shops checking out the cribs. I told them I did not want fancy. Plain and simple and strong. I was a little nervous of the metal cribs and the bar width. The prices were about $200 - $270 per crib. Finally, we found just what I wanted: a wooden crib with a storage unit on one end, complete with a wee baby cradle, and of course, mattresses. This whole unit cost $200!! So now we know FAYA can bring in three babies! A tiny one for the cradle and two for the crib.

We wandered up and down the strip mall checking out bikes and talking to the owners and discussing among ourselves what we thought would be the best purchases. It was SO MUCH FUN being able to make these choices knowing we had the money to do this because people trusted us to take their hard earned money and spend it wisely.

We decided on two strong looking double tricycles. They will each hold two children. My boys had these as 2 and 4 year olds and loved them!!!

It was exhilarating buying this stuff and piling it into the van and then heading off to the next place!!! I suggest this to you all. Any of you who are coming to get your adopted children – you are missing out on so much joy if you just come and get your kids and go home. The incredible feeling of being able to be part of Ethiopia in this way gets into your soul! We are already planning our next trip back!! Only God knows when – but we are open to it!!

Once we had done all our buying we headed to the huge compound that houses 140 children. If any of you are interested in knowing of these two places that are in Addis that can use help, please email me and I will get you in contact with Abebe. The man that runs the place was not there, nor were the children, as it was Saturday.

I have to tell you an ironic funny. I am against giving children candies in orphanages, because if they have never tasted sugar, why create a desire for something that cannot be fulfilled. That said, I am not against sugar. My kids love candy and get it upon occasion. I just know that in orphanages kids don’t brush their teeth, and if you look at Ethiopian children –their teeth are generally beautiful and white. But when you look at a history of kids raised in orphanages who have access to sugar or bottle mouth, they often have rotten teeth.

Now, that said, when I was talking to the man on the phone about bringing milk, he told me that the children would sing us songs on Monday. They would sing about Lollipops, so I needed to bring lollipops. So I said, “Okay, so I bring 150 lollipops.” He replied, “By hook or by crook, you bring lollipops.”

So there you go – I get to be the one that brings lollipops. *grin* I am sure these children do not get lollipops very often, though!

Thank you all for your comments. I love reading them. I feel like we are sharing this adventure together. And given how long it takes me to get this onto the internet, your comments truly fuel me on. Thank you, thank you!!! It is such a pleasure to get on and read your sweet, funny, typical (depending on who you are! LOL!) remarks!!! They will have a place in my journal lifebook!!

Tomorrow we are off to pick up our girls and do a few things. Busy, busy. Until then!!