Rendez-Vous

Yesterday night we went to Rendez-Vous, an Ethiopian restaurant in Toronto!! There is a very small Ethiopian population in Hamilton, so to get any Ethiopian food, we have to drive an hour into Toronto. There were 9 of us; me, Alex, Kerry, my Mom, my Gramma, Jodnel, Meron, Nebiyou, and Noel, and we had a lot of fun... and I got an excuse to wear the shirt I bought in ET! Walking into the restaurant was like going back to Ethiopia- the smells, especially... the spices, the injera, the coffee. It is a beautiful restaurant and pretty cheap too- $80 for all of us. Meron and Nebiyou were so excited when we told them that we wanted to take them into Toronto to an Ethiopian restaurant. Kerry, my Mom, and my Gramma had never tried Ethiopian food before, and Alex and I had only tried some, so they gave us lessons on what to eat, what it tasted like, how to eat it, etc. We ended up getting 4 platters- doro wat (chicken stew), tibbs, spicy tibbs, and another wat, I think it was beef? Tibbs are the safest choice (and also my favourite) as they are not as spicy as some of the other dishes. Of course, injera was served in large proportions (as it always is) and coffee afterwards. They gave us a bit of a coffee ceremony, although nothing like we saw in Ethiopia. It is such a beautiful culture- it was so much fun to get to experience it again, if only in a little way. I gave Meron a copy of the documentary A Walk to Beautiful and I am excited on hearing her thoughts about it. It is about women in Ethiopia who suffer fistulas after childbirth- it is a really amazing film.
















I also found this website on another blog where you can order Ethiopian food and have it delivered to your house, for those who don't live near an Ethiopian restaurant!

Child Sponsorship

I think of everything I learned while I was in Ethiopia, the importance and value of child sponsorship was among those that affected me the most. When I met Tsehay, it was a dream come true. It was surreal to meet her, to touch her, to see her smile. Just as importantly, it was amazing to see the cow that I bought her, to see with my own eyes the dress and shoes she was wearing that I sent money for. To hear them talk about how she and her brother are being educated because of the money I have sent. I just wanted to take some time and post my thoughts about sponsorship. If you do not have a sponsor child- get one!!! Not only will it change the life of the children, but it will change your's (and I am not just saying that). We are blessed to live in such an amazing country, and because of that, every single person in our country should be making an effort to help those living in less fortunate conditions. Did you know that people living on welfare in Canada are STILL among the richest in the world?!

What organization should I sponsor through? This is the most important question, and one that takes some research. I have sponsored through several different organizations over the years, so all of the organizations listed below are ones that I support. I have either sponsored through them, or know people who sponsor through them.
World Vision- $35/month with the choice of many countries all over the world
His Hands for Haiti- Based in Haiti, $80/year
Mayan Families- Based in Guatemala, $150/year
Christian Upliftment- Based in Uganda, $35/year (a very inexpensive option for those struggling with their own finances)
The above organizations are all amazing and do wonderful things in the lives of the kids. I recommend each one of them.

Through all of these organizations (and most other sponsorship programs that I did not list), are able to contact your sponsor child through letters and gifts. I think that this is a very important aspect of sponsorship. This makes the sponsorship more personal and allows you to build a relationship with the child.
What should I write to them about? A lot of sponsors don't write because they just don't know what to write about. But think about how curious you are about your child's life- they, too, are curious about what their sponsors' lives are like!! It is important to always open the letter asking how they are and how their families are, as in most cultures, this is expected and is very important. Sometimes I make a theme to my letters- one month I will write about school, one month I will write about weather (none of my sponsor kids have ever seen snow), one month I will write about a specific holiday around that time, etc. In each letter, I try to include pictures of what I am writing about- if the letter is about the weather, I will send a picture of me standing outside in the snow. If the letter is about Christmas, I will send a family picture in front of the Christmas tree.
What should I send them? Different programs have different restrictions on how large the packages can be that you send the kids. TO be honest though, I usually go larger than what they recommend, and I have never had a problem with my gifts not getting to the kids. Here are some things I like to include: soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste (most importantly toothpaste, as it runs out), underwear, socks, sandals or shoes, school supplies (paper, notebooks, pens/pencils, erasers, calculater, ruler, crayons), clothes (depending on what their culture is like and what kind of clothes they wear), blankets (depending on the climate), toy cars, little dolls, bouncy balls, skipping ropes, hard candies, beanie babies, BOOKS (in english and, if I can, in their native language), flash cards (math and english- can get these at the dollar store), colouring books, etc. If I know the gender of the child's siblings, I try to send something for the sibling as well, or something that can be shared. This is an example of a package I sent (went to Tsehay): shirt, underwear, stickers, notepad, toothbrush, crayons, beanie baby.


And lastly, this is a little bit about my 5 sponsor kids...

Tsehay: Tsehay is 8 years old, lives in Ethiopia, and is sponsored through World Vision. She was my first sponsor child and is very special to me as I got to meet her a few weeks ago. She was not going to school before I began sponsoring her, and comes from a very, very poor farming family. She is a sweetheart and very shy. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up, but at this rate can not get past grade 1 as she is kept home so often to care for the sheep. She has an older brother (Hailu, age 11) and a baby brother (Abdit, age 1 month). Pictures: 1) First picture I received of Tsehay, age 6. 2) Tsehay and her family with the cow I sent money for them to buy, and wearing the dress and shoes I sent money for. 3) Meeting Tsehay!




Sara: Sara is 12 years old, lives in Guatemala, and is sponsored through Mayan Families. She is very smart and motherly, I am told. She works very hard in school and gets mostly 90's, and loves taking care of children. She is the 5th of 7 children. Pictures: 1) First picture I got of Sara, with her mother and 2 younger siblings. 2) Sara wearing the traditional clothing I sent money for, for her birthday.



Dieujuste: Dieujuste is 9 years old, lives in Haiti, and is sponsored through World Vision. I have very little information on him as of yet, as mail is very slow coming from Haiti. I do know that he is in grade 3 and living with both his parents, who are struggling to find work to make ends meet. I have sent money to his family and two packages, so it should be anytime now that I start getting the mail in return. Pictures: 1) My only photo of Dieujuste, taken at 9 years old. It is those big, sad eyes that made me want to sponsor him.


Adongo Kate: Kate is 10 years old, lives in Uganda, and sponsored through Christian Upliftment. She is a happy girl- always smiling! Both of her parents died of HIV, and she is now living with a couple whom she works for after school. She was living with an aunt who mistreated her up until recently. Pictures: 1) Kate, always smiling. Living with her aunt at this point, being forced to work most of the time. 2) Kate, with the new couple she is living with, standing beside the mattress and blankets I sent money for.



Rebecca Atuheire: Rebecca is 12 years old, living in Uganda, and sponsored through Christian Upliftment. My parents sponsored her for me as a gift for Christmas, and it was definitely the best and most meaningful Christmas gift. Her parents both died and she lives with her aunt and uncle, and two younger brothers. They live very far from the school, and she walks a long distance to class each day. She was late starting up school this year because she had malaria, but when she recovered and came back to class and found out she had a sponsor, she apparantly put her head in her hands, getting teary. Picture: 1) Rebecca wearing her new uniform and shoes I sent money for.

Video... Enjoy!

Noel

Last night Meron, Nebiyou, and their son Noel came over to our house to visit! They are from Ethiopia and were so excited to hear about our trip. While we were in ET, we met Meron's sister who she hadn't seen in 5 years, and we delivered pictures of their family. We gave them a ton of teff (to make injera) and the spice for injera (I can't remember what it is called... it starts with a b). We also bought Noel a little hat, and he looked so cute! Meron looooved the hat and hearing about the trip. She told us that we must all go to Toronto soon to the Ethiopian restaurant there.

Tips and Important Things About Ethiopia

-When I got to Ethiopia, I switched half of my money to Ethiopian birr and kept the other half in USD, thinking I would be able to use American dollars in some places. This was wrong- no where by the airport can you use any type of money but Ethiopian birr. Also in regards to money, Ethiopia is very inexpensive, and you do not need a lot of money to get by. At a restaurant, you will eat for about 40 birr ($4) and you can buy shirts for around the same price (although, they may try to get you to pay higher, so always bargain with them and they will lower it!)
-Stay at the Ethiopia Guest Home! This place is amazing. It is run by an American couple who adopted from Ethiopia (they do not live there, they run it from the States). The staff is amazing, great prices, and VERY helpful. They catered to us and made everything so easy. We also got free internet and local phone calls. They have a driver that will take you anywhere, they serve great meals, beautiful view, hot water (yay- warm shower!), etc. Best of all, part of the money you spend on your room goes back into the country in aid programs. It is amazing!
-Definitely try the national foods. Doro wat is my favourite (very spicy). Doro means chicken and wat is stew. It is eaten with injera, the staple food for most families in Ethiopia. Just we sure not to have too much the first time, or you will be sick!
-You haven't seen Ethiopia until you have seen the countryside. Be sure to venture outside of Addis and go to a village. If you are interested in learning more, a great option is to contact World Vision, or a similar organization, and have them escort you. They will pick you up in Addis and drive you out in the middle of nowhere to their villages. This way, you won't only get to see village life, but you will learn more about what is being done to improve the quality of life in these areas.
-If you are bringing donations, consider underwear and vitamins. Be sure, with the vitamins, not to give them out without explanations (even to organizations that you think may understand how to use them). Vitamins aren't very common in Ethiopia and so you need to explain what the purpose of them is and how to take them (get a translator for this to ensure they understand). Vitamins are great because most kids in Ethiopia eat injera all of the time and don't have a varied diet. Most Ethiopians also go without underwear, so that is very appreciated.
-Another good option for donations is care packages. Before I left for Ethiopia, Alex and I put together about 60 care packages for kids. I am really glad we did this. We used a large ziplock bag to hold each package and filled it with lots of things (some examples include skipping ropes, beanie babies, underwear, socks, snacks (granola bars, fruit chew snacks), flash cards, school supplies, books, jewelry, hair clips, bouncy balls, toy cars, t-shirts, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.) This way, when we saw kids in need, we were able to give them things rather than just money (although, we often did give them money as well, or went and bought food for them). The only thing I would have changed was I wouldn't put underwear in it. It made it difficult as when we saw a kid we would have to search through the packages to find one with underwear in that child's size.
-The weather varies so is hard to predict. I was in ET during the dry season (I was there in February). It was very hot (around 27 or 28 degrees Celsius) but with no humidity, so it didn't seem as hot. I burned easily. At night and early in the morning it was quite cool (pants and sweatshirt). There were no mosquitoes during the dry season. Most of the time I wore pants and a t-shirt. Sometimes (on really hot days, or when we were building) I wore shorts, but they were long shorts that went to my knee. Ethiopians are very conservative and it would have been considered rude to wear anything shorter. I did have sandals, but I wore shoes most of the time as it is so dusty that my feet would just be covered in dirt by the end of the day.
-Just beware that you will come across begging. It is typical to give beggars 1 birr (equal to about 10 cents Canadian). I would usually give more than that, sometimes up to 100 birr, especially if it was a child. I would not give any in areas where there were lots of beggars. Once you give money to one, in a few seconds you would have a dozen Ethiopians surrounding you with their hands outstretched. It is always better, at least in my opinion, to go and buy food and give them this. I would usually buy a loaf of bread or something that I knew they would like (not Canadian-style food that they may not like).

Ethiopian Shopping

Shopping in Ethiopia is very inexpensive, and very fun! Addis has amazing shopping... such beautiful and cultural pieces. Market areas in Addis do tend to have a lot of begging, so beware of that. Worse, though, is the pickpocketing. Just take precautions and you should be fine. We experienced incidents when they would team up on one person- someone would grab leaves from a tree and slap Alex's legs with them to distract him. When he reached down to push the leaves away, another guy reached into his pocket (thankfully, it was empty). Other incidents I have heard about and/or experienced included people riding by on bikes with outstreched arms to quickly grab bags or cameras, or using knifes to cut bags off straps to take them. Most of them time though, these things don't happen and all is fine. Just a few things to be wary of. Below are some things I bought, and the approximate prices to give you an idea of cost (very inexpensive!) They always give you a high price, especially if you are a foreigner, but they will go down quite low.

An Ethiopian hat I bought for Noel, the baby boy who lives here in Hamilton and whose family are immigrants from Ethiopia. This cost about 30 birr ($3). I definitely could have bargained this down, but at this point I was feeling sick and just wanted to get out of there!


Beautiful painting of a girl collecting water. This cost 100 birr, or about $10 Canadian.


A buna pot. This cost 20 birr ($2). These are gorgeous- the only problem is bringing them home, as they break easily. Alex bought three, and two chipped. One tip we heard is to boil water in them before you leave, which makes them stronger.


A shirt I bought for myself. I love this shirt!! It resembles the traditional Ethiopian wear, but in a style that I could wear in Canada. I bought this for 50 birr, or $5 Canadian.


A traditional outfit I bought for my sponsor child Tsehay. I couldn't find any while shopping in Debre Zeyit, but Addis is full of them. It is two pieces (a skirt and shirt) and cost 70 birr ($7 Canadian), I believe.


Do not even think of buying anything in the airports- they are so ridiculously overpriced. A shirt that would go for 30 birr in a market would be 150 birr at the aiport ($3 or $15).

Heading Home

As I write this I am in the plane flying from Germany to Chicago. We had already gone from Ethiopia to Sudan, then to Germany. After this flight, we will get on another plane to Buffalo, and then will drive home. My time in Ethiopia is over, and it is hard to believe. This trip was a dream come true for me, and something I have been wanting to do for many years. When I began sponsoring Tsehay, two years ago, I knew that one day, I would meet her. I am still in disbelief that this actually happened. This little girl who I have been exchanging letters with for so long now is ‘real’ to me- when I think of her I can picture her shy expressions, her dark, tiny house, and her quiet yet sweet voice. The culture of Ethiopia is so incredibly beautiful, and I am sad to be unable to experience it daily. There are so many things that I noticed, so many thoughts flying around in my head about the beauty of Africa, but it is hard to put it all in words. It is hard to express everything I saw and experienced and portray the beauty of it all.
My last day was full of mixed emotions. As usual (as anyone who followed my Dominican trip knows) I get travel sickness and despite trying to prepare for this as best as possible (pills, wrist bands, etc.) I was still stick and my last day, after the drive from Debre Zeyit to Addis Ababa, was pretty miserable. But I won’t dwell on that.

Before we left for Addis, we had one stop to make. We split up- Beth and Brogan went to Beth’s sponsor child’s house (Genet, and her brother Yohannes) as she bought them backpacks and shoes and toys and wanted to deliver it and say goodbye. Alex and I, as I mentioned before, had prepared a package for Tigist and her girls- dresses for Sara and Fassika and toiletries and food. Anna, Alex, and I (along with the boys Melaku and Nicky) went there. I was worried that she wouldn’t be home, but as their tin gate was open and we walked through the gate made of sticks and called her name. Tigist’s expression was priceless- she just giggled and giggled and was so happy for us to be there. The girls must have just been bathed, as they were clean and their hair freshly braided (although their clothes were quite dirty). We gave Tigist the bags of food and toiletries and pulled out the dresses for the girls as we sat on little wooden stools on the dirt floor. Sara and Fassika changed into their new dresses right there, and I kept telling them how konjo (beautiful) they looked. Sara sat on Alex’s lap and Fassika on mine and as we were kissing them and loving on them, I looked over at Tigist and she had tears streaming from her eyes and a huge smile on her face. It was a really meaningful moment for me as I was reminded how huge one small gesture can be to one person.
We went shopping and Addis has amazing shopping- not just cheap souvenirs but beautiful authentic pieces that remind me of the country. I bought two shirts for myself (one, a cheesy tourist t-shirt, and the other, a gorgeous traditional shirt), a painting of a girl doing a buna ceremony, and an Ethiopian hat for the little boy, Noel, who is in the family that I posted about earlier, the immigrants from Ethiopia who I have become friends with through a volunteer program. Alex bought buna pots, 2 masks, and a knife. Everything is very, very inexpensive. Afterwards we went to the coffee shop and Alex got coffee beans to bring home, and then Tadesse, the man who helps to run BCI here in Ethiopia, had his brother bring us some teff, which is the ingredient to make injera. Injera is the staple food here in Ethiopia. I had it for the first time on my first day here, and was hesitant to try it again as it made me sick (I later learned that the first time you have it, you should have just a little as your body isn’t used to it). I did try it, several other times, and it is quite good. We are going to give some to Meron, the lady we know who is living in Hamilton and is Ethiopia, and we are going to keep some for ourselves and ask her to teach us how to make injera. When I met Meron a few weeks ago, she gave me the phone numbers of her mother and 2 sisters who are still living in Addis. They moved out of Ethiopia before their baby boy, Noel, was born, and so her family has never seen him. I had taken pictures of them together, and some pictures of Noel, and put them in a little album to deliver to Meron’s family. When Alex and I were in Addis last week, visiting AHOPE and Tsehay, we had called Meron’s mother and arranged for her to come to our guest house to pick up the album, but she never showed up and I am guessing that there had been a misunderstanding somehow. I asked Tadesse to call them today, figuring it might be easier if someone was talking to them in Amharic, and he arranged for them to meet us at the airport. Meron’s youngest sister came to pick up the pictures, and although I only talked to her quickly as we were on our way to fly out, she was very sweet (just like Meron) and happy to have the pictures. After we said goodbye to them, and watched them (Meron’s sister and friend) walking away and flipping through the album with smiles on their faces, it was time to leave. We had a full van and said goodbye to other missionaries first (Mariam, Anna, and Brogan) as well as Tadesse. It was hard to say goodbye to the boys, Sisay, Misgana, Melaku, and Nicky. We hugged them all goodbye and Misgana was acting a little funny- he hugged us quickly and then walked away to the van by himself. I looked up at Mariam, questioningly, and she said he was crying. I peaked in the van at him, and sure enough, he was hiding his face to cover the tears. He is such a sweetheart. My favourite memory of him, and the one I think best describes his personality, occurred the two times I was sick. On the first time, after I was sick and was napping it off, he came in and woke me up with a cup of tea. Today when I was sick after the drive, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight and when I had to leave the restaurant we were at to be sick outside, he came out with me and asked repeatedly if I was okay. He is such a sweet 13-year old and very wise beyond his years. I miss those boys already.
While my time in Ethiopia is over (for now) I will be posting videos and more pictures as soon as I get time to organize my thoughts and footage. While as usual, I can never properly describe how amazing the trip was, I hope that the photos and video clips will be able to at least partly portray this!