Ethiopia First Trip- Day 2, Adama Nursery

This was the big day. T and I were so excited and a little nervous to meet Baby B. We had been warned by our adoption agency and through information we read that she might be afraid of us, after all she is 10 months old and stranger anxiety is common at this age. Our friends the Reeves were nervous too so it was comforting to know these were normal emotions.

Our driver from our partnering agency, was ready around 8:30 and we met Abebe who is among many things our in country representative. We had around a 3 hour drive south east of Addis to Nazret which is also called Adama.

 I'm pretty sure our driver was a black Dale Earnhart. In Ethiopia passing on a curve and driving on the wrong side of the road is perfectly fine. Basically there are no rules on the road... you do have to wear a seat belt though. So, it was pretty difficult for this Speech Pathologist who works with all kinds of neuro patients after car accidents. I saw my life pass before my eyes several times. A couple times we saw A bow his head, in hopes of not looking will give us some travel mercies... or he was praying, not sure. To top it all off we passed 4 huge accidents, most of them very large trucks turned over and smashed to pieces.But, the drive was so beautiful, full of rural farm scenes. T and A were busy taking pictures and commenting on the different colors of soil even within the same fields.

Our hotel In Nazret, Hotel Maya, was absolutely gorgeous! I felt like I was at a resort and was so surprised by it. We strolled through the sidewalks to our rooms and walked under the flower covered trellis' and found our beautiful rooms with modern, gorgeous sinks and showers. But, there was no water. None. No water that whole day and no water the next morning. They had to bring us a big bucket of water for when we used the toilet.

 It didn't matter that there was no water. I couldn't wait to meet little Baby B. Here we come! Oh, wait. We are eating lunch first. Ok, let's eat lunch first. Sure. Lunch was good though and I loved getting to talk with Abebe about his life's work and ministries.  We also got to meet the Kings at lunch also. They had arrived in ET almost a week prior to our visit and had the privilege of meeting their daughter in the orphanage all the way west of ET in Dembidolo. They had long travels and had already been to see their daughter that day in Adama. We drilled them with questions about the kids and she had pictures to show us from earlier in the day. It was great to meet them and begin another great friendship.

It was finally time to go meet the kids and we were ready. The picture below is the Adama Widow and Orphan home. If you look at it through western eyes you might not understand what you are looking at. In India and apparently in Ethiopia they do as much of the construction as they can and then when there are funds they continue on. If you look at the walls on the outside you can see that it is a fairly new building. It is strong and very beautiful. They will complete it with walls going up the next three levels, but will keep it open at the ceiling for a courtyard open feel. Amazing. It is so beautiful and well done.

We hesitantly walked through the gates and through the door, not wanting to make the wrong move or overstep our boundaries. We took Abebe's lead. The Kings were so sweet to take pictures and video for us and the Reeves since they had already met their kiddo. The Reeves went first and we walked behind them to the nursery and was able to witness the sweet meeting they had with their little guy. Oh he was so cute and the moment was precious. Here is where I would love to insert a picture of little M and the Reeves family, but since we did not officially pass court without that MOWA letter I can't. 

I spotted Baby B with a nanny and I just waved at her. My heart skipped a beat. Abebe motioned us to come forward and we were all in the nursery together. What happened next is sort of a blur for me. Thank goodness we have video of it. Someone handed B to me and I couldn't believe I was finally meeting her. She was beautiful of course. Someone motioned me to leave and walk with her so I did. At some point she realized I was a strange white woman and not her dearly loved nanny and she began to cry. I held her close and she put her head on my chest and calmed down... until she saw T. Then crying again. She calmed down again and rested her head on my chest until she saw M taking her pictures, so she began crying again. The rest of the morning was spent staring at this amazing little baby trying to comfort her when she was upset.

At some point that afternoon one of the sweet widows came over and just took charge. She said, "Gombi" (no idea if that's the real word or how to spell it, but by the end of my trip I heard it enough that this is as close as I can get to it) which means "Bend over!". The next thing I know my body was being wrapped with Baby B behind me like two caterpillars in a cocoon. I stood up and she was suspended Ethiopian mama style right on my back. She loved it and therefore I did too. It was so special to be in this wrap with her and my heart was full of love for this widow. I wish I could post the picture where you can see all 3 of us, but for now here I am with that widow. Baby B is on my back so just pretend you can see her.

The rest of the afternoon was spent holding B, staring at her, trying to take her in so I wouldn't forget any details of her when I had to leave her. She for sure preferred brown skin and if someone had offered me some type of face dye I would have taken it that day! I was able to kiss her and touch her hair a lot. She jumped every time I touched her feet so we know she has issues there already. She must take after my brother that way. It was fun to see that each of our children had been matched so perfectly by our Father. Baby M was so laid back just like our Texan friends. Baby S was loyal and passionate like her Illinois parents. And B was somewhat serious in a situation unfamiliar to her and a little high strung at times, clearly taking after her father. This was a perfect first encounter and I couldn't wait for more.

I wish I could insert a picture of her favorite nanny here, but any picture I have with her she is holding B. I was told that I could talk with the nanny, but we might want to do that at the end as she may cry. I loved hearing that. It also made me very sad and appreciate the job she held. That job is not for the weak in spirit. To love these children and then say goodbye to them is not easy. Any time someone handed B to me, I saw her leave the room out of the corner of my eye. Anytime I caught her eye she always had a sincere and big smile for me, but I knew she was hurting some. I did get to talk with her later that day and found her name was Yeshareg. I found out Yeshareg has a nickname she calls B- Jote (pronounced Joty). I loved that! I used it a couple times with B and it calmed her down. I was able to ask her all kinds of questions about B including her routine, likes, what and how much she eats, etc. Her answers were similar to a mother who was trying to help the sitter have a handle on how to take care of her children while she would be gone.

I was worried I would feel like the nannies were sizing me up or judging me in some way. But, I never felt that. I only ever got endearing smiles and sweet looks. They were trying their best to help B become comfortable with me and they wanted me to know anything about her that I needed in order to make her life and mine a better one. There is no way to measure the amount of love that is in my heart for all of these nannies. They have loved and mothered my little B for a very important period of her life.

However, one of the things that almost stopped us (me) from pursuing adoption was the thought of ripping a child from all that they knew and causing the trauma of heartache in theirs and their caretakers. I am not sure why, but my heart is very tender on this issue. I was just talking with the assistant director of our agency who remembered this being a big obstacle for me. My friend Jennifer reminded me that it was much like becoming a follower of Christ. That at first, it is very hard and painful to leave the habits and comforts of your old, but dying life. But, eventually, the pain leads to life and peace. And that despite the pain becoming a believer and following a living God who comforts is better. She was saying the same goes for adoption. That, although it is difficult and can be painful for the children and their caretakers, it is for their good in the long run. Children need the love of families and the identity that it brings. This made sense to me, but it was still a sore spot. I talked to the director of the Adama home about this and boy did she have some preaching for me! I was so thankful for her words. To sum it up, the nannies were always just as excited and thankful that the children were given families as they were emotional over saying goodbye. She said none of the nannies want the children to stay in the orphanage. It was a special gift from God that I even got to see their excitement as Abebe was able to announce that one of the little boys in the orphanage had a family he was matched with! You should have heard those tongue twirls and hooping/clapping going on! Amen Lord! Here's Tezera preaching to me.

At one point two of the staff, maybe the housekeepers, were leaving for the day and they waved me down to say goodbye. I waved and spontaneously blew them a kiss. I guess it was just welling up too much inside of me because this is not at all my personality. The excitement on their faces and the immediate return of the blown kiss was not forced. Clearly we were all working with the same goal. To love Christ is to love these children. To care for them, to nurture them, to clean their clothing, to wash their bowls and bottles, to parent and disciple them for as long as they are given to us. We are a team. 

And we headed back to our wonderful hotel without water and I slept like I hadn't slept for 4 days. Wonderful sleep.