Monday, March 28, 2016

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