Well, I officially leave for Ethiopia in less than ONE MONTH!! I am so not ready. I gotta clean my house, put away all the laundry, pack, make a list, set out 17 days of outfits for the girls, make meals in the freezer….
I guess I just need to breathe. My list is getting out of control. But it is good to know that God is totally in control of this whole process. I thought for sure going a second year I would not get nearly as much funding as I did last year. Wrong. I thought I’d be on my own for arranging food for my family. Wrong. I thought I’d have to arrange child juggling. Wrong. God has been showing my little mind in all of this. I have little plans, little dream, little needs. His are bigger, and better, and they are His. I am just his vessel for as long as he allows me to be, and I am so okay with that! I am not a forefront person. I don’t like being in the spotlight. I like to just support. And support I will!
As I have been counting down to my departure on Facebook, I just realized I forgot to share with my blog family as well. The photos on here are way bigger anyway. 
Here are some things I’m looking forward to….
…seeing John & Jana again. The husband & wife team of doctors who become my alternate family while in Ethiopia & when I return. I so love their company, their hearts & their vision for Ethiopia. I am truly blessed to know them.
….the children. I know they may like me because I’m probably the whitest person they’ve seen….ever! But I like to think they like me too. I’ll admit, I enjoy having a gaggle of munchkins following me around saying, “cam-er-A!”
…Solomon’s kids. Ahhhh…never have I felt so loved meeting a group of kids. They hugged, touched, played & giggled with us the entire time. I even got in trouble from the American adults for talking too much with them! They love posing for group shots….whipping out their modeling poses. It will be wonderful to see some familiar faces here.
…sorting. I know it sounds weird, but as you sort through the massive amounts of donations made to this trip, you become in awe at all it takes to pull this trip off. There are literally thousands of pills of medication, hundreds of thousand of dollars in medical supplies, hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses & shoes, and a small army of knit bears from Project Mother Bear. It’s amazing.
….the feeding program at Solomon’s place. To think that Solomon starting feeding these HIV/AIDS kids only one meal per month was devastating. And now, by the grace of God he is able to feed them one meal per day! And I am anxious to see my chicken! Yes, I own an Ethiopian chicken. We all bought one for their “village” so they could start chicken farming & becoming self-sustaining. I can’t wait to see how it’s grown in the past year.
….glasses station! This was one “medical” area where I was actually of use. When I took breaks from snapping photos, I’d help out at the glasses station. Here I got one-on-one interaction – because you couldn’t call it communication on my part – with many people who could see more clearly with the reading glasses they’d been given. Yes, we oftentimes had men picking the most hideous pair of rhinestone glasses, but at least they could see!
….clean water! This is probably the thing I’m most looking forward too. We know that the majority of the illnesses we see, especially in the more remote villages, are caused by dirty drinking water. The Ethiopian people don’t waste their firewood on boiling water, so they are drinking water that has run down a hill where animals graze & defecate. Gross, I know. It has been on the forefront of Doctor’s Giving Back’s mind to solve this problem. The amazingly wonderful news is they have found a company in Florida who has a filtration system similar to a kidney dialysis machine that can filter 99% of the water!!! We had enough funding to purchase 34, which was a little disappointing. However, since God’s plans are bigger than our own, we got bested again. The company in Florida asked to be able to give us 148 water filtration units at the same cost as the original 34 we were going to purchase. Heck yes!!! I don’t know how we are going to transport them all, but I know it will somehow happen. I can’t wait to see the ramifications of that much clean water!
And this year, I personally get to be responsible for filling one 50-lb hockey bag of supplies! I can’t fill it alone, though. So if you are able to donate any of the following items, please let me know! Thanks in advance for reading, for donating, and for praying. It is definitely felt!
“Tylenol(Adult tabs and Pediatric/Children’s syrup)
……Advil, Motrin (Adult and Pediatric/Children’s syrup)
Alieve
Pepto Bismol (tablets, not liquid)
Immodium (tablets and liquid)
Zantac 150mg tablets, Zyrtec tablets
Claritin or Clarinex tablets (Adult and Children’s)
Hydrocortisone Cream
Antibiotic ointment (i.e. Polysporin)
Naphcon A Allergy eye drops
Prevacid or Protonix (Omiprazole)
From the above list, the OTC meds that we usually run out of first are the allergy eye drops, and allergy meds, and the stomach meds like Zantac, Prevacid and Protonix.
Some good places to get these over the counter medications at a great price include: the Dollar Store, Walmart, and sometimes even Costco. DGB usually suggests Walmart first as it is hard to beat their prices on medications. We need as many of these medications as possible, so anything you can donate would be fantastic!!!!”
