Travel Journal ~ April 23rd

I woke up long before the sun this morning to the sounds of birds and monkeys and some apparently grumpy geese. I could use a cup of coffee the size of my head.

12:15 pm

We had refreshing cold showers this morning, followed by a quick breakfast at our hotel. Abera came to pick us up and introduced us to Solomon (project manager for Shalom Children's Hope) and Abreham (social worker for Shalom). Abreham was the one who had prepared the report we received several weeks ago about the kids, so it was nice to meet him and put a face with the name on the report.

S & A took us to the main Shalom office where we got to see the kids' files, health reports, information about their mother, etc. It wasn't anything too very detailed, but when you're adopting children and don't have much background on them, it's nice to see anything that you can.


From the main / business office we went to the children's center where the kids are. We were surprised that there were no big kids there, only infants. Some of the clothes we brought as donations were way too large but at least we brought several baby toys that would be put to good use.


After smooching and pinching babies, we sat down for a coffee ceremony with S, A and the nannies. We all chatted about the babies, adoption, Ethiopia and more. They told us that we were actually the first family to visit the center and they were so happy that we did. I had no idea, but it made sense since the center hasn't even been open for a year yet.

We said goodbye to the nannies and were escorted back to our hotel where we figured out that Solomon and Abreham were actually planning to spend the whole day with us. They dropped us off and promised to be back after lunch. They may have been going back to the office to receive another baby they'd been called about when we were having coffee.

9 pm

What a long day! Abera came back at 3pm and the three of us sat at the lake for awhile waiting for Solomon & Abreham. We are so lucky to have Abera for a driver and guide on this trip. He's a sweet, easy-going, and generous guy. He and Marc discussed bicycles for the nannies at Shalom and it was decided that we would go and look for two used bikes that afternoon.

When S & A arrived, S decided that it would be much better for us to buy new bikes. Luckily Marc convinced him "1 new or 2 used" because the new ended up being about $170 USD. We hadn't really planned to spend that much but it's hard to balk at price in a situation like that. We are so blessed in comparison. Abreham told us that the nannies there make 600 Birr per month, which is about $55. The bike will make it faster and easier for them to get around, go to the market, etc.

This is the man who put the bike together. He charged a little under $2 USD and it took him about an hour. This is the "bike garage".



A local taxi. I'm pretty sure there's no seat belt up there where that little boy is riding.



This little guy was rolling a bike tire up and down the street, running about with no shoes. We saw a child crawl out of the sewer at one point, and a very ill man just laying on the street.


I forgot - On the way to doing all of this, Solomon flagged down a police Jeep that was heading in the opposite direction. The police had the newborn they'd been expecting that day. The baby was only 20 days old and had been abandoned on the side of the road. The police drove right up (baby on lap in the front seat) and handed him over.


Delivering the bike to the nannies...


S & A took us by the hospital where Macy & Felix were both born...

Then we headed to a trendy little outdoor restaurant across from Awassa University where all the college students hang out. We had awesome lamb tibs and injera.

At this point we should have found a way to politely call it a night. I felt bad that we were taking Solomon away from his family this late anyway. But in his, "I'm uncomfortable and can't stop talking" fashion, Marc mentioned wanting to see the hippos that supposedly show up at sunset at the lake. And of course S & A felt obligated to take us there (probably knowing that it was a long shot) especially since it was already almost dark.

We drove down a long, rocky dirt road to get to the part of the lake where the hippos hang out. there were none, naturally, but we did end up in the dark with a flat tire. Great. Luckily (?) we were next to huge new Haile GebreSelassie hotel that was being built, where a man with a very large gun appeared out of no where. It was one of those "Am I about to die?" moments, but he quickly produced a jack and I realized he was the hotel guard and he was helping us out. Whew! Thanks to Abera's talent and the light of a cell phone, we were quickly patched up and on our way.

Again, we should have made this the end of our night, but Abera remembered that we wanted to call home that night, so we had to stop and purchase a phone card. We ended up stopping at a little store where Solomon knew the owner. He pulled us in to buy souvenirs, so we bought an Amharic Obama tshirt (how could we resist?) and a few bracelets.


Finally we are home and jumping into bed. Tomorrow we return to Addis, but Abreham asked us several times when we arise in the morning, so we are expecting to see him to discuss "sponsorship" before we leave. (He asked Marc if we would sponsor him to help him with school. It all seemed a bit weird - especially since Abera said that University is free of charge there.)

Anyway...It's been a long day. On the drive down here, we weren't so sure we'd recommend it to anyone. Now we definitely would. To have experienced where our children lived, to have seen the hospital where they were born, is all precious and I'm so glad that we came.