An Ethiopian Farewell

Last week, I loaded up Kohen to head out to Raleigh. The group of Ethiopian students visiting the US for the past year, were returning the Addis Ababa the following day. You won't see Amanuel in any of these pictures because he is NOT returning to Ethiopia. He is staying with his brother in Kansas City, MO, he will begin taking classes at his local community college in a few weeks, and he even has his driver's license! He was given a new Visa, and thankfully, it able to stay here for school! I can't tell you how happy we are about this :) We speak with him often, and today he said he swam from one end of the pool to the other (which is a big deal considering he hadn't even seen a body of water until a few months ago :) We are so proud!


I received an email today from Binyam, Amanuel's best friend. He told me that life was VERY difficult right now in Ethiopia. They have limited electricity, and in his family of seven, they all shared one bed, ate dinner by candlelight, and he said that no one could even afford a slice of bread. The economy there is way worse than here. My heart aches for him and for all the kids who returned from living posh lives here in the US. Can you imagine living here with all of our freedoms and modern conveniences only to return to the worst case of poverty in a third world country? I can't. I've been sitting in my beautiful house, watching my flat screen tv, dreaming about my future home. Should we build or buy? Should we have 4 or 5 bedrooms? Do I need a bigger car, and should we get one with a tv built in? Are you kidding me? I feel disgusting and ashamed that I would even worry about such stupid THINGS, when children I dearly love don't even have basic necessities. I'm through ranting, but seriously, I'm able to put THINGS into perspective today.

Ayele and Binyam

Kohen flirting with the girls
Kohen touring through the office

Ayele

Binyam giving his goodbye speech