In Dubai...

Good to hear that John is helping out the economy in Addis...we have meanwhile made it to Dubai. The 12 hour flight was not too bad, and we did find a nice hotel 2 minutes from the airport to rest until our flight to Addis tomorrow. I can't wait.

Since our layover was over 24 hours, we had to claim our bags and will have to recheck in again tomorrow morning. Lucky for us we've had plenty of practice! None of the bags have been lost, we've been treated with incredible hospitality, and I've caught on watching more movies in the last day than I have seen in the last 6 months.

The final leg of our journey is only 4 hours, and then we will have arrived!

Signing off for now...
nn and rm

Funny Money

Well – Someone passed off a bad 100 Birr note (~$10) on me.  I think it was in a taxi when I gave the driver a 100 Birr and then he said he didn’t have change.  I didn’t check what he passed back, and it turns out that old money here is not valid, so it might as well be counterfeit.

 

I chuckled and chalked this up to another interesting experience.  For some reason I keep imagining Yogi Bear saying “That’s one bad birr.”  J

 

With a smile:

 

-JYE

Nondini and Ryan travel...slowly but surely.

As all good journeys go, the will and strength of the traveler is tested early on :)...and we haven't even left East coast.

The flight from Portland, Maine to NYC to is a mere 50 minutes, yesterday after 6 hours on the runway in Portland our flight was eventually cancelled due to weather in NYC. Even in the midst of chaos and frustration, there were some beautiful moments. One of the women from Jetblue went above and beyond to book us on the next flight that left at midnight, and ran around to find and hand check our bags. Amazingly 4 suitcases arrived in JFK safe and sound. Nevertheless we missed our flight from NYC to Dubai.

After arriving at 2AM we "slept" at the ticket counter and called Emirates trying to reschedule our flights. After 7 phonecalls and reports that we'd not be able to leave NYC for 4 days, I felt terrible. Luckily the ticket agent confirmed us for a flight tomorrow, and I was so happy I thought I'd do a dance in JFK. We'll be arriving in Addis 2 days later than anticipated but it will be so exciting to get on our way!

After happily resting, bathing, and eating at the Holiday Inn express feeling incredibly appreciative of the comfortable bed, free internet access, free breakfast and nice shower. The photographs of Addis, and the smiling faces of Liz and John have only made me feel better, and after a nice chat with Liz on the phone I'm feeling great.

What a wonderful team we have!

Stories from Addis Ababa

After some productive and touching meetings, Liz left yesterday. I am sad she is gone. I look forward to receiving Nondini and Ryan. There is still plenty of opportunities for preparing and meeting more nice people. I am including below some descriptions of the humble people we were fortunate enough to meet with.

Perhaps through collaboration with them and the kind people at Serving in Mission (SIM), we shall offer some value here.

With warmth:

-John

PS – We share only one initial for the first names to protect privacy.

--- Begin touching stories ---

A.

A. lives in a small home the size of a walk-in closet, with a tin roof, and scraps of plastic tile laid on a dirt floor. She has three grandsons from her daughter. Her daughter passed away from AIDS in her home. This saddens her so much, that she avoids staying in the house other than at night to sleep. She and her grandson cried while sharing about the loss of her daughter with us. To our eyes she looks fairly thin and tired.

While waiting to join a support group, A. now receives support from the government, her relatives and a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called Serving-In-Mission to help raise her grandchildren. She brightened while discussing her grandson’s interest in soccer.

T.

T. is a young woman with one son and no husband. She was very sick for a long time, and with Anti-Retro-Viral (ARVs) she feels much better. Her house was a small walk-in closet, perhaps the size of a normal toilet stall in an American restroom. She lives next to a public restroom, so the smell of urine perforates her home. The strong smell something that brings her sadness.

Aside from the strong smell, her neighborhood felt warm and she said everyone treats her with kindness. She smiled warmly while discussing her seven year old son and seemed to enjoy fiddling with the volume on her radio as we spoke -- so much light in her deep brown eyes, as she spoke.

B.

B. lives in a large room, by comparison with others. Her home is sponsored by the government and she pays a fraction of the cost others with humble income must pay. The wait to gain such quarters is long, and the roof leaks in the rain. Along with the rain, the government keeps saying they will move her to another home. B. displays a wise and socially astute personality. She smiles and looks deep into our eyes when speaking. And has a knack for bringing laughter to the room. On her forehead, above her eyes she displays a large scare from some harsh rash, perhaps shingles that she had prior to receiving Anti-Retro-Virals. Unlike some, she carries the mark of this opportunistic disease associated with HIV. She believes her husband got the disease from sharing fingernail clippers with someone else who was positive. (Clearly he must have gotten HIV from some other means).

During the rainy season her roof leaks and her husband died due to AIDS. The extra money allowed by living in government housing seems to help B. with some basic amenities. She has a phone, and even a small TV. She talks proudly of her smart grandson who likes to take things apart and fix them.

A.

A. has a beautiful one year old baby girl, who smiles warmly at everyone who passes. She lives in another closet size room that she rents for a sizeable sum among this population (150 birr). She cannot afford furniture, so she borrows some from friends. When she was very sick with HIV/AIDS she had to give her ten year old son to her sister to care for. Now she is trying to get government sponsorship to bring her son back to live with her. She is ashamed that she is not married, and hides her HIV positive status from her neighbors to avoid stigmatism.

Like her daughter, A. emanates a certain peace naturally, and sitting in her home with packing foam for insulation, a sense of tranquil trickles outward.

 

Pictures

Posted some pictures from Africa so far…

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/johngeder/Africa

 

With warmth:

 

-John