Middle of the Night Update

Hello All! 
Virginia here, 2:30am Ethiopia time and I am wide awake for some reason.. Have been sleeping ok actually, not great, but ok & tonight I think the stuffy nose/sore throat finally got to me.  The air here is so dry that I have had a mild bloody nose most days and so dirty that along with the blood is dirt black as night. Besides that, the weather is about perfect, high 70's mid day and chilly at night and the am.. 13 months of sunshine they claim, and I believe it.

This has been such an emotionally exhausting trip for all.  Heather, you were right when you said your travel group was important, ours has been amazing. Get ready Erin!  The other American families we are traveling with are incredible, and to have them experiencing the same with us is so comforting. 

Meeting Musse's (He isn't quite Kai yet) mom on Sunday was simply unexplainable.. All I can really say about it is that she loves him more than I do right now, it was the hardest decision of her life and she knew exactly what she was doing.  She is so strong and intelligent and why I was born into privilege in America and she was born into poverty in the forgotten but beautiful land of Ethiopia I will have to ask God, b/c only He knows.. The faith in God that she has is humbling, there is much I could learn from her.

Musse is absolutely beautiful and we are falling more in love every moment we spend with him.  Tomorrow am is the goodbye ceremony at the Care Center and we will have him full time from then on - eeeek!  We head to the US Embassy after lunch to get his visa.. The visa most Ethiopians would do anything for.. The guide that we had our first few days in country is putting his hope in the lottery system, and you know what, honestly, he would contribute much more to our society than I do, but he will most likely never get the opportunity.  He is everything you would want in a friend, neighbor, brother and more.  The people here are absolutely beautiful, the kindest and happiest I have ever met.. I just wish for them that their opportunities matched their hearts and hard work.

We went to Ahope today (monday)... The comparison between the care Musse is getting and the conditions at Ahope are in stark contrast.  CHSFS is a wealthy organization here (& doing many wonderful things in the community), Ahope is surviving, just like the kids that come to them.  Moms, this is where your donations went, I think you would have made the same decision, it was more heartbreaking than anything we have seen.. and it was nothing that money wouldn't solve.  Thankfully, the WHO is providing all the ARV's (anti-retro vials) needed to keep their HIV+ status under control and besides some skin conditions, most are healthy and happy and those kids were just beautiful.  This organization is doing much with their very little, trying first to keep kids with their families, providing the drug cocktails they need and feeding/clothing/schooling them.  They take in the abandoned found by the police, never turning one away (about 75 kids right now).. the women who work here are saints, they must be.  And if anyone is looking to sponsor a child or for an organization to give to, please check out AHope.. 

I'm going to try to go back to sleep now, love to all, sorry so melancholy.. that's why Ben's been posting most of the trip.. I just haven't really been up for it.. This is such a hard journey - thanks to all who have been there for us! 

Kiss your kids and your spouses, and then kiss the ground and thank God you are an American.  Africa is a wonderful place, everyone needs to come here in their lifetime.  The people are hopeful, happy and grateful, but we are abundantly blessed, specifically with opportunities those here will never have.. and me, I often forget that.

Love much, Gin