Hometown - Day 4 - June 28th

We have been dreading re-living this day even via the blog. A day that we cannot even recount without tears in our eyes and in our hearts. There are days in life that change who you are as a person, this day was one of those days. A day that drilled the massive problem our society faces with fatherless children so deep into the fiber of who we are. For we realized this day that if we don't do more to love the fatherless, the widow, the oppressed who are we as a people? What have we become to let the children of our world be thrown away, or more importantly what will we become as 250 million children sit at night asking God who will be their parents?

We head south out of Addis on what is supposed to be a highway. The best description is the road is a sidewalk with the random car or massive freight truck. You do not go 100 yards without seeing people, cattle, donkeys, camels, monkeys, goats, and of course coca-cola. We are on a six hour journey to the kam b ata region of Ethiopia birthplace of our daughter. Below are some pictures along the road out to Dur am e.



National Geographic and the Discovery Channel have done a great job of pretending to capture life in these areas. We can tell you that you have not lived until you have seen how amazingly majestic this landscape is. Living in America I think we see Africa as people who are unhappy without all of the trappings of modern life. We learn on this drive what we have known all along happiness is found in the simple things. From the seven year old wrangling cattle to the market with a smile unlike anything you have even witnessed. To the little child without pants on the side of the road waiving to traffic as it passes. This culture has what we have long forgot in our country, love the simple things, love your neighbors, and live as a community.

This is the simple happy side of Africa. On the flip side are problems caused by population explosion, lack of clean water, lack of doctors, lack of medicine, and the overwhelming amount of poverty. From our van windows we capture glimpses of life here. We turn down the road to Dura me and this reality sets in quickly as in front our vehicle two men are carrying a body of a half dead man across the road, as we drive a few more miles we enter the town of Dura me we snap a photo of the welcome to Durame sign only to realize there is a body being carried across the road. Welcome to the heart of Ethiopia the problems are a reality AIDS, Malaria, and Death are a part of everyday life. The feeling of your heart being broken is unmistakable and real, at this point we are no longer as numb as we were just twenty minutes before.

We put our bags at the hotel we are staying at. Grab a quick snack and head over to meet Millennium's birth mom. We will leave the story for a moment here. We can tell you the meeting was amazing, and so refreshing. Her mom is truly an amazing women of God and loved Millie so much. With that said it is Millie's story to tell when she grows up, if she wants to.

From our meeting we drive a block down the street in which the care center in which Millennium was first dropped off. We enter through the gates of the compound that is nothing more than a modest house. Our stomachs sink as we see the wall in which are little girl was photographed in front on when we first set eyes on her. We were unable to photograph inside due to security of the children and out of respect for the future parents of these little ones.



It really hard to describe the atmosphere one of Joy, Hope, but the elephant in the room is the amount of children. 72 kids are living in this care center waiting for families! This process has taught us that 4.6 million children in Ethiopia have no parents and no place to call home. You never really think about the number until you see just 72 kids in an orphanage and that is overwhelming.



The area of the orphanage is terraced with babies in the top house and toddlers and older children in the bottom two buildings. We made our way down to the lower buildings. Echoing off the walls you hear the sound of children singing in their native language. We walk into a room full of empty children's beds. How many nights did our little girl lay away wondering what was going on? The thoughts are overwhelming, how many of these children still need homes? How did our society get to a place? What can we possibly do to help.

We exit the bunk house and walk into the area where the kids are singing. By this point the emotions of the group are all holding on by a thread. Upon entering the room there are 20-30 Millennium's sitting around the room clapping their hands and singing in the most amazing voices. We begin to sob watching the kids look at us in confusion. It is really hard to describe the emotion that was felt. It was a new emotion, a shift in purpose, a new found love for Millennium a new found love for the fatherless.

Leaving the orphanage we wish the hurt, and pain stopped inside that compound. The truth of the matter is Holt has their work cut out for them. Adoption is such a small part of the work that is going on in Ethiopia. In the village next to Durame, Shinshicho Holt is running a hospital to care for the people of this village. With a ratio of 1 doctor to every 60,000 citizens the problem is dire. Talking with Dr. Fikru he explained that the problems they face are able to be overcome. Working to identify members of the community with the like heart for people and whom want to be used by God. We visited the hospital under the cover of darkness to finish off the day.