Meet Sammy

Sammy grew up in one of the poorest sections of Addis Ababa. You can read his story at http://www.sacredfight.com/post/Korah-e28093-The-Cursed-People-of-Ethiopia.aspx.

Sammy agrees to give us a tour of his community called Korah. This community of 75000 is home to people who are outcasts because of leprosy or hiv/aids. Literally, other Addis citizens we talked to later in the week would barely acknowledge that this community exists.

Sammy gives us a tour of the ALERT hospital where patients can come to receive treatment.

We visit the sheds where women spin cotton into yarn, weave yarn into cloth, and handstitch beautiful designs onto the cloth.












Back outside we walk past a man weaving banana leaves into door mats. This man lost his fingers to leprosy. He has been weaving mats here for 40 years. (Of course we have to buy one of his mats...it's now on our front doorstep.)

We tour Bright Hope School which educates 2200 students from the community. A team from Harvest Church recently came here to build a badly needed wall for the school which will help protect the children and the school grounds. We take a look at the wall - not much progress has been made on it since the team left. We greet some of the students and take some pictures. They always want to see their picture after we take it.

Many of these students have trouble learning because they are not getting enough to eat. The community has one church, Victory Church. This church received a donation of $750 from a woman in N Carolina. With the money, Victory Church was able to build a room to meet in AND provide lunch every day for 65 Bright Hope kids. We happen to be there at lunchtime, so we helped and watched as these 65 kids were served a BIG healthy lunch.













After lunch, the kids walk back over to the school and we tour the home of a woman who attends Victory Church. The 3 small rooms are shared by eight families.

During the rainy season, the water runs right through this home. The people wrap themselves in plastic to stay dry. But these families are happy to have a roof over their heads. The less fortunate actually live at the trash dump. The people wait for the dump truck to come and swarm it as they search for food. Sometimes babies are left here – at the dump.

Sammy has started a program to help kids get out of the dump. For $600 a year, one child will be rescued from the dump and placed in boarding school where he or she will receive food, shelter, education…and hope.

What's in a name?

We have debated the subject of AJ's name for some time. His given name is Asrat. Well, THAT doesn't translate well! At the guest home one of the men asks me if I know what "Asrat" means. In my head I say "a scurrying rodent?" Outloud I admit, "I have no idea." He ponders for a moment how to explain. "You give one-tenth of your income to the church?" I gasp, "TITHE? 'Asrat' means TITHE?" He laughs at my reaction, "Yes, yes! Tithe!" Well, maybe we can make room for the name after all. While waiting for our embassy appointment it occurs to me that we should name him
Andrew Joseph Asrat Ulrichs.
Andrew- after David Andrew, his daddy.
Joseph - of the Bible who prospered and was faithful to God though he was torn from his homeland at a young age.
Asrat - which means "tithe, a gift to be used in the service of God."
Perfect.

There are no words...

I have no warning. We are filling out paperwork with 2 other families. Suddenly there he stands, grinning from ear to ear. AJ hugs Dave, Hannah. He hugs me and kisses my cheek, sweet boy. It is surreal. A bit subdued at first, he soon starts to interact with us and the staff. He plays with a couple toys with relish, dismantling one of then to see what is inside (hmm, might get along well with Evan?) Back at the guest house we eat lunch, he plays a rousing game of soccer with the guest house guard, and then we lay him down for a rest. We can't believe he is here. With us. For good.

Impressions of Addis Ababa

• so many people


• goats, cows, donkeys on the road


• metal huts


• scaffolding made of sticks


• beautiful flowering trees and bushes


• friendly people, big smiles


• coffee ceremonies


• lovely weather


• dogs bark all night


• guest house guard sleeps outside


• boy on the street wants to go to America, would be in 6th grade, wants my shoes


• the people are beautiful, MODEL beautiful


• traffic chaos

Goodbye Dubai

Excited to finally go to Addis Ababa, we head for the airport early in the morning. Unfortunately, the flight is overbooked and there are no seats for us. Essentially, they give us stand-by status. We wait and pray that 3 passengers will not show up on time. Sure enough, as the time of departure nears, they bump 3 people. Not only do we get to go, but we are seated together. Thank you Lord!

Dubai!

Wow-what an amazing city! Hannah starts her day by exploding out converter trying to straighten her hair. After breakfast, we head to the Dubai mall, a gorgeous mall boasting a waterfall, an aquarium and an ice skating arena. Right outside the mall, standing 2717 feet tall, is the Burj Dubai. Tickets to go up are sold out for the day, so we just take pictures from below. Then we make our way to the beach to enjoy the beautiful 77 degree day. Later we experience the sounds and smells of Dubai at an enormous outdoor market and the sights of Dubai during an evening boatride on "the creek" (river.) We conclude our fun day with a buffet dinner in our hotel's revolving restaurant. (Note to self: when in Dubai, ask the price of the buffet BEFORE eating dinner!!)

Survived the trip over the Atlantic...

... ok that was a long plane ride. Thanks to Denise for suggesting the travel pillows - those are the best! Emirates is a great airline ... the plane had enough legroom for Dave to be able to lean his head back on the seat (not so on Delta.) Each person gets his / her own screen for watching movies, tv shows and playing games . Cool:) They kept bringing us food. For a 12.5hr plane ride - it wasn't too bad at all. Arriving in Dubai, which is an impressive city starting with the airport, we spun our clocks forward and headed to the hotel and to bed.

and this is the part where hannah hacks her mothers blog and says yaaaaahhhhooooooooo!!!

We love NYC!!

Fun day today! We started out with the ultimate New York experience: riding the subway! Hannah was very entertained by the old guy on the subway listening to his ipod and singing loudly to himself. We went to the Museum of Natural History (of "Night at the Museum" fame.) Then we toured the World Trade Center site. We walked down to Battery Park and took a quick look at the Statue of Liberty. Then back uptown to visit Grand Central Station and then for dinner - delicious Rare burgers! We are now at JFK waiting for our 11pm flight to Dubai:)

Showtime!

For years I have been telling Hannah, "Someday, we will go to New York and we will see 'Phantom' on Broadway." Well, today is that day. Dave is slightly annoyed, having seen it on Broadway before. We considered "Wicked" but ended up going with our longstanding dream to see this show here in New York. ....We'll let him choose the restaurant for dinner :)

Need to pack...

Just got back from Target where I purchased travel pillows, a converter, extra ear buds, a "Cars" toothbrush, and a small whiteboard. Think I am ready to start packing. So far the only thing in my suitcase is a deflated soccer ball and a hand pump. Better get on it!

Long trip!

....having a little fun with the map....

Billings--->New York City--->Dubai--->Addis Ababa

Wohlfeils

I've had inquiries about the Wohlfeils situation. Their boys are still staying at the Shashamene orphanage. Officials want to report the information obtained during a recent audit of the orphanage before allowing kids to move from the facility. This of course is very frustrating for Rodd and Jacque, who passed court November 11th. Please pray that the officials will soon conclude their work and allow the kids to move.

Flight info

Depart Billings Wed. January 6th at 6:30am

We fly to NYC via SLC and stay 1 night. Late on the 7th we fly to Dubai and stay 2 nights. We leave Dubai on the 10th and fly to Addis Ababa!

Arrive Billings Sat. January 16th at 6:43pm on Delta flight 2983

Embassy

We have been cleared for travel - REALLY this time - and are scheduled for a January 12th embassy date. We are working on tickets right now. Please pray the Wohlfeils will get the same embassy date...as of today they are still waiting for their kids to be moved to Addis. Hannah is concerned about missing finals week, but we bet her teachers will be willing to work with her so she can go to Africa to pick up her brother!!

AJ received our pictures

We sent AJ some picures of us so he'd know we really exist! Here AJ is pointing to a picture of his new mommy.

Received our I171H

...so we are on track for a December 29th embassy date!!

Timetable

We are hoping for a December 29th embassy date. This would involve leaving just before Christmas and coming home around New Year's. We are still waiting for immigration paperwork to be finalized. Wohlfeils are waiting for their kids to be moved to Addis. Please pray that their kids will be moved soon and that they pass their physicals. I sent AJ pictures this week so he knows we exist and haven't forgotten about him!

Finally have AJs room ready!

While we wait for immigration to be updated regarding our new address...we put the final touches on AJs room.

Healthy boy!

AJ is 46 1/2 inches tall and weighs 48 pounds. He passed his embassy physical. Now we are waiting for immigration to receive notice of our new address. We are hoping to travel with Rodd and Jacque Wohlfiel and their two sons. Rod and Jacque have adopted 3 Ethiopian brothers and are also waiting to go pick them up. We think both families will get embassy dates in December. Please keep praying for God to work out the details - esp the problem of sky high airfares during the holidays!