Last night I went to sleep very feverish. My fever must have broke while I was sleeping because I woke up feeling SO much better. This was good because today was going to be a big day. At the Korah orphanage it was registration day for 300 children for the next school year. We were going to be there for crowd control. We took the regular 60 children we have been teaching everyday this week and did the regular routine while the other children were in the registration meeting. Today seemed a bit off. Even the kids seemed to be having an off day.... We were all just exhausted. The kids during english seemed to be having a hard time understanding the sentences today. Carrie wasn't here today to help me because she went to go tour a school near by, so I was glad when we were finally done with all of our classrooms.
This is Carrie and I on our first day in Ethiopia. Carrie is a 6th grade teacher back in the U.S. I teamed up with her to teach english while we are here.
These are some of my students in Korah. This is the classroom that is behind the church outside.
I was just completely exhausted from this week. While all the children played I just sat down with Deborah in my lap against the classroom building where all the children eat lunch. Soon a few other girls came and sat with us eventually wanting to braid my hair. What the heck, go for it... As long as I didn't have to play double double this that, or patty cake another time and just sit there and let them braid my hair. I was completely ok with that......
until... there were four or five little girls braiding my hair pulling it this way and that way. It felt as though they were playing double double this that with my hair!.... or worse! Jump roping with it! From being tired from being sick I chilled out and stood it for a little bit (because lets face it I didn't have the energy to tell them to stop), but when they started getting loud and sounding like they were fighting over my hair, I could feel the limit in me rise into frustration and anger. I felt like I was going to rise up from sitting and transform into the Wolverine with sharp metal claws to slash them away from me. I was picturing the whole scene in my head.
Danielle saw the ridiculousness and asked if I was alright.... "Yeah, I'm alright...... actually, I've had enough. Can you get them to stop?" I'm pretty sure that I heard and felt one of the girls spit in my hair. Sometimes they do that if there isn't a hair tie to keep the braid together, and sometimes they use snot. Gross. Sorry! Not of white girl's hair! Oh no you didn't!
Thankfully Danielle got them all off of my hair. She told them all I was sick and not feeling well. Whew! Glad I didn't turn into the Wolverine! That was not going to be a pretty sight, and I'm pretty sure I was one molecule of anger away from turning into that. Roaring and slashing all the little girls around me. Now that they were all away from me, I was back to just sitting there in the warm sun with Deborah on my lap.... Speaking of warm sun, It has been so cold here! I definitely didn't pack as well as I should have for this trip. The highs have been in the 60's low 70's this week and rainy. I was prepared for the rain but not so much being cold all the time. All of you that know me, know I get chill bumps when it starts hitting in the low 70's. Especially when it's gloomy outside. If it's sunny....I'm fine. It felt nice to finally be sunny today and just sit there soaking in the warmth.
I fed my old leprosy man again his lunch. It was my last time to do that for him. When I was done feeding him I found Deborah and said my goodbyes. That was a little sad moment. Today was our last day with these children. I gave her kisses and said "ciao". She gave me kisses back and said "ciao." That was the tender moment of the day. As I was leaving and about to head back on the bus, one of the girls I bonded with on day one pulled me aside and sat me down to talk to me. I forgot her name,.... it's something hard to pronounce and easy for me to forget. She is 15 and had one of her friends with her. He was a street boy and was in desperate need of a sponsor. They were trying to get me to sponsor him. It broke my heart. All I could say was "I'll see what I can do..." that's all I COULD say for right then... I just didn't know what else to say. I don't remember what his name is but it means "blessed" in Amharic. I made sure I got his name before we left, or at least the meaning so I could later possibly find him again. Who knows, maybe I could do something for him or find someone who can. What do you say when you are faced with something like that? When you see the sad desperation in their faces?
Before we started to leave, I pulled out a gift for one of the older boys who draws. He is very talented and has a lot of potential. His name is Ebenezer. He pulled me in their bunk bed room and showed me a note book of all his drawings. They were very good! They were all of flowers. I told him he should be very proud and that he is very good. I could see in his shy smile he was excited to hear that coming from another artist. Earlier this week the older boys pulled me aside when they found out I was an artist and made me draw for them. I drew a still of one of the water bottles I had been drinking out of. They all Ooooed and Aaahhhhed over it and Ebenezer gave it a try. He did a very good job and soaked every minute up. It was good to see all their excitement throughout that time, and they all have a special place in my heart. I hope that Ebenezer finds his way with his artwork because he has a lot of potential and talent. We are all very proud of him. You can even see how proud all his peers are of him as we were drawing together.
All of us women folk on the team got on the bus to go back and rest while Sammy, Steve, and Michael stayed to play soccer with the kids and another trip team from N.C. (who just arrived the day before). I don't really know who they are with... probably a church mission trip. They'll be here for 9 days I think they said? It was kind of nice to see some new American faces but they were kind of quiet and didn't really talk to us much. They seemed a bit uncomfortable to be there. There were a lot of young teenagers and I think they were out of their comfort zone a bit. I know coming here must be a real wake up call for them.
Getting back to the house to rest was much needed for a lot of us. I finally got a "shower" after days of not showering. I'm pretty sure Christy was glad as well since I'm rooming with her :) While chilling out I found a note from Michael that really spoke to me and made me feel better about my low the other day. My low of not really being sure if I could do this kind of mission work for a long period of time. I won't go into detail about it but his note did a lot of good in me. Thank you Michael. God has used you in big ways and continues to do so.
After resting and the guys coming back home, we headed out to the market to do a little shopping. The last shop I stopped in, this man had a collection of stuff on one of the shelves. I picked what looked like an old book. I opened it, and it was a really old Ethiopian Bible dating 100 years! He was selling for 250 U.S. dollars, which probably meant he would sell it for much cheaper. It was really cool to look at and pretty frail. I was with Selam and she got a little upset at the man for selling it. I'm pretty sure the guy was on some weed or something. Selam told him "Do you know what this is?! This should not be sold! This should stay in Ethiopia! Don't sell this! You can't sell this!" She was right, but I kinda wanted it and knew she would have gotten mad if I bought it. I didn't have that much money to blow anyways. How cool was it to find that though?
We went to dinner at one of Surafel's brother's restaurants. I don't remember what it was called but it was the nicest restaurant we've been to yet. Very club-esque. They even had one of those big screen TV's you see at bowling alley's that played MTV music videos. It is Steve's last night with us and Surafel had made a sign for the table that said Bon Voyage Steve!..... or something of that nature.
Steve leaves in the early morning for his flight to Kenya to visit his friend Michelle for three days before he leaves for good back to the U.S. After we all got back home after dinner we had our nightly team meeting. Surafel stayed with us that night since he was taking Steve to the airport in the morning. Alex shared her life story to where she is now in life. I really do admire that girl. She is the only non-Christian on the trip and is one of the only ones (some others do, but not a lot of us) who will volunteer to pray. What do you think that says about the majority of us who claim to know our God and Father yet don't cry out to him when asked to? The other day some men where in the church in Korah at the orphanage and were praying. They were all crying out to the Lord, and It donned on me that we don't regularly do that in America... or at least it's not often seen. Then the other day I was reading a verse in Hebrews that just confirmed my thoughts about the matter and how we need to actively CRY OUT to Him. Hebrews 5:7 "While Jesus was here on Earth, He offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of His deep reverence for God." Not only do we need to cry out to Him but doing so only if and with deep reverence for God. How do you think we reach to that point?
After Alex shared, Surafel shared his testimony. What a story. I had heard bits and pieces.... the first of his story. But tonight I got the whole story. Some things became clear to me that I was blind to and bits and pieces were able to be put together. It's funny how when you meet someone and you notice or see things about them, but when you hear their whole story (if they allow it) you can understand them better and put the missing pieces together. I've been debating on wether or not to write out his story and have decided to let that be for him to tell. That's his life story to tell. I did learn though (among other things) that the dancing that night at the restaurant we went to one of the first nights, was dancing they do in witch craft. If I had known that I would not have wanted to go. It would have creeped the Hell out of me! Surafel left before all of that started and I understand why now.
When we were all done, Steve had the bright idea to affirm everyone going one by one to everyone in the room saying cool and nice things about them. It was really nice Steve, thanks..... Then Emily and Michael sang him a going away song. Good song but I thought it was weird choice in a going away song. It was "Wedding Dress." Whatever. They did a good job. I went to bed after Steve did his last confessional on Emily's camcorder, because I was exhausted. A lot of the others stayed up and hung out with Steve. I really didn't get to know Steve that well during this trip..... and I can't say that I'm really actually honestly going to miss him.... like the others have been saying. It's sort of like life stages to me. Just moving on to the next stage. Something different. Not that we didn't get along, it's neither's fault, it's just the way it is. One of those people that pass by in your life. I'm sure I was that way for him. Just passer bys.
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