Saturday arrived too quickly. In the midst of all that we saw and did, the time flew so fast. Up through Tuesday, I was present and enjoying every experience, every moment. On Wednesday, I didn’t feel well, so I sort of felt like I lost that day. Then it was Thursday, and we only had two days left. As I described earlier, Friday was a blur. Then Saturday was here, and it was time to say goodbye.
We spent Saturday at another orphanage. We left Addis around 9:00 a.m. and drove out of the city about an hour. The drive was lovely – through the mountains that surround the city. We arrived in Solulta and entered a large compound that housed the orphanage. The Solulta orphanage houses 54 kids from Addis. These children come from the streets of Addis, abandoned. They are from 7 to 15 years of age. The orphanage was started by an Ethiopian pastor, who now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. The compound includes two dormitories (The girls’ dorm is much neater and cleaner, is decorated with lovely paintings the girls have made, and smells nicer than the boys’ dorm!), a dining hall/classroom/worship center building, a building that houses supplies, the clinic, and the administrative office, a chicken house, a garden and small fruit orchard, flower beds, a basketball goal, and a half-finished schoolhouse. In the front, it is surrounded by a concrete wall with a big iron gate, as are most houses and compounds in the city. However, on the other three sides, the area is enclosed only by a tin fence. The director told us that they are constantly repairing the fence, as the winds in the mountains are frequently blowing parts of it down. When the fence is down, hyenas can enter the compound. Need #1: money to complete a stone or concrete wall around the compound.
The children in the school are driven every day all the way into Addis to attend school. The village and area surrounding the orphanage speak a different language than is spoken in Addis. In Addis, school is taught in Amharic, the national language. In the villages, a number of tribal languages are spoken. A new school is being constructed so that the kids don’t have to ride so far to school every day. In the middle of the project money ran out, so the school sits half finished while they wait for more funding. Need #2: money to complete the school.
The children in this orphanage are smart. Many of them speak a bit of English. The director boasted about how many of them are artists and what wonderful artists they are. (In a land focused on survival, how amazing to hear someone in an orphanage discussing art!!) In the rainy season, they have a garden that provides fresh vegetables for the children. The chickens provide eggs. The orchard contained apple trees that produced apples for them until a hail storm demolished the trees. They are re-growing, but it will take a while for them to produce apples again.
The orphanage is run with committees. The director reported that they have a health committee, a supply committee, a food committee, a discipline committee, etc. One boy and one girl from the orphanage are on every committee. They have a voice in how things are run. They raise issues and make sure that kids’ needs are being met. They get a vote. They help decide who gets what and what needs should be met first. Again, the idea that the children are involved in how things are run in an orphanage is stunning! As Dave pointed out, not only does this give them a voice, but it gives them experience and responsibility that they can use to make it in this world.
We also learned that the folks running this program are committed to seeing these kids through to employment and self-sufficiency. For those able, they are given support in applying to and paying for the University. For those unable, they are provided funding for vocational school. No child will be turned out without the means for survival and success. Unheard of! Most orphanages have a maximum age limit. Once you reach that limit, you’re out, sometimes with a small sum of money, often with nothing. To equip kids to be successful in the world as they leave an orphanage is rarely ever done.
It was a lovely day. Again, as is almost always the case, the sun was shining, a breeze was blowing, the sky was blue, the kids seemed happy, peaceful, and okay. What a huge blessing to see what orphan care can look like when it’s done right.
We returned to the city and to the guest house, and the flurry of packing by our teammates began. It was weird to sit and watch, knowing that we weren’t leaving. It left me with an ache. I didn’t want anyone to leave. When you experience something so intense, so moving, and so life-changing with a group of people, your lives are forever sealed together. These people had been kind and gracious and loving to my children and to me. We had wept together, worshiped together, worked together, prayed together, eaten together. They had blessed me. We had shared emotions and experiences that many never know. I couldn’t bear the thought of them leaving. We gathered for one last team meeting. Carlos couldn’t even participate. He is my sensitive child, and the thought of his new friends leaving was more than he could bear. He left the room, standing just outside the doorway or the open window, and cried as we met. All too quickly, they packed their luggage into the waiting vans and drove away. We stood as a family and cried together.
But God is so gracious. Just when we were prepared to enter an empty, quiet, lonely house and sob ourselves silly, in walked three new guests. We had housemates after all! God provided for us so tenderly in our moment of sadness and vulnerability. We so needed new faces, introductions, and a distraction from the grief of good-bye, the sadness of ending an experience that had changed our lives and marked our hearts forever. Thank You, Lord! You are always and completely good!
Changed 2012 had ended, but a new adventure was beginning for the five of us. (Dave’s sister, Terri, stayed with us.) We were leaving the next day for Awassa, in southern Ethiopia, to take Kidist back to see her birth family for the first time.
As I write these words, that adventure, too, is over. It has been a crazy, frightening, glorious week, but it is done. We will be leaving, too, in a few hours to come home, blessed home. I will have to tell you the story of Awassa and what happened after once we return home. We have over 24 hours of travelling ahead of us, and at least a day to recover, but I will be back in a few days to share the rest of the adventure.
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