Betam Amesegenallo! Many thanks!

Horizon House (former)

 Many thanks, betam amesegenallo, to all of you who donated stuff for the different orphan homes we visited.  The first we visited was Horizon House, where we adopted Amare and Zenebe.  Since adoptions have slowed down in Ethiopia (yay for more government fact-checking!), Horizon House has downsized considerably since our boys lived there.  In fact, the house where we all stayed was no longer part of the organization, and they have now consolidated the kids' home and offices.  We were glad to have a couple days at the old Horizon House as they got ready to move.  

Most of the kids in the above photo were adopted between our first visit in early June and our last visit in July!  We gave Horizon House all the baby-related donations (diapers, wipes, etc.).  I didn't take any photos of the roomful of babies, since they were breaking my heart (even knowing that they all had parents matched and waiting for them)!  At one point Dave was holding two infant girls playing with a plastic bag(!), Amare was snuggling on the floor with two toddlers, Zenebe was sitting in a rocker with a little dude, I was making goofy faces and goo-goo noises at four in cribs, while the nanny changed one's diaper!

We also visited AHOPE for Children, a home for HIV+ kids made famous by the book There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Green.  The bulk of our donations went here: one tub full of medications and medical supplies, and another one full of games and toys for older kids.  These kids behaved very differently from the Horizon House kids, who were so desperate for attention and love -- their dreams for "mommies" and "daddies" were very much alive.  The AHOPE kids were much more reserved (resigned?).  The upside is that the home was much bigger and more kid-friendly, with lots of things available to play with with.  The kids also played so well with each other that there was not a single conflict during the entire afternoon of our visit!

All the soccer players rushed out of the AHOPE compound gate after an exuberant kick sent the ball over the wall and into the highway.  There was some kerfuffle as not one, but two, guards were deployed to retrieve the ball from whomever had managed to catch the escaped precious ball.  Really, who is going to steal a ball from a mob of ill children?!?!

Visiting AHOPE was very much a sobering, educational experience for Amare and Zenebe.  Though I had explained how this orphanage was different from theirs, the boys were a little clueless till they noticed how some of the kids had visible skin lesions, and they all had to take breaks to get medication from the nurse or just to rest.   They have since had a lot of questions about HIV (and malaria), as they try to understand epidemiology of these pervasive diseases.

The educational supplies that we collected went to the school at Common River in Wendo, Sidama.  We'll have more on this amazing organization in future posts, but here are some photos from the students' graduation performances.