We left Addis and headed to the Rift Valley. Stopped at Bethany and picked up Desalegn. It was several hours to get to the Sabana Vacation resort. We saw so much on our way. Small towns with sidewalk vendors. Villages with thatched roof huts. Villages with mud huts. Villages with straw huts. Donkeys. Oxen. Goats. Camels. Storks.
The resort was nice. Beautiful setting with the mountains surrounding the valley, which at this spot is now a lake. I can’t remember the name of the lake, think it started with L. We walked around and took some pictures. We walked down the beach, which is really just gravel. Several families were there swimming and just enjoying being outdoors. We met some young boys from an Italian missionary school, and some of them were orphans. They were very kind and some spoke a little English. They were happy to hear about the work we plan to do.
We had lunch at the restaurant there at the resort. I had vegetarian pasta and it was great. The Italian influence on the cuisine here is very apparent!
After that, we began driving to Nazret/Adama. On the way we stopped at a small hut village. I had a bag of bubble gum and as soon as we stepped out there were already 4 children standing at our van. We exchanged smiles and shared the gum, and more children arrived. A couple of them spoke some English, and told us they were learning it in school. We told them about Jesus and how much He loves them. It was heartbreaking to see the little children wearing such tattered and dirty clothes. They were so sweet.
Next we stopped at the market in Ziway (zih-WHY). What an interesting and intimidating experience. It was an open, outdoor market much like I’ve seen in Mariupol (Ukraine). Hundreds and hundreds of people milled about seemingly endless vendor stalls. I think we were a bit of a novelty or oddity. We had some teenage boys following us for a while and we felt a little bit uneasy (although Desalegn was with us). Then a group of children saw us and began walking with us. They were cute and once we were back to the van, Steve gave them some of the gum.
After that, we finished the drive to Adama. We checked into Hotel Maya. Then we went to KVI (Kingdom Village International) Adama – the orphanage. It is a privately funded Christian orphanage and seems to be very well-maintained. We met the director and she gave us a tour of the orphanage. There are probably about 40 – 50 kids there right now. The director said they have 60 kids on average. We spent some time in the baby room first and there were 8 or 10 babies in there. So cute, but so heartbreaking to see them just lying in their beds. The good sign to me was that they would cry when they needed something and they had great eye contact. So it would appear that they are getting good attention. We went to the toddler room – there are only 5 toddlers at this time (the rest are now with adoptive or foster families!). Then we saw the older kids, they were eating dinner. This was the biggest group.
After that we went back to the orphanage courtyard and had snacks and a traditional Ethiopian coffee service. We talked a little more and then went back to the hotel. I asked the director what the greatest needs are at this orphanage. She said it's clothing for older children, and diapers (disposable and cloth) for the infants.
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| One of our rooms at Hotel Maya |
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| Some of our friends at the resort |
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| A couple of the children in the hut village |
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| Baby rooms at KVI Adama |
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| A couple of our friends at the Ziway market |
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| Ziway market |
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