I finally remembered to take my camera to breakfast so I could remember the view from the mornings.
What a view to begin each day!
A great place to pray for the city.
I'm still amazed at how they construct buildings. The "scaffolding" is interesting and scary at the same time in my mind.
The horse drawn carts still catch my attention too. In the middle of city traffic, a horse and cart!
These people were eating breakfast in this makeshift "house".
Before we go any further, let me introduce you to Bira. Four years ago, this young man was one of the kids walking down the road with people asking for a sponsor. And one day, he got a sponsor. Things changed after that. He started going to school consistently. He had food and clothes. He had a future. I'm not saying things were suddenly "peaches and cream" for Bira, but things were better.
Earlier this year Bira decided to give back to his community of Korah. He started a feeding program for children. Today we had the privilege of serving alongside him and the ladies who prepare the food with Choices 4 Change.
There was a crowd of women and children who had gathered by the time we arrived. There were a few policemen there to help keep everyone in order. This was only the second time he had fed at this location. These families are from the countryside. This village of "homes" has been constructed as more and more families come to live closer to the city. However, they don't have jobs to support themselves. He saw a need to feed children and started serving in this location too.
We were led to a different entrance to avoid the crowd. But they saw us and followed.
At 17 years old, Bira did a great job of keeping people organized and where they were supposed to be. When he spoke, they listened! :)
A mother who brought her child to have a meal
Siblings would share with their younger siblings once they received a plate of food.
Some prepared plates while others handed out the plates or handled crowd control.
Temeche helped a little girl put on a new pair of shoes from my backpack when we saw that the shoes she was wearing were way too small for her feet.
Happy girl with new shoes
The children found places to sit to eat their injera.
As we left the place we served meals, I saw these guys working construction. That still amazes me how they put up that scaffolding then walk around on it.
You would never see this here at home...but some of our group had to walk under the arm of this heavy equipment while the men continued working.
We passed the trash dump on our way to the next location.
This young mom's child has a medical condition that needs attention soon. We stopped to pray with the mother and child.
We went to Island Breeze for lunch. I had someone take this photo so my Hannah could see me at the place "with honey mustard sauce" from two years ago. They still have honey mustard!
There is a mom, Ashley, staying at the Life Center who is in the process of adopting a little girl. She had been there for 6-8 weeks when we were there. She joined us for the morning and her little girl was enjoyed by the entire team. :) At lunch her sweet girl made her way down the table making each of us smile. (Note: As of 01Aug14, she thinks she will have to stay until October because the courts are closing for the rainy season. When you think of Ashley and her family, say a prayer for them. Ashley's husband has to stay in the US to work so they are separated during this time.)
After serving the morning meal and having lunch, we went back to the Life Center to reorganize our donations for the afternoon.
We were back in Korah for the afternoon feeding program.
Kylee made a new friend, Obama.
We had a serving line of making plates then handing them out.
Once again, Bira kept order with the children. The children know the routine now as he has been serving here for a while.
Again, the older children shared with the younger ones.
Owen noticed a little boy who was wearing clothes that were much too small...
...so we found some new clothes for him...
...and he went home with clothes that fit. His old ones are in the bag. A smaller child will be wearing those now.
Once we finished serving the second meal, we headed back to the shelter for me to hand out some gifts for children I met last time. My brother and his wife sponsor a girl in Korah. I never saw Fasika but her brother promised to deliver her gift.
Two years ago there was a little girl who wanted my Hannah to carry her everywhere we went. Hannah fixed a bag of new clothes for her. Her eyes lit up when I showed her Hannah's photo on my phone. She said, "Yes! I remember!"
I had one more stop to make. I wanted to see my friend who had surgery. I also hoped her son, Yergamachew, would be home.
Two years ago a boy was with us. Now he is a young man almost as tall as me! Keep doing well in school, Yergamachew!!
Thankfully, she is on the road to recovery. I didn't get to see her little girl, Selam, but I left her gift with Yergamachew.
Today I was blessed seeing a young man who is giving back to his community even while receiving from someone else. We can all learn a lesson from Bira! If you want to sponsor a child in Bira's feeding program, contact Ordinary Hero and specify you want to sponsor with Choices 4 Change.
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