One thing that has struck me about living here is how many joys and sorrows exist. Maybe its the same at home, but its more raw here. I find people very free with their emotions. When they are sad, they cry. When they are joyful, they rejoice. There is less concern about appearance and how you will be perceived. Its very refreshing.
My mom brought a few soccer balls with her when she came to visit. One Sunday morning, Hailu and I invited the street boys he works with to go play in the park. It was a lot of fun, and since we had a nice new soccer ball to play with, it wasn’t hard to find others to join us. I’ve never seen soccer played in flip flops before, but it sure didn’t slow the boys down! After that, the boys asked if they could take the ball and keep it until we played again. Since then, I found out that they’ve been getting up at 5:30 every morning to play in the street before school. It made me so happy to hear that such a simple gift has brought them so much joy! There are 5 of them that share a small room together and there is one boy who is very energetic. One of the boys told me that they wanted to sleep in one morning and the energetic boy was eager to play and wanted some company. So, he came in and poured water on the sleeping boys so that they would get up and play with him. We now have a regular appointment every Sunday morning at the park to play soccer.
I thought I should give you an update on one of the stories I wrote about in a previous post. The government had gone around and picked up a whole bunch of street children and taken them to camps outside of the city. We heard about it initially, but then didn’t hear anything more for quite a while. Slowly though, I have noticed more and more street children again. One of the workers from an organization working to help street children told me that they had spoken to one of the kids that escaped from the camps. He told them that the food was terrible, and that they were being used to work, and that they were physically abused by many of the guards . So, the idea of educating and rehabilitating these children was indeed false. Since then, I have heard more reports that the children were taken VERY far from Addis and put to work on cotton farms and doing other hard labour jobs. The younger children were taken to orphanages. My heart breaks for these poor children. Already they lead very difficult lives and now they are being deliberately exploited. The government doesn’t seem to mind that some of the children have now found their way back to the streets of the city. I’ve come to understand that the main reason for them rounding up these children in the first place was to clean up the streets for the UN meetings that were taking place here. Now that the meetings are over, there is no need to put up a good front. Please continue to pray for all those children enslaved in the work camps.
I think I’ve said before that nothing happens quickly here. Well, I have to rephrase that. Nothing GOOD happens quickly here. This weekend, one of the sisters’ workers was killed in a car accident on Saturday morning. There were 4 people in a little VW bug and they were hit by a drunk driver when they entered a roundabout. It was very sad. I was amazed how word spread so quickly and arrangements were made. One of the victims was buried that evening. The funeral and internment for the worker that I knew and his aunt and uncle was held on Sunday. I was amazed at all that happened so quickly and the amount of people that came out to the funeral. There was over 1000 people I’m sure!
Another example of things happening quickly is how quickly things change. I’ve run into a conflict with the organization I had hoped to work for with the pregnant moms and babies. I’m not sure if God is closing that door completely or if I just need to take more time to work things out. I’m trying to be patient and allow God to show me what direction I need to move in. The problem is that my visa expires March 13th. I will continue to trust that God has guided me this far and He’s not going to stop now. I am comforted by the words of Mother Teresa ‘Jesus loves you tenderly, you are precious to Him. Turn to Jesus with great trust and allow yourself to be loved by Him. The past belongs to His mercy, the future to His providence, and the present to His love.’
My mom brought a few soccer balls with her when she came to visit. One Sunday morning, Hailu and I invited the street boys he works with to go play in the park. It was a lot of fun, and since we had a nice new soccer ball to play with, it wasn’t hard to find others to join us. I’ve never seen soccer played in flip flops before, but it sure didn’t slow the boys down! After that, the boys asked if they could take the ball and keep it until we played again. Since then, I found out that they’ve been getting up at 5:30 every morning to play in the street before school. It made me so happy to hear that such a simple gift has brought them so much joy! There are 5 of them that share a small room together and there is one boy who is very energetic. One of the boys told me that they wanted to sleep in one morning and the energetic boy was eager to play and wanted some company. So, he came in and poured water on the sleeping boys so that they would get up and play with him. We now have a regular appointment every Sunday morning at the park to play soccer.
I thought I should give you an update on one of the stories I wrote about in a previous post. The government had gone around and picked up a whole bunch of street children and taken them to camps outside of the city. We heard about it initially, but then didn’t hear anything more for quite a while. Slowly though, I have noticed more and more street children again. One of the workers from an organization working to help street children told me that they had spoken to one of the kids that escaped from the camps. He told them that the food was terrible, and that they were being used to work, and that they were physically abused by many of the guards . So, the idea of educating and rehabilitating these children was indeed false. Since then, I have heard more reports that the children were taken VERY far from Addis and put to work on cotton farms and doing other hard labour jobs. The younger children were taken to orphanages. My heart breaks for these poor children. Already they lead very difficult lives and now they are being deliberately exploited. The government doesn’t seem to mind that some of the children have now found their way back to the streets of the city. I’ve come to understand that the main reason for them rounding up these children in the first place was to clean up the streets for the UN meetings that were taking place here. Now that the meetings are over, there is no need to put up a good front. Please continue to pray for all those children enslaved in the work camps.
I think I’ve said before that nothing happens quickly here. Well, I have to rephrase that. Nothing GOOD happens quickly here. This weekend, one of the sisters’ workers was killed in a car accident on Saturday morning. There were 4 people in a little VW bug and they were hit by a drunk driver when they entered a roundabout. It was very sad. I was amazed how word spread so quickly and arrangements were made. One of the victims was buried that evening. The funeral and internment for the worker that I knew and his aunt and uncle was held on Sunday. I was amazed at all that happened so quickly and the amount of people that came out to the funeral. There was over 1000 people I’m sure!
Another example of things happening quickly is how quickly things change. I’ve run into a conflict with the organization I had hoped to work for with the pregnant moms and babies. I’m not sure if God is closing that door completely or if I just need to take more time to work things out. I’m trying to be patient and allow God to show me what direction I need to move in. The problem is that my visa expires March 13th. I will continue to trust that God has guided me this far and He’s not going to stop now. I am comforted by the words of Mother Teresa ‘Jesus loves you tenderly, you are precious to Him. Turn to Jesus with great trust and allow yourself to be loved by Him. The past belongs to His mercy, the future to His providence, and the present to His love.’
I heard about Andrias and was so shocked! I still can't believe it. Keep picturing his smiling face:( May he find eternal rest now.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work Kerry; you know I, and many others, are with you there in spirit. So make the most of it for us too please.
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Dan