On Saturday morning I began the 5 hr journey south to the city of Awassa, where Biniyam is from and where Mekdes spent 6 months in her 1st orphanage. Mekdes is actually from about 90 miles west of the city, rural farmland, her father was a farmer.
Our adoption agency wouldn't allow Ella to make the journey south b/c of all the unpredictable aspects of traveling in a developing nation, so Greg stayed in Addis Ababa with her. I had 3 other families, great company, as travel companions.
The purpose of the trip was to meet with a member of Mekdes' birth family, which I did on Sat night and I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity! It was a bit surreal to sit there with someone who is so important in my daughter life and to feel the weight of this opportunity, that being in their presence will only last a short time. I had all my questions organized and ready, yet we were talking through two translators, both were nannies and neither one speaking much english. I'd ask a question "what was Mekdes's father like, can you tell me about him?" and the translators and family member would talk for about 3 min. and then finally say to me "he's dead." I didn't gain much new knowledge, but each morsel I did get is like gold! (and I videotaped the meeting so hopefully I can get better translation later) The biggest, most obvious part of the meeting that I can share with Mekdes as she grows up is that she was absolutely adored by her first family. The only thing we were allowed to give at the meeting was a photo album. I filled it with pictures of Mekdes and a few of us and our home. The photos album was held to the chest, and the pictures of Mekdes were kissed over and over again while saying her name. It makes me so sad, this world is so broken in that Mekdes had to leave her beloved family. It reiterates to me why supporting programs like Yezelalem Minch http://www.yezelalemminch.org/ are so important, so families can stay together.
And now that I'm all emotional I'll share some pictures from the weekend.
stopped for lunch at Sabata resort
The city of Awassa, notice how clean the streets and median are compared to Addis
An orthodox church, I love all the white scarves!
Breakfast overlooking lake Awassa
boat ride
Monkeys!
this was a nice monkey I met after my encounter with the mean one so I was thinking "wow, your pretty close to my jugular"
huge ugly birds
The road back to Addis Ababa
We returned on Greg's birthday so I bought him a cake at Kaldi's, does it look familiar?
Our adoption agency wouldn't allow Ella to make the journey south b/c of all the unpredictable aspects of traveling in a developing nation, so Greg stayed in Addis Ababa with her. I had 3 other families, great company, as travel companions.
The purpose of the trip was to meet with a member of Mekdes' birth family, which I did on Sat night and I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity! It was a bit surreal to sit there with someone who is so important in my daughter life and to feel the weight of this opportunity, that being in their presence will only last a short time. I had all my questions organized and ready, yet we were talking through two translators, both were nannies and neither one speaking much english. I'd ask a question "what was Mekdes's father like, can you tell me about him?" and the translators and family member would talk for about 3 min. and then finally say to me "he's dead." I didn't gain much new knowledge, but each morsel I did get is like gold! (and I videotaped the meeting so hopefully I can get better translation later) The biggest, most obvious part of the meeting that I can share with Mekdes as she grows up is that she was absolutely adored by her first family. The only thing we were allowed to give at the meeting was a photo album. I filled it with pictures of Mekdes and a few of us and our home. The photos album was held to the chest, and the pictures of Mekdes were kissed over and over again while saying her name. It makes me so sad, this world is so broken in that Mekdes had to leave her beloved family. It reiterates to me why supporting programs like Yezelalem Minch http://www.yezelalemminch.org/ are so important, so families can stay together.
And now that I'm all emotional I'll share some pictures from the weekend.
2 comments:
I am loving reading all about your trip and yearning for the chance to go back with Bereket. We will no doubt wait a few more years to make sure she is ready (and make sure we have enough $$ ;) ) but man, I can't wait!
What an emotional post! Thanks for keeping us updated.
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