And now for March 9th….

We had just landed in Asossa, a place, when mentioned on our plane ride over from America, native Ethiopians asked, “Why would you want to go there?  It’s hot!”  I wasn’t allowed to take any photographs of this airplane.  But for you airplane enthusiasts it was a Fokker 50 – aka REALLY STINKIN’ SMALL!  Normally I would snap a few photos & apologize later, but the large guns that the “airport” guards were carrying deterred my ambitions.  And I call it an “airport” in quotations because it was just recently paved…as in the runway was just recently paved.  I sure am a lucky girl to come the year that the runway was paved!

So after a whirlwind at the “airport” in Asossa, the loss of half our team’s bags, hugs & hellos between all the team members who went last year and the friends they had missed from Asossa, we loaded into three vans and rode off to our Bamboo Paradaise!  (Yes, I know I’m spelling this wrong, but wait til you see the hotel sign)

Here is another new friend, Sharon, enjoying some relaxation under the mango trees at the Bamboo.  This is where we typically sat to get our “coca” or Coke.  And they have REAL Coke in Ethiopia…the kind that comes in a glass bottle and has to be opened with a bottle opener, or your teeth if you’re really tough.

Here’s a renewed friendship that I was talking about!  This is Kristin & Mary.  Kristin is a Colorado girl with the Touching Africa team and in this photo she’s reuniting with Mary, the daughter of one of our contacts in Asossa.  It was so sweet to witness everyone reconnecting with friends they’d made last year!

This is the view directly outside of my hotel room.  Those trenches are for the rainy season, so things don’t get flooded.  They are precisely why flashlights are recommended at night!

Here we are trying to finish the longest recorded game in Phase 10 history!  It seriously isn’t over yet.  Mainly because all of the participants are now in Texas, California, and Maryland.  Maybe we can finish it in 2011?  What do y’all say?

Here is our hotel guard.  And I completely forgot to ask him his name, but he was there faithfully every day, all day, guarding us and our belongings.  At first, I have to admit,  I thought he was a little harsh with the children on the street who kept coming to the gate to see us.  But after I saw how they reacted when given things, I knew he was wise in handling them.  It’s very difficult to explain unless you see it for yourself.  There are a lot of homeless children begging on the street.  And when they see us, Americans, they come around in droves to see if we will give them something.  However, if you don’t have something to give to each and every one of them, and then to give to all the others that get wind of what’s going on and later show up, you will cause a mini riot.  Imaging having nothing.  Imagine having to beg & scrounge for all that you do have.  Imagine not knowing where your next meal is coming, or even when it is coming.  Imagine, then, your reaction at being given something by someone whose language you don’t understand.  Would you take it nicely and gently and wait in line to possibly be given something?  NO!  You’d fight for it, and probably fight for two of the things, just to know you’d be eating two meals or could get a meal for yourself and your friend.  It’s a tough life.  And these children are precisely the ones that John & Jana & Solomon are trying to get land and resources for.

Okay…enough on that rant…

On to our lovely hotel sign….

And this is how we ended the night…sorting more pills!

Continuing on the Ethiopian Adventure, here is my March 8th (my oldest daughter’s 5th birthday)….

We started off our morning by “loading the truck.”  What this meant was taking the hundreds of pounds of hockey bags, filled with medicines, medical supplies, toys, shoes, and clothes, and carefully packing them in to the truck for Asossa.  The truck would be taking an hours long journey over “uncomfortable” roads to Asossa, so we sent it the day before we were to fly out there ourselves.

After this, we were rewarded with a nice lunch at the Hilton in Addis.  Except, I didn’t quite get my lunch.  We ordered, got our drinks, and then I was asked to leave to head to a feeding program for about 75 HIV/AIDS children living in Addis.  Of course I couldn’t pass this up!  I grabbed a granola bar & my camera and we were off!  This feeding program is run by Solomon – a local Ethiopian – who started out feeding the children once a month and is now up to feeding them once a day!  It’s just an amazing site to see.  The children, and their families, live on government land that they don’t own in Addis, so they are basically squatters.  They can’t afford to live in the city, so this is their only alternative.  As we speak, Solomon is feverishly trying to obtain land for them, legally, to start a larger scale feeding program, school, and facilities where they can grow, and live, and thrive.  It’s just amazing to hear him talk about it!

Here are the kids….

John & Jana LOVE this stuff…they LOVE getting to connect with these kids.  It’s so sweet to observe.

This little guy just melted my heart!  He caught me snapping away at him & then gave me this smile!

Here is Solomon sharing about the feeding program.  I have video to share later!

This little girl about broke my heart!  She was covered in flies (even before we gave her the lollipop) and walked around with no pants, no diaper, nothing on her lower half!  And she was very wary of us.

We gave the children simple airplanes to put together & play with.  Here is one of the boys hard at work on his.

This is another new friend, Glen.  He’s a Texas Longhorns fan through & through, and here he is teaching the boys the longhorns sign!

Here are the children receiving their meal for the day.  Scrumptious!

This mother was so excited when she got to see the photo of herself with her baby!

Here’s another new friend, Tiffany.  She’s with the Touching Africa Ministries team.  This photo cracks me up.  These girls loved her blonde hair & Tiffany told them they could “try” it too!  Here she is letting Hannah see what it’s like to have long, blonde hair!  HA!

And dear sweet Philippa!  Enjoying her favorite types of people:  cute children or cute old men!  These are obviously children.

And I’ll leave you with this last one of John.  He always takes such time & care with each patient.  Here he is showing these girls how to use a stethoscope.  They loved the attention as much as he did!