Wednesday, 14 February 07

We woke up as usual at 7am this morning. Today is a great day! Not only is it Valentine's Day, but it also marks the end of Sidisse's 3 month abandonment period. We had an appointment with Elsa the Sponsorship Program coordinator to meet Tilahun and his family. After hopping in one of the famous blue and white taxis, and heading across town, down dirt and rock roads, past mud packed houses with corrugated metal fences and roofs. We finally pull up to a metal gate. The cab driver honks, and a boy with a tattered red sweater peeks out through the crack. he see's Elsa, and swings the gate open. We enter into a tiny plot of grass and dirt, a woman sitting on a low stool with her head hanging into a bucket of water... A small girl in a blue jumper and purple sweater runs up. Another boy in a red sweater right behind, It's Tilahun. Elsa introduces us, as we head back a narrow path along the small mud thatched house.



Tefera, the father comes out... a huge smile on his face. Elsa mentions that he is so grateful for our support, and he speaks in Amharic to his children and they shake our hands, and say Thank you, over and over. We stand outside in thier doorway for a while, and Tefera apologizes for the electricity being off. We talk about what the children like about school, and what they plan to be when they grow up.... Tilahun a doctor, Million, a Teacher. We give them the backpacks that we brought for them, and I pull out the rag dolls for the girls. Tefera's wife and youngest daughter have travelled to the countryside to take care of some family members. Finally, the bare bulb hanging in the house comes on. Tefera invites us in... The house is small, two rooms. Plastic bags filled with clothes and other items line the walls... no bathroom, and along one side of the room a cardboard box, opened and spread out on the floor with a few blankets folded on top.... the kids bed, Tefera tells us. And in the other room, a thin mattress on the floor. They pay 130birr (about $15) per month for rent. There is no running water, no sink, no stove, a mud floor and walls...



We walk outside and take a few photos, shake hands, and hug. We say goodbye and God Bless you, and then we are in the car and on our way again. Tefera and the kids clutching the backpacks and dolls, waving towards our car. We head back to Ritmo, get our stuff together and head to Layla to pick up Sidisse.



We run into Gail, who says that if we are still interested, that they will file Ava Sidisse's case in court on Friday - it can take 10 days or 3 months, but we are in group J. She also says that we should stop by and see the Doctor so that he can check out Sidisse's progress.



Dr. Debela tells us that her progress is amazing, and that she is doing great.

We came back to the guest house, and made arrangements with Suzanne and Dawit to go to Churchhill road for some traditional item shopping, at 3pm. Ashenafi, the AAI driver, stops by to pick us up on his way to AHOPE. We gather our donations and load into the van. We make it there and meet Sidisse, the director. She accepts the donations of vitamins, cloth diapers, dolls and cash (vitamins and cash were collected by our local girlscout troop) and has her secretary write us a receipt. She gives us the grand tour.



We make it back to Ritmo just in time to meet Dawit, and head out shopping. We go to the Haille Selassie shop where there are a ton of great buys. We purchase some silver crosses, a few large wooden ones, a banana art picture, a silver spoon and a drum. When we are done there, Dawit takes us to the Abyssinia shop near Loyal Supermarket. We find a couple of shirts there, and some scarves. There are a few other shops, but the 'hawkers' see Leyton in the doorway, and gather around waiting for us to come out. We head to Sheromeda in hopes of finding something great. We end up at a very busy outside market, and decide that we don't want to fight the crowd with the kids. Instead we opt for a coffee shop, where we can buy beans to take home. 1 kilo, 2 bags comes up to just over $5. We make it back to the guest house for dinner before heading back to Layla.



We drop off Ava Sidisse, and head to the older kids compound to visit awhile. Tonight, there was an evening program in the courtyard. A group of kids dressed in thier traditional clothes, sang songs and did a dance, before the rest of the children ran off for toothbrushing and vaseline. It was a nice night to hang out with the kids and Suzanne.