Ready for the day....
Today was the day that you need your strong hearts. Wow. Today is the day that we were able to visit the three government orphanages that Gladney is able to refer some children from. We started at Kolfe, which is the home for older boys. We had been warned about the conditions and Ryan told us that the boys (around 12 years and up to ~20 from what I could tell) do not get many visitors at all and barely any attention even from the employees there. To be honest, I think I was so well prepared for the conditions, that I thought it would be harder. Don’t get me wrong – they were certainly dire, but I think it helped to see one of the buildings that had been redone and knowing that Ryan, et al are working so hard to improve the conditions for them. The boys were all so welcoming and friendly. They clearly respect Ryan very much and were genuinely happy to see him. I think seeing so many of them smiling helped me to reconcile the entire situation. We started out with only a few of them around us – mostly the ones that Ryan knows the best. They all really loved Sophie and John and I didn’t hold her the entire time we were there – she was passed around by all the boys and hugged and kissed . I think the best ice breaker we could have imagined was the polaroid camera. Many of the boys were watching some old, grainy movie when we arrived and didn’t really even look up. The other boys were happy to have their pictures taken with my digital camera – and liked to look at the image, but when I pulled out the polariod and snapped the first picture, they literally came out of the woodwork to see us!! It was amazing to see how happy they were to have a picture of themselves. Some wanted pictures with their friends, some wanted a picture of themselves alone – smiling or serious, depending on the boy. They wanted pictures with us and Ryan and Sophie. It was great. By the end (only 30 pictures), it was hard to tell who had already had pictures – I wanted to make sure I had gotten everyone, but I’m still not sure. They were starting to get a little grabby and Ryan was getting a little disappointed in their behavior. I thought they were fine, especially since many had never before seen pictures of themselves, but he has been trying to work with them about appropriate behavior in the real world, which makes a lot of sense to me. They wanted us to leave the camera so that they could start a business on the side of the road and charge 5 birr (~45 cents) to take someone’s picture. I really wanted to leave it for them, but Ryan had to explain to them about the film and that it would cost them much more to get the film, etc. I ended up copying all of my digital pictures and gave them to Ryan to give them as well. I think that anything that brings a smile to their face made me happy to know that they are still even capable of smiling despite their circumstances. By the end they were all hugging us goodbye and many were even yelling we love you!Kolfe - the older boys orphanage
Tesfa in the "kitchen". He was the nicest guy with the coolest hair. It was very difficult to breathe in here.
Taking pictures right back at me!
John and his buds. One had a name that meant "be large" and he was very proud of that! He also happened to be very personable, polite and smart.
Big brothers and puppies
Many of our new friends
The next stop was to the largest orphanage in Addis – Kechene. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring our cameras into this one (per the Director), but it was great to spend time with these kids. Many of the Bright Futures campers are from here, so they are just waiting for their families to finish the paperwork and come take them home. It was funny because when they found out that we were from America they all wanted to know whether we lived in Texas or New York (where Gladney hosts Ethiopian camps in the summer to try and get more older kids adopted here). Although the conditions at the orphanages are nothing like we’ve seen back home, they seem to take great pride in keeping the babies well fed, and the rooms clean. The older girls’ rooms were immaculate – apparently they have competitions between rooms to see whose are the cleanest. They all loved to touch John’s hair because it is so straight and soft. John had a gaggle of older girls around him (12-15 years old) and I had three toddlers hold my hand everywhere we went. We were able to meet Renee and Geert’s little girl (and see their sleeping son). She is a firecracker! I know what people meant now – she was probably the smallest one following us around in our pack, but seemed as old and smart as the older girls! Ryan gave her your package right away (and lots of other kids letters from their families – I guess there are a lot of Bright Futures kids there waiting to go home). She would not let go of the bag for a minute. I have a feeling it will need a good washing when you get home b/c I think she will hold it until the day you arrive! She LOVED the pictures and was SO proud. She followed us around pointing to Renee and Geert saying “Mummy, Daddy” and proudly showing you to all of the kids. She must have come back over to me six times during our tour to point and say “Mummy, Daddy”. Sometimes she would say it with conviction, like, yup, they’re mine all mine and other times it was like she was checking again just to be sure. She’d say it and then point to her chest and have inquiring eyes. I think we succeeded in assuring her that they were her parents and were coming really soon to bring her home! Absolutely adorable. I really wished that I could have had my video camera for that – it was so incredibly heartwarming. She was very excited to see her room and the older girls loved seeing her house (very beautiful they all said) and their extended families. One boy in particular loved saying Nana, Papa, Oma and Opa – he thought that was very fun to say! The elephant was also a big hit. She carried it around for awhile and then I saw the tag that said pull me and I realized that she wouldn’t have known to do that. I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head when she heard the song! She loved it. While she went to lunch, she let one little boy guard her elephant and he played the song over and over and over against his ear with a big smile on his face.Their son, Keller, was napping the whole time we were there. We did get to see him in his little bed – he had on a very cute, very pink one piece outfit with old fashioned looking shoes and appeared to be a great napper!!! He looked very peaceful and adorable.
After saying goodbye and promising to write to our posse, we went to lunch and then stopped at the final orphanage – Kibebe Tsehay. This is where Sophie was for 1 month and 2 days. For people who don’t necessarily remember their own birthdays, some things are very important for them to count – thank good ness for us. I am not sure that I can articulate why this was the hardest one for me. Maybe it was because this is where Sophie was, maybe it was because it was all being painted and spruced up so it appeared a little disheveled (although it was obviously for a good cause, there were cribs outside and I think it was also laundry day, so clothes hanging everywhere outside), maybe it was because many of the babies looked SO sad. We met some of the older kids here, but mainly stayed in the area with all of the babies. This is where we got to see Kozit! Maria – I was able to get an amazing video and lots of pictures of her opening her gifts from you. She was SO happy and recognized you and her sister right away and had a big smile on her face when she saw the pictures. I honestly don’t know who was happier about the bag – her or her caregiver! Her caregiver dove right in and put her new sneakers and shirt and hat and necklace on and Kozit had as much as she could possibly carry in her arms and wasn’t about to let go!! First and foremost was the snowman – it was almost as if she knew – she held onto that with all of her might. I promise to try to send the video while we’re here, but I tried to make it as long as possible, so I’m not confident that it will go through. We had coffee with the caregivers and I just sat holding one little boy around 2 years old who was so looked so sad. I asked if I could take him from his crib and as soon as I did he just held me around my neck so tight. I think it’s pretty common for them to pass colds and coughs around, so I really don’t think he felt well – he was sort of just staring out to space. That’s the moment I broke down. At least with the other kids, you know that they don’t have a great life, but they are so friendly and appear so happy that you have enormous hope for good things to come. With these little babes, you can’t talk to them or understand what they are thinking and it is so frustrating knowing that you just can’t take them all home. Harder than picking him up or holding him was having to put him down. That was the first emotion we saw from him and he just cried. Luckily Ryan had given us the 10 minute warning before we had to leave so I could prepare myself to let go. The woman are so loving and hold as many babies as they can at a time, but there’s just too many.I’m looking forward to seeing all of our pictures and watching the videos when we get home. As much emotion that is occuring on the spot, I think much of it won’t even sink in until we return and remember so many of these little faces. Luckily, I learned from Ryan that not only does Gladney have families matched to all of the babies in the foster house, they also have been given several referrals from the orphanages and those children will be moved to the foster home as soon as there is room. The good news out of all of this is that once the courts reopen, the process will get so much quicker and the Gladney home will be a revolving door bringing babies out from these conditions into loving homes.
Babies in every bed at Kibebe Tsehay
Me and my sad friend. Hoping he'll be happy and with his forever family soon!
Kibebe Tsehay Orphanage (Sophie's)
Kibebe Tsehay Orphanage
Sophie & her primary caregiver at the government orphanage, Kebebe Tsehay
After our orphanage tour, we came back to the hotel and rested – she took a good 3 hour nap – yippee! Luckily, we are so wiped out that we come back for nap time in the afternoons, which is a perfect time to update you all (and selfishly, this is my way of trying to keep all of these memories fresh because I know I’m going to forget so much!). Sophie’s primary caregiver from the Gladney house (Almaz - who we did not meet the other day) came to out hotel room to babysit while we went to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant called Fasika with Belay and Tafesse. It was SO fun to see Sophie’s reaction when Almaz walked into the room. I have not seen her that excited since I have known her! She was wriggling her legs and babbling and literally squealing with delight. It was great to see how much they really loved each other! Almaz gave her a beautiful traditional Ethiopian outfit and I was able to take a picture of Sophie in the outfit with Almaz.Dinner was phenomenal. The restaurant itself (Fasika) was down this long alleyway in what appeared to be a poor area of town (as opposed to…?). Then all of a sudden, you drive in this tin gate and there was this somewhat fancy restaurant appearing out of nowhere! The food was delicious. There were musicians, singers and tribal dancers with many different costumes and moves that you wouldn’t believe! They were all from a specific tribe in Eastern Ethiopian (I forget the name). I barely got to put my video camera down because it was all just so amazing! When we returned Almaz told us that Sophie had not slept a wink – oops, maybe it was the 3 hour afternoon nap? I actually think that Sophie just wanted to be with her and not sleep through the visit, because she fell asleep in my arms as soon as we got home! I will say that I was happy that she was almost as excited to see us when we returned as she was to see Almaz arrive.Sophie & Almaz
Traditional Ethiopian food
The dancers and beautiful costumes
The restaurant - Fasika
John, Belay & Tafessa (in mid-blink - he doesn't even drink, so he's not tipsy!)