Korah-Day 9

Isn't this girl adorable? She has such a sweet and inquisitive face. I wonder if she is coming to the kids club?


I talked with Blake and they were out at a Chinese restaurant for dinner! Does that sound strange to anyone else? Anyway, Katie and De stayed back as she is not feeling at all well.

As you know, she has had a sore throat but the other day ate some pizza and thinks the crust scratched her throat badly. I have my doubts but she is totally convinced it is that. She had told me several days ago that some of the Korah kids had strep, so I suspect that is more likely. She feels feverish and exhausted. She and De stayed at the Guest Home today and didn't go to Korah. I know it killed her to do that and that it was a decision that was hard for her to make. I told her to start immediately on her Cipro (antibiotic) so hopefully tomorrow she notices a difference. She said she will NOT stay back tomorrow, no matter how she feels. So pray she feels better, ok??

Blake said they had a good day today at Korah. They did more of the same: painting and building. Zach and Blake have been playing for the kids everyday and the kids LOVE to sing. Some of the songs they play are in Amharic and some in English. They taught the wordless story and made the wordless bracelets today. The kids LOVED them!

On the home-front, we picked up our new puppy just a couple hours ago. We've named her "Tia" but since it sounds so much like Aliya, I'm not sure how long it will last. She really is cute. If I had a camera, I'd take a pic of her but the kids have the camera with them. Aliya is still a little scared of her and thinks she will bite her. Mihiretu has really been good with her, holding her and taking her outside to go potty. I'm really proud of him. Misganaw thinks she's cute but isn't too sure if he can trust her yet not to scratch him. Blake and Katie are sad they aren't here to see her. I think she's cute but ask me tomorrow morning after our first night with her:)

Thanks for your continued prayers for the kids!

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 8

Just a quick post to say I talked with Katie today and they are fine. They did more painting today...yellow for the inside of the huts, blue for the outside.

Sumer's group is leaving tonight. They had a hard, emotional time saying goodbye to the kids. Tomorrow our 4 will continue painting and doing whatever work is needed to complete the huts.

Katie said that her friend, Habtamu has a dry, scaly patch behind his ear. It really bothers him and he doesn't know what to do about it. People keep telling him just to keep washing it but he told Katie, "But our water is dirty!" I told her to give him the tube of hydrocortisone cream that they brought. Thank you to the ladies in my moms persecuted church prayer team who packed the wonderful and very complete medical kit. Habtamu is now the proud owner of a big tube of hydrocortisone cream, thanks to you! Pray it works for him.

Katie also told me that Fasika came up to her and asked her, "Only 7 more days until you go back to United States?" Katie told her yes. She put her hands over her face and began sobbing. Katie told her, "You can't cry while I'm still here. Let's not cry now, ok?" She kept saying, "Ok, Ok I will try...Ok, Ok." Habtamu, watching on was trying to be a brave guy but he just put his head down on the table. It is going to be really, really hard for her to leave these kids:(

Remember Bayza, Katie's friend who I mentioned earlier? She came skipping up to Katie, pulled her out of the hut she was working on and handed her a little package. Inside was another silver necklace with a little water jug pendant.

Katie asked her where she got this. She giggled and said, "My mom gave me the money and I went to the market and bought it for you."

Now she is proudly wearing 2 precious gifts given to her so sacrificially by her 2 new friends. I can hardly believe these girls did this. Neither can Katie believe how sweet they are and loving.

Katie is really good with kids. They love her deeply and bond to her quickly. I think she is just so genuine and they see that in her. She truly loves them and they see that. She looks them in the eye, listens, cares and also jokes and laughs with them. What she has really is a gift because I haven't often seen it in others to the extent I have seen it in her. Even Mihiretu, Misganaw and Aliya are this way with Katie...they really, really want to please her. Why can't they be that way with me??:)

Many blessings,
Laura

Korah-day 7

We just talked to the kids. The all reported that they all felt so much better after a day of rest and good, long night sleep yesterday. Blake has lost his voice but at least he is rested.

Today, Blake and Zach did guitar lessons again. He said the 4 guys they are teaching are doing really well. They are learning "Amazing Grace." They also did more mudding and plastering houses, made tables and painted more houses.

Blake said that today while they were charging his computer, they began to hear a sound and then there was smoke and the smell of electrical fire. Ugh, the charger is fried but the computer is fine, thankfully! However, with only 15 minutes of battery left, they will not be able to download their pictures from the day on it. They are taking 500 pics a day so now they will just have to delete the bad ones on the camera. Not a big deal.

Katie told us a little more about her friend, 13 year old Habtamu. He has been hanging around her every day, but is very quiet and always looks so sad. She had talked to him previously about if he wanted to be sponsored. He told her he didn't want anyone to sponsor him. To Katie, he seems like a wounded child and has been hurt and therefore has his defenses up.

Today, he opened up to Katie and asked her, "Would you please sponsor me?" This is a big step of faith for a child who has lived a life of such disappointment. He wants to trust someone and after a week, Katie has earned his trust. She sadly had to tell him that she was already sponsoring Fasika but told him, "Maybe my family would sponsor you." She said he had a smile from ear to ear and was so happy for the rest of the day. Hope is a powerful thing.

So family...Katie told me that she has a few other kids that she's developed a close relationship with and when she gets home, be prepared to be hit up by Katie! And you know she doesn't back down:) Blaine and I are praying about sponsoring Habtamu. I'd sure love for her to tell him while she's there. Blaine and I are already invested in a significnt way in Korah but there is always more we can do. Lord, show us Your will with Habtamu.

Katie told me that today, Fasika came up to her with a little package wrapped in paper in her hand. She handed it to Katie and told her it was something for her. When she opened it, a beautiful silver necklace with an Africa pendant popped out. Katie was flabergasted! She asked Fasika, "Is this yours?" She replied, "It is not mine."

With Biruk interpreting, Fasika told Katie she had bought it for her!

Biruk told Katie, "It's not a big deal. It was only 8 Birr. She only got it for you because she loves you so much."

Katie told Biruk, "It IS a big deal! 8 Birr is a lot for a kid from Korah."

8 Birr is less than a dollar but I'm sure this girl could have used it for something else but I'm sure she doesn't want Katie to forget her. How amazingly sweet is this?

Katie said it is really beautiful and she loves it! Complete selflessness from a girl with almost nothing. Lord, help me to be as selfless.

All the guys LOVE De and are trying to be like him. Biruk is going around saying, "Yo, dude!" Funny!

I had sent a couple little battery operated fans along with the kids for the airplane ride. When the plane stops in Rome, they shut off the plane and it gets very claustrophobic in there. So the little fans help. Well, since De and Ismacho were the ones making the fire to boil the water to make the paint, De thought the little fans would be great to help get the fire started so he brought one. It worked great and the guys were so impressed with this that they exclaimed, "This is good technology!!"

Laughing, Sumer replied, "This is not technology! It is a little battery operated fan!"

"No, this is GOOD technology!" Haha:)

Ismacho has already burned one of the blades off but maybe De can leave him another one.

Remember all the soccer balls and Frisbees the kids brought with them? Well, they were given to the kids in the countryside to play with but sadly they were stolen by the thugs with sticks:( Maybe the next person or group who comes can bring some more.

Well, the small mouth bass are biting off the dock so I better go catch one!

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Blessings,
Laura

If you want the whole story, talk to the girl!

Remember in my post yesterday when Blake said the trip to the countryside was "disappointing?" That was his word..."disappointing." Well, Blaine talked with Katie today and got the WHOLE story. Here it is...

They all did take a trip out to the countryside. They filled 2 buses up with a lot of kids from Korah (Blake thought a couple hundred...not sure on numbers). The Americans (our 4 and Sumer's group) all rode in vans.

When the arrived in the village where they were to spend the day, one of the bus drivers said, "I am not staying here" and he proceeded to empty his bus, turn around and leave! I have no idea why.

There was supposed to be a nice place for the kids to play soccer. There wasn't. Then there wasn't enough food for the kids to eat. Sammy was very, very disappointed. Understandibly so! I'm sure they spent a good deal of money renting these buses, with the understanding of a fun day and food for everyone. Sammy felt terrible!

As evening approched and it was time to leave, some older boys appeared (Katie doesn't think they were drunk). They were carrying big sticks and began chasing the kids from Korah and hitting them with the big sticks! It was total chaos.

Someone yelled, "Get into the vans!" and De immediately picked Katie up and threw her into the van before she knew what was happening. (Do you see why we LOVE this young man??!! Saving Katie first...LOVE HIM!) Sammy was running telling the kids to follow him. Katie said it was so hard to be in the van and hear the kids screaming and getting hit:(

The kids all got onto the one bus and they took off. Oh, my goodness...how scary!

Thank you, Lord for protecting everyone and that no one got hurt severely.

The boys did want the American's cameras but they did not get any.

Today is Sunday in Ethiopia and the kids were to go to church in Korah but I think, wisely decided to lay low and stay back. They are all exhausted, emotionally and physically. Katie and De have a bad sore throat but are functioning. But they did need rest today and I'm glad they got it. Katie said the kids at Korah are going to chew her out tomorrow for missing today because she promised that she'd be there but I told her they will understand that you were sick.

She and De, Blake and Zach did take a little shopping trip to the market today for a bit. They took Biruk, the sweet 16 year old translator. Katie was shopping for 5 bracelets for some of the kids and the shop owner wanted 300 Birr...too much she said. So Biruk tried to talk him down. The shop owner got angry and took the bracelets out of her hands and told her he would not sell them to her. She said, "Fine, bye" and they walked out. They looked back and Biruk has disappeared. They went back to find him and saw the tail end of this man hitting and kicking him (hard) in the head! He was angry that Biruk had 'cost' him the sale. Oh, my! Katie said Biruk was really hurting.

I don't know if I've mentioned this but my kids travel with armed guards all the time...it's just that they're not usually visible. Thank goodness for guardian angels! Thanks for all your prayers for protection!

Tomorrow it is back to Korah for more construction, painting and such. Sounds like the kids who are attending the boarding school will be able to move into their new mud hut dorms on Tuesday!! But lots of work to do before then so pray for continued strength for everyone. Hopefully, Wed. the kids club will officially be able to start. You know...the best laid plans... You just have to be flexible!

Katie has pretty much decided to sponsor a 12/13 year old girl named Fasika. She was along on the field trip to the countryside. I asked Katie why she chose to sponsor Fasika and not one of the other sweet kids she loves and she said, "We pretty much bonded when we went pee together behind a hut in the countryside."

It seems that they both felt nature calling and Fasika said to Katie, "Come on!" and she began running so Katie followed her. They ended up behind someones home. Fasika looked around, saw no one and proceeded to do her business. Then she told Katie, "Go." Katie said, "That's easy for you to say. You have on a skirt!" Fasika looked around and once again, more urgently said, "GO." (She's going to kill me for telling this!) So Katie very quickly did her business with Fasika trying to cover her with her skirt. Katie said she kept thinking, "I'm sure mine is the whitest butt you have ever seen!" It's a bonding experience!

I have no pictures today to share because I am not home. Blaine and I are away at the cabin celebrating our 24th anniversary, which is tomorrow. Awwwww, I know! Some lovely family members have the 3 youngest and Blaine and I have already buzzed around the lake on the jet ski and now Blaine's getting the boat ready for a night of fishing. He keeps saying, "Man, it is quiet."

Yes, it is:)

Please keep praying. As you can see, they need your prayers!

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 5

This is Pastor Anthony directing the children in their singing in the Great Hope Church in Korah.


I talked with Blake just now. He's tired, sick and very hungry. So keep in mind, this post comes from that perspective:)

It's noon here and 10 pm there. They were riding in a van, coming from the countryside where there were today. They took about 200 of the kids from Korah out to play in the countryside and visit a man who has a ministry out there. It took them about 3 1/2 hours to get there but Blake didn't know the name of the town or village.

Blake reported that the day was a little disappointing. It seems that the man who has the ministry cooked up a whole ox to feed everyone but it ended up not being enough. The kids were hungry and our 4 have had nothing to eat all day. They have about 2 more hours before they get back to the guest house and can get some of the snacks they brought. I can't imagine they didn't bring any of their snacks but when I asked Blake that, I got cut off and never got the answer to that.

Blake and Katie both have sore throats and raspy voices but no fevers, thankfully. Please do pray for them as it is not so fun to be sick far away from home.

They also had an incident today while on their journey to the countryside in which one of the buses broke down and some seemingly drunk guys with sticks began throwing rocks at it. To protect the kids, the adults got all the kids onto the other bus and they all piled on there to get away. The guys wanted to steal their cameras. Ugh. Thank God they all got away and (Blake thinks) no one was hurt.

There is a couple who is in Korah with the kids right now. Their blog is www.thebestofallenworld.blogspot.com
You HAVE to check out their entries for the past few days. They have sponsored a girl, Tigist who will moving on Tuesday from some deplorable conditions into one of the mud huts that our 4 kids are working building right now. She will have her own bunkbed. Best of all, she will be safe and not alone anymore. You have to read their entry from yesterday. Oh, my goodness. Your heart will break, I guarantee it. They have some very moving pictures. Please check it out.

I asked Blake if he knows these people and he said they were in the van with him right then. Blake, Katie, Zach and De were there at the time these pictures were taken, even thought they are not in them.

Can I tell you how glad I am that they saw this? I'm sure it was heart breaking for them (because it ruined me for the day just seeing it on their blog) but one of my prayers is that they would become even more compassionate and that they would have a heart for hurting people. Our teenagers and young adults need to see how others in the world suffer so they can have the heart of Christ for people. If they stay in suburbia, how can they develop this heart?

I thank God that for the giving people who supported the kids and made this trip possible for them. I know they are being a huge blessing to them.

The kids' plan tomorrow is to go the church in Korah and Blake and Zach will lead in worship.

Praise God for His good gifts!

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 4

I spoke with Zach and Katie today. Zach sounded great and said they taught guitar lessons today and it went REALLY well! They are teaching 4 guys who are leaders in the church.

The I talked with Katie who was very talkative! The bummer is she said her throat is beginning to hurt:( She's not sure if she's getting sick or if it is the bad pollution. De is coughing (sounds like asthma...dry) like his throat of lungs are irritated. I'm sure he is not sick by the way it sounds. I told him to take Katie's inhaler...so hopefully he will improve.

They were hoping to have someone take them shopping for some new work boots tonight. It seems that Katie's new shoes are falling apart and De's aren't too good either. They really needed work boots but chose not to bring them;) It has been raining every night so when they get to Korah, it is so muddy. Katie said it's like she's wearing around platform shoes. They when they go somewhere else, she doesn't have any decent shoes to wear. One of the church leaders, Mostie (who grew up in the dump) is planning on going with them to help them.

The kids spent the day again constructing mud huts, painting and building bunk beds. Katie said it is very hard work, but fun:)
She gave me the recipe for homemade paint and here it is.

They buy a block of something that looks like rubber tire material. At this point De chimes in that the black block is actually fried cow skin! Katie freaks out and now understands why it smells so, so bad! Anyway, they mix the fried cow skin in boiling water over a fire that De and Ismacho made. Once it melts, the cow fat floats to the top. Then they add the color packets (that they buy) and it makes a nice but watery paint. It doesn't smell once the color gets mixed in. She said it's nice paint to work with because if it gets on your clothes, you just scrape it off as it turns to powder.

She is also having fun with the material they use to smear on the mud walls. Katie says it looks and feels just like hummus and is fun to work with.

They are not officially starting the kids club until next week. There are still too many preparations to do. They are putting together classrooms for the kids who will be going to the boarding school.

The guys went today to Sammy's house to do a 'bench off' (weightlifting, that is!) Sammy has an "African style" weight bench. She said the guys are strong and Berhanu won with 200# benched! They met Sammy's mom and sister who also live with him. She said they were so sweet and friendly!

For some reason, Katie must be an easy name for the kids to remember and say because she said that as they pull up now everyday, the kids all come running calling, "KATIE, KATIE!!" Then they grab her hand and say, "How are you doing? I love you!" Even when they were a few blocks away from the church at Sammy's, kids were still seeing her and yelling, "Katie!" She said that it's funny to be known all over Korah!

They did get a toilet installed now in Korah! It is in a little hut and from what I can understand, the "toilet" is hooked up to a tube which runs out of the hut directly into the dirt. So the result is the same as those who live there and simply go outside...it's just the Americans get to do it in private! It all ends up in the dirt!

She has made a few very special connections. One is a girl, about 12 or 13 named Bayza. She is the one who is with her everyday, kissing her. She told her, "I am going home with you in your backpack" and she calls Katie "her sister". She is not an orphan and has a baby sister of her own. Katie really wants to sponsor this girl to go to the boarding school. She's praying about how to go about doing this and asking God if He would provide the $700 per year to do this.

But it's not only one child that she has connected with. It is 3! There is a boy, Habtamu who is about 12/13 who is so sweet and helpful. Then there is Robel, who is about 10. He is a great helper, winks at her all day and calls himself, "Katie's husband!"

Oh, how she wants these kids to have the opportunity to go to school!! If any of you feel led to sponsor one of them or another child, please let me know. She said, "Mom, I KNOW these kids and I want to help them!" Yep, that's one of the many benefits of a trip like this...the children are not numbers or simply names. They are your friends, real people with real hopes and dreams who need a hand up.

Katie reports that the pollution in Korah especially is absolutely horrible. She said when they were walking to Sammy's house, made a comment about it to De and also about the really bad smell. Biruk, their 16 year old translator told them, "What you are smelling is dead animals and dead things." When Katie and I were there before, we didn't notice any bad smell in Korah. But now that it's warmer, there is a strong and constant smell of feces and urine, and apparantly, death there.

She said that vultures are flying over Korah and the dump 24/7. The kids tap her and point to the sky and say, "Ooooohhh" in fear of them. She said that when you are in Addis Ababa you can always know which direction Korah and the dump is...look for the vultures and it is directly below. That makes me sad.

Tomorrow they are all going to the countryside or to the mountains to play with the kids there. They are bringing soccer balls, singing songs and playing games with them. Should be a wonderful day, once again to serve the underserved.

Thanks for your prayers and for reading this novel! Please pray for Katie with her throat and for De with his coughing and generally for safety for the whole team.

Also would you pray for those who live there in that pollution, day in and day out who cannot get away from it? Pray for the ones who live under the vultures.

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 3

This is one of my favorite pictures of a little girl in Korah. Look at her feet. She is wearing one crock that almost fits her and a huge pink womans slip on shoe. I really don't know how she kept it on her little foot. This picture speaks to my heart so loudly. I have a child about her age. I cannot imagine him not having decent shoes, especially on such rough, rocky and not-so-clean terrain. Breaks my heart big time.




Here is her sweet face. You can tell she is malnourished because of the light, orange color of her hair. To be honest, I have thought about this little girl a lot since we got home. She brings up a lot of emotion in me. I wanted to finally share her with you.


I had an opportunity to talk with Blake today. It was about 11pm their time. I had tried 3 times before but no one answered. The reason...they went to a MOVIE! What?? Sorry, but I didn't realize there were movie theaters in Addis Ababa. Guess I hadn't thought about it! They get a lot of Indian movies there so I wondered what they saw. Yep...A TEAM, a current American movie. Go figure. They went with some of their new Ethiopian friends.

They had another good day in Korah. Blake said that built mud huts today. They are needed because more kids have been sponsored and they need boarding school training rooms (training how to make beds, etc. and to serve as a transition for the kids from the dump to the boarding school). Katie thinks it's pretty cool that she actually knows how to completely build a mud hut now! They also built bunk beds and painted. Blake carried mud on a tray for the mud hut construction.

They did start the VBS summer camp today. Blake and Zach led the worship music in the church. They played some music in English and some in Amharic. The church was full and overflowing with kids outside.

The boys have had little time to teach the leaders of the church much guitar. They are still so busy with their preparations for the summer camp. Blake said the good new is that a couple of the guys do know something about guitar. How, I don't know. But that will help a lot. They are planning on starting more teaching tomorrow.

Katie said that 3 people had to go to the hospital today. It seems that there is broken glass in the mud they are smearing on the mud huts and a couple people got their hands cut and one guy (Katie thought an Ethiopian guy) got bitten by a dog. So we need to begin praying harder for the safety of the kids as well as the other workers there! Katie said that they weren't doing any of the mud smearing so they didn't have any trouble. She said they are all fine.

Blake, however thinks he's been bitten by bedbugs. He has little red bites and they are itchy. I'm wondering about fleas instead since the place they are staying is CLEAN so I sort of doubt the bedbug idea. However, he's sleeping in another bed tonight, just in case:)

The leaders of the church evidently LOVE De! One guy (the really tall guy for those of you reading this who know him...can't remember his name??) always asks Katie when he sees her, "Where's De?? I miss him! He's my best friend! He's such a good guy and a good worker!" Yes, all these things are so true of De...glad they see it, too. How sweet is that?

Katie has made a special connection with a little girl there. She is always kissing her and telling her, "I love you!" She follows her around all day and is teaching Katie a hand clapping game. Aliya does the same game. She said this girl tells her she loves her about 100 times a day. Precious!

They are doing great, working hard and showing the LOVE of Christ to so many.

Zach has discovered a new love...Ethiopian food!

Thanks for your prayers!

Blessings,
Laura