The stretch run in Addis.....

We have had a really good day. This morning Solomon from Kids Link picked us up to bring us to Abenezer orphanage where Sophie used to live.  This was Tammy's first visit there.  When we arrived the staff that take care of the babies and who used to take care of Sophie were all waving and calling her name.  They had a coffee ceremony for us and also fed us traditional food for lunch. Yummy. Many of the children swarmed me because they remember my other visits there in May.  That was pretty cool.I told the director Elizabeth that we were there to buy a clothes washing machine for them like I had promised, then we found out that the only washing machine that they had for 30 children had broken down. Talk about timing.  Elizabeth and I took a cab, 1976 Toyota Corolla and I took her to a store that I knew about and bought it there.  We strapped it to the top of the cab and away it went.

The cook at the orphanage calls me her angel because ever since I took the donations there in May and bought groceries many other families have done the same and has taken a lot of stress away from them.  So anyone reading this who is adopting internationally from any orphanage keep this in mind.  Our US/Canadian dollars have quite a bit of buying power here.You can't change the world but you can change one child's world.

This afternoon Markos took us to a factory outlet for scarfs. It was interesting watching them being made.  This factory is a project to get women working in a sustainable way who used to gather firewood and sell it.  Some incredible stories to hear. Finally we meet some adoption friends for some dinner in the Piazzia.  A good time was had by all.

Ashleigh and Ben should be arriving any minute now.  Hopefully we can spend some time with them tomorrow. So this is our last night and will begin our trek home late Tuesday evening.  Again I will be leaving with mixed emotions, but I can't wait to show Sophie her new home and family and also to see Josina.  we miss her so much.