Judson's Pictures

It was a wonderful trip.  One I hope to be able to repeat some day.  Judson, too, wants to repeat AFTER he recovers from this one.  That flight home was long and tiresome.  He was hungry for American food, especially chips and salsa.  These pictures were taken by Judson.  He concentrated on the toddlers.  He kept asking me which was my favorite.  He would have taken them all home if he could. 

Judson and Abel acting silly at Kurifu with his camera on timed shot.

Abel(l) was adopted from ET when he was 2.5.

Point of interest for you:

How many languages do  you know?

It might interest you to know that many  most of the older kids at the orphanage know 3-4 languages.

Sights and Sounds

Notice my buddy

 boys selling whips and hats on Entoto

Man sleeping in the middle of the road.

Very common.

Orthodox Christian Church

Wash before you eat.

Entertainment

View of Addis from Entoto



Faces I Love

 You'll see this guy a lot.  He and I were buddies.

 Miss Grumpy.  Almost let a smile out.

This little one is 18m old.

Came in at Easter time weighing 2kg.

(yes, you read that right)

Her 3 year old brother could not even walk.

She has doubled her weight(Which means she is now at the weight Judson was when he was born) and is bearing weight on her legs.

Her brother is walking and doing real well.

They will be heading to Italy soon to their new family.

 

More pictures to come.

Before-After

Judson took after pics.

Suffice to say, new pillows, sheets and decorations.

4 bunk beds in the boys quarters.

They sleep 3 to a bed

 plus some in toddler beds.

Didn't get pics of girls room but they had the same thing only

with less beds.

Yeah, they need more beds.

At the read and feed



What's Your Talent?

Everyone has talents and skills.  Some are very obvious and some are more subtle.  As I said before, the family who came on this trip along side Judson and I had the talents of nurse and carpenter/contractor.  These came in very helpful on this trip.  Jaime (the nurse) taught the Ethiopian nurse how to measure the kids and keep records on growth, etc.  Frank (the contractor) repaired faucets, hooked up a washing machine, built shelves and a work bench for the cook.  He and Tamirat and Melkamu painted the Read and Feed center.  So lots of skills.

So what was my talent?  I was the kid-magnet!  You know, the pied-piper.  I sat down and kids flocked to me. It's a talent I inherited from my father.  So, my job was to keep kids busy and out of the way when paint was going up and work was being done.  I think I got the best job!

May I just say, the girl on the right had such a beautiful spirit.

She was beautiful on the outside but something else just shown thru.

Loved interacting with her.

Example:  We had spent the whole day painting the read and feed center. This is the day I had a severe attack of Montezuma's Revenge and the plumbing was NOT working, by the way. TMI?    So let's just say, I'm in a weakened state and after painting flowers and grass on the walls, I decide to sit down.  I've got paint on my clothes and my hands and arms.  Before I know it, I have 3 girls 'grooming' me, picking paint off my skin.  I swear when they are done, I have no paint left on my skin.  After they are through, I pull out my iPhone and turn on music and a bubble app.  Next thing I know, I have about 10 kids crowding around to play and sing to the song.  Come to find out, every kid in Ethiopia must know the K'naan song: "Wavin' Flag".  Who knew, right?

See, no paint on my hands.

Why yes, that is a 3rd eye.

The girl in the pink shirt from yesterday's photo.  She wanted nothing to do with any of us.  She'd sit there with her arms crossed and glare.  Now, I happen to think she is very smart and is also pretty sure she can depend upon no one but herself.  So she is a student of humanity.  It took a few hours but we were walking back to the bus after the amusement park.  I could see her cutting her eyes over to me.  I just held back.  Then she made the move!  She slowed down so she could be beside me.  So I stuck out one finger....AND....she grabbed it!  She let me walk her back to the bus.  Pretty awesome feeling to get the trust of a kid.

Judson got in on the act too.  He taught the kids how to fold origami figures and tried to teach them chess although it was a bit difficult due to language barrier.  Luckily, Melkam knew how to play so he helped with translations.

Faces

If you are familiar with the stages of grief, you will see some of these stages written all over the faces of these kids.  You have to remember these kids have lost big time in the game of life.  They would not be in this orphanage if they had family to take care of them. Some All of their stories are heartbreaking.

Notice the kids who have the beautiful dark ebony skin.  Most of them just recently arrived at this orphanage from the border of Sudan.  They look different.  They speak/understand a different language. They are used to different foods.  Their trip was 2 days in a bus!  In fact, the orphanage is trying to get another bus load of kids in from the same region before the rainy season starts because once the season starts there will be no way.  The roads (such that they are) will be washed away.

One of the little girls in the latest bunch is particularly heartbreaking.  She is 5 but the size of a 3 year old.  She has a brother who is the size of an 18 month old but is in fact closer to 3.  Her mother is dead.  Her father abandoned them because he is a nomad and had no way to take care of 2 small children.  This girl carries her brother on her back where ever she goes.  You'd take the boy off her back and turn around, she'd have him back on.  Even when the nannies would try to get her involved in the games, she'd be searching the crowd looking for her little brother.  As soon as the game/dance was over, you'd see her run back to stand beside her brother. That's a lot of responsibility for a 5 year old.

There are kids who are HIV+.  Some appeared healthier than others.  One little one had the karposi sarcoma scars on her face.  Apparently when she came in, she was probably closing in on full blown AIDS. However, with the administration of ARVs, she seemed to be doing better.  Not sure how often they monitor the CD4 counts or what kind of ARVs are administered. 

So, on the faces you'll see pure shock.  That PTSD look where they can no longer process what they see.  Their eyes are open but they see nothing.  They cannot.  It's too painful so they shutdown.

 You'll see sadness.  They are processing but all is sadness.  All they have lost.  All that is new.

 You'll see some distrust especially at first.  Maybe even fear.  But they are processing, so that is good. 



Pink shirt. Arms crossed. She was not sure she wanted to like anything or anyone.  She studied everything and everyone.  It took time but she decided I was okay.


Then you will see happiness in some.  They have come through the whole process and are on the other side of grief.  They have decided to make the best of their situation and are beginning to enjoy life.  You will see some go between these stages.  They are not fully over the grief but they are getting there.  In point of fact, does anyone ever fully get over grief/loss?  Or do they just learn to live with it. 

Love these 2.  They are natural born leaders.  Very caring for the little ones too.

I say all that to make the point that when you look at the pictures, be sure the take in all the picture has to say.  It's saying a lot more than you think.