My Visit to an Ethiopian Orphanage
James 1:27 What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering, and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.
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Introduction
On January 12-19, 1995 I traveled to Ethiopia to do a special feature on the Ethiopian adoption program of Family Connections Adoptions (now a separate agency called African Cradle, Inc.)). In addition, I escorted two children back to their new adoptive family in Dallas. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. FCA is one of only 2 agencies in the United States that places children from an African country. The other agency is Americans for African Adoptions in Indianapolis, Indiana and I was able to briefly visit their foster home on this trip. I do not endorse either agency. Please investigate any agency very carefully by checking with several families who have adopted through them, asking on adoption mailing lists, and posting messages on adoption newsgroups.
The Trip Through Frankfurt
I left the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport with my friend from college, Dr. Dean Dischler on Thursday afternoon. Dean came so that some donated pharmaceuticals for the orphanage could be brought over. Flying American Airlines to Frankfurt, Germany, our flight took about 8 hours. On the plane, I sat next to a very nice Russian man (Iouri Drozdov) from Moscow who designed pilot training flight simulators. While his English was marginal, it was fun trying to communicate with him. We arrived about 7:30 am and had the entire day to explore the city before our flight left around midnight for Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Dean and I took the S-bahn train (a very convenient public transportation system) from the airport to Wiesbaden where we slept for a few hours at the Central Hotel in a very quaint 5th floor room overlooking a park and with big fluffy duvet covers on the beds. It was actually kind of funny when we tried to get a room because Dean (he's 26 years old and I'm 25 and married to my dear husband, Mike) asked the man at the front desk if we could have a room for a few hours. The man replied sternly, "No. Not here. Not in this hotel!" I quickly explain that we just wanted to sleep during our layover and he seemed much happier and gave us a room for 90 DM. The exchange rate at the airport was 1.518 when we exchanged our traveler's checks, so this was a pretty good price for the room.
After napping and showering, we headed out to explore Wiesbaden where I filmed a man playing an accordian (656K AVI video) in the street and then onto Frankfurt. It was my first time off the continent and I was amazed at how "American" everything seemed (except that people seemed to work at a slower pace). Neither of us spoke German, but most of the people we met spoke English so language wasn't a problem. However, at dinner in Mainz at the InterCity Restaurant, our waitress didn't speak English. Fortunately, a friendly German man (Mike Hautmann) who owns a resort in the Philippines translated for us and recommended a German dish. We had "Schweinelendchen mit frischen Champignons, Tomaten und Kase uberbacken, dazu Kartoffelrosti." It was actually pork medallions with melted cheese, mushrooms, baked tomato slices, and hash brown patties....yum. We went to the Zeil shopping area in Frankfurt but it was already about 7 p.m. on a Friday night and everything was closed. It had gotten dark and quite chilly by that time and I hadn't dressed warmly enough. We decided to head back to the airport and spent the rest of the evening eating apple strudel with ice cream in the Sheraton Hotel restaurant and resting in the lobby. I was confused when our waitress there asked me if I wanted my water "with gas". A kind Englishman sitting next to us explained that she wanted to know if I wanted my water "fizzy" (carbonated) or not.
The Flight Into Ethiopia
Around 1 am we flew out of Frankfurt for Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. I sat next to an Ethiopian man who lived in Seattle and was visiting his family for the first time in 15 years. This was the first time I had ever seen people from Ethiopia in person. They were beautiful....most with light brown skin, delicate features and expressive eyes. Most of the women even had a slight Middle Eastern or East Indian appearance. We flew for 7 hours and the plane was very warm inside. My exhaustion and the heat made me so light headed that I had to sit down with my head between my legs. Gee, did I feel like a wimp!We finally arrived in Addis which was 9 hours ahead of CST in Texas. This put us there about 9:30 am Saturday morning. Looking out the windows of the plane as we landed, I was in awe of the wide open land with rolling hills. The pink sunrise a few hours earlier had also been quite beautiful from the plane. As we exited the plane and entered the airport I knew I "wasn't in Kansas anymore". Waiting at the gate were 10 Arabic men in white traditional dress and each with his own hooded falcon sitting in rows on their perches. Wow!
We filled out some customs paperwork and then proceeded to wait for over an hour in a very unorganized crowd of people trying to get through the passport check. People just kept pressing forward and cutting in line and finally the Englishman in front of us got frustrated and pushed back towards the Ethiopian man trying to cut in line. I cringed as they began to push each other back and forth getting angrier. I'm a very organized and orderly person so I just took a deep breath and told myself what good exercise this was in building patience and character. The Englishman backed down and I gave a sigh of relief.
Luckily Addis Ababa is 8,000 feet above sea level and this was only the beginning of their summer, so it wasn't too warm in the airport. We cruised through customs with no problem. Even though everyone around us was having their luggage searched, we were not searched. I thanked God for His watching over us. We had heard that another group of people from Family Connections had come over the previous week and had their luggage impounded and never returned for no apparent reason. Outside, we were very happy to see Meaza, who works for the adoption program in Ethiopia, greet us. She had a friend with her who owned a car to take us back to the Children's Center. About 6 men followed and pressed in against us as we walked to the car, telling us in Amharic that they wanted to help us with our bags (to earn money) but we didn't need help and Meaza was very assertive and finally got them to leave us alone. I was quite impressed how she stood her ground against these pushy men. I liked her instantly.
The Time in Addis Ababa
As we drove from the airport to the Children's Center in the part of town known as Mekanisa, I noticed beautiful flowers and trees all around. I was pleasantly surprised to see the lushness in what I thought was going to be a very dry, dusty city. The streets were paved but very bumpy and filled with potholes. The sound of car horns constantly honking reminded me of New York City but I could see that honking was necessary because everywhere people walked in the streets. I later learned that very few people in Addis owned cars. Also, there were very few stop signs or stop lights. People even drove on the wrong side of divided roads if they thought their side had too many potholes. There were few lines on the roads to keep people in their proper lanes. I tried to suppress my tendency to be a "back-seat driver" and held on for dear life.
Because of all the media coverage of the Ethiopian famine several years ago, I had expected to see starving people with bloated stomachs and glazed eyes standing in the desert but I didn't. Most people definitely looked poor with tattered, faded, and soiled clothes and children with no shoes and I'm sure that many of them were hungry. However, things didn't look as bad as I expected. A few (probably 5%) of the people were dressed just like Americans. Children were playing alongside the roads laughing and smiling and chasing each other just like American children.
Another oddity to me was the variety of cars. Most of them seemed to be little blue taxis which carried 1-4 people or the bigger blue taxis which were actually hooded mini-pickups with 8-10 people crammed in the back. Cars ranged from tiny beat up European models to luxurious Toyota Landcruisers and BMW's. I saw so many Landcruisers that I started to count them until I gave up at about number 35 my fourth day there.
Along the roadsides people lived in little huts made out of tin and sticks and garbage. Families lived in homes smaller than my bedroom and had no running water or electricity (some people used kerosene instead of electricity). Strangely enough, you could find pay phones (you paid the person who owned the phone) in the middle of these areas but the phone quality everywhere seemed to be very poor. Right next to the huts were buildings still under construction made of cinderblocks. We also drove past a few neighborhoods with modest looking homes with what appeared to be stucco exteriors. There were also goats, sheep, cows, and donkeys packed with goods. It reminded me of pictures in the Children's Bible my parents used to read me.
After about 15 minutes, we drove up to the gates of Christ the King Children's Center and the Mekanisa School for the Deaf. Family Connections rents two homes from this mission compound founded by the Church of Christ. Family Connections calls it a Children's Center instead of an orphanage because all the children there will eventually be adopted and the children only stay there short term. The driver of the jeep tooted his horn a few times and a guard unlocked and opened the gate so we could drive in. The compound before us consisted of about 9 buildings, many flowering plants, and a rocky school yard with a volleyball net and a makeshift tetherball. Two boys who were playing and looked to be about 12 and 14 ran over as we got out of the jeep, warmly shook our hands andn in broken English, spoke words of welcome. After embracing Dean and I in long hugs, they held our hands as we walked around to the back of the jeep to gather our belongings. I was amazed at the warmth and love of these children as I never would have received a welcome like this from boys their age in America. The boys and Meaza helped us move our things into the guest house where we were to stay.
Meaza then offered to let us meet the children we would be escorting back to the states, Helena who was 15 months and a little boy named Yonatan who was 5 months. Helena and Yonatan weren't related by birth but were being adopted by the same family. Helena was shy at first and Yonatan was down for his nap so we didn't play with them right then. However, as soon as we walked into the children's home we had been surrounded by a crowd of beautiful, giggling little faces with big brown eyes looking up at us. They hugged our legs and squealed with delight as we patted and rubbed their backs trying not to leave anyone out.
We quickly sat down on beds in one of the rooms and held 2-4 children at a time in each of our laps. The children seemed in good health except for some runny noses, runny eyes, and a few coughs. One of the infants, Tamirat, didn't have any feet. A little 10 year old girl named Shewaye was missing an arm, and an 8 year old girl named Abaynesh had her right leg in a brace. The rest of the children appeared healthy.
The little children took turns cuddling with us and the ones in my lap got a kick out of holding my nose while I made honking noises. After about a half an hour we stood up and I discovered that my left pant leg was wet from a 3 year old who hadn't quite gotten the hang of potty training yet. We then met the 6 women who cared for the children during the day (another 6 came in at night). They were very nice and caring and spoke a little bit of English. I noticed that the children seemed to be deeply loved by the staff.
The 20 children lived in a 4 bedroom house where one bedroom was used as an infirmary. There were 8 infants, 6 children 15 months to 3 years old, and 6 children ages 4-12. The children were orphaned or abandoned and had been referred to the Children's Center by the Ethiopian government's Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Meaza informed us that they would soon expand to also use the house next door. I was happy to hear this as the children were sleeping 2 per single bed or crib (good by Ethiopian standards). However, they didn't have any furniture for the second home yet.
We headed back to the guest house for a delicious lunch prepared by Meseret, our multitalented tour guide, cook and translator. We simply gave here 100 birr ($30 American) and she did all the grocery shopping, cooking and dishes for the whole week. She served spaghetti, fried cauliflower, bread, and Coca-Cola for lunch. We got to know Meseret pretty well that week. She was a very kind and intelligent 22 year old woman who spoke both English and Amharic. She was a delight to be around and told us that her dream was to come to the United States to go to school while working as a nanny over here.
We were exhausted from our flight, so we took showers and slept about 3 hours. Saturday afternoon Meseret found a contract taxi driver (we paid about 20 birr per hour for him to drive just us around) and we headed off with Meseret to explore Addis Ababa. The banks were closed and would be on Sunday also, so we exchanged some money on the black market at 7.20 birr for each U.S. dollar. Downtown Addis (773K AVI video) had high-rises but most looked pretty dilapidated. Many people lined the streets of downtown some sitting on the sidewalk and begging. Meseret told us that unemployment was very high in Addis and there was no safety net of welfare to catch the poor. Several times, children and adults came up to our taxi window at stop signs to either beg or try to sell us things. Meseret pointed out the Addis Ababa University, the Hilton Hotel (yes, there really is one!), a hospital, a few restaurants, the post office, and the beautiful Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (677K AVI video).
When we got back to the Children's Center, Dean decided to go out exploring Addis some more for the evening and to get a taste of Ethiopian food. Meseret had told us it was safe to walk the streets but we didn't realize that she had meant that was only true during the daytime. At about 9:45 p.m. I woke to Meseret knocking on the door. She was frantic because one of the Center's guards had just gone to her home to inform her that Dean wasn't back yet. I told her Dean was a seasoned and adventuresome traveler and that I was sure he'd be home soon. She got a taxi and went to go look for him anyways. I stayed at the guest house and prayed for his safe return. At 11 p.m. he still wasn't back and I dressed to go looking for him too. Just as Meseret and I were about to leave to get a taxi, Dean came home safe and sound. God had answered my prayers again and I was very thankful.
Dean and I both woke up pretty early Sunday morning to another beautiful day and the sound of Ethiopian music coming from outside. It sounded very similar to Indian music. I dressed for church and went to play with the children until the 10 am women's Bible study at the mission. I managed to spend some time holding Helena and Yonatan (496K AVI video) in hopes that some familiarity with us would make the long flight home easier. Helena was just beginning to walk and Yonatan was able to sit up by himself. I also got to help feed the infants their bottles which I really enjoyed. After that I went outside with the children and they demonstrated their knowledge of English by singing the ABC song, part of The Barney Song, doing the Hokey Pokey, and the singing Itsy Bitsy Spider with hand motions. I was delighted at how eager they were to please me. My dress had on it pictures of different foods like watermelon and eggs and they took pride in demonstrating the little English they knew.
I had brought some little toys for the children and began to distribute match-box cars, yo-yo's, colorful pens, dolls, jump ropes, and books. The children were extremely appreciative and each child must have said thank you at least 5 times. Soon children from the neighborhood surrounding the Children's Center began arriving for church. Although I tried to give everyone something, things quickly grew out of control as a crowd of about 40 children began pressing in upon me. Luckily, one of the 2 fathers nearby saw that things were getting a little hectic and firmly told the children in Amharic to leave me alone and that the toys were all gone.
I was glad for the help and spent a while talking to the 2 men before church. They expressed their gratitude for the U.S. families who adopted children from the Center and said they were happy for all the opportunities that would be given to these children in America. They also talked about the work of their mission which is sponsored by the Church of Christ. This mission had a rich history and had fed thousands of starving people during the Ethiopian famine a few years ago. They now operated the church and the school for both deaf and hearing children. The Administrator, Brhsilu, was a wonderful man. I spent one afternoon later in the week discussing with him the work of the mission and looking at his photo albums. The mission took care of two orphaned boys ages 12 and 14 named Hassen and Lapiso. They were wonderful boys and I got to spend a lot of time with them that week. Hassen could hear but also knew sign language and English and seemed very smart. Lapiso was so sweet to me. He was deaf but knew sign language and a little English.
At 10 am I attended a women's Bible study and a church service for everyone. Both were given in the language Amharic, but I found the hymns they sang very beautiful and wished that I had taped them. I was reminded how Americanized I imagine Jesus when He actually had a lot more in common (in His language and standard of living) with these beautiful people than with me as a pampered American. I sat through the service with a child on either side and one in my lap. The children even participated in the service by singing, praying and sitting patiently through the 1 hour and 15 minute service. The minister recognized us at the end of the service and told us how glad everyone was to have us visit.
After church I was feeling lightheaded from being too warm and because my dress smelled of the wet diaper of the little girl who had sat in my lap. The Children's Center was always running desperately short on diaper covers. Dean walked me back to the guest house and I took a nap. Later that afternoon, Meseret took Dean and I to hear and see some popular Ethiopian live music, dress, and dancing. We had a GREAT time! I really wish I had brought my camcorder with me on this trip. The music was very enjoyable, many songs having a good beat for dancing. Dean and Meseret ordered a traditional Ethiopian fruit drink called Teje which Dean claimed wasn't too bad. The cover charge cost us 8 birr each (about $1.25 US) which meant that most Ethiopians there were upper middle class to upper class. It was interesting to see that side of society and I wondered to myself what these people did for a living and what their homes were like.
We decided to walk part of the way back to the Center rather than taking a taxi the whole way. This gave us a much better view of what Addis was really like. We walked past a football (soccer) stadium where a game was being played and we could hear the people cheering. We also walked past a few areas that smelled foul and I realized that some people used these pubic areas as bathrooms. Beggars lined the streets but I waited till we were in a less crowded area before giving some money to a haggard looking mother and her nursing infant who were sitting on the side of the street. Several times I saw very poor looking children probably less than 4 years old sitting or curled up on the sides of the street. I saw 3 little girls probably 5, 4 and 3 years old walking together with no adult. The youngest had open wounds on her face. It was heartbreaking.
Sunday evening I spent playing with, feeding, and videotaping the children (162K AU audio file) at the Center. They sang several Bible songs in English and I sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" to them but they didn't know it. The kids loved having pictures taken of the them. The little girl, Abaynesh, proudly showed me her photoalbum and backpack of toys from the family in California who would soon be adopting her. All the children were familiar with the photos and eagerly pointed out her "mommy" and "daddy".
I was also able to spend some time with the sibling group of four children: Million, Engdawork, Dagmawi, and Temesgen that I had shown on the Precious in HIS Sight - Internet Adoption Photolisting that I publish. They hadn't found a family yet when I was there so I spent a lot of time with them talking and taking pictures. Million and Engdawork were very concerned that no one had "chosen" them yet. They told me that they very much wanted to be adopted and have a "mother and father". They were wonderful children! Happily, when I got back to the states, I found out that a family had just been found for them.
Monday morning Dean and I took a group taxi to a cafe nearby and had cookies, cake, and Coke for breakfast. It wasn't nutritious but it was the only thing they had. From there we went to the Hilton to look for postcards but the selection was very poor. The Hilton was very nice and was like an oasis with lush gardens and beautiful swimming pools. Addis doesn't seem to have much of a tourism industry and we couldn't even find a place to buy maps of the city or an English/Amharic dictionary. A taxi driver approached us at the Hilton and we had to haggle with him to before settling on a price for the drive back to the Mekanisa part of town. He ended up getting angry on the trip there because he hadn't realized that Mekanisa was so far away. I felt lucky to make it back to the Center. I also went to a beautiful building that houses the Organization for African Unity where I was able to send Internet email thanks to the kindness of Lishan Adam, the system operator there. They only had email access that dialed into the Internet every few hours but I was happy they had something.
Meaza and I left for the German embassy to get a transit Visa for the children to be able to pass through the country on our trip back to the United States. There was a crowd of Ethiopian people waiting outside the gate but when the guard looked through the peephole, he saw us and let us in before everyone else. Meaza explained that it was because I was an American. Also, I hadn't brought the children's plane tickets with us which was supposed to have been a requirement but again, they overlooked it. Meaza again said it was because I was an American. I decided to give God some credit for it too. I felt bad though that Meaza wasn't treated with as much as respect as I was. She worked so hard for the Children's Center and didn't even have a car for the orphanage. (This would be a great use of money if you're interested in making a donation to Family Connections.)
Meaza and I talked about the little girl I had fallen in love with. Her name was Semegn and she was 3 years old. She was one of the most affectionate children there and I had been told my the women caring for the children that she didn't have a family yet. She had a round face and big brown eyes and had followed me around like a puppy. Semegn also loved to mimic me when I talked. I found out that she had been a very sad child who wouldn't smile at all when she had first come to the Center but that she had really blossomed with love and attention.
Meaza had terrible news though, the reason Semegn didn't have a family was because she was possibly HIV positive. She had received a positive result on a test that was less sensitive and sometimes gave false positives and they were waiting for confirmation from a more sensitive test that should be ready any day. If Semegn was truly HIV positive, she would not be referred for adoption. She was so loving, so giggly, so full of life. It was heartbreaking to think that she might never have a mom and dad of her own and die in Ethiopia where medical care was so limited. Later in the day I dressed Semegn up in some new clothes and a matching headband that I had brought from the States. She pranced around in front of the little hand mirror I had and giggled at how pretty she looked.
The next day the Center's nurse, a wonderful young man named Asnakew (who'd love to briefly visit the states) and I went to the hospital that had done Semegn's HIV test. The hospital was very depressing and I thanked God for the medical facilities I had access to in America. We sat down in the pediatrician's office and he gave us the bad news, Semegn was definately HIV positive. He explained that her mother must have had it and passed it to her inutero. I couldn't keep from crying and Asnakew tried to comfort me. Semegn would be sent to Sisters of Charity, one of Mother Teresa's missions, where she would be cared for till she died. I wondered in the back of my mind if my husband would consider adopting an HIV positive child but knew in my heart that he wouldn't.
We had other things we had to do, so we went and exchanged some money at the main bank in Addis. Camera's weren't allowed inside and I had to check mine at the door. Also, the wait was very long as my traveler's checks to Ethiopian currency exchange went through an assembly line of people. There were no computers! We also visited 2 sibling groups (Begosew, Elizabeth, and Seble were one group and Worku, Lubaba, and Sada) of children who needed families still. They were living with 2 different foster families. The children were very shy and respectful even though some of them were teenagers. I was in awe at how much better their attitudes were than most American teenagers. They appreciated the little they had, including the privilege of going to school.
It was humbling to me to see the joy the Ethiopian people had despite their lack of possessions. Everyone we met was so warm and friendly. Children ran up to us everywhere we went wanting to shake our hands and they giggled and mimicked my "Hello" in response. Another difference from the United States was that adult men and women walked hand in hand with friends of the same sex. They didn't just greet each other verbally but also made a point of shaking hands or kissing each other repeatedly on the cheeks. Meaza explained that they just showed affection that way and were not gay.
Asnakew and I stopped for me to get a little gift for my husband, Mike, and after a little bartering, I bought a beautiful wood carving of three little monkeys symbolizing the phrase, "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." From there we walked quickly to the Ethiopian Airlines office to confirm our flight back for the next day before they closed. On the way there I saw a terrible sight that still sticks in my mind. A grown man was lying on the side of the road writhing and moaning in pain while people just walked by like he wasn't even there. As we got closer, I saw that he had a gaping wound on his thigh where it looked like his skin was gone. I was appalled and asked Asnakew what we could do to help. He said "Nothing" and when I pressed further, he explained that if we took him to a hospital that we'd be expected to pay for his care and if we called an ambulance they would take him to a hospital that would expect him to pay, which he couldn't. I felt like the hypocritical priest and Levite who didn't help the injured man on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho in Luke 10:30-37. I still regret not stopping and helping that man regardless of the expense and missing our flight confirmation. I expect that he died there on the side of the road that day.
When we arrived to confirm our reservations, we discovered that I was supposed to have brought the children's Visas but the airline employee took pity on me and took our confirmation anyway. God had come through for me again. Waiting for us at the Ethiopian Airline's office, was a very nice man named Yoseph. He was in charge of the Ethiopian program of the one other U.S. adoption agency that works in Ethiopia, Americans for African Adoptions (AFAA). We had a soda with him and his son who helped him. He spoke fondly of Cheryl Carter-Shotts, the director of AFAA and her long time work to help the children of Ethiopia and other African countries. He took us to his home briefly and we met the children who lived there and were taken care of by his 6 daughters, wife, and son. After that Asnakew and I took a taxi back to the Children's Center.
The Return Flight I'll Never Forget
Tuesday night I slept restlessly and awoke in the middle of the night with a case if traveler's diarrhea. I was very concerned that I might not be up to the flight home the next day but prayed that God would somehow get me through this. I took some Imodium AD and Tylenol for my slight fever and tried to stay in bed until we had to leave for the airport the next day. Wednesday morning I spent in bed and when it came time to go, made quick good-byes, trying not to cry. Meaza came with Dean, Helena, and Yonatan with I to the airport and I cried as I told her to please make sure Semegn was well taken care of.Dean was very good about taking care of the paperwork as I sat down on the floor with the children while we waited in line after line. I felt very week and dehydrated. When we finally got on the plane from Addis to Frankfurt, I was feeling really bad and the flight attendant seemed to ignore my repeated requests for something to drink. I finally felt so bad that I started to cry and the kind people around me took care of Helena and made sure that I got something to drink. After drinking several glasses of orange juice the head flight attendant offered me her special concoction for traveler's diarrhea which tasted like rehydration salts in lemonade. However, this made me throw up, the first time in the appropriate bag, the second time all over my clothes. I was really miserable then but the people around me were still very nice taking care of me.
I continued to feel worse and but the head flight attendant was able to get three people to change seats so that I could lay down. She even offered to have the plane land early. However, I just wanted to get back to at least Europe, and told her I'd be ok. Dean and the people around us took care of the kids through this all and I was sooooooooo thankful for them. Also, Helena and Yonatan behaved very well and slept for most of the trip. I woke up after sleeping several hours and when we finally landed in Frankfurt at 10 p.m., I was feeling a little better.
However, we discovered that my suitcase had been lost which meant I had no clean clothes or pajamas. I had had no choice but to fill my carryon with baby bottles, formula, and diapers so at least we had these. When we got to the Ramada - Obserstrasse, we discovered that they had messed up our reservation. I had reserved a room with 2 beds and 2 cribs but all we were able to get was one king size bed. However, everything was very clean the hot showers greatly improved our moods. Dean was very accommodating and I wore his boxer shorts and my T-shirt to bed with both of the children laying between us. The mattress wasn't all one piece though and poor little Helena kept on falling in the crack between them until I stuffed a towel in the gap.
The next morning we had a wonderful buffet breakfast at the Ramada and caught our flight from Frankfurt to Dallas. I was feeling a lot better and sat next to a very nice women on the way home. We arrived in Dallas after a LONG flight of about 14 hours and after weaving our way through customs, finally met the eager new parents of Helena and Yonatan. They were a lovely Mennonite couple with 2 biological and 2 other adopted children already. Helena and Yonatan happily went to their new family and after talking for a bit we parted. Mike, my dear husband, had driven up from Waco to meet me and Dean had a flight to Colorado to catch. I let Mike take care of me and we drove home. Amazingly my traveler's diarrhea hadn't bothered me since the night before we had left Addis but now that God had gotten me home safe and sound, I ate soup and Imodium AD for the next few days.
The story wouldn't be complete without another happy ending as well. Several days after arriving home, the Waco airport telephoned me. It seemed they had just received a piece of luggage for me. Nervously is opened it. There inside were all my personal belongings, including my camcorder and camera! Without a doubt, God is gracious to ALL His children.
Updated: April 17, 1997
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