Day 4- Drawn From Water

On the fourth day we went to an orphanage called Drawn From Water. Currently only 13 kids live at this place. Its a small home with several staff members which is a great ratio for these kids! Click on the link and find out more about Drawn from water.

Part of our crew as we were preparing to leave that morning for Drawn from water.


Jason immediately found himself a little one to love on!


These kids were obviously scared of us. You can tell it is not often that they see white people. They were very unsure of us and it took quite some coaxing for them to even crack a smile at us. The older ones opened up more when we busted out the crafts but the babies really didn't let down their guard that much. These kids are really cared for! They've even fashioned the home to seem like its a "home" situation. They have rooms with a two to three bunk beds, one baby bed, and one nanny bed. Each room is this way and so every night the kids have an adult in the room sleeping with them. The kids were very bonded to their nannies which was good! I told Brian, though, that if these kids were able to be adopted we would be starting that process yesterday! The goal with Drawn from Water is to eventually reunite these kids back with their biological families.


Daria and her sweet baby...

We set up a craft table for the older kids. We brought foam crosses, coloring sheets with scripture on them, etc. They had a great time! I remember at one point sitting and coloring with one of the kids and she copied EXACTLY everything I put on my page. It was sweet!

Dad had a good time trying to get the little ones to open up with a ball!

Tara and "Bubba"! This kid was hefty! And so very serious. Even at the end of the day he barely cracked a smile. But we enjoyed loving on him and feeding him lollipops!



Chelsea brought a bunch of cars that someone donated and this was the perfect place to bust them out! The older kids and younger kids both really loved them!


Chelsea found a special little girl to love on! She was so frightened of us at first but eventually only let Chelsea hold her! They bonded quickly!

The nannies at Drawn from Water love these kids...its very apparent! And they have beautiful hearts! They enjoyed seeing themselves on our cameras!

Taylor making crosses with this sweet girl!

Billy, our resident photographer, captured some very sweet moment during the entire trip! This was one of my favorites!

Bubba!

The older kids went nuts with the crafts! Look how creative!

This bike was really warped and needed a little help! Billy helped balance the back so this boy could ride....they need a new one don't you think?

Chelsea's girl....

Me and "Bubba"

Sara and Taylor handing out lollipops

Day 3

Day three we went to what we called "state run/not state run" orphanage. We were a bit confused but I think it was actually called Kidane Orphanage(thanks Sara!). We had a great time with them and were able to face paint, do VBS, teach a few songs, do some crafts, play some ball, and let these kids know they are loved!


This was the 'head sister', Sister Lutgarda(unsure of the real spelling). When she walked out I immediately thought of my JoJo who passed away about 7 years ago. My sister and my dad thought so too! The way she carried herself, her sweetness....everything! This woman was born in Malta and now lives in Ethiopia running this orphanage. They take any of the children that the govt feels isn't healthy. There are lots of older kids, kids with HIV/AIDS, abused children, who just want homes. In fact we were told that we would probably be asked by these kids if they could come live with us. The answer we gave is that we would pray for them to get a family soon. It was hard to look into their eyes and say that because I wanted them to believe it! You could tell that people come in and out of their lives all of the time. They are used to saying goodbye. In fact they even had a song they sang to us at the end of our time with them. It was to the tune "This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made...."
It went:
This is the day, this is the day that we say goodbye, that we say goodbye.
We are so sad, we are so sad that it makes us cry, that it makes us cry.

We honestly didn't know what to say at the end of it. We looked around at each other with big eyes and then hugged them goodbye. What else were we to do? However, later that night as we were debriefing again many of us voiced what we were all thinking..."Its so sad that they actually have a song that they sing to say goodbye. They do it all of the time". And what was very evident in these kids is that even though this is their "home" and they are happy there...they know what they are missing. They're missing a family. They LONG for a family. And on this day...my heart broke.


Chelsea and some sweet girls...


These boys thought I was quite funny as I tried to play basketball with them! I was trying to "get up in their business" and did a little "shake and bake" with them but all it did was make them laugh! We had a good time and I realized quickly that the next time I go to Africa I need to do some two-a-days to get ready!


Tara always draws a crowd! Beautiful red head with face paint...who could resist?


One of the sisters in the baby room. I got the privilege of going with our group leader, Frank, into the orphanage first to get a little tour of the place so we could tell our team how best to spread out. When we got to the baby room they informed us that many of the babies had woken up with chicken pox that morning. We chose not to spend any time in there only because we were trying not to spread it to any other kids we came in contact with. It was sad because there were MANY babies we wanted to love on! You could tell that these sisters really loved these kids and wanted to do the very best for them!



Sara painting something fabulous!


Taylor and her crew!



Jason never stopped playing ball with these kids!



My dad enjoyed visiting with this young girl who is leaving for nursing school in Germany soon! Her heart was so tender!



We also were able to do a VBS and craft with the kids there. You could tell they had a good time and knew exactly what they wanted their pages to look like.




Billy with two sisters.


This little boy is being adopted and his parents will be coming soon for him!





This sweet little girl would walk up to me all day and say "photo"! She loved posing for me!


This is Shitaye...she was one of those girls who knew exactly what she was missing..a mom and a dad. Such a sweet spirit she had!


Ok, so maybe Jason did sit down for a minute. But only for a minute with his buddy!!



I love this homemade weight!




So our time was short here but the impact they made on ME was deep. Look at these sweet smiles...doing what I said I would do and praying they find families soon.

Korah

Ya'll I've been trying forever to get these pictures downloaded to my blog and put them in the correct order but I'm running out of patience with this thing so they are staying in the order they are. Hopefully you won't be too confused!


On the plane leaving for Washington DC with Sara and Dad. We were excited!

Here we are in the DC airport waiting to get on our plane to Ethiopia! Jason Root, David Root, Chelsea Jacobs, Glen and Daria Leland and Billy Pope(photographer extraordinaire!)

Chelsea won the luggage award. I don't really think there was a luggage award but we made one up and gave it to her. Most of these bags were filled with donations to the orphanages we were going to! Awesome stuff right there!!

When we got to Addis Ababa we went to the guest house to check in. We were supposed to have a few hours to sleep and then head out to Korah but our guest house wasn't ready yet so we went over to wait in another guest house. We didn't get in our rooms until it was time to leave for Korah so off we went. We were exhausted but the Lord was so good to give us that supernatural energy we needed to continue on! Once we got there we forgot about being so tired!


I wish I could fully describe what being at Korah meant to me. Its a community that literally was formed in the trash dump right outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I wasn't prepared really for all we would see but I'm so thankful they allowed us the opportunity to be with them. Being satisfied with all that they have is a lesson I need to learn. We all need to learn it. They craved physical touch. They were so happy that we were there to love on them, hold their hand, look into their eyes, and tell them that they were loved. There were moments when any one of us would have 5 kids hanging on our arms and legs. I remember at one point thinking to myself..."THIS is why I'm here". There are so many people who wonder if it really matters or if it really does any good to go on trips like this. And when I looked into those eyes of those precious people (young AND old) and realized how much they loved being talked to and valued and played with and cared for I found my answer. I attached a YouTube video down below. Its a short look into Korah. But the answer is also there...they ARE important. They are!

We were able to pick out 5 sheep and take back to Korah so the people could make up a stew and feed the kids. Meat is a real luxury for them and they normally only get it on special occasions (if even then). We happened to be there on a Saturday and they are not normally fed on Saturdays either. We were able to feed 250 people that day!



Trying to decide which ones to pick...hmmm...


Jason found one! Not gonna tell you what he did to it but it involved a knife. That's all I'm gonna say...

Sara and I were a little sad about it though...


They sheep had to ride IN the van with us back to Korah. That was a first for me!


The end product. Sheep stew with injera. I did not try this but a couple of our group members did.





My dad handing out plates of food.






What a blessing to see this...



Look at these two sweet precious girls!!


My dad with two sweeties!



Sara and her new friends!



Jason and his sweetie for the day....or one of many!!


Some of our group walking the streets of Korah...(Billy, Taylor, Chelsea, and David B)










Our group debriefing that night...
Some of the other things we got to do at Korah was do a VBS lesson with them, sing songs, listen to their songs, play soccer, face paint, etc. It did get crazy at times but I was so thankful that God had allowed me to be there at that exact time with those exact people. Next up...'the state run/not state run orphanage'....