Back to School

The P61 students have been back to school for about a month now.  Say a prayer for them today.  Pray they will work hard at their schoolwork but also that they will hear God's Word and follow Him.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Our flight left Addis Ababa around 10:30pm last night.  After flying for 5 or 6 hours, we landed in Rome, Italy to refuel.  When we touched down Mommy let me go to sleep.  We flew another 9 or 10 hours and landed in DC. 

By the time we got through customs and took care of our luggage, we were hungry.  Uncle Shawn, Aunt Heather and Miss Lisa had to go other directions to catch their flights so we told them goodbye.  Then Mommy found what I had missed so much - MILK!!!!

We ate lunch then waited for our flight.  I thought we'd never get to Tennessee but we finally did.  Daddy and the kids were waiting for us!!  I sure did miss them!!  When we got home I gave them their souvenirs.  They liked them.

I went to sleep in my bed and it felt so good.  But I'm glad I got to go to Ethiopia.  It was worth it!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

This morning we went to church at Beza International Church.  It was in English and I even knew most of the songs they sang.

Biruk, Mommy and me outside Beza.

They were getting a new "road" so we had to walk down this tiny path beside all these rocks to get to church.  It was muddy from the rain so I walked on the rocks.

Lunch after church at Cupcake Delights.

Everyone wants to be as cool as Aunt Heather and me!  :)

An Orthodox church in the city.  So many people don't know about the One True God.

We were all packed and our room was clean.  My passport is around my neck and I'm ready to go to the airport.  It's time to leave Ethiopia.

Sitting in the living room waiting for Tesfaye, our driver.

This is a view of the dining room where we ate breakfast every morning.

Loading up the van!



Our team...Mommy, Me, Tesfaye, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Heather, Miss Lisa and Biruk

What a fun trip!  Now for the loooonnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggg airplane ride home...

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Today we got our dirty laundry given to the housekeeper so it would be clean for packing tonight.  After breakfast we went to the Post Office District (I never saw a post office - I don't think there really is one?) to do some shopping.  I bought something for my brother and sisters.  I also got something for all the people who helped me go on this mission trip.

It was very busy downtown because of the government meetings with people from all over Africa so we left downtown.  We drove around a little for some sightseeing then went back to the guest house.

Aunt Heather made sure I had ice cream on our shopping day.  It was yummy!!

The view from the Yates' balcony.  It was raining in the distance and we could hear it.

Cooking up some good food!

It was a lazy afternoon getting packed.  Then we went to have dinner with the Yates family.  Mrs. Yates, Aunt Heather and some other ladies cooked Mexican food (sounds funny when we're in Ethiopia, not Mexico) but anyway, it was really good.  The electricity went off and we thought we'd have to eat in the dark.  But it came on again.  Right when we finished eating it went off again.  So we went back to our guest house.  The electricity was off there too so we just went to bed.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Today we went to Korah and had the last class for the kids.  I gave Lidia some stickers.  She and her friends sat with me at the class time.  Aunt Heather wasn't there because she still didn't feel well.  Then the kids ate (I don't want to talk about what they ate but I'll show some pictures).

Uncle Shawn taught the lesson with Biruk translating.

If the kids could say their memory verse, they got a piece of gum.  Lots of them said it!  "All things are possible with God.  Mark 10:27"  It's fun to hear them say it with their accents.

Lunch!  Remember the sheep on top of the van yesterday.  That's all I'm saying.  But the kids loved it!!  It's a real treat for them.  I just didn't like seeing the sheep alive first.

This girl only has one leg.  I gave her the bandana she is wearing.  She was so excited!  She talked to us for a few minutes with the little bit of English she knew.  Mommy still thinks about her alot.  She had such a sweet smile.

The kids just wanted to have their photo taken with us.  So we always did.

One last photo of Korah as we were driving off.  Maybe we'll go back one day?!

After we told everyone goodbye, we went back to the guest house.  I took a shower then played templerun and beat Uncle Shawn's high score. 

For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant called Yod Abyssinia.  I tasted some beef and we watched their dancing show.

We washed our hands with this warm water the server poured over the bowl.

Traditional Ethiopian food.  Notice the injera.  It's different colors but it's what they use to eat.

Same plate after everyone was finished.

Another Ethiopian dish.  It was beef.  I tasted this.  It was kind of like fajitas. 

We washed our hands again after the meal.  Since they eat with their fingers, I guess it's important to clean before and after they eat.

The dancers performed dances from different regions of Ethiopia.  We had bad seats because they were saving the good seats for dignitaries who were in town but never showed up for the show.  So Mommy and I stood at the back and watched.

Mommy and Me :)

We thought it was funny that they had an airplane in the corner of their restaurant.  This is the airline we flew over the ocean and back.

The outside of the restaurant

After dinner we went back to the guest house.  I was tired so I went to bed.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Today for breakfast was scrambled eggs and bread.  After breakfast we got ready and went to Korah for another day of summer camp.

On our way to Korah, we stopped at a goat store and got five goats for the goat thing tomorrow.  (If you don't know what the goat thing is, wait for tomorrow's post.)  It's not really a "store" because the goats are just out in a field.  But the men are there ready to sell the goats.  So that's why we went there.

The goat people tied up the goats' legs and put them on top of the van. Poor goats!!!  (So they are really sheep but they looked like goats to me so I called them goats.)

Tying up the goats legs. The goats made quite a lot of noise.

The goats on top of the van.

Ficardu helped get the goats down.

Mom took a photo of herself with one of the kids. They love having their picture taken so they can see themselves.

I forgot this girl's name but she is about eleven, my age. Many kids in Ethiopia aren't very tall because of malnutrition.  Once they have a sponsor and start eating every day, they start growing again.

A lot of the kids had the same toy. They had a plastic hoop and a stick with a wire hook on the end. Then they rolled the hoop on the ground using the wire hook and stick to keep it going. In Addis we saw a lot of kids running down the sidewalk with their hoops rolling.

We taught the kids "Our God". We had a chalkboard to write the words on.

The goats were tied up outside the building to eat the grass and weeds along the fence until the next day.

We were in their new building today.  It was the first time to use the building.  They were still working on it but it was finished enough for us to use.  They are very proud to have it!

The craft for today was people chains. We gave all the kids a people chain, markers and crayons. Then they decorated the people chains. They had fun doing that.  God loves kids all over the world!

This is a basket of injera.  They use this to eat with everything.  Instead of using a fork or spoon, they break off a piece of injera then pick up the other food with the injera.  They put the whole thing in their mouth to eat.  So when they are finished they get to lick their fingers.

A bucket of wat for the kids' lunch.

The kids all lined up with their plate of injera to get the wat.

Mommy and I took a little photo album with pictures of our family in it . The kids loved seeing them and after they saw the pictures for a couple days whever I took out the album, they would take it and tell me everyone's name and age. They were good at remembering stuff.

Tesfaye is in the black shirt.  He was our driver for our time in Addis.  He is a very good driver.  Uncle Shawn (in the cap) is talking to Roger Gibson while Zoie Gibson is waiting on her dad.

Tegest was my shadow. He wanted his picture with me so mom told me to bend down since I was way taller than him. But when I leaned down, he leaned down too. That's why he was my shadow. He did everything I did.



Mommy and me.  Enough said.

After lunch we went on another home visit to see Uncle John and Aunt Anne Grethe's sponsored girl, Fasika, and her family.  Her mom was the only one home.  Her house was soooooo tiny.  I think it's about the size of our one of our bathrooms.  We took them some teff to make injera, berbere (spice), powdered milk, and some chocolate.  We took a photo with Fasika and her mom outside their house with Aunt Heather and Uncle Shawn.

You can see how big their house is.  It's only as wide as the orange doors and tin.  Fasika was happy that we visited and sad that we were leaving.

Mommy took a picture of me by a donkey. She wouldn't let me pet it though.

Everytime we would walk through Korah, kids would want to hold our hands.  This girl walked with me for a little ways then turned around to go back home.

While Mommy was taking the photo of the girl and me walking together, she dropped her camera.  It wouldn't work.  We were both sad.  We went to the Fistula Hospital for a tour.  While we were waiting for the tour guide, Mommy looked on her phone for tips on how to fix our camera.  (Glad they had wi-fi there!)  She worked on it for about 20 minutes (no one gets in a hurry in Ethiopia and the tour guide had not come yet) but it still wouldn't work.  She was praying that God would help her fix it or we wouldn't be able to take anymore pictures on our trip.  Then she took the card the hospital had given us about it's history and rubbed the corner of it around the lenses a few times.  When she turned it on again, it worked!  She took a photo of her backpack (because we really weren't supposed to be taking photos there).  The zoom still didn't work so she used the card a couple more times.  This time the zoom worked too!  I think Mommy cried a little bit because she was so happy that the camera was working again and that God helped her fix it.


Since we weren't allowed to take photos in the hospital, we don't have any except for the backpack photo.  Aunt Heather didn't feel well so we went back to the guest house.  She went to bed and didn't want to go to dinner.  So the rest of us went to The Lime Tree for dinner while she rested at the guest house.  I had a hamburger with fries and ketchup, two bottles of orange fanta, part of Stephen's chocolate cake and a little bite of Mommy's cake.

We took some photos while driving to and from the restaurant.

A street in Addis.  All those blue vans are taxis.

A typical "store" in a market in Addis.

Another "store" in the market.

Sheep herds can be seen all over Addis.  Where ever there is any grass, the shepherds take their herd there to eat.  Even in the busy part of Addis we would see sheep.



Need a bed?  This was a "furniture store" at one of the markets.

That nasty, icky brown water is a river that runs through Addis.  It is full of diseases.  But the people use it for washing clothes and drinking.

A boy was washing his feet off in a rain puddle.  They "catch" this water in buckets to use.

When we got back to the guest house, we went to bed.  I was tired.