Living as a Ferungi

Ferungi is a word that I hear quite often.  Most of the time it is hurled at me as I am walking down the street, riding in a bajaj, or when people are speaking in Amharic and for some reason they think I don't realize that they are talking about me.  In the Amharic language a ferungi is a non-Ethiopian.  Actually, it is more than that, it is a person that doesn't look like an Ethiopian.  If you are a "ferungi" that was born and raised in Ethiopia-you will still be called a ferungi.

Little kids run up and just want to touch my skin.  I think it is funny, so do they.  Some babies scream and cry if I try to touch them.  One little girl screams and cries if I just look at her.  I realize that I look different but I don't feel any different.  This is my home now and sometimes it is weird to have people basically point at you and tell you that you don't belong.  I know that they don't mean any harm when they scream out ferungi at me but sometimes it does hurt my feelings.  It is like a reminder that no matter how long I live here I won't ever truly fit in.  I know this isn't the case with the people closest to me but it is true for others.

I think it is more weird for me to understand the fascination of the color of my skin because I come from a country where we have a little bit of every nationality and race.  I lived in the DC and Baltimore area for a long time so I am used to seeing many different people all of the time.  I realize that here they are not used to that so maybe it is fun for them to see "outsiders".

These are just my random thoughts for the day.  :)

Thanksgiving in Ethiopia

What an awesome Thanksgiving.  There is one other American (Jess) here right now so we hosted Thanksgiving dinner for about 25 people.  Michelle (New Zealander) helped us even though this was also her first Thanksgiving.  We ordered chickens for the meal because you can't get turkey here.  I made sure to specify that I wanted dead chickens 'cause you just never know around here.  I don't usually eat turkey in the States for Thanksgiving but I wanted to get it here because it is so traditionally Thanksgiving but we made do with the chickens.  Also, ham is very expensive here so that is why we went with the chickens.

Cooking here is interesting to say the least.  You've got the altitude issues (I'm at about 6300ft here), the stove and oven are gas and it is extremely hot.  There is no such thing as simmer or warm on these dials.  Plus, it is difficult to find ingredients that you are used to cooking with.  All in all, I thought it was a great night.  We were worried that we wouldn't have enough food but we actually had leftovers.

We played a game where we drew names and we went around the room and said why we were thankful for that person.  My family had done this once in the past and I thought it was a great way to spend Thanksgiving.  It was so cool to hear some of the reasons why everyone was thankful for the others.  Mussie had to translate the whole evening so I am not sure that he really enjoyed his Thanksgiving but I am very grateful that he was willing to be our translator.  In the end we had US Citizens, New Zealanders, Ethiopians, and for a short while, a Canadian.

I spent most of the evening holding an impoverished newborn that now has a hope and a future because God used Blessing the Children to rescue her and her family.  Can't really get more thankful than that, can you?

Busy, busy. . .

Things sure have been busy lately.  Sorry for the delay in postings.  I am actually sick today (only a cold, nothing to worry about) so I am doing work from bed so I thought that I would update you on everything that has been going on.  The BCI directors came into town last week and it was busy, busy with meetings.  I wasn’t in the meetings and trainings but all the “big” people were so things that I wanted or needed to do got put on hold.

I mentioned in the previous blog that Michelle and I were starting a Bible study at one of the churches and that approximately 30 women showed up for the “welcome” meeting.  The first official Bible Study was held on Oct 25^th and it was amazing.  Approximately 25 women showed up to the study and we had an amazing time together and with the Lord.  Because all of the “big” people were in training all week, our usual translators were not available.  Mussie arranged for a man to come and translate for us.  So we get there and we are waiting.. . .

The Bible study was to start at 4:30 and by 4:45 there was still no translator.  Now, if I were back in the US I would have been totally panicked at this point, but this is Ethiopia and time is a fluid concept to most of the locals (not all, but most).  But by 5 I was starting to get nervous.  I texted Mussie to try to find out if he had heard from the translator (remember, Mussie was in this very important training so I shouldn’t have been texting him). While texting Mussie my phone ran out of money so I went to use Michelle’s and hers ran out of money also!  So I start walking around the church complex looking for our translator, whose name I didn’t even know!  I couldn’t find him but I found a man who spoke English fluently and I asked him if he would translate for us and he graciously agreed! 

Michelle and I have started a Bible study at another church as well and the welcome meeting for that one was on Oct 20^th.  Approximately 25 women showed up for this one and the first Bible study is this Thursday.  Please pray that we have a good turn-out and even though there is a language barrier, that we will be able to join together and learn more about our great God.

With the directors of BCI in town, I have been able to learn much more about this great organization.  Not only have I learned more about how they got started but I have learned a lot about where they want to go.  There has been a lot of vision planning happening and I am so excited about things that I have heard.  God is doing amazing things through BCI and I am sooooooo thrilled that He has chosen me to be a part of it!

One of the biggest happenings is that Dennis has returned to start Phase III of the school.  Dennis is from Michigan and he was been the builder for the school.  The school has come together in phases.  Phase I and Phase II happened at different times and both times, Dennis has come to Ethiopia for a month and has built the school.  Well, he is back and Phase III is happening!  Phase III allows BCI Academy to go up to grade 8 (currently it is grades 1-7).  It also includes a cafeteria, kitchen, and other rooms that will be used for training for adults. 

While there have been amazing things happening around here, there has also been heart-breaking things as well.  Almost every day I go on home visits with one or more of the social workers.  This gives me an opportunity to visit the homes of the program kids and to meet their families and/or guardians.  This also gives me an opportunity to see what kinds of needs are out there.  On Monday afternoon Betty (BCI social worker) took me and a couple from Canada to meet a family that attends her church but that is not in the BCI program. 

This home visit has been the absolute worst visit I have been on, including all of the home visits I did last year when I was here.  This home consisted of a 20 year old woman (Seble), her 4 year old son (Yabsira), and her mother.  Four years ago this young woman was gang raped by four men.  So, at the time this young girl was only 16 years old.  These men attacked her so badly that she is still in chronic pain from the injuries that she received.  I am not going to go into all of the details of what happened to her body, just know that it is horrific.  She is so messed up that she can barely stand or walk.  The only time that she leaves her house is to walk approximately 50ft to the closest church.  Her mother and son go to a different church, a church that this young woman wants to attend, but because of her physical limitations she is forced to attend the closest church she can get to. 

Basically, for the last four years this precious girl has been sitting on her bed watching the world go by through the window that is at the head of her bed.  As I mentioned earlier, she has a four year old son.  This little boy is the product of that brutal rape.  She loves her son very much.  I could see it in the way that her face lit up when he walked in the door and by how she kisses on him.  She is not only living with the physical trauma of what these men did to her but she is living with the pain of not being able to provide for her child. 

The couple from Canada that came with me on the home visit was torn up by this visit as much as I was.  The three of us were just sitting there, not believing what we were seeing or hearing.  Looking back on it now it seems weird that we weren’t crying but I realize now that we were too stunned and angry to cry.  I have cried over it since then, I actually am now as I type this, but at the time I was in complete disbelief. 

After leaving the home visit, the couple from Canada went to lunch and they decided that they would pay for this precious girl to have reconstructive surgery.  I am soooo elated at this news!  I love how God brings people from all the way across the world to change the world for one family.  This woman is not even affiliated with BCI but God is still using BCI to bless her. 

The next day, I went back to visit her and Sheila (Blessing the Children Canada Director) came so she could meet the family.  Betty told the young girl that her surgery is paid for and it was a precious moment.  I have noticed that the majority of Ethiopians are pretty reserved in their emotional reactions so there was no screams of elation or even tears of joy; but there was hope.  There was hope in her face; not just that she would no longer be in physical pain every day, but hope that she would be able to improve the life of her child. 

BCI would like to add the little boy to the program but we need to find sponsors for him.  Please pray that God brings along the perfect sponsors for this family-and let me know if you are that sponsor or if you want more information about how to sponsor a child. 

This is Seble.  This is how she watches the world.

This is Yabsira.

I miss everyone so much!  I think it is worse because I haven’t been able to communicate much because of technical difficulties.  Please know that I am trying to get everything up and running so I can Skype but things aren’t as easy to accomplish here!  J

Oh yeah, do you realize I have been here for a month already?!!

Where to help?

The needs here are overwhelming.  Sometimes it is too much and I just cry and cry when I think of all of these precious people and what they lack.  I understand that the most important thing is that they know Jesus.  But there is a part of me that hurts because they live in conditions that I consider unfit.  I also understand that a lot of my views on living conditions were formed because I grew up in the USA.  Not to say that there aren't poor people in America, because there are, but there are poor-extremely poor-people everywhere you turn here. 

I love to go on home visits to meet the children and their families but sometimes it is too difficult because I can't imagine living in such homes.  I have a lot of guilt about my advantages in life.  While I wasn't born in America, I was born to American citizens.  Why was I and not some of these children here?  I don't know why I was afforded certain opportunities and others are not.  I obviously enjoy the advantages that being an American affords me, but on the other hand it annoys me that not everyone is afforded the same advantages.  I am the same as anyone else. . .except for my birth certificate that says I am an American.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give".  That is the place I am in right now.  I have been given so much and I have greedily taken so much during my life that now is the chance for me to give back.  The only hard part is deciding where and who to give to.  The needs are so great and I am not Bono (does anyone else think it's sad that the greatest philanthropists of our time are not Christians?) but I have been given much. 

Thank you to everyone that is allowing me to be here by supporting me.  So far your money has been able to provide a month's worth of food for five separate families, new clothes for a little boy, and rent for a single mom with two children that was facing eviction.  Also, your money will soon be providing a woman that is supporting 6 children (not all are hers) by making injera and selling it, with a new electric oven and the electricity to make the oven work!!  She will be able to make the injera much faster and the electric oven will be healthier for her.  Right now she is chopping firewood and when she sits in front of the fire all day she breathes in all that smoke (she is now having lung problems) and the fire burns her knees. 

These may sound like small things but they are huge to the people that receive them.  Thank you so much for your faithful support.  I can't tell you enough how much it not only means to the families that are blessed by it here, but to me as well.

I am missing Birthdays! :(

Yesterday was my brother's birthday and I almost missed it!!  He had told me before I left that he wanted his own special blog on his birthday.  Last year when I was here I said happy birthday to him and my bff Angela in the same blog and he didn't appreciate sharing the spotlight with her!

The internet at home still isn't working, my phone hadn't been calling the States, so a group of us set out for the internet cafe yesterday so I could make Kevin's special blog.  And of course. . .it was closed!!  We went to three separate internet cafes and they all were closed because the network was down.  I was so upset that I was trying not to throw a tantrum in the street.

On a whim I decided to ride to Addis to pick J up from the airport.  Mussie and I were sitting there waiting and he asked me how I was doing on my patience (I previously told Mussie that if God accomplished anything in me in Ethiopia it would be my patience skills).  I told him that I was doing okay until today because I was missing Kevin's birthday.  We were sitting there and I just decided to try to call him and see if it would work.  I called Dad's home phone first and it actually went through but they didn't pick up!  So then I called Dad's cell phone and he answered!!!  It was so great to hear his voice and he told me that they were actually just about to sing Happy Birthday to Kevin so I got to sing along!!

Dad let me talk to Kevin next and in the middle of our convo my phone ran out of money so it hung up.  But I was so happy that I got to call and talk to them!  Isn't that just like God?  For two weeks my phone wouldn't call the States and when I was really sad because I was going to miss Kevin's birthday it actually called!!  Praise the Lord!

Kevin, I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I am so glad that you got to hear my beautiful singing voice!  You are an amazing person and I can't wait until you get here.  Hurry up!  "You too!"  :)

And of course, this blog wouldn't be complete without wishing my beautiful best friend Angela a Happy Birthday!  I miss you so much!  I hope that your new job is going great for you.  I can't wait until we can Skype!  Love you bunches!!

:)

Ethiopia is still great!  So I mentioned in the previous post that a family from New Zealand just recently moved to Ethiopia to serve with BCI, Michelle, the mother, and I have been spending some time together getting to know each other and sharing our visions for service here.  She is teaching art at the school and trust me, God definitely hasn't given me the vision to serve in that area!  However, we do have some overlapping visions.  God gave both of us the visions, before we arrived, to start a Bible study amongst the local women.  We had a "getting to know you" meeting last night for the moms to attend and 31 women showed up!!  We introduced ourselves to them and shared our visions for the study with them.  We then asked them what they wanted to gain from it and when they would like to meet.  Please pray that God blesses this new endeavor and that we may learn from these women.  I am so blessed to be a part of their lives and I can not wait to fellowship with them in Bible study!

Michelle and I both had the vision of starting a Bible club at the Academy.  I am meeting with Mulugeta, BCI principal, tomorrow to get some more information about this and to see if this is something that the Academy would like to take on.  Also, I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss me teaching Music Theory to the older children.  This is a little bit out of my comfort zone but I know if it is of God, then He will bless it.

Also, today, Goldy (BCI social worker) asked me to give English lessons to Besa.  Besa is in the process of being adopted and Goldy wants her English skills to improve before she moves to America.  It sounds like I am going to be busy!!

I am able to communicate now!

Wow!  What a week!  I am here in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia and I am loving it.  I have spent the last week getting settled into my room and getting adjusted to life here in Ethiopia.  I have missed my BCI crew so much!  It was so great to see everyone again.  And of course, as soon as I could, I made my way over to the foster home to see Fiker and Rebirra.  They have gotten so big!  As soon as I saw their beautiful faces I remembered why I was back here.  Actually, I saw Fiker earlier that day.  I went to BCI Academy and toured the school with the new team members that are here on a short-term missions trip.  I walked into Fiker’s classroom and from across the room her little face lit up and she ran to me.  I wasn’t sure if she would remember me but she did and it was amazing.  Absolutely amazing.  

So much has happened in this past week I don’t even really know where to start.  I haven’t been in contact much because I have been having communication issues.  I thought the house had Wi-Fi but it doesn’t.  You have to buy some CDMA thingie and use that to access the internet.  Well, it took a day or so to get it, then you have to wait 2 days for it to be active.  I patiently (Mussie would say I waited impatiently) waited 2 days and it didn’t work.  Well, Mussie was out of town so I was really trying not to bother him but I really, really, really wanted it to work so I called him and he said he would do whatever needed to be done but it still didn’t work.  So in the meantime, I get a cell phone and I had originally planned only to use the phone to communicate with my Ethiopian peeps but since I really couldn’t email anyone I tried to call my family.  I didn’t have enough money on my phone so I went to the corner shop to buy minutes and of course they were closed.  So the next day, I bought time and loaded it on my phone but for some reason it will not call the states.  Mussie doesn’t know what is wrong with it so of course I have no idea.  Tonight Mussie and I took my computer to the dude that sold Mussie the CDMA thingamagig and he fixed it.  I wanted to jump across the table and kiss him but I think that would have been extremely inappropriate here.  :)

So, I am back online.  However, I tried Skyping and it didn’t really work so that is just something else that Mussie is going to have to fix.  I really feel bad for him.  He has to deal with crazy, helpless furungies (foreigners) such as myself.  God bless him!

There is a family from New Zealand that is serving here as interns with BCI and they are awesome!  It is a husband, wife, and 5 children.  The husband and wife are about my age and they are wonderful.  I am so happy to have them here.  On Friday, we all went to Nazaret, which is a neighboring town, to some hot springs.  I didn’t pack a bathing suit so I didn’t go swimming.  But it was an awesome day, anyways.  There were monkeys everywhere!  I took a million pictures of them.  They were pretty bold though because they kept stealing food from people and they jumped up on our table and Michelle (New Zealander) was scaring them off and one of them swiped at her!  Also, I used a shintabay for the first time.  A shintabay is pretty much a squatting toilet.  I didn’t plan on using one so early in my trip but that is what was available to the time and I really had to go.  I need to work on my shintabay skills because I peed on my shoe a little bit!

On Sunday, I went to Addis (capital city) with the New Zealanders and we attended the International Church.  They were celebrating International Day and they had special singing and sermons.  At one point they had everyone stand up and when they called your country name you were to sit down.  They called Ethiopia first and then America next so I guess my country was pretty boring.  But for the next 20 minutes or so they called country names and at the end it was determined that 56 countries were represented there that day!  It was so amazing.  It was kind of like a fore-taste of what I think heaven will be like.  People of all nations, color, ethnicities, and economic statuses praying and worshipping God together.  It was wonderful to hear songs that I know sung with many different accents.  

After the church service they had tents set up outside and they had food from many different parts of the world.  It was so crazy and chaotic that I only ended up getting 2 sushi pieces but the food that I saw others had looked amazing.  The North American tent was completely bombarded I couldn’t even tell what they were offering.

There is so much to tell but this blog entry is already so long.  Please pray for me as I find the best areas to be of use here.  I have some ideas and I am working out the specifics with Mussie and Mulugeta (BCI principal).  I start taking Amharic lessons this week so please pray for me as I start this process.  I am excited but I also know that it is going to be a lot of work.

I love and miss everyone!