Today we were picked up at 8:15 to go and visit our Compassion Child, Ayantu. We have sponsored her for 3.5 years, since she and Faith were both 5 years old. Officially, I am the sponsor, but Faith writes most of the letters and we sort of consider her "Faith's" child. Ayantu and her family live in Burayou, which is 15 km west of Addis and has a population of about 150,000 people. It is a very poor area.
When we arrived at the project, the children were singing a welcome song for us! Monday is not a usual project day, and they all came out, just to greet us! We learned we are the first sponsors to visit this project. Ayantu is the girl in the middle with the flowers. I didn't recognize her at first because her hair was straightened and she has changed a lot since her last pictures.
Ayantu in her traditional dress. We could tell she had dressed up for the occasion!
Faith and Ayantu meeting for the first time. Considering how tiny Faith is, you can see that Ayantu is very petite!
Ayantu's father came to the project to meet us, too. Ayantu is one of 6 children, but she is the only one who is part of the Compassion project.
We handed out Canada stickers, which resulted in mass chaos!
Holding hands as we went on a tour of the church.
The local church that sponsors the Compassion Project in Burayou. The pastor said there are 900-1000 attendees on a regular Sunday.
They put on a lovely traditional coffee ceremony... (Our first one since arriving in Ethiopia!)
It was humbling to see how many people came to the project today just to meet us! All of the local Sunday School teachers, all of the local Compassion staff, the church pastor and staff, and many more. I wish we had something to offer them beyond our words of blessing and encouragement. We were very honored to be received with such celebration. It was especially nice to meet the young woman who personally translates all of Faith's letters. She said, "So you are Faith! I have prayed that one day I would meet the young girl who sends such beautiful things to Ayantu!"
In the van on the way to Ayantu's home. They were starting to warm up to each other. They didn't talk much, though the interpreters were always willing to translate. Still, a lot can be said through smiles and touch. :)
Ayantu's family lives in the home on the right. It is constructed from eucalyptus wood, coated with a mixture of mud and straw. There are two rooms; a main room, which as a table and benches, as well as a bed used by Dad, Mom and the three littlest children, and a second smaller room which is the kitchen, storage room, and bedroom for the two older children (the oldest daughter has moved out).
Getting a hug from Ayantu's mother. She is a tiny woman, and she was so, so thrilled to have us in her home. She kept bringing out food and drinks; Dave says she reminded him of how Grandma Reich used to fuss over company! We ate the snacks she offered but avoided the drinks, as I was concerned about picking up a tummy bug. At one point, someone disappeared and came back with two Fanta's for the children to share. They were such gracious hosts!
Faith and Thomas with Ayantu, her mother, her two younger sisters and her older brother. The red curtain separates the two rooms of the house.
We bought the girls matching shirts and planned for Faith to wear hers today. They thought that was pretty fun!
Distributing our gifts. I'm not sure what Ayantu's father thought of the Canada t-shirt. ;) It was hard; we brought lots of stuff, hopefully they can use it, or sell it to buy what they prefer. I felt a bit like Santa Claus handing it out, but I wanted to make sure they understood what each thing was (for instance, we sent an empty picture frame and we will print an 8x10 of their family photo and mail it back to them)....
"Twins!"
Ayantu's family (minus the eldest sister) They have been married for 21 years. We are so glad to be able to support an intact family by sponsoring one of their chilren.
Our two families.
It was beautiful day. We were so blessed to meet them, and I hope they were also blessed by our visit. We had a chance to pray for their family, and to just try to speak love and encouragement into their lives.
After we left their home, we went to a local hotel for lunch together (Ayantu and her parents, the Compassion staff, and us). We had traditional Ethiopian food and it was very yummy. One thing I've noticed about restaurants in Ethiopia is that they don't wait and bring all the food at once; as a dish is ready, out it comes. In this case, it meant that there was about 10 minutes between Ayantu's parents' food, and ours, and a further 20 minutes before the children's food came out (we all ordered basically the same things, though the Ethiopians included raw beef!). Anyway, we kind of chuckled about how the "guest of honor" (Ayantu) had to wait the longest for her food. Thomas gave everyone a good chuckle by insisting on dipping his meat in the spicy red sauce; the resultant faces were pretty cute!
One of the tricky parts of the day was explaining to everyone who Bereket was. It took several conversations before it seemed that all the adults understood he was our son, but he was from Ethiopia, had only just recently been adopted and had not been to Canada yet. At lunch, one of the men asked Bereket what grade he was in, and we told him that he had finished Kindergarten and would be starting grade 1 in the fall "in Canada". This prompted him to ask Bereket, in Amharic, if he was excited to go to Canada. Bereket answered, and all the Amharic-speaking adults erupted in laughter. When we asked what he had said, they said he told them, "I just came from Canada, in a car!" Apparently GT is so different from the orphanage, he figured it was already Canada! haha. So we had the guide explain that we were living with him in Addis for about 1 month, and then we would go by airplane to Canada. It made me realize how confusing this whole process must be for the little fellow! Time and place are such abstract concepts, it is hard to make sense of where we are, and for how long! I wish that we knew exactly when his visa would come, so I could make a paper chain count down or something to make it more concrete. We will be sure to look at his photo album again and talk about the pictures of our house "in Canada" lol.
Regarding the visa, we got the good news that the court decree is in, and we should have his birth certificate by Wednesday, and then we will take him for his passport on Thursday. Then the whole lot will be sent to the High Commission in Nairobi Kenya, where they will process his citizenship application and issue the facilitation visa.
In other Bereket news, I am discovering that two boys are not 2 times as noisy and active as one boy... It is an exponential relationship! haha. Bereket is finding his voice, and we hear him singing, laughing, sighing, groaning, and yes, sometimes even speaking, more and more. It is amazing to watch him "unfold"... Every day I feel like we see more and more of the "real him". He is still so cuddly and affectionate, which is such a balm to my soul. He seems to have no trouble making eye contact with us, and greatly prefers us to strangers, even Amharic-speaking ones. I'm sure we will have some ongoing attachment work to do, but as far as these early days go, I am very pleased. :)
Thanks again for all your supportive emails, comments and facebook posts! It is so great to know you are all walking along this journey with us!
Heather
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