Our Trip to Ethiopia, Day 4

Monday, June 13, 2016

Quintin was awake for about 4 hours during the night. I guess he has his days and nights confused because of the time difference. We got up, ate breakfast, and then some of the team played soccer while we waited for the van to pick us up and take us to the airport for our flight to Mekele.

Ordinary Hero guest house:

Waiting for our flight:

Quintin slept the entire plane ride. As we flew north, we could tell from the air that all of the rivers were dried up because of the drought.

We met Wass and Tadesse at the Mekele airport, and then drove to the Axum hotel. We were able to connect to the internet in the lobby, so we touched base with Shana for a bit. 

Quintin had fun swinging with Wass:

The Axum hotel:

Our room:

We walked to Metekle school to see the construction progress being made, and met Yohannes and Weldie there. The school looks huge! It was so surreal to see it in person...the project for which we have fundraised the past year and a half. We are so thankful for our supporters! Workers were busy doing plaster...throwing mud up on the walls and smoothing it out. 

Mathewos called us up to the roof and asked if we would be interested in doing the third (final) story. I must have looked a bit overwhelmed, because he quickly assured me that it would not be nearly as costly since the cement work is already finished. The project would consist of laying cement block for the walls and classrooms, and putting a tin roof on. It would cost $50,000, and we could have 2 years to raise the money. That didn't sound nearly as challenging as the last story, $120,000 in a year and a half, so we told him we would think about it.

We walked back to the hotel and ate dinner outside on the patio. We had devotions, and Wass talked for awhile about how important it is for us to do the work we've been doing in Ethiopia. 

My pineapple Fanta:

Malia decided to collect everyone's bottle caps from the week. She brought home over 100.

Some of the team went for a walk through town after dinner, but I brought Quintin back to the room to get ready for bed. Tomorrow we will get to work!