Giraffe

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Day 3 - Exploring Gambella

 Waiting to board our flight to Gambella.
 My roommate in Addis, Rebecca.
 Our awesome, fearless leader, Kiersten.
We would have been lost without Matthues as our guide.
 My room was on the left.
 These trees are beautiful and I want one in my backyard!
 The view outside of my room.
 The many trucks filled with supplies for the Sudanese refugees.
 These precious children who were following us.
 Just a herd of cattle trotting down the street.  No big deal - happens every day in Powell, OH!
 This was taken just before the old woman came and chased the children away.
 Bathing, washing clothes, washing cars.  You can do all of this in the Baro River.
 We all loved this dead tree in the middle of this field.
 More Baro River.
 Fuzzball by the Baro River.
 Our team in front of the Baro River.
 The young ones loved to have their picture taken.
 Our wonderful walking tour leaders.
 A basketball scout just needs to come to Gambella and Viola!  He will have a winning team as these men are TALL!!
Where we had every meal.  We are inside because we couldn't handle the flies.
 

I was so excited to begin my morning with my Ethiopian tea that I love.  Even though I have some at home it just tastes better in ET.   Kind of like how Dr. Pepper tastes better in Texas.  Wass loaded up the van for us and were on time with our 5:45 am departure to the airport.  It was a good thing we were all so excited to be going to Gambella because none of us were happy about getting on a plane again.  We had a long line when we got there but an uneventful check in. We headed to a waiting area and the ladies and I were all lamenting the fact that we forgot to bring toilet paper. We sat there for a few minutes trying to think of how to get some in case they didn't have any in Gambella.  With no good ideas we stood up to head to our gate and as soon as Kerri stood up we saw that she had been sitting on a roll of toilet paper and hadn't noticed!! We all laughed and decided that God really wanted us to have that toilet paper and ask and you shall receive!  

We boarded our plane to Gambella and we were happy to see that it was bigger than we thought it would be. I sat next to a man named Dilargachew, who was from Gambella and worked in Addis.  He was a social worker and knew all about Brothers and Sisters orphanage where we would be working.  He said he is trying to get into college in the US, Europe, or Canada.  I told him that I would try to help him if I could.  He wants to be an economist and return to ET to work.  We exchanged information and he said he would try to find me in Gambella so he could give me his transcripts.

I should mention that people kept telling us all about how hot it was going to be in Gambella.  I faced this with the approach of 'Bring it on!' I lived in Baton Rouge, LA and Houston, TX for 7 years and feel fully equipped to handle intense heat and sweat.  I can still remember what that heat felt like. So I was very curious to step off the plane and experience this heat for myself.  We got off the plane and Ok, yes it was definitely hotter than Addis but I wasn't too impressed yet (was probably in the low 90s). My initial observations of the landscape were pretty much aligned with the images I had formed in my mind of Gambella.  I had thought, perhaps, that it would have been a little more lush than it was.  We gathered together and collected our luggage off of one big cart. This was kind of a free for all.  We then had to wait for some carts because we had so much stuff between all of our donations and luggage. We hauled it to the front of the airport and were picked up by three of the men working at Brothers and Sisters. We loaded up into two separate SUVs and made our way across the VERY bumpy road towards Gambella town. Not too much to see along the way except lots of short trees and scrub brush , most of which was dead. We did see the occasional mud and grass hut and I sucked in my breath as I imagined if that is what Kewogo's home looked like. When we began to enter Gambella town we straightened our backs and became more alert.  The first thing I noticed were these beautiful trees with huge red flowering blooms on them.  They were gorgeous and I wondered if these were the red flowers Lila talks about.  She has mentioned numerous times about the red flowers in Gambella.  These just had to be it. As we watched people walking down the streets I felt as though every face I saw reminded me of Kewogo.  The people in Gambella have such a distinct look.  Kerri and I had coined the phrase 'Hair Alert' as we are very interested in the different hairstyles of women and girls with the same hair as our daughters.  Suddenly there were too many hair alerts to count. Then........we saw the river. The Baro River that identifies Gambella. The one that feeds into the Nile. The same river that Lila and I sit and look at on Google images. The same river of so many of her stories.  As we looked at the river we saw people bathing in the river, washing clothes, washing cars and buses, and simply swimming in it.  It was quite a sight.

We then pulled into our hotel and it was kind of as I expected.  There was a small office and an outside patio with several tables and chairs. There was a restaurant and a bar. The rooms were small guesthouses with two rooms to each house.  We checked in, dropped off our bags, and then headed to lunch.  We started outside but realized quickly weren't up to the task of managing the flies so we headed inside.  I was able to have my tegabino shirro which I love.  Except it was solid instead of soupy so we knew next time to ask for shirro normal which became a joke for us. After lunch we headed to our rooms to rest and exhaustion had set in and I took a three hour nap despite the intense heat in my room. I had a ceiling fan but it proved to be worthless.  I woke up completely drenched in sweat but feeling much more rested.  At 4:00 pm we headed out on our walking tour led by Matthues (who is employed at HH and came with us to Gambella) and three other men from Brothers and Sisters.  One of the men, Yilma, is the director of Brothers and Sisters orphanage.  As soon as we rounded the first corner what do my ears hear?  Could it be? Seriously?  New Direction??!!! I can't even escape the boy bands halfway across the world!! "Oh! Oh! Oh! You Don't Know You're Beautiful!!"

Our walk was incredible!  It was surreal to be in the very same place where Lila roamed around for the first few years of her life.  We went straight to the river and it was bustling with activity. There were lots of people milling about and engaging in conversation, games, and simply hanging out.  There were fuzzball tables set up and the young boys and young men were playing on them. We did get lots of looks as I do believe the 7 of us were the only white people in all of Gambella, but I soon discovered that if you smiled at the people there they almost always smiled back. I immediately noticed the abundance of mangoes in Gambella.  There were big bowls filled with them and my mouth watered as I watched people eating them.  Fruit is the one thing I can't live without when I travel and I begin to feel panicky at the thought of not having any.  We made our way over to a shady spot underneath a tree where there were a few benches and a woman was serving coffee and tea. I declined; one because I don't drink coffee, and two because I was scared to drink the water even though I was pretty sure it was bottled. We had a nice time just watching the people enjoy the day and there were even some kids nearby who were served some coffee, too.  So this is why Lila can drink a full cup of coffee! I noticed some old scratched out lottery tickets on the ground next to my feet.  Andrew loves lottery tickets so I picked them up and put them in my purse to take home to him.  After a while, we continued on our walk and we saw children playing in the street, half-naked, being silly.  One group of kids started following us and we gave them our water bottles which caused them to erupt in cheers.  They kept following us and we headed out over a field and they were playing a kind of peek-a-boo game with us.  We took some pictures of them and then all of a sudden we saw a very old woman making her way up the hill with the  use of a walking stick.  She had a very determined look on her face and was not happy.  She began speaking to the children and shooed them away from us.  They quickly dispersed and when she seemed satisfied that they were safely away from us, she made her way back down the hill.  It was quite the scene and we all loved how it showed the love and protection that that this woman demonstrated over these children.  Another awesome thing we saw were lots of huge trucks lined up on the streets. We were told that they were filled with supplies for the Sudanese refugees that are living in surrounding Gambella. But then I never saw the trucks move so I wondered when or how these supplies were delivered.

Hot, filthy, sweaty, and dirty we made our way back to our hotel. We headed to dinner and Nate and I split the fish cutlet.  It was pretty decent.  We quickly came to discover that ordering our meals at the hotel would result in pure comedy every time.  We were definitely not short on laughter during mealtime. That evening we started our nightly tradition of going around the table and sharing our favorite moments from the day.  Mine was simply walking the streets in Gambella as I pictured Kewogo walking the same streets, eating mangoes, and swimming in the Baro.  I still couldn't believe that I was actually here.  I kept thanking God over and over for the chance to be here and have this experience and serve with this team.  After dinner I went to my room and took a shower.  There was no hot water so the shower was cold but it felt great because it was so hot.  It reminded me of my first few days at Baylor as a Colorado girl not accustomed to the Teas heat and melting. My only relief was to take a cold shower. I was immediately sweaty after my shower but it felt good to be clean.  I couldn't wait to begin our work at Brothers and Sisters the next day.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Day One and Two


Me feeling happy and eager before my tearful goodbye.
 
Our awesome team!  From left to right - Russ, Ryan, Me, Kiersten, Rebecca, Kerri, and Nate.  I miss them all so much!
The spot where we met Lila for the first time just over a year ago.  Can you say Holy High Emotions?!
 
 
Wass smiling as he looks at pictures I brought of Kewogo.  He is our driver, helper, and friend while we are in ET.
 
 
 I will write about day one and two together as they mesh together due to the long travel time.  Matt and I left the house at 4:00 am in order for me to catch my 6:30 am flight to DC.  When I was checking in the woman assisting me gave me quite a scare when she was confused by my Visa.  I knew it was a valid Visa but for whatever reason she kept questioning it and we finally realized that she didn't know what she was doing and I helped her to read it.  I guess I needed that shot of adrenaline because I was wide awake after that scare.  Then, a nice man helped me tape up my donation bin better and Matt and I headed to Tim Horton's to eat after I was all checked in.  We had just been at this same Tim Horton's for breakfast just two weeks before as we boarded the plane for our wonderful time in Mexico.  All of a sudden I had the desire to be heading back to Mexico with Matt (or anywhere for that matter) rather than Africa by myself. I knew it was just silly fear creeping in but as we said good bye I was beginning to fall apart and the tears started flowing.  It reminded me of when I was in labor for the second and third time.  I knew the outcome would be wonderful but darn it  - don't make me walk into that hospital and go through it all! I did not want to go through that security line and get on that plane.  When I walked through the body scan machine (that I am certain causes cancer) there was a security woman on the other side who saw my tears and asked if I needed a hug.  She was so sincere and compassionate and I took her up on it.  This was touching to me because just the day before when I was at BSF we were sharing in our group and one of the women told me how much it meant to her when I approached her a few months ago after I noticed she was sad and simply gave her a hug.  She was retelling this with tears in her eyes about how much this simple gesture had meant to her and it made me realize that I never wanted to miss an opportunity to reach out to someone in a time of need. This woman reached out to me today and it had such a calming effect on me.  Right after that I received a text from a friend telling me she was praying for me and then as our plane took off I watched the most beautiful sunrise.  I thanked God for that comfort I needed. I settled in with my bible and continued to be comforted by his Word and I prayed that I would not miss opportunities to encourage others and to be tuned into the needs and feelings of others always and especially on this trip.  As I watched the houses, cars, and roads get smaller and smaller I thought about how very, very, very small I am on this Earth of 6 billion people and how God can use even little old me and our team to help serve the people in Gambella. I am so thrilled over this opportunity.  I looked at the silly little screen that separated first class and thought about how thankful I am that Christ sees no class distinction. There is no separation that divides the "deserving' and "undeserving." We are all the same in God's eyes.

I was the first of my team to arrive in DC and I was very anxious for the others to get here and meet everyone.  The only ones I knew were Nate and Kerri as we traveled with them on our first trip last year. Finally everyone started to arrive and after we all introduced ourselves Nate immediately pulled out his tripod and we took our first picture of what would be hundreds.  Our team consisted of me, Nate and Kerri of Portland, our AGCI leader Kiersten of Portland, Russ and his 16 year old son, Ryan, of Sioux City, and Rebecca of Albuquerque.  Our plane was filled with Americans going on a medical mission.  However, it wasn't full at all and it was so different from our flights last year. The plane was smaller that the ones we flew last the I had switched my seat to sit near everyone and ended up having a whole row to myself.  I was able to stretch out and try to sleep.  This was going well until two women decided to have a conversation over my head.  The one woman was confiding that she was confused by her male friend's actions. Did he like her or not? She had been a faithful wife to her alcoholic ex husband for 36 years so surely he could trust her.  Her acquaintance placated her with platitudes. He is just scared.  NO HE IS NOT SCARED!  HE IS JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU! This is what I wanted to say.  Hasn't she heard of the He's Just Not That Into You Guy?  I think every woman should know about the man who gives women this advice.  I will definitely share his wisdom with my daughters some day.  I wanted to tell her she is a lovely woman and that she needed to quit worrying and move on from this joker but I didn't think this unsolicited advice would be well received so I just continued to sigh loudly hoping they would get the hint and move which they didn't. 

I kept looking at everyone else with their eyes closed and feeling envious because I had hardly slept at all and as it turns out everyone else had felt the same way.  We all thought the others to be sleeping when we actually weren't. Kerri and I talked during the last two hours of the flight and surprisingly the flight ended up going pretty fast. As we deboarded the plane I relished the familiar smells of Ethiopia and it  struck me as to how natural it felt to be back there.  We quickly got our luggage except for Nate and Kerri.  Theirs had been bumped due to the darn medical mission people with their supplies filling up the cargo.  We waited a while to sort through their unfortunate situation as it meant they would not receive their luggage before we had to leave for Gambella. They handled this news beautifully and were mostly concerned with their donations not making it. We checked into The Ember Guest House and then went straight over to Hannah's Hope.  I wasn't prepared for the emotions I would experience as I walked through the gates of Hannah's Hope again.  A huge rush of emotions raced through my body and my eyes immediately filled with tears but never fell.  Almaz (the director of HH) hugged all of us and said that she always tells people to come back and visit and we actually did which made her so happy. The kids were just washing up for lunch when we arrived so we went into one of the large sitting rooms to talk to Almaz about our trip.  As always, she was full of wisdom and said, "Do not make Gambella like America.  You Americans are very task oriented. You don't have to do, do, do while you are there.  Just love on the people you are serving there."  Wow. You mean set aside our agendas and what we value as self-important? She is wise because she knows this is hard for us to do.  Her words stayed with me the whole trip and I couldn't wait to get to Gambella to love on the people. When we were finished with Almaz we played with the kids for awhile and then we had to leave to go take Nate and Kerri on a shopping trip for some clothes.  We helped Kerri pick out some fabulous pants (wink!) and then we headed to dinner.  Our energy level was just through the roof (not!) and we could barely keep our eyes open during dinner.  We headed back to the Ember House after dinner and upon discovering their was no internet we all went right up to bed.  We had a 5:45 am departure time.  I fell asleep at 6:15 pm and awoke to some noise at 7:30 pm and thought I had slept all night! I was so very happy to learn that I didn't have to be up for nine more hours. I fell right back asleep and slept until 2:00 am.   A fly decided to make its home above my ear while buzzing loudly and I couldn't go back to sleep. I kept reflecting on my time at Hannah's Hope and emotion finally took over and the tears started falling.  I was reliving every bit of our being there last year and the memories are just too huge for me to even be able to put into words. After a while I had an urgent desire to talk to my family.  We talked and everyone caught me up on their games, goals scored, etc. and then sweet Brooke was crying and missing me which, of course, made me cry again.  We said goodbye knowing that I would most likely not be able to talk to them for a week. That was hard. I then got up even though it was still the middle of the night and got ready for our big day. Then, the Orthodox prayer call began and grew louder and louder by the minute.  I recorded it to be able to share it with everyone when I got home.  It was a welcome reminder of where I was as it can be hard to remember when I lay safe in my cozy bed in the dark stillness of the night.