Hello everyone!
So today was another
awesome/packed-full day. We woke up around 8:30, and got breakfast (Andy made
me some delish scrambled eggs and along with that I had yogurt and coffee).
Around 9:30, a local historian named Nahu came and talked to us about Ethiopia
and its history…it was pretty interesting. I think one of the things we all
noticed was how lucky we are to have a government like ours. Though there are
so many things that Americans feel need to be fixed, Ethiopians are not even
allowed to voice their opinions about their government, and that’s just one of
the things that they are forced to put up with. After our history lesson, we
went to lunch at a place called Savor. The atmosphere was very nice, and I
thoroughly enjoyed the natural light it provided. I think most everyone was
satisfied with their meals; I ordered a margarita pizza, which I rated a B- (details
to come next week on @janespizzapilgrimage). After the meal, we all got gelato,
which was very satisfying in my opinion. Aside from the actual lunch, we
learned that the girl who owned it actually graduated from NC State and was
there while Ms. Turlington was there! She and her family are originally from
Ethiopia, but they now live in Durham. She is now back in Ethiopia running her
restaurant.
Following lunch, we
headed over to an organization called Youth Impact for street boys. This was
started by a man who initially befriends boys that are living on the street,
then eventually brings them in to a place where they can sleep, eat, and go to
school in a much more nurturing environment. Before this, the boys involved
were on the streets for lengths of time ranging from 3 months to 3 years. The
main objective of this is to pry the boys away from their habits of living on
the streets and have them hopefully discover a passion, or something that
drives them to make something of themselves. If you consider the traumatic
events and conditions of their former lives on the streets, you know that it
would be nearly impossible for them to come up with motivation to get out of
their homeless situations since they were never taught that their lives could
go any differently.
It was so amazing to imagine
that scenario, then witness such a supportive group of friends where most of
the boys seemed so optimistic about things and had futures that they wanted to
fulfill (i.e. artist, mechanic, baker – my favorite). Another thing that
impressed me was how well some of them could speak English. Some had only been
there for a couple of months with one English class a week and had a perfect
introduction of their name, age, how long they were on the streets, etc. All we
were able to do was say our names, and I’m pretty sure we all said it
incorrectly. We then exchanged questions; overall, we just compared the
differences in the homeless situations with our country to theirs. I think it
was odd for them to hear that that our government (mostly through the school
systems) makes the effort to ensure that minors who are homeless do get enough
food and shelter in one way or another, whereas no one here is accounted for in
going to school or whether or not they are in the proper living conditions. It’s
one thing to hear about it like we do at home and feel sorry for these people, but
it is another thing to come face-to-face with those who have dealt with it.
We reluctantly left
this home and headed on to an afterschool program, Berhan Yehun, which did not
disappoint in entertaining us. As fun as it was, it was equally as heart-breaking.
The first thing we did there was watch a video on the area that these kids in
the program come from. It focused on how these families live off the landfill
that was located nearby; the landfill is now moved but now the families are
trying to find ways to live without having that there. They would eat food from
the landfill, drink water from its puddles, as well as find things to sell in
hopes of providing for their family. Not one of us can fathom how extremely
difficult their situations are, yet we seem to be 10 times unhappier and more ungrateful
than any of those we watched in the video and especially the kids we got to
hangout with. We played a couple of games and danced with them, and even though
it’s hard not to want blame yourself for having so much, yet not being able to fully
help these people with so little, it’s nice to think that you were able to get
their minds off of any hardships, and at least give them something new and
(hopefully) enjoyable. We were definitely not ready to leave, but we get to go
back Friday and hangout which we’re all very excited for!!
I’m wrapping this up so
I don’t go on forever!
Today’s highlights:
·
Listening to
the boys at the Youth Impact Hope House sing their song and how much pure
HAPPINESS it brought on
·
Having Solomon,
the cutest, most smiley little boy run up to me and hug me so I could pick him
up :’)
·
Berhan Yehun!
·
Bini and his
contagious smile!!
·
Jenni crying
from having to pee so badly
·
Belted Legally
Blonde broadway in the car
·
Andy (almost)
met the love of her life
·
Seeing how
happy people were/us realizing that they are so happy with the smallest things
that come to them
·
How
significant God’s role in people’s lives is here and how that faith seems like
one of the only things that keeps them going
·
Other things I
forgot!
-
Jane Dodge, ‘16
