Ethiopia - Day 1

When we first arrived in Ethiopia two guys from our agency came and picked us up from the airport. We drove to the guesthouse. there were two families that had arrived a few days before us. We took our luggage to our room, then went down to visit with them. One of the families is adopting two girls and the other family is adopting three kids. After visiting we went up and laid down for a few minutes. One of the ladies knocked on our door asking if we wanted to go to an orphanage and then to see our kids.  We got ready to go and we headed to the local orphanage. The family who is adopting two girls once stayed at this orphanage. This orphanage was very clean and the Director seemed to have things very organized. Here are a couple of pictures of our time with the kids.

 (This is the school room)

(This little girl just wanted to hold hands and be held.)

After the visit we jumped back in the car to go see our kids. The kids had just arrived in Addis late in the afternoon. It was getting dark while driving to the care center. We were told that we would have to be quick at the care center because it was getting dark and it would be unsafe for us to be out. We drove down dirt roads, past shacks for homes and people in the streets. When we passed through the guarded gate to our care center we noticed that the power was out. (Power outages are not rare in Ethiopia.) So we walked inside the house and the main nanny greeted us with a flashlight and handshakes. She walked us all back to the room where our kids where. As we walked into the room there were only two small candles lit. One on a bunk bed and the other on the dresser. It was so dim in the room. Since the nannies had no idea which children belonged to who they asked each of us to find our kids. There were three babies in one crib all sitting up. The first lady walked in and picked up her baby. As soon as I looked in the crib there he was. He looked at me and my heart melted and I started to cry. I told the nanny that he was ours. He was in a red little outfit with no diaper on. (They don't put the kids in diapers, I think due to the expense.)  I picked him up and he was ok for a second then started to cry. I couldn't blame him. They had been in the car for 6 hours being transported and now they have new nannies and a new home. We were only there about 10 minutes before we were told we had to leave. Seeing and getting to hold him is what we have been waiting so long for. Truly amazing. We both left the house with big smiles on our faces. We went back to the guesthouse and ate dinner with everyone. Once we were in bed for the night all we could talk about was our little guy. The first 10 minutes as a family of three will never be forgotten.