More Compassion Visits; Brad Plays Santa in Disguise (March 4)

Jean and I left for Nazaret at 7 a.m. this morning to meet our Compassion kids who are studying at Adama University.  It was much warmer there, hot in fact.  Nazaret is about two hours from Addis to the south in part of the Rift Valley.  My boy, Ashenafi, had a four hour final exam in the morning, so we visited his project in the morning - without him.  He had left me a beautiful Ethiopian traditional dress as a gift.  It is worn on special occasions.  His female Compassion staff workers told me I needed to change into it for my meeting with him.  I felt that this certainly qualified as a special occasion, so it seemed perfectly appropriate to make the change.

Just before lunch, Jean met her girl, Zahara, a Leadership Development student, and shortly afterward, I met Ashenafi.  We all went to a lovely restaurant and then we moved on to visit Ashenafi's home.

His mother had graciously prepared lunch for us, so we ate a bit again.  This time, it was Ethiopian food.  This lovely lady hosted us in her very tiny home that consisted of a single room, perhaps 6 by 8 feet in size.  The boys, Ashenafi and his brother, sleep on a 3/4 size bed that nearly fills the room, and their mother sleeps beside them on the floor.  I look forward to telling you much more about this family's story.

Back in Addis, Brad again visited the Peace Center in the morning.  Today, however, was a special day there.  Addis had planned on spending time in song today, and Brad, representing our entire little team from America, handed out gifts of clothing to all of the boys there.  We learned that some of the items, like windbreakers that can double as rain slickers, would be held back until the rainy season.  Otherwise, it is very likely that some of the boys might sell them on the street.  This is life in their world.  Style is style, however, no matter where in the world we are.  The boys informed us that certain colors like light blue and green are not necessarily the best for them and are more atuned to girls.  Nevertheless, the boys were happy to receive these gifts, just as we were so happy to be able to provide them.

Afterward, Brad went with some of the Moria'h staff to purchase bulk food supplies.  He had a private $200 donation that was enough to cover 300 kilograms of teff, the grain from which Injera is made, and 20 liters of cooking oil.  These supplies will help to feed the boys for up to three months.  Cooking oil is a necessity for Ethiopian food preparation and the price has been inflating dramatically, so this donation is indeed very important.

Tomorrow morning, Jean is going shopping in the textile market with Jerry while Brad will begin working on downloading the hundreds upon hundreds of photos the three of us have been taking.  He's also assisting Wanna with editorial review of an important Moria'h House Powerpoint presentation.  These are big efforts.

Following that, we'll take all of the boys and staff out to lunch at a restaurant (an extra special treat for the boys), and then have an afternoon of play in a nearby park.  You'll receive and update all about it tomorrow.