Time is Moving in Slow Motion

The week is catching up with them today. They were out until 11pm last nite and today they visited 4 orphanages. So emotionally and physically, they are drained.

I knew this would happen, I knew once he visited with the older children, he'd realize we could have adopted an older (4 or 5 ish age range) child. He said, when he mentioned that very thing to Ryan, Ryan told him that's what everyone says. There are just no words or even pictures that can show how special the older children are. How sweet and well-behaved and lovable, etc, etc, etc. Ryan said if only they could bring people there BEFORE they decide the age range, they could probably get more older children adopted. That being said, they also realize that adoption is not the best long term solution for the millions of children in Ethiopia. There has to be a sustainable economy and infrastructure in place. To that end, Gladney and other groups are working on long term solutions. I just want to put out there, if you are contemplating adoption, you might want to consider if an older child (over age 4) is an option that would work for your family. Please do your research on what to expect with older child adoption, too.

Randy was really impacted by the Kolfe boys. There are officially around 130 boys living there with another 60 or so that sack out there when the sun goes down. They have done a lot of work on the dwellings but much more needs to be done. The kitchen has a pit for a wood fire over which their daily meals are made. Randy made friends with a 13-ish year old who wants to be a doctor. Biology is his favorite subject. Randy's impression was the boy's eyes were much older than his 13 years. Whether his age was off (which happens) or his eyes had lived much more than most 13 year olds should/do, is hard to know. Either way, he and all the boys made a great impression upon Randy. So much so, that Randy plans on going back to visit them on Sunday.

His other impression was that all these kids (in all the orphanages) were very good about looking out for each other. The older ones took care of the younger ones. It was just 'what they did'. At one point, Mesfin was about to fall down, one of the other children reached out and picked him up to steady him.

Oh yeah, for those traveling soon, he said it rained harder today than any other day. Water was rushing through the stores he said. He asked if this was unusual and they said, no, it happens a lot. It also hailed/sleeted for a bit too.

One more thing, the group that is there now went in together to have a party for one of the orphanages as I wrote a previous post. However, this is a fasting time in Ethiopia, so they are not able to consume meat and therefore, not able to have the party this week. They will have the party in a couple of weeks and send us pictures. Maybe some that are traveling after this group will be able to participate in the festivities, who knows. (one might wonder why my husband just told me this. Well, if you know my husband you'd know the answer. Basically, I think it was Travis that told the group about the meat prep, etc, however, Belay confirmed that they couldn't have it this week due to fasting. Just a communication glitch)

I did get to babble over the phone with my littlest guy. He says his "ma ma ma" and "ba ba ba" sounds. Heck, he may have said something in Amharic but I didn't understand. Randy says he's saying "ciao" to everyone. Guess he's ready to get home!