These are some pics I took out in Kersa Ellala right before I left, so you can see the surrounding area where I was staying.

Here are a few pics Sister Woodruff took at her house with the twins, Zenabu (a member of the church) and her grandmother. These were taken back in July when Steff and I went to visit.

On my way home

Friends and Family,
I am sad and happy to announce that I am coming home early. What was thought to be the mumps had progressed into something much worse. The symptoms weren't proving to relate to the mumps and white patches were starting to grow on the back of my throat. A visit to the doctor confirmed that it wasn't the mumps but tonsillitis or perhaps strep throat, a culture cannot be taken and would not be accurate so a perfect diagnoses is impossible.
Nevertheless, the medication has not improved the situation at all, and I have been in so much pain recently that I cannot swallow, let alone barely breath. I have had many sleepless nights, where I have maybe fallen asleep for 20 minutes but the second I swallow in my sleep I am awoken by the pain. I have also been battling a fever and the chills. Yesterday I woke up in so much pain Steffanie suggested I just go home. I packed my bag up and went and said goodbye to the children. Needless to say I cried really bad leaving those kids. Dibabe was the hardest one to say goodbye too, but indeed she was the strongest. She didn't cry but said, "It's okay, you need to go".
I stayed with the couple missionaries yesterday. They took me to an American Doctor that's recommended by the embassy. He said there's nothing more I can do, but it might be better if I go home. I didn't want to leave yesterday because I was in so much pain I didn't want to fly. I woke up this morning not feeling much better and decided it is better I fly home now and perhaps get a great painkiller or my tonsils removed rather than waiting through the pain. We went down to the airport and British Airways said they could get me on the next flight tomorrow morning at 7:30 am, with a hefty cost attached. I called my parents at what was 5 am their time. My dad was so amazing and told me not to worry about the price, and that him and my mom would take care of my domestic flight from New York to Portland. I should be home by Saturday.

This past week has been filled with great memories though, despite being ill and not feeling up to par. Sunday was my last week with the small branch I have been attending for the past three months, all six of us were there (Emanuel, his three sons, Steff and I). How I will miss the closeness felt in such a small branch. Emanuel's son is looking to go on a mission soon and I wish him the best.
Longalee was hospitalized because of her lack of fluids. She was released Tuesday and is doing much better. She had malaria, typhoid and typhus. She is such a brave soul. I would have hated to sleep in the room she stayed in for five days! She had plenty of guests though!
Monday and Tuesday night I went out on walks with Andre and then Fayissa. I got some beautiful shots of the village and the scenery. It had just finished raining both nights before we went out and it was so nice to see the green land glisten after the rain. God has truly made Ethiopia one of the most beautiful places on earth!
The new house mother has proved to be great. She has got those kids up and going each morning and just has some great values that both Steffanie and I really appreciate. It makes it nice for me to leave knowing that she is there, and even more so for Steffanie when she finally decides to head back to the States.
There's so much more I feel I could say. I will post again sometime next week with more conclusive thoughts and additional photos that were not included in past posts!
Cheers,
Jenelle

Mumps, Bumps, Lumps, and Grumps

I took this picture to send to the twins adoptive-mother-to-be. She apparently is a very health conscious woman and does not want the girls eating any sugar. There was some candy that the expedition had brought and Steff and I got a little sweet tooth one night. The twins helped out, and Balditu just looked so cute with all the trash around her!
We put Mariama and Emuti in a duffle bag and took them for a swing. They thought it was great, but were a little nauseous after the game was over.
I am quite embarrassed to post this pic, but I wanted to prove that I really do have mumps! This is how big my eyes can open due to the swelling, and it looks like I got my wisdom teeth out, but really that's how big my mouth and throat is swollen. Thanks Steffanie for telling me that each day my face looks worse!


I have neglected to take many pictures this week. Mostly because I have been sick and have not taken out my camera very often. I have caught the mumps and have been suffering from a severely swollen face and a mild fever for the past two weeks. The virus is supposed to pass within the third week, so hopefully everything will pass by the time I make it home!

This has also been another week of medical scares at the compound with the children. On Tuesday Longalee was still complaining of a high fever and headache. Our local nurse suggested she be taken to the hospital. She was loaded up for the doctors and her diagnoses- Malaria and Typhoid! She did not understand what that meant, so the doctor had to explain to her what was going on inside her body that would make her so sick. She has been refusing to eat due to the lack of energy and the lack of interest in food. Steff and I are very concerned, and yesterday Bonzo, a nurse, finally inserted an IV into her because she is so dehydrated!

When the medical expedition was here last week they looked at Dibabe and Benjamin. Due to her history, the doctor suggested that she and the baby have an HIV test. Steffanie and I talked to her on Tuesday night and told her I would be taking her the next day to get the test done. We talked to her about confidentiality, that no matter what the results were only her, myself, Steffanie and Abu would know that she was going to the doctor and about the results. She agreed to have the test done. Wednesday I took her into Negelle and the Doctor sent us to a clinic that was about a half hour walk outside of the village. It was such a hot day and my fever was slowly rising on the way out there. I was so nervous for Dibabe. She had to receive counseling first from a nurse before they would draw her blood- telling her about unprotected sex and that she needed to use a condom. I just thought how stupid the counseling was seeing her situation. When the nurse was drawing her blood I got very light headed and then *bleep* passed out. I was holding Benjamin at the time, and luckily was leaning back in my chair and had a very tight grip on Benji. The next thing I knew Dibabe was taking Benjamin out of my arms and telling me to sit on the floor. I sat there for about 15 minutes while they took Benji's blood and waited for the results- they are both negative!!

I felt the impression to go and visit Caltu (the twins mother) with Steffanie earlier this week. She had been earning some money by washing the babies diapers at the compound on MWF. She was fired about three weeks ago though because she was caught stealing some baby blankets. When we went to visit her it was at night and she was sitting on her mattress that rests on the cement floor in her room. She weighs about 85 pounds and was shivering and shaking, even though she was wrapped in a blanket. I asked her if she had stolen the blankets because she was so cold at night, and she said yes, that is why she had taken them without asking. I asked Steffanie if it would be alright if I gave her a quilt from our storage closet, and she agreed. We went back up the big house, but Abu was there talking with Fayissa. We knew that if Abu saw us leave with a giant blanket he might question what we were doing and try to stop us. So while Steff stole the blanket and snuck out the back door and distracted Abu by asking him if he wanted to try my yoga ball and was showing him how to do stretches on it. He never saw Steffanie! Our little plan worked!

A new house mother has been hired! I have been going over the New Employee Orientation list and have organized and planned a three day training that will go this coming Monday to Wednesday for the new House Mother and the four other female employees that work there now. She begins work on Monday! It will be so nice to leave VOH knowing that those kids will have someone that really loves them and knows its her sole responsibility to look after them!

I am departing in T-minus 8 days. . .I am happily putting off the thought of leaving those children at this time. This coming week will be a very sad departure indeed.

So this past week the medical expedition was here! It was so much fun, and so much work at the same time!
There were three doctors from the Provo area, one nurse and one surgical assistant. They were a great group of people to work with and so much got accomplished!
Over 715 patients were seen. I wasn't with the doctors at all during the week, as I was on the other side of the house dressing children and doing ATMIT and ORS.
They said that most of the people they saw had parasites and malaria. There were a few emergency cases in which a very small baby and a woman nearly died while they were at the clinic because they were so severely dehydrated. It just makes me wonder what would have happened to them had they not come to the clinic that day.
One may had a stroke and half of his body was temporarily paralyzed. His family brought him in on a donkey cart because he couldn't walk. There is a picture of him above with Dr. Victoria massaging his legs.
Another woman had given birth the night before in the hospital and was sent home without the placenta coming out. Therefore she had excruciating pain and when she heard about the free clinic had her sisters carry her to get there.
One woman had an extremely large goiter and would have to go to Addis to have surgery to have it removed.
One baby was born with an extra venous colon (I think that's the right word- her colon was on the outside of her body) and the doctors couldn't perform surgery, but gave their money to have the parents take the child to have it done in Addis.
I was in charge of dressing children after they had been washed and treated for scabies. Some of those kids were in bad shape!! They all looked so cute with their new clothes, and boy are my ear drums pierced from screaming children who had to be doused in freezing cold water and then stand underneath a fan while I dressed them!
I also made ATMIT and gave it to the mothers with severely malnourished children. I have seen some of the most amazing people this week and am so exhausted but happy with the work that has been done!
An amazing thing also happened on Saturday. A woman who had heard we were looking for a new house mother showed up at the door for an interview. She interviewed great and we gave her a tour of the compound this morning. She will begin work on Wednesday. It is such a relief to know that there will be someone here that is competent and caring enough to raise these children!

The Farenji's have arrived!!

I finally got a pic of Benjamin smiling!
My little Balditu. She's had a cold in her eyes (why her eye's are so watery). She's so cute during the day, but I tell you she is horrible at night. She wimpers herself to sleep and without fail wakes up at 2:30 am, crying, and doesn't go back to sleep until 5 am. Her new adoptive mother is going to have so much fun with her!

My Fabulous Ringworm!! Allelujah for the Clinical expedition that brought some medication to treat all of us! Me, Margitu and Benjamin all have had it for about three or four weeks now.

Fayissa, the Ethiopian cowboy and my Ethiopian crush. The nicest, most humble and honest man you'll ever meet in the WORLD, honest.
An attempt at group photo. Balditu decided her half eaten sponge would look great in the photo.
Emuti and Mariama on the swing. They have really grown to be good buds in the past three weeks while all the kids have been away with their families.

This has been quite a week. Steffanie's cousin, Carolyn arrived last Saturday and has been staying at the compound for the week working on some additional research for her Master's Degree. The three of us have been busy working on the youth group and finalizing some policies for the manual. The youth group also had 200 square km of land "donated" to them by the Kebele, the local town government. Fayissa drew up a plan already to have a soccer field, track, volleyball pits and a vocational training center built. We are all so excited!!

Most of the week slipped by pretty quickly. The Youth group did another service activity, plowing people's fields in the village again. Tuesday we had a really fun activity where we had "mini-Olympics". We played a sponge relay game, had a three-legged race and some other fun games. The Youth absolutely loved it and it reminded me of a summer camp in America. They are such amazing young people and Steffanie has been so excited by their successes thus far and how well they have been supported by the local village people!!

The expedition arrived Friday night. There are 12 American's here for the medical expedition, three of which are doctor's, two nurses and some other people that have come

along to help. The whole group brought along 42 suitcases and rubbermaids full of supplies. It was absolutely insane to unpack it all yesterday!! The storage closet and pharmacy are now packed to the brim!! It has been quite busy with everyone there and all the patients, but it is so great to see so many people that have been sick for who knows how long finally get an accurate diagnoses and free medication to go along with it. Yesterday I helped with the scabies wash and dressing the kids. We only have freezing hose water to wash the kids with and those kids screamed and screamed- probably because a) they had never seen a white person before and were scared to death and then b) because the water was so cold. I can already tell this coming week is going to be exhausting but I am so happy for all the people that will be treated. I tell you it is the most rewarding to see someone improve in their situation almost immediately. When a sick person receives hope that their sickness is treatable, or that they can get free medication their face just lights up and it makes everyone feel so rewarded by the experience.

We took the whole expedition to church today at Emmanuel's house. I don't think there had eve been so many people in his living room before. We had women sitting on each other's laps, people sharing chairs and other's sitting on the arms of chairs pushed together. Three of the adults were our "speakers" today giving spur of the moment testimonies, and then everyone asked Emmanuel to share his story of how he found the church. Apparently a friend of his had received a copy of the Book of Mormon about 5 years ago from some missionaries he had run into in a train station in London. The friend didn't have time to read the book and so passed it onto Emmanuel. He read it after a year and contacted the church, who further put him in contact with the branch in Addis. Him and his family were baptized about 3 years ago, and continue to be in the only members within 250 km of where the branch is located in Addis. He is so amazing and until today I had put aside in my mind how truly inspiring his story is and that he is very strong to keep going like he has, even though his wife has left the church, he keeps his three sons going!!

Tinahyestalin (Welcome) Helen!

Margitu, Helen and Callie. I'll have to post another pic of Helen once I take a few more. But as you can see, she's about the same size as the twins!
We took Emuti and Mariama to juice at the Rastafarian's bakery. They loved the place, but didn't really like the juice!
Mariama, myself and Emuti. Practicing our ugly faces and contemplating how kids can look so cute making this face whereas I just look scary.

Helen has made it to Kersa Ellala, and no, not Helen Kennard, but the new baby, ironically named Helen, which sent Helen Kennard into 7th Heaven to have the new baby share her name! A trip was made down to Arba Minch to secure paperwork signed by her mother that would release her into our care. Additional paperwork still has to be completed that would enable the baby to be adopted, therefore relinquishing all the mother's rights. It is amazing how trusting people can be here to give their children to complete strangers.

I thought the baby would appear to be white, but upon first seeing her, she is completely Caucasian! We are thinking the father may have been Asian because of her facial features. I wrote about her story a few blogs back, but just to refresh:

The mother was offered 200 birr to have sex with a foreigner, and when she gave birth the baby was white. The baby was thought to be an 'evil eye' and would have been killed had she stayed in Arba Minch. Helen is actually 10 months old, just a few weeks younger than Benjamin, but is close to twice his size. She is about the size of one of the twins and can crawl and has a huge appetite! What is interesting to me is that I thought that the staff and other children wouldn't take to the new baby so well because she is white. Quite the opposite has transpired though. Abuka has taken very fondly to the baby, and rarely lets anyone else hold her or feed her. Emuti and Mariama fight to play with her and all the men love to hold her.

This week has been busy meeting with the employees and revamping the VOH Operations Manual and HRCC programs. I never thought it would be so difficult to meet with the employees to get them to talk about what things work and what things don't. What we thought would be a good collaborative meeting where everyone put in their input turned out to be a tattle-telling session. The women here constantly complain about each other not doing their work properly, yet they sit around idly with each other and gossip behind each other's backs. Steff and I talked about how the women here probably gossip about us all the time, but in my opinion I don't care what they say about me- I only want them to focus on what they're doing right or wrong and change that.

Lon, Helen, Kidist and Callie left for the States on Wednesday. There were tears for about 30 seconds and then the kids ran inside to eat their lunch. It was a little anti-climatic. Callie sat in the car crying; she really easily attached to the children, especially the new baby, and apparently it was harder than she thought it would be to leave.

Steff's cousin Carolyn is here for a week. She lived in Kersa over a year ago teaching at the Adventist college, and she's back to work on some research for her Master's Degree. It was a strange experience picking her up at the airport because I got those airport jitters- like right before you're going to fly and you're so excited to go somewhere. In a way I suppose I'm excited to travel home in about a month, but I am already having attachment disorder, I love the kids here too much that I know that I'm not going to have even a semi-easy time leaving.

I met a man this week in the village that has an incredible story. He is a friend of Abu's and is a preacher for the local Adventist church. He used to preach out on the streets in a village south of where we are. The local men decided that he was too outspoken, in their opinion, and that they were tired of hearing him talk of God and His plan out in the open. One day they charged the man and beat him over the head with a metal pole and bound him. The man became unconscious and they threw him in a pit 18 m deep. He came to two days later and had no idea where he was. He had a huge gash in the back of his head, and it was a miracle he hadn't already died from bleeding to death. A man that knew that he had been thrown in the pit thought he was dead, but when he heard him moving around he threw him down a rope and told him to crawl out of the pit if he wanted to save his own life. Needless to say, he survived and now has a huge dent in the back of his head as living proof of his survival. The man is still preaching to this day- what a man of God!

Bittersweet

Emuti got ahold of Steff's bra at Longano. She kept asking what it was, but somehow knew perfectly well how to put it on? Such a squirt!
All the girls burrying Hussen. Hussen is the president of the youth group, and Steff invited him to come along for the day. I think he enjoyed all the attention!
All the kids in the mini-bus we rented for the day!

Well, we made it to Lake Longano safely and back- no bruises, cuts, drownings or other mishaps. The kids had a great time and it was a fun way to spend time with them all before they left for three weeks.

There was a bit of a mix up before we left. Steff told me to open up the closet where we keep donated clothes to get some shorts out for the kids, because they don't have swimming suits. Well pretty soon Daro, Abuka and Fatuma were all standing around wanting tshirts and shorts as well. I thought they didn't have anything to swim in and felt bad, so I gave them shirts and shorts. Then all the little kids wanted shirts and shorts. I was so confused and just figured they all didn't have stuff to swim in. Boy was I wrong. The teenage girls freaked out when they saw everyone with their new clothes. Basically everyone thought I was giving a free handout. I was upset at myself for being the cause of such a scene, and mad at the adults that work here for basically making me give them clothes, when they knew that they didn't need them. Steff was mad at the teenage girls for being selfish and ungrateful because just the day before she had taken them to Awassa to go clothes shopping. What a mess! For FHE the next night our lesson was on Gratitude. It was supposed to drop a silent hint to the kids about being grateful, but Fayissa didn't know he was supposed to drop a settle hint and let the ball drop, saying specifically that if they are given clothes they are to say 'thank you'. The girls were silent the rest of the night.

Monday we drove all the kids to their homes. It was sad to see them all go, they were all crying, but it's nice to know they'll be home in about two weeks now. It was so amazing to see what kind of homes they came from. We took Abate and Ayisha to their grandmother's house and it was about an hour drive over dirt roads and through cactus fields. Their grandmother lives in a little mud hut in the middle of a scorching onion field. Steff and I talked afterwards about what home's they've all come from and how they are so blessed with clean food, water and nice clothes as well as an education and an actual bed to sleep in at night at VOH. Simple things that we take for granted everyday. BUT at the same time, those things don't really matter to the kids when it comes to family. When there is love at home, the children would probably much rather be with family living in the dirt with nothing to eat, than everything in the world with no one to love.

This week Steff went to Addis to work on the logo for the youth group t-shirt design. She was going to go for only a day, but they needed more time so she ended up being gone until Saturday. I had so much fun staying with the girls and the babies! Steff and I found a recipe online how to make bread, and so Emuti and Mariama and I had so much fun making it three times this week. The little girls liked making little animals and cutting the dough with scissors to make strange creations. The twins have gotten to be real pills lately. They have hit that toddler stage and are getting into everything! The little girls get very frustrated with them when they are playing with their toys and the twins come crashing through wanting to play and rip everything that is in sight. There really are no baby toys here or a good playpen that they can stay in. The single mother that is adopting them is really in for a surprise!

So my two months anniversary of being here has come and passed this weekend. It is quite bittersweet to think of the time I have been here and the short time I have left. In some ways I want to stay here forever and never leave these kids. At the same time there is only so much I can do, and these kids really need parents, not a farenji that barely speaks their language, but loves them all the same. In other ways it will be nice to get back to the States, because there is so much to still learn, and then turn around and apply to future humanitarian services. There is also a lot of progress to be made at VOH and in some ways I want to be around to see it happen, but in other ways I know how slow things take with an NGO and I would seriously have to be around for another year or two to see all the goals of VOH come to life. I admire Steffanie for her dedication to VOH and how much those kids love her!

I have also thought about the kids and their relationships with the people that come and help at VOH. It is easy for a foreigner to say, 'sure, I'll come out to Ethiopia, have my humanitarian experience and then go home to my plush life in America'. And so often these kids have seen it. There are three or four expeditions that come out every year for about a week with Lon or DeAnna, helping with health expeditions or the like. Seven days later they pack their bags and go. There have also been a few American females like myself that came out and helped at the compound for a few months last year. We get really close with these kids and then we up and leave. How fair is that to the kids to expect them to love us as much as we love them in return for us taking off after a few months?

Yesterday Steff and I took Emuti, Mariama, Dibabe and the babies into Awassa just to have some fun. We bought some stuff for PB&J sandwiches and then went to a hotel on the lakeside. There were these monkeys there that were seriously too close for comfort. They were jumping onto our table and stealing our food. It was nerve raking having a baby in your arms and monkeys jumping in front of you, potentially willing to jump on you in order to get food. Steff kept sticking her arm out at them to shew them away, but they only thought she was feeding them so they would grab for her arm. It became quite hysterical because she would scream and jump out of her chair with Balditu in her arms! Dibabe looked on in complete embarrassment, here she was with two farenji's who had made a complete spectacle out of themselves and all she could do was sit there and wonder when it would be over?

Steff and I also took the twins back into Awassa today to go to church. We decided it would be nice for Abuka and Daro to get the day off from watching them while we went into town. They both fell asleep on the bus and we had to carry them about 6 km to Emanuel's house. Margitu also pee'd through her diaper and onto my skirt, so I had to walk the whole way with a HUGE wet spot on me. Danni, Emanuel's son, was so cute playing with the babies. I think everyone enjoyed having the twins to gawk at while we listened to an April 2006 Conference talk today. Today is also fast Sunday, so it was such a bad idea to decide to carry around two 20 pound babies with our backpacks on in 90 degree weather with no food in our stomach's. Why we do the things we do, I question it myself sometimes. But only then is it too late!

It's been quite the day to be fasting too, in some ways perfect. It's been such a great experience being here, and in some ways I take everyday that I'm here for granted. Steffanie says that it is going to be harder for me to leave than I think it will, she can see it in my face whenever I'm with the kids. And I know it's true.

Sponsors going once, twice, SOLD!!

Little Alemetzi! She is so tiny! This picture doesn't do her thinness justice, because the shirt covers her up pretty well. When we were at the Doctor's her arm is about as thick as one of the twins'.
Washing the village children! Craziness I tell you, craziness!!
Emuti and Mariama got into the chalk the other day! You can't help but just laugh and be happy with these kids!
The youth group plowing the onion field!

So something quite amazing happened the other day. Steff had been meaning to go visit an orphan in the village that someone in America recently decided to sponsor. When we went to the house to visit her this little scrawny girl came out of the house. Her name is Alemetzi and she is nine years old and probably weighs about 35 pounds. It is quite scary to see her. I immediately became concerned with her weight, and the grandmother told us that she has been vomiting the last two days. We took her and her grandmother to the doctor the next day and she is now getting injections to stop the vomiting because she is loosing so much water. Her sponsor in reality saved her life, whether they know it or not. Because they decided to sponsor this girl her medical bills are covered and she will be going to school this coming year. She really is the sweetest little girl and it's just proof to me that God works in mysterious ways!

If anyone reading this would like to be a sponsor to the local village children, we are currently working on individual children's forms where you can pick a child to sponsor. It should be up on the website within the next month and I'll keep everyone posted. But basically you can sponsor a child for $50 a month which covers food, education and basic health expenses. You can look at the website right now if you like at http://www.villageofhope-ethiopia.org/!!

We also have more new about the new child coming that Lon found. It is actually a little baby girl and it is quite a sad story. The baby's mother was approached by a farenji some time ago and was offered 200 birr if she would have sex with him. Later she got pregnant but thought it was her boyfriend's baby. However, when the child was born it had white skin. The baby is considered an "evil eye" by the Muslim people there and the fact that the baby won't breastfeed is only further proof to them that the child is possessed. If Lon hadn't agreed to take the baby, it would most likely be killed by the village people. She should be with us this next week and we are so excited to have four babies (yes, there is a little sarcasm there, but in all honesty, we're happy).

On Thursday the youth group got together to do a service project for some selected families in the village. We went out to this man's onion field and the youth plowed the field! It was so great to see them get together for a great cause! They are all such amazing young people and they are really going to make a difference in this village! Steff is so excited about them and the group's future and we cannot wait to get the shirts that my mom bought for the group! They will look so sharp when they all have matching shirts with the group's logo on them!

Helen, Kidist and Calli also decided that they would have the local village mothers bring their children to VOH to show them how to properly bathe their children. The only problem is that word spreads like wildfire and while the girls were only predicting about 30 mother showing up, we had about 100 mothers and children show up. We actually had to have the guard shut the front gate because there were about 50 more outside waiting. It was a complete fiasco! I helped for about an hour but then had to take Dibabe and Benjamin into Negelle to get the last set of Benji's shots. I happily left! Steff and Abu got upset by the whole event because they're afraid that now VOH is going to be accused of unfairly giving away clothes and soap to the village children, when certain mothers and children did not receive the same thing! We also had mothers cutting in line to get their children in there and get a new set of clothes. I also caught mothers stripping their children of the new clothes we already gave them and putting them back into the line to get washed and changed into a new set of clothes again. I can't blame them for being dishonest, because hey, if you're poor and you can get an additional set of clothes for your kids, a bar of soap, washcloth, etc. why not be dishonest? I'm not condoning this behavior, but I just can't say it would be fair for me to get upset about it!

Yesterday I made all the kids "going-away" bracelets with some nice glass beads and string that were left behind by Sarah and Nicki. The kids go so excited to pick their own beads. I think they got a little too excited because they got quite possessive over their bracelets and were trying to rub it in each other's face how nice theirs was! Kids are kids the world around!!

We are headed out today to take the kids to Lake Longano as a final trip before they head home to see their families for three weeks this coming Monday! It should be so much fun and hopefully we don't have any drownings, stubbed toes or contagious diseases to come home with!

P.S. Benjamin is looking much better! Hopefully all the kids that go home for three weeks won't come back with diseases and illnesses as well! We are going for 100% healthy kids here!!

Don't cry for me. . .

Cute little Mariama! I tried to get a little artsy with taking pics of the kids. This is the first time Mariama let me take a pic without making a horribly goofy face!
Margitu loves to stand at the window and chew on the bars. I stuck my hand out the window and got this pic of her. She is the funniest little baby. Her new nickname is "Monkey" because she makes 'ooh, ooo, oooh' sounds all the time and scratches her head like a monkey.
Fatuma, Margitu and me. Hanging out in the house. Fatuma is an 18 year old girl that is orphaned and comes to the house to make injera. She is very nice and sweet and loves practicing Amharic with me!!

Last night Benjamin's temperature got up to 105 and he has not improved. Steff had Fayisa, Daro and Dibabe take him to the hospital and they got yet another diagnoses- allergies. Allergic to the medicine, perhaps, but we are all just baffled at the number of things doctors tell us. Even Daro didn't believe the diagnoses. We are just trying to keep the kids healthy and well, and Benjamin seems to be doing better this morning.



Steffanie and I went to a funeral for Abu's uncle yesterday. It was a Muslim funeral so all the men and women were on opposite sides of the house. People would come screaming through, wailing and crying and it just go to be so much that we both broke down giggling. Daro and Abuka were on either side of us and started giggling as well. I told Steff that sometimes the family will hire professional crier's. We thought we were being pretty discreet about our giggling, but later a man that knows us from the village asked why we were laughing- whoops, blew our cover. I guess as the only white people at a funeral all eyes were on us. Anyways, you have to have stuck around for three hours to be granted the privilege of going in and looking at the body. Steff had work to do and decided to leave. I don't think we'll go to another Muslim funeral if we're invited, I don't think we will want to spend another three hours in a day to sit around and fake cry.



Lon has been gone for the past week to Arba Minch with Helen, Kidist and Callie (Helen's sister and friend). They found Emuti's birth mother and got the paperwork signed so that now Emuti can be adopted to a family in Utah! Mariama is being adopted by the same family and she should be leaving for the States within the next month. The twins adoption process is almost complete and they should be leaving by September or October. It will be so hard to see those kids go, but it's nice knowing they will be in Utah and close enough that I can see them again.

I interviewed Chaltu, the twins mother and got a really nice history on her. This girl has been through a lot and shared some very personal stories with me. I hadn't thought that she liked me at all while she was living at the compound because she had been ignoring me and wouldn't speak to me. After this interview, it is easy to see that while she lived at the compound she was under a lot of stress trying to take care of those babies. She was quite passive aggressive in her behavior and when she didn't get what she wanted she would take it out on other's by arguing and being rude. I have gained much more respect for her as a woman and mother, especially when taking care of those twins. They are a handful, but their cuddling, smiles and laughter are so worth it!

Measles, Typhus, Typhoid = apparently the same thing

Benjamin's diagnoses was not enough to convince anyone at VOH that he was okay, so again he was taken to the Doctor. This time I think we actually found a competent doctor in Arsi Negelle. The children actually have Measles, who would have thought?! But it's a relief actually, just like we thought typhus was good news instead of typhoid, so measles is better than typhus. As the babies haven't actually been immunized it makes perfect sense and measles cannot be detected by any blood work, just signs and symptoms. Benjamin still looks like "crap" (in Steff's words), but he is slowly recovering. Balditu is doing better and we've got the babies on a dose of Vitamin A.

For everyone's information I never had Typhoid either. That was another misdiagnoses. Apparently if I did have typhoid I would have to prove that I was rid of the disease before I could even get out of the country to leave for the States. Also Typhoid is horrible- you have to burn the person's feces, they have to be quarantined from everyone/thing and you have horrible pea soup diarrhea. What I did have was a parasite that I cannot honestly cannot remember the name of it. I have yet to gain faith in the health care system here, but I have a hope that no matter what our kids are misdiagnosed with that hopefully some Emox will recover it.

This week is the kids' last week of school before they go home to visit their families (though most of them are orphans they will go to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc). We will be taking them to Lake Longano this Saturday and all the kids are super excited. It will be sad while they are gone, but maybe we'll actually get some work done?

Cheers,
Jenelle

Addis in a nutshell

The kids had a sleep over in the big house a weekend or two ago. They all lined up their mattresses and watched a slide show Helen and I made out of pictures of themselves. They loved it!


Baby, Dogmawit, Myself and "Anate" in Addis. I love this family!! Anate's a little preoccupied with talking to me rather than smiling for the camera.
At Yod Abysinnia. One of the traditional dancers. This is a traditional dance from Arsi Negelle, the village right next to us. This girl was shaking her head so fast it is absolutely crazy! Nicki's little flute flirt is behind the singer.

Hey Friends and Family,

Sorry for the delay in posting a blog. Apparently the government has finally caught onto free speech here and any website posting “free speech” for people to read online is blocked. Luckily email is still considered an acceptable means of communication, but apparently even some emails can be read by the government. I finally broke into the blog, but there may still be more complications in the future!

I finally made it back from Addis Ababa on Wednesday afternoon. The male interns never came to Addis with us because they decided to stay in Debre Zeit. They decided that Addis Ababa would be even more boring than staying in Debre Zeit with nothing to do (?- I don’t understand college aged men sometimes). So Sarah Nicki and I continued into Addis with our seat belts in tow.

We were going to make it to a soccer match in Addis, but Ethiopians run on their own time and we didn’t make it to the Stadium until the game was half over, so we decided just to drop our stuff off at the office and then go site see. I took Sarah and Nicki shopping and then we stopped back up in Shiro Meda so I could show the girls where I lived last year. The boy I lived with last year, Tesfa has grown over a foot since I left and now truly looks like a young man. He was so shy and embarrassed to see me and just kept saying things like, “oh my gosh, it is true” in reference to the fact that I had actually come back to Ethiopia. We then stopped and saw the neighbors-a very nice old couple that have their two granddaughters living with them. The wife is so sweet, I called her “mother” last year because I didn’t know her name, and I honestly still don’t. She was so shocked to see me and asked why I didn’t call her from America! All the street children remembered me as well. Their nickname for me last year was “kiwi” because a mentally unstable man that lived in my neighborhood starting calling me kiwi one day and all the kids caught on to it. They honestly didn’t know why they called me that, but I don’t think they cared. As soon as they saw me they started screaming “kiwi, kiwi!” and it brought tears to my eyes that they had really remembered me even though I have been gone for over nine months.

Later that night I took Nicki and Sarah to a nice restaurant called Yod Abysinnia where they have traditional dancing and a very nice musical show with traditional musicians and singers. Nicki had been looking for a traditional flute to buy for her father, and eyed up with the flutist and did some silent flirting. She then walked up to him during a break in the music and asked if he could give her a lesson and would sell her a flute. He said he usually sold them for 100 birr each, but for her, someone truly interested in the music, he would sell her two flutes for 100 birr! Being a girl sometimes really pays off! We had such a nice time and I think Sarah and Nicki loved seeing the dancing.

Sunday we went to the local branch and my rivalry with the missionaries resumed. Their pride was still hurt over my previous contest with them and the fact that they could not stand up to a girl!! The culture here in the church is so very different and yet the same in the States. Gossip is a huge problem among all the branches and being down right rude to each other is another problem. This cute little woman gave her Relief Society lesson and was just shaking she was so nervous. She finished her lesson about 20 minutes early and so Sister Woodruff asked the women if they would like to talk about anything. The women immediately started to complain that the woman that gave the talk hadn’t given the right one in the manual and that she had said things wrong, she had added her own personal thought and didn’t read word-for-word out of the manual. Some women even said that they could have taught the lesson better than her. I was in complete shock at what was being said, that they could possibly be that forward and rude. Sister Woodruff looked at me and said, “Jenelle, would you like to say something to the women?” I think I turned red right away and stood in front of the women and gave them some sphill about how everyone has talents and that we need to all develop our talents and support each other. Sister LaPray broke in with a scripture and some words of advice. If looks could kill, we would be dead because those women were so rude to each other and probably thought, “who does this farenji think she is, coming in here and telling us what to do!?”

Monday we just dinked around town and the two girls got some major souvenir shopping done. By the way, Nicki and Sarah have been removed from their project in Arsi Negelle and are most likely leaving for the States this weekend. There have been some problems and it’s too long of a story and it’s unnecessary for me to explain it to friends and family at this time.

Nevertheless, I am back in Kersa Illala with the kids, and it is so good to be back with those kids, especially the babies. When I got back on Wednesday Steff had actually left that morning for Addis to get some stuff mailed out, so we had actually crossed paths. When I got back Balditu and Benjamin were both very sick. As soon as I arrived everyone was like “Jenelle, you have to take the babies to the hospital” Apparently they had been sick for two days already and Steff told everyone that if they were not well by that afternoon when I returned that I would take them to the hospital. I was so stressed out and didn’t think I could take both babies in a minibus to the hospital. It looked like they both had typhus (which is what Margitu had) and Benjamin looked worse, so it was decided to load up Debabe and Benjamin and get them to the hospital. It was the scariest experience of my life because Benjamin had a very high temperature and kept slipping in and out of conciousness. The first doctor hinted towards signs that Benji had a brain tumor, and the other doctor thought he might have leukemia. I was so freaked out that I started to cry. Debabe looked really confused and I actually walked out of the hospital and went outside and started crying and praying that Benjamin wouldn't die. I composed myself and we got the blood work done. The last doctor that saw us said from the blood work he could rule out a number of things and that most likely Benjamin had an URI that had moved to his head (hence the fever, loss of consciousness, bloody nose, etc). It was the scariest day of my life and I can honestly say I hate the health care system here. Balditu was put on a prescription of Emox so that even if she has typhoid, typhus or a parasite the Emox will take out whatever it is.

Last night both babies were up crying all night because they were running fevers and couldn't get comfortable. Steff and I honestly got three hours of sleep. We just sat with the crying babies and watched the Andy Griffith show on DVD all night. I finally went to sleep around 7 am and when I got up at 9 all the staff was calling me lazy and laughing saying that I sleep all the time. I just laughed because it's such the culture here to point out everyone's flaws even if they have no idea that I had gotten no sleep the night before. Steff on the other hand is a maniac and has been awake all day getting things done.

Misdiagnoses!

Sarah and Mariama during the hygiene course they tought last Friday. Mariama is holding a picture of parasites (trying to scare the kids with creepy pictures of germs)
Jamilla and I before our nightly run.
Tayiba coloring her "Scary Germ"


Good news! Sarah has rediagnosed Margitu and she has . . .TYPHUS, not typhoid fever. And why is that good news, you may ask? Because Typhoid is highly contagious and we have two other infants in the compound that share clean diapers with her (bowels are highly contagious and even after washing and sanitizing diapers typhoid can still be spread). We are pretty sure she got typhus from rat fleas. . .yes we have giant mutant rats in the house that sneak through the rafters every night and their fleas do jump everywhere, no matter how clean we may think we are. She is improving very well thanks to accurately diagnosed medication and some TLC from Steff and myself.
This week has been busy organizing the youth group and creating sanitation and hygiene lessons to teach the women who work at the house. We seem to be having problems with them picking snot off the babies faces and then flinging it at the wall and not washing their hands, filling bottles with additional formula without washing them (I found mold in one), shutting off the hot water to conserve the bill and hence NOT washing dishes, themselves or bottles in hot soapy water, not drying dishes, etc. The list seems to go on and I've had it. The kids keep getting sick here and I'm trying to be culturally sensitive to the traditional practices that the women here practice. But once kids keep getting sick the farenji ideas take presidence and my "Western ideals" will take over!! haha





Also, I have discovered that the oil that the cooks are using at the house is Olean. What is Olean? Well Olean is an oil (saturated fat) taken off the market by the FDA in America because it makes people have oily discharge, incontrollable bowels, etc. We have all had cramping, bloating and even diarrhea. So we are going to buy some olive or vegetable oil and perhaps we will start being regular and maybe start losing some weight. Afterall, we have been working out and eating a limited diet of potatoes, injera and wot.





I am leaving for Addis Ababa tomorrow, possibly, with Sarah and Nicki. They are going up with their NGO for a weekend to see a soccer game. If we can cram the three girls and then three guys (the other interns) into their jeep then I will go. If not, then I will stay. And yes, we are concerned about seat belts and safety. . .kind of. There are not seat belts in cars here and the minibuses that we ride into town should only fit 12 but I've been in some where there are 26+ people crammed in. It will be nice to get into Addis and visit friends from last year and visit the branch again.

Cheers,

Jenelle

NGO's are great?

This week has been a surprising one. First off, Lon has arrived (the founder) along with Helen’s sister Kidist and her friend Calli. I could see the anxiety on Steff’s face when everyone arrived- what will all the girls do while they’re here, what can Steff give them as responsibilities to do? Also there are some underlying issues regarding founder’s policies, expectations, what has really been happening and just mixed feelings all in between regarding everyone that works for the NGO. Though I am not an official employee Steff has sat down with me and I have gotten her to talk through some issues and put them into a clear format of speech so when she sits down with Lon things can run more smoothly. Don’t get me wrong, NGO’s are great, especially this one, but behind every great thing there is a lot of man power, organizing, governing and negotiating.

Steff and I have been on a pretty consistent schedule this week: working with the kids, working ourselves and then we’ve been jogging about 6 km each night. Last night we got totally thrown off our routine though. Margitu’s been having a runny nose and fever and generally under the weather. She was asleep last night after dinner and I wanted to wake her to feed her. She felt really hot and I took her temp. It was 105 F. We immediately packed up the bags, threw a cold towel on her and booked it to the street to catch a minibus at 8pm to get to the hospital. Luckily we flagged down a car that one of our worker’s was in and got a ride to the hospital. Steff went on into the village to wake up Lon in his hotel room and get him to drive his rental car back to the hospital and take us home when we were done. The hospital’s here are so scary and so unsanitary. I was standing with Margitu in my arms in the hallway, the lights flickering above my head looking down the long dark hallway at a line of people wheezing, hacking and waling from their pain. I heard a lady say, “oh God, there’s a car accident”. I was afraid of what I would see next: two bodies brought in, bloody and bandaged. Just then I saw Steff come in, helping the people from the accident (she’s such a Saint I tell you). All I could think is ‘it would be horrible to die in a place like this’. Two hours after we arrived we left the hospital with the diagnoses of Typhoid Fever and a box of medicine, half of which I looked up after we got home last night and is complete crap that the doctor’s recommend and the pharmacy sells to make money. We got a Vitamin B12 supplement for Typhoid Fever. Please explain to me how that makes any sense?

I was telling Steffanie that if there were Social workers that actually worked in hospitals here they might question why VOH keeps bringing in our kids with illnesses, and question if we were really a good NGO doing our job. It is true, we do have a lot of sick kids, and even Steffanie and I question ‘what is going on here’ that there is always someone sick. We try our best to implement clean hygienic and sanitary practices, but some traditions and practices just die very hard here. Sara and Nicki came yesterday to teach our kids about germs and to wash our hands. It was a darling lesson; Nicki put honey on her hands (an analogy for wiping your butt with your hands) and then went and shook the kid’s hands and touched their faces. They were all squealing and making “ewwww” noises. It made a very good point though, that germs are invisible but can get anywhere.

Pictures

A pic that Helen took of Dibabe and Benjamin. I think this picture makes Dibabe look old as it appears she has graying hair. But I just thought it was a great picture and captures a bit of the story behind her and her baby. She was raped by her father, and hence Benjamin is a result of incest. Her father is in prison now, but nevertheless, it's a miracle she even looks at the boy.

I picked up Benjamin one day to hold him. I guessed I squeezed a little too tight on his bum, because this is what squirted out onto my arm!!

Steff can hold two babies at once!! Balditu did not fall, though she looks like she's hanging on for dear life!

We are not the only one's with sick kids, I swear! We found this girl in the village and told her to come to see the Nurse at our clinic to get her eye looked at. The poor girl hasn't shown up yet.




AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm really sorry, but I accidentally erased my last post by trying to edit in the pictures for this one!! If anyone has been printing this blog out (Mom?) could you hold onto my last post (Galatomi, Galatomi). I'd like to keep it for journal/documenting reasons! Thanks!!

A few questions answered

Mom emailed me with some questions that family and friends have asked, and perhaps I have not been too clear about certain things in previous posts. So here is a friendly q & a session:

Who exactly are Helen and Steffanie?
Helen is the Kennard's daughter. The Kennard's are the American founders and CEO's of Village of Hope. Helen came to Ethiopia this April with her mother and is staying until July to help at the village and visit her biological family. Helen was adopted by the Kennard's 13 years ago along with her five siblings from the very village where Village of Hope is located.

Steffanie is an American. A very good friend of the Kennard's, she decided to come to Ethiopia nearly two years ago to help set up the Village of Hope and get it running as a non-profit organization, register with the government and all the other details. She is a volunteer, spends money from her own pocket to be out here. She is absolutely amazing and Helen and I are looking for some single 30 something man that has an interest in humanitarian work, has a graduate degree in something, loves children and will cherish Steffanie for the rest of their lives. Please submit potential applicants for Helen and I to review. Steffanie will most likely move back to the States after October or so, once the whole Village of Hope is in the hands of local Ethiopians.


Are they other students, where are they from, how long have they been there, how long will they continue to be there? No, there are no other students out here.


Are there other adults besides? No and Yes. There are many Ethiopians that work for the VOH, but no other volunteers/Americans that are here. The Kennard's bring out expeditions every few months which consist of either Doctor expeditions or just volunteers from the states that come for about a week and help with building/planting/health care projects.


Who takes care of the children when the three of you are away/together? That is left up to a few women that work at the VOH during the day. At night there are three teenage girls that live a the compound that we have left the responsibility up to. Usually there is some clean-up work to do once we return, such as messy diapers that need washing, and making sure that the kids really did eat.


Why are the children so Beautiful? (as opposed to emaciated, starving, children in ill-health).
Ethiopians are just biologically gorgeous people, and in my opinion, some of the most beautiful people on this earth. None of the children at our compound are emaciated, starving, etc. because they live with us and we feed them three square meals a day and address their medical needs as fast as we can.

Do children just get abandoned, or are they removed from their homes because of neglect, or other reasons like in the US?
All of the children that we have at the compound have different reasons for being with us. Examples:
One girl was raped by her father and ran away. She refuses to return home.
One girl was abandoned by her mother and left at a restaurant and raised by the owners until Lon Kennard found her and brought her to the compound.
Three children live with their grandparents as their parent's have died. Their grandparents can't financially afford them and therefore they were not being fed well or sheltered.
There are two families of kids (three kids from one family, three kids from another) where the mother's are just un-fit. They are local prostitutes and have up to six children all from different men. The kids get neglected and left to roam the streets during the day while their mother is away.
And NO, there is no policy like Child Protective Services in Ethiopia. If children are abused, neglected, etc then they are succumb to survive off of the services that the local community or their extended family offer. Police reports can be made on abuse, but rarely are they followed through.

How much funding and/or other support do you get from the Ethiopian government? None. Village of Hope is an NGO meaning Non-Government Organization. It gets its funding strictly from donations, and from sponsors giving money to support the kids education, food and living expenses. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor one of the children please contact me immediately. To sponsor a child it is $50 a month or $600/year. My email is jenelletittelfitz@gmail.com


Are you in any kind of danger from civil unrest, or do you feel threatened by virtue of being American??? Not at all. I am registered with the American Embassy and if there is any sort of terrorist threat or threat to American citizens I will be contacted immediately. There are general threats to myself for a) being a woman and b) being a foreigner
I feel that I am very well informed on how to deal with these matters. The best defense I have is that I speak enough of the language to know what is going on around me and to ask directions and where to go when I need help. I had a few things happen to me last year that I walked away from without a scratch, but those only made me more aware for what I was getting into this year. Also I am in a pretty rural area. There are generally never enough people around to pose any sort of threat. I never travel alone either. Either Steffanie, Helen or one of the employees from the compound is with me at all times when I leave Village of Hope.

How did you get so darn cute? Why is it that you are smiling so much when you are under such primitive conditions?
Well, I guess you could thank good genes for my ridiculously good looks.
About the smiling- A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. All I can say is that I love what I am doing, where I am, and the people I am with. How could I not smile?

Have you grown attached to any particular children? How many are you planning on bringing home with you in August? I love all the children. Helen, Steff and I laugh because we are somewhat like proud parents, and when we are away from the compound we talk about all the children, their little quirks, the fun things they do, and also the annoying things they do. I won't be bringing any of them home, unless an adoption goes through right when I leave and I might be able to travel with the kid(s) to America. That would be fun, but not very realistic as all the kids that are under the adoption process right now will probably take months, if not a year to go through.

A Little rank, dank, and some stank

We're in Addis right now for the weekend as there was a tri-Branch conference today that we all wanted to attend and Steffanie has to meet with a potential donor on Tuesday that is flying into Addis. We're seeing this as a good opportunity to get away from the kids and see what happens while we're gone. We're thinking the babies will be dressed up in doll clothes, will have been fed pebbles mixed with mud that the little girls fed them as play food and that the house will have burnt down? one can only imagine. . .

We ate at the Sombkes house today, a family that the husband works at the Embassy. It was like walking into America at their house. They made strombolli and we had ice cream and salad. Us three girls had a competition with the missionaries who could eat more. We definitely won for desserts. They were a little offended by our pride though, bragging on and on about how much we could eat, and then I think they were a little disgusted by how much we really ate. Sister LePrey, the missionary couple sister here, kept making comments like "you're kidding me" "good heavens girls" when we kept getting more plates full of food. It's kind of sad that I've only been here two weeks and already craving farenji food. But got to stock up now before we go back out to the village!


The pic above is one that Helen took. She found a cool feature on my camera where only green's, yellow's and blue's stick out. That was when I was making the mobile for Benji.


Here's Helen with Margitu after a few days without showering. Then there's me with Benji (Benjamin). That's three days without washing the mat of hair on my head and just a little sunburnt from being sensitive to the sun from my Malaria meds.

Little Balditu on Helen's lap to the right. She's doing so much better now after having girardia. She's smiling and being a baby again!

So on Tuesday the electricity went out at the compound because of some faulty wiring. Therefore the pump on the well shut down and therefore no water or light. . .for three days. Helen and I didn't take showers and were becoming a sore sight to see. Just look at us in the pictures. . .not too shabby? We didn't change our clothes either because we are always having the babies cloth diapers leak through onto our pants or babies throwing up on us, so what's the point of going through five pairs of clothes a day?
I made a mobile to hang over Benjamin's crib and Balditu got a hold of it and ripped it to shreds, so much for that.
The youth group that Steff started had it's first official activity on Thursday. We first met and had a general meeting and they picked a group name (Youth Service) and designed a logo that we are going to try to get printed on shirts while we're here in Addis. They also played volleyball and I was asked to step out for excessive cheating (actually I stepped out at my own free will- ha!)


This is a comic strip I cut out of the paper before I left. Though I hope this is never me, I thought it was pretty funny. If you can't read it, it says, "Any last requests?"
"Can I put one last entry in my blog about this?"

It's been nice to be in Addis for the day and to cruise around and show Helen and Steff around MY territory since I was here all last year and Steff has always lived out in the country in Kersa Ellala. BAD NEWS- on the bus ride to Addis yesterday morning Helen got her passport, money and immunization card stolen. Her dad's coming out her next week so she is going to survive off of my money for awhile and we called the embassy and they're getting her a replacement passport on Monday. She was pretty upset when she first figured her things were really gone, but only hours later we are joking about it.