Thursday, July 23, 2015

Ethiopia: beyond the orphanage

I have finally had a minute to sit down, breathe, and look back through at some of the images in Ethiopia. There were so many beautiful, wonderful experiences there, beyond meeting our son.

One of our favorite memories is the school we visited, that is sponsored by the adoption agency we are using. This is one of the pictures I took in a class room. These children have a passion for their education, almost as much as the educators we got to speak with did. It was fantastic to see. 



As we drove around Adama and Addis Ababa, we noticed a lot of construction. They use eucalyptus trees to build their scaffolding. I am pretty sure that OSHA would just go belly up & start twitching if they were to visit. :) 





We also saw a lot of what traditional Americans may consider poverty. Buildings made of makeshift metal scraps and wood pieces. Goats, donkeys and horses wandering around the streets, homes and stores. People begging on the streets, 'toilets' that are not more than a hole in the ground. Open air gutters and drainage systems to help the sewage flow away from the homes.  People doing hard, physical labor for a days wages to feed their families. 





But beyond that, we saw more. We saw what I believe Ethiopia is made of... beautiful people with a strong sense of family, love and community. Roadside shops with beautifully made crafts. Roads crafted with bricks laid one by one to connect these people to one another.  Breathtaking views from the tops of mountains of a city that is so full of a culture that is richer and deeper than we could only dream of here.  Pride, culture, beauty. It's only part of what Ethiopia is made of. 






Beautiful Ethiopia.

I know I've done my fair share of traveling. There have only been a handful of places that when I left, I felt like I was leaving a piece of my soul there. More than having to leave my son there until our Embassy process is complete, (which was leaving a piece of my soul on a different level); Ethiopia has a piece of my heart forever more. Although Ethiopia may not be "rich" by standards that we seem to cherish in the USA; it is a country rich in love, humanity, pride, family and beauty. And I think that's vastly more important.

Ethiopia, you have my heart. 





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