What No One Knows about Ethiopia

In 2018, I got the opportunity to travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. An employee of the

American World Adoption Agency was going to the same church as me in Indianola, Iowa. I

have always been very involved at my church and gone on lots of retreats and service trips. The

employee, Angie, was a youth group leader and we became very close. I always admired her

because she has a job I always thought I wanted, which was helping children, specifically

orphans. When I found out about her position at the AWAA, I had to speak with her. During our

conversation, she explained how she visits a country every year to help orphans and she brings a

team with her. I became so intoxicated with excitement. I have always wanted to visit Africa and

it just happened to be the next trip the AWAA was sending people.

That night my small group of girls at church talked about the opportunity. Almost

everyone in the group wanted to go and after a few weeks, four of us made the decision to go on

this amazing adventure. We had just under a year to raise over $3,000, get letters of

recommendation, the necessary shots and raise money to buy supplies, food and necessities for

the orphans. Our group consisted of me, three other girls my age, two adult men, a high school

senior, two college students and two older women.

It took three different flights in three different countries to arrive in Africa. We spent 18

hours on a plan before we finally arrived in Addis. When we got there we were ready to

experience the city and leave our mark here. Our agenda for the 10 days we were there was to eat

Ethiopian food, visit as many orphanages as we could, buy goats, food, diapers, feminine

hygiene products and do some community service.

The first orphanage we visited was set up like a farm. It was for females between the ages

of eight and 18. It had a lot of land but also a lot of run-down shelters. When we pulled through
the gate, we were flooded by a large group of girls. They smiled, waved and blew us kisses. We

barely got out of the van before they came and grabbed us. I had a group nestle around me and

they were so intrigued with my bright blonde hair. No one in this area has blonde hair so they

were excited to touch it and look at it.

Some of the girls spoke English but most of them spoke Amharic. Although we couldn’t

verbally communicate with some of them, we still connected so well. This is what impressed me

the most about the trip, how we all communicated so well even though we were speaking

different languages. This was something that stuck with me three years later. I was able to go

across the world, communicate with people who spoke a completely different language and make

friends I will always remember. This taught me to break out of my shell I had always been in. I

grew more confident and comfortable talking to new people and when I went to college with all

new people, I made friends right away. I can’t help but think that Ethiopia changed me to be

more extroverted.

I had a younger girl and one 17 year old gravitate towards me at this orphanage. They

gave me a tour of the place, showed me their beds, where almost 20 girls slept in the same little

darkroom. I could visually see they do not have much. Everyone sleeps in a bunk bed with a

pillow and blanket and not all the rooms have lights. They showed me their gardens where they

taught me to say carrot in Amharic and laughed at my inability to remember it. We also danced

in the dirt. They taught me a traditional Ethiopian dance where you hold hands, look at each

other and touch feet in a pattern while hopping up and down. I taught them some hip hop dances

I learned in high school because they loved hip hop.

In this orphanage, we brought feminine hygiene products and gave them to the adults

who helped run the place. Immediately, there was a mile long line of girls waiting to get pads.
We weren’t able to carry much on the plane so every girl that needed one, only got two pads.

This was the first time it really hit me how lucky I was growing up. This is where I knew I was

spoiled and took something as simple as a pad for granted. These girls were so excited to have

something to protect themselves and I never thought they wouldn’t have access to these

products.

The next orphanage we visited is the one that really wrecked me. Of course, this whole

experience really pulls at your heart but this time I cried before leaving the place. This orphanage

was for newborns to seven-year-olds. This is where we learned that 15 babies a day were found

abandoned in the streets of Addis. If they are found and still healthy enough to live, they are

taken to this place.

My team split into two groups so half of us were in the building with the toddlers and the

other half were with the babies. We switched halfway through the visit but I started with the

toddlers. These children are the most beautiful beings I have ever seen. They are a light mocha

color with beautiful brown, curly hair and they all had smiles that went from ear to ear. We

played with them, picked them up, gave them candy and just sat with them. I counted the cribs in

this room and noticed there were eight cribs but 12 toddlers. This is when I started to fight back

my tears. These babies don’t even get their own bed to sleep in but they were still happy as ever

when we were there.

When I left the baby's room, the one toddler I was holding cried when I put her down so I

handed her to another team member that was coming in. I later found out that little girl never

stopped crying, even in the arms of someone else.

The baby room was small and had cribs on every inch of the wall. Some cribs had more

than one baby in them, like the toddler room. These orphanages are too small to fit all the
orphans and there is nothing we can do about it but come once a year and hold them. I tried to

hold every baby in the room because we were told they may only get held twice a day. Most of

them didn’t even cry when we put them down because they are so used to laying on their backs. I

held a little baby girl and she had the biggest, toothless smile I have ever seen. I named her

Sophia and promised I would try my hardest to get back here to visit her again. She was smiling

the whole time I was there, even when I put her down and left.

I was filled with so many emotions after my visit here. I have never wanted to stay in

such an uncommon and unsafe place before. I knew if I left, it would be even harder to get back.

My heart ached for these children who were found on the streets and knowing they go to bed in

little cribs or bunk beds with aching stomachs because they don’t eat every day. Ethiopia is also

closed to international adoption because an American family adopted a child from here and beat

him to death. This shut down the entire international adoption process in Ethiopia.

My entire mindset was changed after this 10 day trip. I understand now how I shouldn’t

take a whole plate of food or a whole glass of water for granted. My heart aches every day for

the babies who don’t get held enough and for the kids who don’t have a family to go home to. I

know that more people need to be aware of the number of children who are without a home. If

you ever have the opportunity to visit a third world country and have the chance to make a

difference, take it.

I visited these orphans when I was 18 and I am now almost 21. I can still picture their

faces so well and the smiles they carry. They are all three years older now and I am counting the

days until I can go back to see them again, hoping they are still around. Children will

spontaneously go missing here and there will be no trace of them again. That is just one more

thing that needs to change. As I grow older and my trip is pushed further back in my past, I will
never forget what I experienced and what I saw. This trip and those people changed me to be a

better person. I focus more on others, have more compassion, think about how my actions affect

myself and others. I also created a goal for myself to one day create my own organization to help

these Ethiopian babies. I want to be able to have at least a dozen children feel loved and feel like

they have a family.

This story of my life isn’t meant to be a tear jerker but an announcement to wake up and

understand what is going on outside of your home. There are real issues out there and those

issues should not be involving homeless and hungry children, but they are. More people need to

know this.