Today, Jeremy went to the German Embassy to get Marie's transit visa. I went with the other mom's (and one brave dad) to the hospital to get all the kids checked out for ear infections before the trip home. It was quite the experience. It cost $4 to see the doctor and apparently it was a pretty swanky clinic that the average Ethiopian would be turned away from. It was kind of sad, before I realised what was happening, we were given preferential treatment. We were seen before everyone in the waiting room because we were foreigners. At one point, we had to go and wait in another waiting area, and the nurse kicked other people who were waiting off the seats so we could sit. I tried to tell her that it was not required, but she wouldn't listen to me. It was quite unfortunate. The Dr saw Marie and he gave her a clean bill of health in terms of her ears. So hopefully on the way home we won't have any screaming. That was all I wanted to get checked. I figure that the rest can wait until home. Some other families had their kids checked for other things and so we had to wait for some tests to come back and prescriptions to be filled. The kids all did really well, some of them cried in the exam room but even so, it was a pretty frazzling experience. I think we were glad we did it though as a couple of the kids did actually have ear infections. We were glad to get back to the guest house and get lunch.
In the afternoon we went to Gelgela orphanage. Marie spent a day there before being taken to the CAFAC foster home. I hadn't had a chance yet to go out and buy soccer balls, so I had to dig into the supplies that I brought from home as I did not want to go empty handed. I brought one soccer ball of really nice quality, and some clothes and hats for older children. I also brought a few school supplies. We were not allowed to take photos of the children which was disappointing. I did take a picture of these cribs though because you could not see the kids in them. There were four kids in these two cribs. It was really sad, one of the babies looked really really sick and small... to the point where I was not sure if he was going to make it. The kids were really ragged and there were no toys anywhere in sight. Many of the kids did not have shoes and the shoes that were there were falling apart. Outside in the court yard there was a merry go round and a swing set that had the swings wrapped around the top bar... aparently they were not for use. At first I did not know what to do. After a few awkward moments with the kids, I went to the swingset and unwrapped a swing... immediately there was a swarm of kids. I made them all line up so it was fair. Then one by one I pushed each child for a few minutes. I was very greatful I had learned to count to five in amharic, because I would count to three and then give each child an under duck. Then tickle them a little on the swing as I pushed them. After a couple of times, all the kids in the line began chanting one two three. You could hear a chorus of "and, oolet, soust!" It was very cute. I must have pushed at least thirty or fourty kids before I started getting repeat kids. At that point my arms gave out and another parent took over for me. Someone else brought balloons along with us and this was also a big hit. The kids thought blowing them up then letting them whiz through the air was really funny. The soccer ball was also a big hit. There was not enough room for a game so instead we played volleyball. The kids kicked our buts! I was very glad we went and the kids gave me a big complement by asking me to return the next day. One of the other families took down a list of things that the orphanage needs and they plan to go shopping for the things later in the week.