A Taste of Life in Soddo

-Kristi Burns

Friends,

Staying with the Bowers is very eye-opening.  Life in Ethiopia is filled with challenge.  There is still no rain and water supplies are drying up everywhere.  We finally have water coming into the orphanage again by donkey.  Thank you Lord!  Last night I worshiped at the Bower’s home with the missionaries working at Soddo Christian Hospital.  They sing praise songs and then have been following the sermons of David Platt who wrote the book Radical.  He has been preaching on Galations.  Last night was on chapter 5 and 6 and very good.  Life here is hard. The Bowers also have a friend, who is a surgeon.  He and another surgeon took out a four foot stick that was lodged in a 7 year old boy’s leg last night.  He will be okay but it was a gruesome surgery. 

The big crisis right now is the orphanage.  Last night eight of the older children who we believed were ready for court dates and adoption, were sent back to Soddo because certain paperwork could not be provided that the international courts now require.  They will probably be here for 2 months.  Since they departed from Soddo to Addis the orphanage has filled up with more babies and toddlers so it is at capacity and now…..8 more children.  We don’t have even mattresses for them to sleep on.  Today, Stephne will hold a staff meeting.  She tries very hard to have the Ethiopians who are employed at the orphanage serve as the problem solvers….but it is hard, very hard.  The Ethiopian culture is not geared toward problem solving.  So pray for mattresses.  Please pray for paperwork necessary to get the children back to Addis to come together and overall pray for the crisis in Ethiopian adoptions right now.  The head of Christian World Adoption is trying to work with the state department who will in turn work with the Ethiopian government.  Thousands of children and their future parents are currently in limbo until the Ethiopian Federal government completes a country wide inspection of all orphanages….and that is just one of the problems.  The orphanage in Soddo under CCC is a model orphanage but they still have to go through inspection.

On another note, life here is hard.  You can feel the heaviness of spiritual warfare.  Sidney Launder is getting over malaria (she and her husband Mark are the people overseeing the building project for Wolaitta Village) and two days ago, Sidney scalded her foot.  They are having huge water problems at their house and need a well that will likely cost $35,000 because they are on a hill.  I have been helping them think through their fundraising needs.  I’ve also been able to help the Bowers sort through who will assist them in raising the needed support for the Wolaitta Village Managers home and for the completion of the entire Wolaitta Village project. 

I took a tuk-tuk (like a taxi) by myself from the Bowers to the Launders two days ago and walked up a huge hill to their home for a visit and dinner and then I took the tuk-tuk home again in the dark back to the Soddo Christian Hospital grounds.  You simply have to trust God for all things here.  The driver was a Christian who spoke some English.  So please keep praying.  I am not joining the rest of the group at Sabana Lodge.  I will be returning to Addis on Wednesday.  We fly home on Thursday.  Pray for wisdom.  I am helping with daily life; homeschooling for Carmen Bower; fundraising for multiple families and projects; spiritual encouragement and help at the orphanage…….there is simply so much to do.

KB

NCF Trip Update

Friends and family,

This will go down as the trip with tons of technology challenges. Mike Stemm’s computer has not been working. The team has left for Dilla and I am in Soddo at the Bowers helping them with fundraising; helping their daughter with homeschooling; washing dishes…well just a little of everything. Please pray for the health of our team. Mike was quite sick yesterday but seems to have rallied today. Everyone else was holding up well.  We still need water in Soddo.  Yesterday we were here for a baby rescue for the orphanage which was nice. We have enjoyed time with our Ethiopian friends, Melaku, Sharon, Gebe, Zillie, Boozie (not sure how to spell his name…he’s our driver). We can feel the prayers. Below are the updates written by team members.

-Kristi Burns

February 22, 2011  |  CCC Orphanage Recap  |  Carrie Cole

This afternoon we visited the Children’s Cross Connection (CCC) orphanage. Ato Hanok gave up his successful business to start this orphanage. These are children that are mostly school aged and are not adoptable. The children are placed in family groups. The staff parent is to be involved in each child’s life. The older children also mentor the younger children to create a family atmosphere. Each of the kids also help with cooking, cleaning and other jobs to learn life skills for when it is their time to move out. The children are supported by people like us from the time they come in until they are through with university or a transitional home where they learn to live and work in the community. This allows them to have the education and training to be productive citizens in their home in Ethiopia.

What’s Happening With MItten  |  Vickie Stemm

The mitten production has moved outdoors in the side yard of Bowers’ home on the Soddo Christian Hospital (SCH) compound. The move was necessitated by the relocation of the CWA orphanage to a temporary smaller facility. The situation is cramped and far less than desirable. The product  is so coveted by the caretakers at the 4 orphanages and the hospital staff that the production must go on! Mittin is the nutritional supplement developed her to help improve the health of children in care of the orphanage. It is a combination of 11 regional grains which are washed, dried and hand ground here in the yard. This coarsely ground product is then taken to a mill to be made into a fine powder, which can be mixed with water for the children to drink as a nutritional supplement. Being outdoors in this cramped space is not a great situation. This time of year is hot, and that adds stress for the disabled Ethiopians who do the work… The rainy season is coming in July –September. It will be very difficult to get the grains dried. This is just one of the needs that will be met by the building of the Wolaitta Village project. Every one of the workers here is excitedly awaiting its building and completion.

February 23, 2011  |  Wolaitta Village Site Visit, Soddo, Ethiopia  |  Kevin Cole

Gorgeous is the way to describe the property for the Wolaitta Village project. Set on a west facing hillside overlooking the city of Soddo the site is the future home of the CWA orphanage. The multi-building complex, designed via a collaborative effort coordinated by the University of Arizona School of Architecture will provide a secure and welcoming place for the children that CWA cares for. The children are currently housed in a crowded temporary urban facility in the city and consequently the need for the complex to be constructed is urgent. While much has been accomplished there is much work to be done. Many people continue to devoted their time and talents to His service working towards the vision of the Wolaitta Village project.

February Team Trip Update

- Kristi Burns

We had a flawless trip to Addis Ababa.  We arrived at our hotel at around 11:30 PM and were in bed by midnight.  Sunday we worshiped at the International Evangelical church where the November team worshiped.  It was wonderful and we met a young couple originally from Montana, Shawn and Becky Cox and their two daughters. Shawn teaches at a private school in Addis and Becky, who is a community health nurse works with the leper colony in Addis, the second largest in the world and she does HIV education.  She is currently working on getting government approval to start an HIV/AIDS Hospice program.  Here small children are caring for their dying parents.  We had lunch at a nice place and then rested before having a CHE presentation (Community Health Evangelism) presented by our Ethiopian friends Sharon, Adame and Melaku.  The group enjoyed it.

We were also introduced to a couple who have been working in Ethiopia on and off with CHE since the early 1970’s.  Bob and Michael Anne Haakenson have known Sharon, who oversees the Women’s Health division of Ethiopia CHE, since she was a child.  We had a nice dinner after the presentation.  On Monday we headed to Soddo stopping for machiatos at the Rediet Hotel (where the November team members might remember spending many hours that included a rubber chicken dinner!).  As we approached Soddo, Harry Bowers, who serves at Soddo Christian Hospital called to tell us that our hotel had no water.  He hurried to book rooms for us at a hotel with water. What a blessing! The weather is very hot here and many of the water sources have dried up.  

We had a nice dinner at the home of Harry and Stephne Bowers.  Stephne is the director of the Christian World Adoption (CWA) Orphanage in Soddo.

Today, Courtney Stokes the physical therapist from Life Center was able to make rounds with the orthopedic surgeons because orthopedic therapy is her area.

Then the team toured the CWA orphanage that has relocated into a much smaller facility with no running water.  New Covenant Foundation is going to fund digging a well.  The Nannies are doing a good job of keeping the children clean and, indeed, the place was very clean even though the children do not have much space to play in.  We are all praying for rain and a well soon.

We learned about a sustainable project that Stephne Bower is now overseeing which enables very poor widows to raise chickens.  

We also learned about the changes in adoption laws in Ethiopia that now require a death certificate and picture of the deceased parent before an adoption can become final. This has slowed the process down considerably and CWA has 64 children at another facility (called Acacia Center) waiting to be adopted out.  The court has told Stephne without the proof of death of the parent and a picture that these children will be sent back to Soddo.  Stephne has pleaded with the judge who as she described it merely shrugged his shoulders. Pray for a miracle because there are currently more children at the orphanage in Soddo and the other two outside of Soddo than they can handle.  

Yesterday and this morning I helped care for one of the babies Stephne had at her house, a little boy who at two months old weighs only 6 pounds.  He was doing so well today that he was able to go back to the orphanage to be cared for by the nannies. 

I have reviewed the plans for the Wolaitta Village (the permanent new facility for the children) with key people and we have begun to talk about fundraising needs.  Please keep that in your prayers.  Also, since the move to this temporary facility the MITTEN has to be dried right outside Stephne’s home.  

Tomorrow the team will experience the El Shaddai feeding program.  Thanks for praying for rain, a permanent well and a miracle for the 64 babies and children whose adoptions are delayed because of red tape.


11-09-10

-Angela Barnes


I genuinely liked Stephne Bowers the moment I met her.  How could you not.  She is a beautiful mix of God-given strength and tenacity with deep tenderness and compassion.  As we walked the grounds of CWA, I could see her likeness in the facility itself.  CWA is a refuge - with walls strong enough to protect the precious lives it holds inside.  CWA is also tenacious enough to advocated for and work toward creative and lasting solutions for the children in represents.  The marked impression through is one of love - love that is compassionate, love that is long-suffering, and a love that endures with these children.  The blessings of this love given by Stephne and the rest of her staff can be seen in one special little girl that I had the great joy of cuddling for one hour of our visit.   She is three months old and born prematurely to a mother who died during childbirth.  She was brought to Stephne only a few hours old.  She loved and nurtured here, kangarooing her for weeks until she gained her strength.  Stephne describes kangarooing as keeping the baby in your shirt, skin on skin, most of the time.  In this, they feel secure and attached.  The blessed evidence of this is obvious when you interact with her now.  She is not only healthy and strong physically, but bright and alert emotionally as well.  As a mother of three children myself, I can see in this sweet girl, a well adjusted and happy soul.  She truly astounded me!  She is so engaging and alert.  As she would make eye contact with me she would give me a full-body smile.  Her eyes and face light up, she coos and gurgles trying to communicate, and her whole body wiggles.  Not once, but the entire hour I held her!  Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, I see God’s hand upon her.  She is able to love so easily because she was loved so well first.  Her mother gave the first gift, life.  Stephne gave her the second gift, love.  Because of this love and nurturing, her heart is open and able to easily love too.  This gift will bless her the rest of her life.
 
1 John 4:19 - We love because He first loved us….

11-10-10

-Karl Ziegler


Today we visited the Children’s Cross Connection or CCC.  I am not 100% sure that I have all of the facts straight, but here is my story.

CCC oversees many projects.  The project that we visited today was the Aerie Africa/CCC orphanage.  Actually, it is not an orphanage, but an Institutional Child Care (ICC) facility.  The children in the ICC are mostly age 3 to 18, but are not adoptable, as they may still have a parent alive (but not able to care for the child or might also be the last member in their family and most likely other reasons I don’t remember).

All of the children have sponsors from the state that cover the expenses of caring for them.  Sponsorships currently cost $800 per year.  Sponsors are encouraged to write letters, send gifts (clothing and other), and even visit them.  The sponsorship pays for the child’s healthcare, school, food, lodging, etc.  The children could attend public school.  However, depending on the grade level, public school may have 100 kids per class.  It usually consists of watching DVD’s or listening to CD’s.  So the children attend a private school which is covered by the sponsorship.

The current facility can house 64 children (8 rooms of 8) and currently has 55 children; 30 or more boys and 20 or more girls.  CCC believes there will be more pressure to house more children in the near future as the Ethiopian government is becoming less tolerant of the orphanages with poor conditions.  CCC has been praised by the government as being the best NGO childcare facility in the country.

Currently 3 young people form the state help run CCC.  Sam came to visit CCC in 2008 and felt a huge desire to serve these kids.  Sam recruited his college friend, Noah, to come help them in the fall of 2009.  Both of them serve the operational side to be a bridge between sponsors and CCC.  Katie was recruited by Sam and Noah to also come and serve.  

Sam and Noah will return to the states in about 2 weeks after filling their 1 year commitment.  Katie has been serving for about 6 months.  Noah feels that there should be someone from the states to work with the staff for the future.  Maybe those un-committed you know or a married couple would like to help out!

Thought the website is old, check it out at www.aerieafrica.org.

11-9-10

-Diane Samson


Stephne Bowers is the director of the CWA orphanage, who helps infants through around 12.  These children are all adoptable and looking for homes.  

One way this organization is different than most is it there is any chance of reconciliation with at least one parent or relative, no adoption will take place.  The priority is always to be reunited with one parent.

When you walk into the orphanage you have to walk on a rocky, uneven, red dirt path and then go through a huge gate, that is guarded by some able bodied Ethiopian young men.  A bustling city is just outside the doors, while inside there are currently 35 children.  They would like to have 25, a more manageable number.  Thus, the reason for at least 18 children, ages 3-9, in a very small room being cared for by a nanny.  In the other rooms there was a nursery, toddler room, and crib room for sleeping babies.

Greg and I spent our time with the older children, mostly boys.  They were intrigued by our presence.  It didn’t take them long to crowd around me while I read them stories and played patty cake with Greg.  They were energetic, laughed, smiled, and wanted to be noticed.  They are just like any other children wanting to live and be loved.

Quick Update

Here’s the deal. We have been way too busy to update you, so this will be brief. But I will commit to getting you more news very soon.

First, the suitcase has been redeemed! Brad is very excited to change his shirt. We have quite the stories to tell about the bus breakdown and changing our travel time from 5 hours to 15. We also have much to tell about orphanages and mitten.

But for now you can be praying for the dedication of the Wolaitta Village tomorrow. We are expecting 15 local government officials for the dedication. In the afternoon we will participate with the local churches in distributing food to the poor. 15 zonal officials are coming to witness this. 15 pastors have chosen 300 poor to receive the food. This includes Evangelicals, Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox. So it will be a busy day.

I’m collecting stories tomorrow morning and will start giving them to you shortly.

Egzebere emesagen (may God be praised)!

Craig