Southern Region of Ethiopia

Our boys are from the southern region of Ethiopia and I wanted to share some pictures that I got from a family that was in our travel group. They had the blessing of traveling early and getting a little tour of the southern region.

Many of the children at HH are from the South and I am sure we all would love to visit and share with our children the beauty and uniqueness of their home land. We were only able to visit Addis Ababa, the big city and capitol of Ethiopia.


The homes consist of these handmade huts. Built out of mud and twigs. A whole family lives inside along with the animals that they may have. Most of these families are large with many children and they all sleep on the same mat on the floor together.
Here is the inside of a home. Notice the animals are on one side and the family on the other.
From the inside of the hut looking up to the ceiling. Fantastic workmanship of weaving the twigs together to make the roof.

What a beautiful landscape. Notice the limited amount of trees and not much shade or protection. On the right side you see the termite mound.

Here is an up close of a termite mound. I have some good reason to believe that these bugs are eaten by the local people. Ummm yummy.
Here is a man washing in the local water. It is where you would go for all your water needs. Bathing, laundry, drinking...clean water is a true blessing.

The women and children working to get their water to use at their home.

Here is a 6 year old girl going to the water to wash her other outfit. I am amazed at the responsibility of the young children there. Our oldest boy displays evidence of this kind of responsibility. He is able to wash himself and care for himself - which is not typical of a 4 year old.
The simplistic life and shear joy of the children is refreshing. They have such beautiful smiles and a joy that flows forth from them.
These children aren't wanting an ipod or the newest video game. They aren't asking to join a sports team. They don't complain about the meal that is put before them. They don't roll their eyes are helping out around the home. They have so very little, and yet their hearts are precious and joyous. Oh how these people need Jesus to fill their lives. Let these pictures remind you ( and me) to pray for the people there.
When Fikadu saw these pictures it was precious. I could see a look of familiarity on his face. He knew this man was fishing (fish is one of his words). When he saw the pictures of the homes, his he was drawn into the screen and just kept saying "yes, yes, yes". I could tell he was trying to figure out if that was his hut and that was his birth family. I desire for him to remember as much as he can, and yet I know he will forget too quickly.

We want to show respect and honor for their native home and the people there. I have prayed that God would build our boys up to someday go back to Ethiopia and share Jesus with the people there and do great things for that country.

It is such a beautiful place, with such significant needs. The poverty is more than you could imagine. Almost 5 million orphans in Ethiopia. These children need food, education, medical care and an opportunity to know Christ.



Dear Sweet Peas,

How grateful I am that your birth mom chose to give you life by letting you go. She loves you so much and it was only because of poverty that she had to make that decision. We pray for your native land, for the beautiful people there, for your birth family and we are praying that God uses you to do big things there in Ethiopia some day.

Love, Mom

Let's go out for Ethiopian food tonight !

One of the challenges that our education courses required us to do was try a meal at a restaurant of our child's country of origin. We had never eaten out at an Ethiopian restaurant before. We had read about the different foods and looked forward to the experience. We were able to go with Chuck's parents while they were passing through town.
While we were waiting for our food we enjoyed the decorations at the restaurant. Tristen has here eye on a coffee set for when we travel to Ethiopia. She loves tea sets and thinks that one like these should be in her collection.
We found a "mesob" in the corner of the restaurant. That is like a table top on which the food is traditionally served. A beautiful woven piece.

I should have taken the picture before we made a mess of our food and table. Notice the injera, the spongy bread that the food is eaten with. You use it in place of silverware. We all were able to find something that we like. Most of the food is spicy, but the girls and I really enjoyed the red lentils and Tristen like the beef. Chuck tried a chicken stew and liked the other spicy foods.

One of the reasons we tried this is to fully understand the idea of cultures. Most people like what is familiar to them and here we will be bring a child (children) home to a totally different culture. Our culture here is VERY different than that of Ethiopia, we desire to learn more and grow to love and appreciate it. The meal was a lot of fun, eating with your fingers and trying new things.
My favorite part was the coffee at the end. It was the BEST coffee I have ever had. I will have to share more on another post about the Ethiopian coffee ritual that comes with it. But for now, I just had to share the coffee and how yummy it was. After 2 full cups at 8 o'clock at night, I was wired until all hours of the night. =)