Laughner's Journey to Ethiopia

* had to identify and explain to a nine-year-old child the concept of a toothbrush? * been overwhelmed by dozens of kids running at you, wanting to be held, hugged, and touched? * seen a young boy's face covered with knife scars, a permanent reminder of what it took for him to survive on the streets? * smelled a river with a stench so strong that you want to vomit, and then found out that a group of kids have to walk through this river to get to school during the rainy season? * given a child a hug, and felt only skin and bones beneath their dirty, tattered clothes? Until this month, I hadn't either. But now, after a week-long trip to Ethiopia, I will never be able to forget the hundreds of kids we visited in orphanages and drop in centers around the country. Thanks to the generosity of our friends, family, and community, we were able to provide clothes, medicine, toys, and most importantly, food to these kids. And they were extremely grateful. But the problem is that what we l...

Hi. Below is a link to the photos I took on my recent trip to Ethiopia. There are over 700 of them. Although I took out a few of the duds, you'll find some are much better than others. Thanks to those of you who have agreed to sponsor a child at the Kind Heart Drop-In Center. If you're interested in helping with a child, let me know. Ethiopia Vision Trip 2009 - Tom Tom

I hope you've enjoyed reading my reports from Ethiopia. I made it back safely, and am finally able to put the jet lag behind me. When I set out to do this vision trip, my thought was that I would wait until after Christmas to take the next step for sponsorship. However, as Tom Davis (founder of Children's Hopechest) so ably stated while we were in Ethiopia, "there are children starving over here." Even though this message may get lost in the hub bub of Christmas, I don't want to wait. Each member of our team selected an orphanage to sponsor. Two of us selected Kind Heart as the orphanage where we will focus our energy. Kind Heart was the drop in center where the kids have to walk through a polluted river to get to the school. They are between four and six years old, and are provided one meal a week by the school. Sponsorship works on two fronts. First, any of you interested in helping the orphanage sponsor a child. You agree to $35/month for that child. The money ...

Sunday was truly a day of rest. Most of us attended a church service and then split into several groups. I decided to stay at the hotel, kick up my feet, and relax. The church service was a unique experience. There were more than 600 people in attendance, and were they happy to be there. The first hour of the service was all singing. I didn’t understand a word of the songs, but there was lots of clapping, very loud singing, bouncing up and down, and in addition to the clapping at the end of a song, a chanting, high octave “loo, loo, loo, loo, loo…”. I have goose bumps now just thinking about it. One of the members of our travel group did the sermon, with a translator. Jeremy interwove some of our experiences over this week into the sermon. It was inspiring. Periodically, the congregation would respond with a boisterous “Ah-men” after he had said something. The sermon was followed by another 30 minutes of singing. It was a two hour service, but time really flew. A memorable experience. ...

While not nearly as emotional as yesterday, it was still an event filled, and touching day. Lots of kids, lots of needs. Our first visit was to an orphanage in Woliso, two hours south of Addis Ababa. It was founded by a man named Job, who became inspired after meeting two small children in a church whose mother could not care for them. He petitioned the government for some land, and has accumulated funding over the years to build a primary building consisting of a kitchen, dining room, and dormitories, a church, an office/library, a bathroom facility, a water tank, and several other smaller structures. The dormitories have multiple bunk beds, each with a mosquito net to protect the kids from malaria. Unfortunately, many of the nets are torn, providing little protection. The church is open to the community, and is called Emmanuel Baptist Church. Job is very resourceful, and although the orphanage does not have a steady income, he has managed to continue to provide a refuge for these ch...

Day 4 What a day. We visited two orphanages. Each was unique, each was an awesome experience, and both were emotionally draining. I’m going to ignore the “keep it to a page” rule. There’s too much to write – I hope you’ll still read it through. The first visit was to Hope for the Hopeless. Hope for the Hopeless finds children on the streets and offers them a place to stay. In exchange for schooling, a roof over their head, and meals (more on this part later), they agree to accept behavioral parameters. While housed, the staff attempt to reunite them with their families. If this is not possible, after three to six months, they are transferred to a larger orphanage outside Addis Ababa where they will stay until they are adopted, or able to move on. There were at least thirteen kids at Hope for the Homeless, ages ranging from nine to thirteen. Most of the boys sleep two to a bed. All but two are girls. There is no doubt that they come from the streets. Many of the boys have scarring on th...

Day 3 It’s day three of the trip, and I haven’t posted anything. A combination of computer temper tantrums and restricted Internet access has prevented me from keeping the blog updated. Someone said today that blog postings should be limited to one page, otherwise no one will read them. So, instead of combining everything into one post, I’m going to concentrate on today. Later I’ll catch everyone up. Here are some “hooks”; eleven hour car rides, mules, camels, road construction, dead batteries, dead cow, and abandoned bus drivers. And that was just yesterday! Today we visited an orphanage in Kombolcha (look up Kombolcha Ethiopia on Google maps). The orphanage is sponsored by Grace Baptist Church. They offer two programs; a school for the general population, and a drop in center for orphans. These orphans come from families whose parents have both passed away, primarily from HIV. They live with extended family (aunts, uncles, grandparents) or friends that have taken them in. Because hav...

This is copied from Peter Kidd's blog Day TWO This blog update is coming from my phone while lying under a mosquito net deep in the heart of Ethiopia so please excuse the brevity. Today was spectacular, comical, heartbreaking, treacherous, educational and humbling all mixed together - a cocktail of emotions, of which words alone can not describe, which left a bitter sweet taste in my mouth and left me wanting more. The ride to Kombolche was simply crazy - 11 hrs vs 6 with no 'traffic' to speak of - other than the constant threat of a collision with a goat, cow, camel or human (more on that at another time). The 'roads' at times were ridiculous and treacherous but the scenery at all times was absolutely spectacular. We reached as high as 10K feet and the expansive mountainous views were panoramic at times. cont Blog cont... We finally got to visit with the kids (120 of them) most of whom appear to be double orphans (mom and dad dead) but you never know and it really ...

Yesterday, Tom and the others arrived in Ethiopia. It was a long tiring flight but with happy hearts they dumped their bags and headed out to visit the first care point center. From the short e-mail I received last night their is only one computer they are able to post from and a long line and not much time to get to it. I am sharing some photos from the first day taken by Tom Davis. I am also going to share with you what Peter Kidd was able to post to his blog. The team is doing pretty well. One of the team members were pretty sick Tuesday night but was feeling better this morning before they left for their 6 hour drive to Kolmbocha. One other team member this morning was not quite up to par. Please continue to pray for their health and safety. This is from Peter Kidd So today was a very good day! We arrived safe in sound in Addis Ababa after about 19 hours door to door (15 hours of flying time). Being six foot one on Ethiopian Airlines is a bit of a liability but overall I got say ...

This is a photo of our T-Shirt that we are giving as a thank you with a minimum of a $25 donation. We have small, medium, and large left. Thank you for your support. Thank you to the Harbaugh family for your generous donation and give away. Check out their blog http://www.notquitedoneadopting.blogspot.com/

I leave for Ethiopia tomorrow evening. I'll spend Sunday night in Washington DC and leave at 9:30 am Monday morning. Internet permitting, I'll be posting to this blog during my trip. There is a large group of us going on this trip. They'll also be posting to their blogs. Peter Kidd Caleb David Candy Tennant Heather Sparr Karen Winstrom Tom Davis (head of Children's Hopechest, the organization leading this trip) Thanks to Karen for compiling this list! Tom

This is pretty amazing. Our church has a Wednesday night "Kids Club." One of the things the kids can do is accumulate points by memorizing verses, participation, etc. Every few weeks, they're able to use their points at a store to get candy, toys, and trinkets. This year, our congregation donated items that could be taken to the orphanages. The kids then had the option to use some of their points to "buy" these items for me to take with me. This picture represents the items the kids bought with their points. Thanks to the Dwight Chapel congregation AND thanks to the kids for their giving spirit!