The Day I Was Waiting For

I was so happy to wake up to those obnoxious drumbs and realize that today is Wednesday!!  Today was the day we would serve the morning in Korah and when we left for lunch we would bring our sponsor kids with us!  Months before when I heard we would be doing this my heart jumped for joy and now the day was here.


We started the morning out with VBS for the Project 61 kids in Korah, which was always fun.  After that we helped serve lunch to those same kids, but since our sponsor kids were coming to lunch with us, we asked them to help us serve the other kids.  Serving side by side, just how I hoped it would be.


After lunch we all piled into the van to head back to the guest house.  Teshome looked so excited to be leaving with us.  On the way the most unexpected thing happened.  Jessie had borrowed my speakers to put in his ipod and he started blasting Justin Bieber's Baby.  Guess what?  These kids from Korah that speak almost no English started singing EVERY WORD!!  It's was hysterical.  I guess Bieber Fever is global.

Back at the guest house, the kids were able to get showers and we gave them their new outfits.  When I saw Teshome in his clothes I had picked out I was so happy.  One problem though, the jeans were too small.  I brought two sizes with me because I wasn't sure how much he would have grown from last year.  This past year he has been at the boarding school and getting at least two regular meals every day.  Guess what eating regular meals for a year will do for a kid?  Make them grow... a lot!!  I felt bad that the jeans were a little tight, but it also made me so glad to see that he is healthier.  (No worries, a friend of mine sent a pair after I got home with a team headed back there).  We hung out for a bit, took lots of photos, and the boys had a grand time playing our iphones.  I felt bad for Teshome because I had deleted most of the games on my phone.  He did get very good at Angry Birds Star Wars by the end of the trip though.

We loaded up in the vans again and headed to a pizza place for lunch.  It felt good to be able to feed them, and not just the filling food they get at the feeding program, but yummy food that filled their bellies AND tasted good.  All the boys crowded to one table and even though I wanted to be right next to Teshome all the time, I also knew that he would have more fun sitting and eating with his friends.  When the pizza came out, the boys went and filled their plates and headed back to the table to begin stuffing the pizza in their faces.  All except Teshome.  Teshome put a slice of pizza on his plate and also grabbed a fork and knife.  Back at the table, he tried to cut his pizza but it was apparent he had no idea how to use a knife.  All of their meals are usually eaten with their hands.  I think he thought this is the way he should eat with the Americans.  Eric stepped in and taught him how to use the knife and after Teshome had done it successfully, he then told him he could use his hands to eat pizza.  The kids ate all they wanted and enjoyed their Fanta.

Then we piled into the van again to head to our next fun place.  Teshome said, "Mom, music?"  I happily handed over my phone and head phones and he looked like an American teenager.  We went to one of my favorite places in the world...Kaldis.  It's kind of like Ethiopian Starbucks (as you can tell from the logo) except the coffee is way better and there is ice cream.  We all enjoyed that stop.

It was getting late in the afternoon by now and the time had come to take the kids back to Korah.  Here is one of those moments I can still see perfectly in my mind and feels as raw as if it had happened this morning, but the chances of me putting the right words down to convey my sadness and confusion are probably slim.
Bumping along those roads, Teshome took one ear bud out and gave it to me so we could listed to the music together.  We huddled together and he asked me to pick the song.  I put on a little Van Morrison and told him he was my favorite singer.  Not exactly what he would have picked, but I think he appreciated it. I have a terrible sense of direction, so I wasn't sure when we were getting close to Korah.  I had my arm around him and as we drove down a road that seemed familiar to me, I felt Teshome lean in and take a big, sad sigh.  That's when I knew we were close.  That sigh, forever in my mind, said it all.  The day was coming to an end, the carriage was turning back into a pumpkin.  The day felt so great, it felt wrong to drop him back off to sleep in the shelter.  I know that Korah is his home, but the realities of poverty are harder when you come to know and love people who are suffering.  Even typing this now brings tears to my eyes and my breathing feels labored.  When you keep difficult "social issues" at an arms length you can think about them and then move on with your life.  When you wrap your arms around someone you love who is in the middle of these social issues then it changes you.  Nothing has ever made me feel smaller and more helpless than looking  Poverty in the face.

The van door opened and the boys jumped out.  We said quick good byes so we didn't attract too much attention and then they were running down the road to their homes and Teshome back to the shelter.  The question I have struggled with ever since I stepped foot in Korah a year ago has not been "Why is there poverty?" but "God, why did you show this to me, and what are you asking me to do?"  I have a feeling this question will take years to figure out, but the only thing I've learned so far is stolen from a popular quote,
 "Live Simply so others can Simply Live"

I went to bed that night hoping Teshome went to sleep happy about his day.