Stepping Out in Faith - Our Journey to Ethiopia: Ordinary Hero - Out into the Country

I love this day!! These are the children that just hold my heart.

This is me, Amy and Bizrat. Bizrat was one of our guides and translators. He is a special human being that just radiates joy. He was a blessing to me and all the others on the trip.

As we head out of town, we see hundreds of these donkeys along the road carrying hay (building material and food for livestock). You also notice the air - fresh air. The city air can be a bit overwhelming with the exhaust.

As we get closer to the village, we definitely attract lots of attention. I don't think that they get many visitors out here, and the children just come running to see what we are doing there.

We finally make it to the orphanage, and we are let in through the gates. The children just gather outside all trying to jocky for a spot by the fence to see what we are doing. We get a tour of the facility. To be honest, it's pretty depressing. There isn't a lot for the children to do. I don't see any toys. The grass/weeds in the area outside is almost up to my knees in spots. There are pools of standing water, and several of the children don't have shoes. The ants bite, and many of the babies have what look like bites on their legs. I imagine they get some of these when they are sat down in the grass bare bottomed.

Standing water = increased mosquitoes

increased mosquitoes = increased chances of contracting malaria

The bedrooms for the older children all have protective nets. However, I'm not sure how effective they are with holes all in them.

The baby room doesn't even have nets. And, they are the ones that are most likely to die if they get malaria. Every 45 seconds, a child dies from malaria. Hopefully, they will use some of our nets and get these children protected!

After we get the tour, we head outside to do some crafts with the children. Rachel did a wonderful job preparing crafts to do with the children. This is something that they normally don't get to do, and they love it.

This is the other building that we do crafts in. The walls are made of mud and hay.

Even though the orphanage compound is depressing, the children are just so sweet and thankful that we are there. (I can't show any pics of the children in the orphanages. Kelly did get to tell one little boy that he was being adopted. He was just so thrilled, because he knew his time was almost up. He is 15 and at 16 children are not longer available for adoption.)

After we finished up with the crafts, we headed into the village to visit with some of the families and to hand out donations. This woman graciously invites us into her house. This is a muslim household. We tell her and her family that we come in the name of Jesus and that Jesus loves them. The whole time this little boys is just crying. I don't think he has ever seen so many white people :) I give him a sucker, and he calms down. Suckers work across all racial lines :) This lady's house is quite large compared to the others in the village. Inside there is a radio, small table, 2 pillows, a bowl and several rugs.

As we walk down the street, children just surround us. They love having their picture taken! You also see many children taking care of babies.

I just feel in love with this little girl! She just seemed so vulnerable and alone. She had no shoes on and was dressed in rags. Her skirt was falling off because it was too big and missing the zipper and she had no underwear on underneath. She just clung to my hand.

We gave her some boots and pants. When I close my eyes and see the children who live in poverty. It is this sweet girl's face that I see. I think of her often!

Here are some of the other children waiting for their turn at the donations. We have mostly clothes and shoes. I'm so grateful to be able to hand out shoes. This gives you an idea of what the children walk/run on. The rocks are not smooth. They seem like volcanic rocks, because they are so rough and porous. I am so grateful that we can protect some of their precious little feet!