Thursday

I'm finally on the up and up. After living for two days on half a croissant and two peanut butter crackers, my body has overcome whatever I had and I got to enjoy a *bit* of pasta for lunch. Unfortunately, whatever I had has hit Seth. At least half of us have gotten ill on the trip--we are dropping like flies!

This morning we visited Kid's Care. Fetya lived in this orphanage from July until our referral. Josiah was there from November until February when both kids were moved to the AWAA home. There are so many children there! The babies...oh...my heart breaks to look at them! The only peace came from knowing that each of the babies we saw today will be placed with a family. The first room we walked into was for babies who need special attention. I kept biting my lip to keep the tears at bay. These babies were so small! The wonderful thing is, Jill Coen's Silas was one of those babies. Right now he's a happy, healthy five month old on his way home. Praise God! We got to video the room that Josiah was in (his nannies all remembered him).

Esther, who runs the orphanage, shared the story of how Fetya ended up at Kid's Care. She is truly an amazing woman. She said that Fetya was her little friend, so happy and friendly. This visit was a little bit of a worry to Fetya. She kept her eye on Seth and I the entire time. A few times she called out, "Mommy!" Then ran over to ask me something. We bought fundraiser t-shirts from the orphanage for each of the kids. She was so protective about that! A lot of our 'talking' is pointing and gesturing. When we pointed to the shirt then said "Fetya" she was thrilled! Immediately tugging me over to the van to put it in the 'hello kitty' backpack she's been carrying around. She's also been collecting spare change and storing it in the little pocket! Yesterday, she tried to pay for bananas at the store with her money!

We learned that Fetya is most likely from an Oromo Muslim family. The Oromia area is south of Addis. They speak Orominga, a language that is completely different than Amharic. Since July, Fetya has learned Amharic well. She's been impressing us with her English in just the past two days. Every once in a while she throws out a "banana" or "What's that?" Seriously, a trilingual 4 year old?!

Anyone out there thinking about adopting an older child...we have met some of the sweetest kids this week. The older children at the AWAA home have families waiting on them. If you are one of those families--you are certain to be blessed by the kids you are adopting. I witnessed so many kind gestures from these children. Fetya was sharing some gum and handed the first piece to an older girl. She immediately passed it to a little boy who was also waiting. They are so loving to the little kids and just want the adults to visit with them a little while. We managed to take video of them so the families with referrals can see their sweet spirits! For anyone who hasn't decided about adopting an older child--there are so many boys and girls at Kid's Care who don't have families. I wish I could post pictures of them; they would steal your hearts!

When I started typing both kids were zonked. Josiah has since stirred and is now snoring in my arms. Seth went with Robel to watch some of the races at the stadium. This week there are some African trials (haven't paid much attention since I've been busy with...oh adopting the kids). Typing with one hand is so difficult that I'll have to finish this later!