melcome fasika

(happy easter)

Sunday I celebrated Easter for the second time this year, as is true for many holidays while being a non-Habesha living in Ethiopia. I spent the night at the orphanage to attend and photograph two services.

Saturday evening (Easter’s eve) was a special service for the children. The evening started with complete darkness, to represent Christ’s death. Then a giant ball of hay was lit on fire to show the power of Christ’s resurrection.

Saturday was also a baptism for some of the children. Here is my precious Leaha before she is baptized. Ohh I cannot explain the joy in my heart when I saw her in her beautiful ‘wedding dress-esk’ outfit.  

Some of the young girls praising the Lord on Easter Sunday. Listening to all the children sing together is such a sweet sweet noise. 

sick room

Here are a two precious children from the sick room at the orphanage. 

Meskie was recently dropped off by her mother. She said she was no longer able to take care of her child. As staff tried to encourage her to raise her sweet little girl, the mother confessed to beating Meskie, so the orphanage accepted her in as one of our own.

Mickie, ohh what a sweet little boy. He is one of the sick room favorites. 

 

project mercy

Yetebon, Ethiopia

Last week I got to visit Project Mercy in Yetebon, Ethiopia. Many people told me I HAD to meet Marta, the executive director of the project, and I feel overwhelmed with blessing for the day we spent together. The work she and the rest of her team are doing is amazing. Project Mercy is helping to feed, educate, provide health care and empower an entire community. You should really check of the website, as its much more eloquent than anything I can say here:  http://www.projectmercy.org

 

Here are women hand crafting beads. One of the projects recent focus’ is to educate woman on a particular skill to provide a sustainable income for their family. 

 

A young boy hanging out at the school after class is over. Over 1,000 students who otherwise would not be able to attend school are receiving an education as a result of Project Mercy. 

love center

Engdu, doing knuckle push-ups. This young man has such a sweet heart. He also is one of the funniest folks I have ever met.  

A little over a month ago I began teaching photography to another group of teenagers. They are apart of the same Youth Impact group that the girl’s house is apart of and they refer to their home as the Love Center. These 16 guys are unbelievable, none of them have parents and they enjoy life as a family. They are the most well-mannered, respectful and loving teenagers I have ever met, and it has been a sweet privilege to spent time with them the last few weeks. 

I feel so privileged every time I visit their home. I am excited to spent Tuesday evening with them, as they will celebrate Easter that evening. 

 

This is Sintayo. His smile brightens my day. 

Chad, a fellow Cherokee volunteer, is teaching some of the boys to do back flips

 

a week at asco

Monday

“It’s not who you are, it’s whose you are” 

I have heard this saying many times since high school, mostly referring to finding one’s identity in Christ. Tonight I saw a sweet living example of this phrase.

There is a 2-year-old girl in the sick room name Ribka. She has a lot of liver problems, which have turned the ‘whites’ of her eyes yellow, and all toilet-related substances the same color. Ribka’s body is weak, so she cannot walk and she rarely smiles. She’s very quite often neglected by the staff and volunteers alike. 

This evening while hanging out in the clinic past regular hours, my friend Teddy, a nurse aid who works the night shift, opened my eyes to the power of the above statement.

Before preparing the night meds, Teddy deemed Ribka as his ‘secretary,’ placing her tiny body in a large office chair. He gave her a pen and scrap piece of paper, directing her to take messages for him. It is really beautiful to watch their relationship. She lights up when he is around, so excited to openly receive his outpour of love. 

 Here is Ribka the next morning, with Ronite, a volunteer from Israel.

Before, when I spent time around Ribka I saw her and had pity for her situation, but tonight, my eyes were opened to how precious she is to Teddy, and how much of an impact this love had on her attitude.

Love is a very beautiful gift that keeps on giving!

 

Tuesday

Medanakia is one of my roommates at the orphanage this week. She is Habesha and recently lived in France for a while. She is around the same age as me, smiles all the time and is very generous and thankful. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know her, despite the significant language barrier. This girl is pretty much a rock star. Both of her arms end at the elbow, and on her right arm she has a finger and a half. She only has a left leg. She was in France getting a 6 kilo prosthetic leg, which she wears like a purse when she is outside the room. 

It’s pretty incredible to watch her make her bed, tie her shoes and eat injera without any hands. This woman is a true inspiration to those she is around. 

She is also loads of fun, here is an image we took while playing with Photo Booth.

 

 

Wednesday 

Even though I passed university level math, this evening I was having some difficult with Grade 7 problems. The kids who are above grade 4 go outside the compound for school in various locations around the city, so this week I’ve had the sweet privilege of helping some of the older girls with homework.. Sentayo, one of the most delightful teenagers I have ever met, is an incredible student. She is number 2 in her class, dedicated to her studies and spends much more time than other students on her homework.

 Here is a sweet moment with Sentayo captured right before homework time.

Yesterday evening we spent a few hours on a number of different algebraic problems, and I was so surprised when I went to the library this afternoon. Sentayo had rewritten all the work we completed in different colored pens and precise calculations. I was VERY impressed and encouraged by her hard work. I cannot wait to see where she ends up in 10 years.

 

Friday

Dr. Fulvia, the Italian doctor who works full time at the orphanage, allowed me to photograph her work today. Her and Sister Maria are the two doctors at the clinic, and they both see the kids at the orphanage – doing checkings, blood work, etc. but they also see a good number of impoverished women and children in the Asco community who come to the clinic to receive Anti-retroviral therapy and other medicine.

 

 

Saturday

This evening I watched “Beyond Borders” with the other volunteers. Everyone was thrilled to have a break from the long week, watch a movie and celebrate Christine’s (one of the long term volunteers) birthday.

Even though the situation in Ethiopia has improved much since the setting of this film, it was eye opening to see this motion picture while being here. I really encourage you to check out this Angelina Jo Lee feature film.

 

Sunday

I attended mass this morning. Every-other weekday and Saturday and Sunday the students attend mass at the Catholic Church directly next to the orphanage.

 Here is one of the alter boys after mass.

The congregation is predominately children, with only a few other visitors and volunteers. It’s pretty incredible to watch all the children sit still for so long, but it’s even more glorious to hear them sing together. I took a voice recording of mass, so yall can hear it when I get back home. Wow. Its so majestic, hearing all their voices sing prayers and songs of praise to our Father. Very powerful!