Ethiopia - Trip One - Day Five

Friday, August 5, 2011
*I'm sorry, once again, for the lack of pictures in this post. All of the photos that I took on this day were deleted by a certain little mischievous boy.

After breakfast with the other families in our travel group, Danny picked us up at 8:30 and we headed for court. Once we arrived, we were patted down and then made our way up several flights of stairs, down a hall and into a room full of adoptive families and birth parents. There were not enough chairs for everyone, so some of us stood by the window, watched the happenings in the street below, and desperately hoped that all of our documentation would be present in our court file! We waited nervously for about an hour, and then Haile, our AGCI representative, told us that it was our turn. We filed into the judge's room with 2 other families, found seats, and then answered 8-10 yes/no questions. The judge then informed us that our MOWA letters (approval letters written by the Ministry of Women's Affairs) were not present in our files, and until she received them, she could not close our cases. This news was disappointing, but not surprising. Earlier this spring, MOWA decided to drastically reduce the number of letters they process each day. Therefore, it is becoming unusual for anyone to pass court the first time. 

That was all there was to it! We waited for the other families while they went in to see the judge, and they all received the same response.  On the way back to the hotel, we actually stopped at MOWA's headquarters because Haile had some business to take care of there. We all joked that we would love to go in and pressure them to get our letters signed - we would even help them do it!

Back at the hotel, we ate lunch with the others and then Danny came back at about 1:00 to take us to Hannah's Hope. The boys were napping again when we got there, but we woke them up and headed outside to play.

Almaz came out this afternoon and said that she needed to talk to us. All 6 families gathered together, and she told us that she had some bad news. Several orphanages south of Addis Ababa have closed recently, and those with children from that region won't be able to move forward with their adoptions until more investigation can be done into their cases. This will cause delays, and even though Almaz said she would work her hardest to get the matter resolved, she really has no idea how long the process will take. This affects 4 of the families in our travel group, even though their children weren't from the orphanages that were closed. Hopefully, the Ethiopian government will listen to reason and process their cases quickly. Almaz then went on to say that those of us with dark chocolate kids (as she calls the children from the Gambela region), which includes us and 1 other family, won't be affected by the investigations taking place. However, she informed us that we have 1 week for MOWA to produce our letters. After that, the courts close down for their yearly recess. If our letter does not show up in our file in the next week, we will have to wait until the courts reopen in the middle of October before our cases can move forward. We all stood there, tears running down our cheeks, holding our children a little tighter. At this point, none of us know when we will be able to see them again. But I do know that Almaz and the other AGCI staff members are amazing, and will do their best to fight for all of us.

After their baths, I toweled "O" and "U" off, lotioned them, and then dressed them in their PJ's. Both boys did OK when we left them today, after one of the special mothers explained to them that we would be back again tomorrow. We ate dinner at the hotel with the other families in our group, and then headed back to our room. Tomorrow, we'll have to tell the boys goodbye, and we're dreading it. We bonded so well with them this week; I wonder how it will go when we don't see them for several more months? When we finally do get to come back, will they trust us not to leave them again? Ugh - this is so hard. But we do know that God is in control, and His timing will be perfect.

Tomorrow afternoon, we'll head south to Ziway to visit Gary and Peggy Ifft. I can't wait to see more of the Ethiopian countryside on the way!

Ethiopia - Trip One - Day Four

Thursday, August 4, 2011
*The photos in this post were taken when we got home. Unfortunately, all of my pictures from this day (including some really cool ones of the market!) are gone, because one of our boys grabbed my camera at HH and deleted two days' worth of photos! :-(

Today was our shopping day! After breakfast, Wass picked us up at about 9:30 and we headed to the market. We bought all kinds of cool stuff: traditional Ethiopian outfits for our family, 2 traditional coffee pots, ebony animals for the twins' bedroom, bracelets for Shana, a doll for Malia, authentic Adidas Ethiopian soccer jerseys for the boys, scarves, a table runner, a map of Ethiopia, 2 drums for the twins, a nativity set, an Amharic Bible, and spices. Shana shopped with us for awhile, and then climbed back on the bus and played Uno with Yohannes and Wass while Chris and I did some more shopping. Everything was extremely low-priced, but Wass informed us ahead of time that we should never pay full price for an item. Instead, we were supposed to negotiate, which we are not good at, but did a bit anyway. I'm sure we still paid the "ferengi" (white people) price on quite a few items. Here are some photos of the items we bought:

We went to the Makush Italian Restaurant and Art Gallery for lunch, and then back to HH for the afternoon. The boys were sleeping when we got there, but one of the special mothers told us to go ahead and wake them up. I held and snuggled "O" for a bit, while Chris played with "U". After we helped them with their baths, "O" saw everyone gathering by the gate and knew it was time for us to go. He grabbed onto my hand and held it very tightly. Finally the gatekeeper came along and took him to go play, and we headed back to the Riviera.

We ate dinner at the hotel with several of the other families. During this time, the power went out (the first time it happened all week!), which is a very common occurrence in Ethiopia. Thankfully, the hotel had a generator - no problems! After dinner, we went to another family's room to see their purchases from the market, and then it was time for bed.

Tomorrow is court!!!

Ethiopia - Trip One - Day Three

Wednesday, August 3, 2011
After breakfast at the hotel this morning, we met two more families who joined our group. Then, we all headed to Hannah's Hope at about 9:30. We found the boys, and Shana showed them her MP3 player. They were highly intrigued, and shared the ear buds while they listened to children's songs together.

"S" brought some fingernail polish to HH today, and she and Shana had fun helping all of the little girls paint their fingernails and toenails. Some of the special mothers got in on the action too, and were soon sporting freshly-polished nails.

We, along with several other families, decided to take a trip to Bethzatha Orphanage today. Quite a few of the children at HH come from this orphanage across town. On the way, we decided to stop and buy a couple of goats to donate to the orphanage to use for future meals. Danny, our driver, picked out two goats for us. When the goat herders saw all of us in the van, they gave us the "ferengi" (white people) price. We, as a group, paid 1400 Birr per goat (about $75.00). Wass told us later that we paid too much - we should've given only about 800 Birr for them, but that was OK with us. I guess we helped out the orphanage and the goat herders that way! 

 Here is Danny negotiating for our goats!

They tied the goats' legs together and then loaded them into the van with us.

They were good little goats on the way, but they sure were glad to be set free when we arrived at Bethzatha! They immediately got to work munching on all of the grass and small shrubs in sight. The Director of the orphanage told us that they would fatten them up for about three weeks before making them into a meal.

The Director gave us a tour of the facility. We saw many children; some were playing outside and others were just lying in bed. What broke my heart was the tiny room that held two children - both were blind and deaf, and neither could sit or stand. The one little girl (maybe 6 or 7 years old? It was really hard to estimate her age) never gets out of bed - just lies there all day, every day. I walked up to her and rubbed her little cheek. Her eyes moved back and forth rapidly as she tried to process the feeling. That was all she could do.

We watched a worker in the kitchen make injera, the staple of Ethiopian food.

Then, some of the men played soccer with the boys while Shana and "S" passed out candy to everyone and painted the girls' fingernails.

It was soon time to leave, so we signed Bethzatha's guest book and climbed into the van again. The goats were still happily munching away! On the streets to and from Bethzatha Orphanage today, we saw many interesting sights, including people washing their clothes in mud puddles, grown men walking hand-in-hand in friendship, men urinating in the streets, and people living on the sidewalks. When it rains, they just pull a tarp over their heads. All of these are common sights in Ethiopia. Here are a few more photos that I took during the drive across town:

 a shoe store

 This man was washing his hair in a mud puddle. Made me ever so much more thankful for my shower!

When we arrived back at Hannah's Hope, our boys were napping, so I walked around and took a video of the facility. It is an awesome place. For those of you reading this who are AGCIers and have not yet traveled to meet your children, please be assured that HH is a wonderful, clean location and the children there receive the utmost in love and care. Soon, Chris woke up the boys so we could spend more time with them. I got the cutest video of them talking and singing to each other in their own language. Shana had fun playing soccer with the gatekeeper and giving out lots of dum-dum suckers to the workers. She made lots of friends! 

A little after 4:00, it was time to go. We took the boys upstairs to get their baths, and when they figured out we were leaving, they were not happy. They ran right back out of the bathroom, clinging to us and crying. It is becoming so much harder for us to leave them each day! They hate it when we disappear, and each morning, "O" is a little reserved when we get there. I think it takes a little bit of time to build up his trust again each day, and he gets so upset when we leave again at the end of the day. Saturday will be really hard on all of us, since we have no idea when we'll get to come back. We are hoping and praying that our MOWA letter shows up in court on Friday, so we can come back soon and take these boys home!

Shortly after 6:00, Wass picked us up at the hotel and we headed to Yod Abysinia for an Ethiopian cultural dinner with traditional food and music and dancing from different regions of the country.

 Here is one part of our group....

 ...and here's the other!

 The food was delicious - yum!

 Traditional coffee ceremony

Shana and "S" begged Wass to get up and dance, and he finally stood up and showed off a few moves right at his seat. He tried to teach the girls how to do it as well. They begged him to get up on the stage and dance, but he said he was too tired and would dance tomorrow with the kids at HH. Finally, after Shana said "please" in Amharic, he gave in. He is an awesome dancer! When he finished, it was time to go back to the Riviera. It was a busy but fun day in Ethiopia!

Ethiopia - Trip One - Day Two

Tuesday, August 2, 2011
We slept really well during the night - yay! In fact, Shana slept for 12 hours straight! We got up this morning, had breakfast in the hotel dining room, and then met several other families in our travel group that arrived early this morning. One of the other families brought along their 12-year-old daughter, "S", and she and Shana hit it off right away. They had fun planning the activities that they were going to do with the kids at Hannah's Hope today.

Here we are this morning at the Riviera Hotel, ready for a new day with our boys!

At about 11:00, Danny came and picked us up and we headed back to HH. When we arrived, Chris took a video of a family that was meeting their children for the first time, and I snapped some photos of another family while they met their daughter. Then, off we ran to find the boys! "O" looked so sad again when we found him. One of the other families, who arrived at HH earlier today than we did, told us that when they got there, "O" ran up to the van and was very disappointed when we weren't there. Awww!!! That made us feel good. The boys seem to be attaching to us pretty quickly. At one point today, "U" said, "Ababa, na!" Which means, "Daddy, come here!" He was also freely handing out kisses to Chris.

We spent about 5 hours at HH today, and had so much fun playing with all the kids. Everyone, even the staff, loved all of the candy we brought with us, and had fun making necklaces with the beads Shana and "S" brought. We made one for each of the boys with his name on it. 

We fed the boys their lunch - spaghetti, which they loved. This afternoon, "U" fell asleep in my arms. It was so sweet! Soon after this, it was time to go, so we took him upstairs to his bed. We told "O" goodbye, and then Wass drove us back to the hotel. On the way, we stopped along the side of the street to buy some bottled water. This is a necessity in Ethiopia, because the water from the tap is not safe for drinking or brushing teeth. Anyway, the streets are always PACKED with people, and as we waited for the men to get back with our water, the people outside the van were very intrigued by Shana. They kept smiling and waving to her. I think they were surprised to see blond hair! It's sort of an unusual thing in Ethiopia. 

We ate dinner tonight at the hotel, and then met with Ephrim, the driver we had lined up to take us to Ziway. He told us that he won't be able to drive us on Saturday, but that he will get someone else for us. He then gave us three more bags of coffee, since he runs a coffee business on the side. Yum!!! And we're already anxious to see our boys again tomorrow!

Ethiopia - Trip One - Day One

The first few days of our trip blended into one as I didn't really sleep in between. After spending the night in Indianapolis, we "awoke" on Sunday morning, July 31, at about 2:30 AM and headed to the airport. We flew to Washington Dulles, where we boarded one of the new Ethiopian Airways 777's. There was a huge mission group on our flight that was headed to Uganda and the Korah dump in Addis Ababa. As we walked down the long, totally dark hallway to get on the plane, someone from the mission team mentioned that it felt like we were entering a different world. As I look back, I realize just how true that statement was.

Africa - here we come!

Monday, August 1, 2011
My mind cannot even begin to process what happened today. I am severely jet-lagged, light-headed because of the altitude, and so overcome with emotions that it is hard to comprehend the day's events. We got off the plane at around 8:00 AM, went through the visa line and customs, and headed to the hotel.

Bole International Airport

We checked into our suite, and were handed a schedule from Hannah's Hope. It said that we were supposed to meet the boys today at 1:00! We were told previously that we probably wouldn't get to see them until Wednesday, so we were a bit shocked! We had made plans to travel to Ziway today to meet Gary and Peggy Ifft, who are working with Lifesong for Orphans to build schools, but we called and changed our plans to go there at the end of the week instead.

After a while, Wass picked us up and we headed to Hannah's Hope. We turned down a very bumpy mud road, and then, down on the left, I spotted the famous black gates.

We walked inside, and were ushered into the office of Almaz (the director). She informed us that the boys' birth mother was there (she was in town for her court appointment), and she would like us to meet her. Be still, my beating heart! We filled out some paperwork, gave Yohannes some money so that he could exchange it into Birr for us, and ordered 10 bags of coffee to take home with us. (side note - Ethiopian coffee is the best!) Then, we waited very nervously while Almaz went to get the boys' birth mother. I sat there and prayed that God would bless our meeting. We felt so unprepared, and hadn't even thought about any questions we should ask her about the boys' background, etc. We weren't even supposed to arrive in Addis until tomorrow night, but due to the short notice, we hadn't been able to get airline tickets as such. It was definitely God orchestrating our meeting, as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Then, into the room she came - tall and beautiful, with a commanding presence. We hugged, and then sat down while Almaz went through the birth mother's photo book we had made (which we just happened to have along with us - perfect timing!), translating as she went. Almaz also translated the letter we had written to "A" (the birth mother). "A" said that she can feel our prayers and believes that God has blessed her. I then asked what she would like her boys to remember about her. She said that she wants them to know that she loves them very much. We found out that she can read and understand some English, and we discussed some other heartbreaking and beautiful things, which I won't share here. It is the boys' story, and we will leave it up to them whether or not they wish to share someday. : ) We told her that we loved the boys so much already, even though we had never met them. We had a wonderful meeting, and feel so privileged that we had such an awesome opportunity. Then Almaz brought in "O" and "U" - our sons! My eyes filled with tears. This was the moment we had waited so long for! And one of them was wearing the exact same shirt that my nephew, Yikealo, wore on the day that his parents met him two years ago! We hugged them, and then went outside, where we took pictures of all of us together. I am so glad that we have all of those photos of the boys with their first mother!

We noticed that "A" had made each of the boys a necklace, and she had on a matching one as well. Precious keepsakes, indeed! When she called them by their names, we realized that our paperwork was wrong - we had them mixed up! She told the boys that we were now their mommy and daddy, hugged and kissed them goodbye, and then walked away, looking back and waving as she went. Then she was gone.

Chris, Shana and I were left alone in the courtyard with the twins.

We took some photos, played ball, showed them the photo albums we had made for them, blew up some balloons, looked at books, and gave them some fruit snacks. It was so much fun to see their personalities come through! After awhile, we went inside so they could get their baths. I towel-dried and lotioned them, and then we dressed them in their PJ's. After they ate dinner, we played with them and the other children for awhile longer. Then, it was time to leave, so we told them goodbye. "O" clung to Shana and started crying - just silent tears running down his little cheeks. He looked so sad! We told them we'd be back again tomorrow, and then headed to the hotel.

Here are a few other photos from today. I legally cannot show pictures of the faces of our boys or other children yet.

 This is written on the wall in the toddler/older children's house at Hannah's Hope.

 Here is the room where my little guys sleep!

 Hannah's Hope. The building clear on the left is the toddler/older children's house. The building to the right of the car is the baby house.

 Between the two buildings.

 Views on the streets of Addis. There are animals and people everywhere!

Tomorrow is a new day with our boys!!!

Back Home Again......

Hello, all! We had a wonderful trip to Ethiopia - what an amazing place. We got home last night, later than we expected since one of our flights was cancelled. I hope to share more details later, but I wanted to let everyone know that our MOWA letter was not present in our file at court. This is the only document that we are waiting for, and if we don't receive it by this Friday (two days from now!), we will have to wait until the courts reopen in October for our case to be complete. We are trusting in God's perfect timing, and believe that He will be with our wonderful little boys in our absence.

Thank you all so much for your prayers while we were gone. We appreciate it so much more than we can express.

Here We Go!!!!

It's time!!! We're all packed up and ready to go to Ethiopia!! A big THANK YOU to our amazing Sunday School students and their parents for all of the wonderful donations that are packed away in those big blue totes and one of the suitcases pictured above. The children at Hannah's Hope will be so blessed because of your love and support!

Many people have asked when we will be bringing our children home. It all depends on whether or not we pass court on August 5th. If all of our paperwork is in order and the judge has received our approval letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's, Children's and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA), then we could possibly travel back to Ethiopia four to six weeks later to bring our children home. However, MOWCYA has reduced the number of letters that they process each day, so our approval letter may not be present for our court date. If this is the case, it will delay the process. Because the Ethiopian court system shuts down for a month and a half beginning on August 6th, we really don't know what to expect. We may have to wait until the courts reopen at the end of September before they will look at our case again. Lately, most families have not been passing court the first time. This could add several weeks or months to our timeline. (We will not need to be present when they examine our case again.) God knows exactly what will happen and when, and we are trusting His perfect will to be done.

We would appreciate your prayers this week as we travel (it's a loooonnnggg flight), as we meet our boys for the first time, for the twins as they try to process what is happening, for the twins' birth mother as she attends her court appointment on Monday, for our children who stay at home with their grandparents, for their grandparents (11 days is a long time to babysit), and for our health as we experience a different culture with different foods and unsafe water. Thank you so much! We know that God is going before us and preparing the way, and we pray He would be glorified this week as our adoption journey continues to unfold.

Due to unreliable internet service in Ethiopia, I most likely will not be posting anything to my blog while we are there. I plan to take lots of photos, though, and will share them along with an account of our trip when we return.

Hope everyone has a great week! See you later, and off we go!