Random Addis happenings since I last posted

Well, I’ve tried to post multiple times over the past week, but the internet hasn’t been cooperating.  Now I have a whole list of things I want to post about but I’ll try to keep it sane!

The millennium lunch for the orphans was a fun time!  We ate SO MUCH, as the kids ALL wanted to give us “gorshas”–the cultural expression of familiarity and love while eating (They just feed you . . . a lot!).  Thirteen kids came, and we made it through the torrential rain to a local restaurant.  We took a bunch of photos, and laughed and talked (as we three white people stumbled through our Amharic!).  Afterwards we came back to the project office where we gave each child a gift bag with fruit, pencils, candy, etc in them. 

It was such a sweet time to be able spend with these children.

Last week my coworker Alemu I taught a small group of mothers about safe and adequate food preparation for their babies.  It seems like a little bit of a no-brainer, especially since a couple of these women have older children.

But since formula is so expensive and these babies are 6 months or older (the project provides formula so these moms don’t have to risk transmitting the HIV virus to their babies via breastmilk), it is time help these moms wean their babies off of the formula and onto other foods.  I realized again how Westernized I am because of course I wanted to talk to them about starting with rice cereal, being cautious about allergies, including lots of fruits and veggies, introducing one new food at a time, and not giving the babies cow’s milk until they are a year old.   But those aren’t choices these moms have the option to make—in their socioeconomic group, most women breastfeed until their babies are much older, and they supplement with tea, sugary biscuits, white bread, and injera (the staple grain food).

Babies given such incomplete nutrition at an early age face major development issues throughout the rest of their lives.  So what to do, how can we help?  I struggle against having to choose the “second best” (or third or fourth . . .) option in situations like this—but I have to learn to work with the available resources. In the end the “class” went well, I think.  We talked about weaning, spoons vs bottles, porridge preparation, vitamins/minerals, rotting teeth, and upset stomachs.

Afterwards I got some great photos of these precious women and their beautiful babies!

Remember Tesfaye?  That’s him in the middle!  I’m so amazed at God’s goodness every time I see his chubby face! 

Last night I went to the Meskel celebration.  Today is the Meskel holiday, which is the Ethiopian Orthodox church’s celebration of the finding of the “true cross”.  The celebration drew thousands (50? 100? more?  I couldn’t figure out a good estimate) to the center of Addis, Meskel Square.  We couldn’t get close enough to see the dancing and drumming and dramas going on, but we could at least see the huge big screen in the square.  It was neat to see everyone celebrating with such exuberance!  The end of the celebration was the traditional lighting of a “teepee” of wood–this one was huge and we could see it and the flames.  The crowning end was the awesome fireworks display–I felt transported back to childhood moments in Paris, TX, watching fireworks with my extended family.  Except that I was surrounded by thousands of Ethiopians:-)  I didn’t take my camera, but another blogger in Addis did–check out his photos from the link in his post

And that brings me to today.  It’s been nice to have a day off–I’ve been to the gym, read about HIV and mother to child transmission, written emails, shivered from the cold rain, hung out with friends, and generally enjoyed the day:-)  Tomorrow we are taking a group of teen guys and girls up to Entoto, the highest mountain point around the city.  Hopefully it will be dry and our plans for a picnic, soccer, and egg races will not be soaked out!

For a smile that should get you through a few days, here’s Selamawit.  She’s a precious 5 year old who is so beautiful and healthy this year!  She’s in kindergarten and loving it:-)