Wednesday, July 6, 2022
I can't get enough of these views:
This was the big day! The boys' birth family was scheduled to arrive after lunch! We had some other stuff to do in the morning, though, so we set out after breakfast. Our first stop was the Hamlin Fistula Hospital. In Ethiopia, girls about 2 years old are put to work carrying large jugs of water. As they get older, more weight is piled on them, and because they don't receive enough nutrition from the food they eat, their growth is stunted. Many Ethiopian women are very small. This, coupled with the fact that many Ethiopian girls in the rural areas are married by the time they are 10 or 11, results in many women being much too small for pregnancy. What happens? A girl gets pregnant, but the baby is too big too fit through the birth canal. Some women are in labor for a week or more. The baby dies, and the woman delivers a stillborn baby, ripping a hole between her vagina and either bladder or rectum in the process. This makes her incontinent, and she is shunned by her family and friends. She usually lives by herself with little to no communication from anyone. Australian surgeons Reg and Catherine Hamlin saw the abundance of obstetric fistula cases in Ethiopia, and built the Hamlin Fistula Hospital, where life-changing surgery is provided for these women.
Jordan made a new friend at the hospital.
Our next stop was the Rehabilitation Center, where teenage boys are incarcerated for mostly petty crimes. A lot of these boys live on the streets, and during the rainy season, they'll steal some food just so they can be taken to the Rehabilitation Center and provided with shelter. We took several totes of donations with medicines, clothing, socks, blankets, etc. with us. We also stopped on the way and purchased 2 soccer balls so that they would have something to do during the long summer days.
Chris and Adrian joined the boys in a game of soccer, while the rest of us took a tour of the complex.
School rooms:
The kitchen, which felt to be about 110 degrees with the cook fires going inside:
For lunch, we ate at Sishu, a really good burger place. We also shopped at a super cute little boutique nearby while we waited for our food.
Then, it was back to the guest house to meet Pastor Omod and the boys' birth family! It was so good to see them again!
Meeting Cham again:
Ariet gave us a dictionary featuring English, Anywaa, and Amharic words, and taught us a few words and phrases in Anywaa, the boys' first language.
J and J had fun playing soccer, building Legos, and playing iphone games with their little brother, Okello. He was the sweetest boy, and loved doing everything that his big brothers did.
Ariet showed us these pictures of the boys that she has carried with her ever since they were babies. 💗 (Jordan on the left, Jalen on the right.)
We had dinner together at the guest house.
The boys' little sister, Bodojwok, was all tuckered out after a busy day of riding on an airplane, visiting such a big city, and meeting some of her family members, all for the first time.
Today was pretty amazing, and we had a really wonderful reunion with our Gambella family. The last time we visited them, we only spent a couple of hours with them. This time, we get to spend 3 days together. I'm sure the next few days will prove to be an emotional blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment