Friday we had breakfast and our driver Alazar showed up around 9:30am. Alazar is on the AWAA driver list, if your ever wanting to venture off by yourself I highly recommend him, he speaks very good english and taught us so much! We decided to just go to the Entoto Mountains. The ride up the mountain we saw several people bringing down leaves and firewood. Most carry it down on their backs, but some use donkeys to carry the loads. They start off early in the morning and collect that carry down the load.

This older lady stopped for us to take her picture then ventured on with her load that she would sell for about 30 birr or about $2.30.

We checked out the farmland and the view, every once in awhile kids would come out to check us out.

We visited an Orthodox Church at the top that was about 130 years old. The Church was in the shape of an octagon and had 3 layers representing the Trinity. Priest were th only ones allowed in the center as the replica of the Arc of the covenant was inside and is believed to contain the Holy Spirit. The middle layer had interesting drawings depicting the stories in the Gospels and New Testament.

Behind the Church Building was the former Church which was carved from stone.

After the Church visit we ventured back down the mountain and did some shopping.

Then we ended the trip by picking up some good coffee to bring home.

My wife with Alazar, our Driver / Guide. He was great. Highly recommend him!

Eyob did great on the whole trip. The bumpy car rides do not even phase him. We came back, had lunch then waited to be picked up. Robel Picked us up around 4pm to go meet the Street kids he helps. We drove to the market area where they hang out, We had a minor car accident on the way there, a police motorcycle’s change broke and stopped right in front of us, our van driver (Robel’s Friend) slammed on the breaks and we stopped just short of hitting the policeman, seatbelts and car seats are un heard of there so I slid out of my seat, catching Eyob who was sleeping and after we came to a stop, the car behind us slammed into us. Eyob let out a cry, then immediately went back to sleep, everyone was ok. Robel’s friend called another guy to come get us. After about 30 minutes another van showed up and we were on our way.

We pulled up to the market and Robel told the kids to round up the others. We went to a little restaurant and all gathered. Robel ordered food and soft drinks for all of them as they watch a soccer game on TV.

All of these kids went to school. They go to the streets to try to make money to bring home. Some have parent(s) and some said they did not.

Samuel is 14 and has a mom. He said he was in 6th grade and showed me his school ID.

Robel tries to teach them not to beg, but to buy and sell. They sell anything from Gum to Tissue, and chapstick, as well as shine shoes. Shoe shining is big you see people everywhere shining / cleaning shoes, It is very muddy in Ethiopia so there is no lack of customers.

Saturday we needed to take our last donations to Mother Teresa’s Orphanage. Not an easy place to get to thats for sure. The drive was about 2 hours and got muddier and narrower as we went along to the poing of a traffic jam in the middle of a village about an hour away from Addis Ababa, Our driver was not the best at english and did not know exactly where it was located. Finally we asked the right people walking and they pointed us in the right direction.

We arrived at the gates and honked the horn. The orphanage was in the middle of the village in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The doors opened up to show a nice, very large compound. We were greeted by a Nun from the UK. We unloaded our donations and she told us about the orphanage. There were about 320 HIV+ kids at this orphanage ranging from teenagers to babies. She took us down the hill showed us the Medical building and the play areas, guided us through a group of older kids, down to the area where the toddlers and babies were.

She then handed us over to another Nun who took us into the children’s area. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the facility. All I can say was this visit was too overwhelming for me. We walked in, Bridget and Myself holding Eyob and we saw a lot of babies lined up crying and lots of children came running in from the other rooms, Bridget handed out some suckers and balloons as a small toddler riot almost broke out. Finally the Nanny came in and with authority had all of them sitting quietly. The kids played for awhile and then we left. This visit was too much for me. It knocked me down a level, I was sad and scared all at once, I did not want to let Eyob down as shameful as that makes me feel to say. The Church supports the orphanage, but they definitely have their work cut out for them. They ware strong, inspiring people there.

After the long trip we rested, then had dinner, and went to the airport. The trip back was long and exhausting. In all it was about 30 hours with layovers. We went from Ethiopia to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Detroit, then Detroit to Milwaukee. Eyob slept most of the first flight, wanted to run around the airport in Amsterdam as we struggled to keep our eyes opened, then cried most of the Amsterdam to Detroit flight, unhappy neighbors for sure.. Then a quick flight over lake Michigan, where are family, kids and friends were waiting at the gate. It was great to be home!!!