Shewit

I've heard many sad stories throughout my life. Stories of sorrow and hardship, but nothing like the stories I have heard in the past few days. I have been thinking of ways to write this entry with words that capture the emotions of these women and how I felt while sitting in these homes, but I can't. I never will. Though I can't tell these stories the way they were told to me I will do my best to give these women a voice. Their stories need to be heard.

1st home: The mother of Shewit, a child who is a part of CHC, is a 30 year old woman who although loves the Lord does not attend church. She has one child who is 10 years old and in 4th grade. In order to support herself and her child she washes clothes and bakes njera for other families. Her parents arranged (sold her to an older husband) a marriage around the age of 13 where she was sexually abused by this man, then he left her shortly after. She became pregnant with Shewit and developed fistula, which is when the uterus collapses. From my understanding fistula occurs when a woman gives birth before her body is ready to go through the process. She was not given the choice to chose a husband  or to lay her body down with someone she genuinely loved and cared. Instead she was robbed of something so many woman often take for granted. Sometimes I think of my reckless life before I met Anthony. How I took my body for granted and didn't treat it as the temple it was created to be. It makes me sad to think this woman (girl) was completely wrecked and has never experienced the type of physical love you should have with a husband. Walking through the metal tin door, awaiting, was a big pile of trash outside the door. Somewhere among the trash was a hole where you find the kitchen. The 'kitchen', or lack there of, consist of a small tin filled with charcoal. It's a long process to cook food; lighting up the coals, waiting for them to heat, waiting for the water to boil, and finally start cooking. And I wonder, what happens if it rains? It's humbling. The house is small and I'm not talking studio size small, I am talking the size of a closet in a studio apartment. The floor is made of dirt and the walls are made of tin. There is no air conditioner, therefore, when it is cold it is cold and when it's hot it is hot. Though there we difficulties in her life she makes the best she can out of it. I'm so thankful for her willingness to open her home to us. These women humble me beyond explanation. Please join me in praying for a sponsor for this child.

My dear Kidist

Today was a difficult day. Even as I sit here and type this I feel this heavy weight on my heart. I've been working on a long journal entry of every woman whose home we have visited. I haven't kept up the way I wish I had. I am very behind. But today I need to write.

I have felt this heavy weight on my heart and today it overflowed. I found myself sitting in the mini bus wanting to cry. And I did, actually I sobbed. I have heard some of the most devastating stories on this trip without thoroughly processing everything and it just hit me today. A wave of emotions pulling me into an ocean of tears. Just as I thought I had collected myself we visited the house of a woman whose story has truly changed my life. I'll start by telling you her story: her name is  Nigist and her daughter is Kidist (5 years old, but looks like she is 2) who I have fallen in love with. Kidist is adorable. She has very little hair and the hair she does have is flat on her head. She wears a little hoop earring in one ear and a silver dot earring on the other. Her cheeks are big and round; I could kiss them all day. Both Nigist and Kidist are HIV positive. Her husband died from the virus a year ago and she lost everything. Thanks to Bill Gates and his friends they are both taking medicine for HIV, but mom is very weak and her blood count is low. The medicine isn't supposed to be a be all treat all (universal type medicine) it should actually be designed for each specific person, but that's very difficult to do. She cannot work and struggles paying the rent which is 400 Birr, an equivalent of $20 a month. Her sister has been helping her make the rent as well as the neighbors around her. She is overwhelmed with having HIV, but thankfully iCare is helping feed Kidist so she can have the proper nutrition.

As we, 14 of us, walked into their home (which is the size of a walk in closet about a 6x10) the only place to sit is on the bed and while the rest stand against the wall facing those of us on the bed. Nigist stands crying in the corner of this room. Our translator explains to us how she wished she would have known we were coming so she could have prepare coffee for us. It was humbling and it just stroke a cord in my heart. I sat indian style at the corner of the bed closest to the door with Kidist on my lap and heard this woman's story. After a few minutes of her sharing and amidst tears I asked for her age. I was genuinely expecting mid thirties, but her response was 29. 29! I am 29. This reality has shaken my world. I often sit in the pity of my own story and some of the suffering I have gone through, but none of that compares to what this woman has gone through. It's a reality check. I went through many emotions sitting on that bed...anger, sympathy, sadness, hope, to name a few. But none of that can make the situation better, only Jesus can.  I feel a deep connection with this child and would love to sponsor her. Will you join me in praying for her and her mother? Pray Nigist may come to know The Lord with all her heart. Pray she may understand the meaning of the cross and that her salvation is solely dependent on her acceptance of Jesus. Pray she may come to have a deep relationship with him and please pray for both of their health.

  

Children's hope chest. Ethiopia update

My heart is filled with joy. I have been in Ethiopia for two days and I feel at home; only thing missing is my little family and I would be complete. It was hard to leave my boys for the third time this summer, but Anthony and I felt it was the right step for our family. Investing in the people of Ethiopia is important to Anthony and I, but we also want Max to grow up knowing how much we value this place and his culture. I'm excited for the partnerships we will be building while in country.

We left Washington DC early on Friday morning and arrived here in Addis at 8 am. It was wonderful. Our (13 hours) flight consisted of little sleep and a lot of head bobbing--could not find my comfort spot. Although we were all extremely tired, when we arrived in Addis we were excited. Some curious to see the city and others to be back in a place so near and dear to our hearts.

The guest house we are staying at is beautiful. It's front patio area has a grassy patch and marble steps leading into the entry hallway where you are greeted by a smiling chocolate skin woman in her 20's. The living room and dining room are connected together giving it an open room feeling. There is a mantle with a fireplace in the middle of the room making it an invisible divider for the open room. The floors are a dark coffee color and cover the entire room (it seems they put extra wood on the floor because there are areas you stand on and it creates a wave on the floor). The stairs leading up to our rooms are all made of beautiful white and gray marble. It makes you feel like you are in a fancy five star hotel. I am sharing a room with Daisy and Laura. There are three beds, a bunk bed and I queen bed. I chose the bottom bunk.

After we got settled in our rooms we left to the icare center and learned a lot. For example, CHC administrator explained the majority of the population is youth, 80% to be exact. This means there are children bearing children in this country. 80% is a huge statistic. The average life expectancy is up to age 56. Children as young as 7 years of age are being married off by their parents (basically being sold) and having children as early as 12 years old. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. These are sad facts. There needs to be change and people must be educated.

CHC is trying to create change. They believe in empowering the woman/ mothers of the children in the icare program by counseling them and helping them learn a trade or skill. By learning a trade or skill they will be able to, God willing, find jobs and start sustaining themselves and their children. I believe what CHC is doing is brilliant. Loving on children is necessary, as well as feeding, educating and clothing them, but we are just putting a bandage over a deep bleeding wound. If we do not have programs empowering and educating the mothers, well, we aren't helping the children long term. CHC is investing not only in the lives of the children they sponsor, but in the lives of the mothers too. They provide child care for mothers who have no one to watch their baby. By offering the day care they are giving the mother the chance to provide for her child. This is HUGE. Right now CHC is providing back packs with school supplies and essential needs (one new outfit per year) for 150 children, day care to 3 babies, counseling to a handful of mothers and hot nutritional meals to 17 children who are HIV positive. They do not have the funds to provide meals for the other 150 children in the community. Thus far ALL of the funding comes from friends of the head administrator, Iny (pronounced Eye-knee), running this care point and people in Addis who are moved by what the organization is doing. She has networked with everyone she knows and received a lot of help; she had a close friend donate the rent for the next two years to the building they are currently occupying. This woman is passionate and people see it. I see it. It is rare for something like this to happen. Most of the time organizations go for help/funding outside of the country, but this organization has used their resources and Summit would be it's first big partner since they started 4 years ago. How amazing right? Praise God for faithful people.

Today we finally met the kids and did home visits. I'll update on that later. I need sleep for now.