It's All About the Kids

So how does a small group of eight pull off a Vacation Bible School for more than 250 kids at two care centers over over four days? Lots of teamwork, lots of flexibility, and people here in the U.S. who did an amazing job of organizing everything.

Preparations for our annual week in Kombolcha starts months ahead of the actual trip. A few weeks after we return, tentative dates are established for the next visit. Fundraising is now a year-round event, so we are continually logging checks and cash that are given to us for various needs. Over the last couple of years, we constantly monitor the political situation there to make sure there will be no issues with our travel.

The heavy preparations begin four to five months before departure. Candy Tennant will send a notice to all sponsors about the upcoming trip. We notify our church and friends about the dates. Hopefully, we have an idea of the team by early-December. While we usually end up with a team of 12-15, this year we had a team of eight.

In January, Candy Tennant and Lori Laughner go into full organizational mode. Candy handles much of the logistics, working with sponsors to get care packages sent, along with instructions for what can and shouldn't be included. She starts assigning roles to the team members. Usually, we begin regular conference calls to talk about the purpose and philosophy of what we're doing and what can be expected there. She beings to gather lists of what will be needed for crafts, recreation, and other stations. She develops instructions on what we can expect each day and all of the details for getting them done.

Lori works closely with Candy to coordinate any of the needs that we can help with. She gathers donations such as wash clothes, underwear, t-shirts, tooth brushes, and bags. By February, our dining room is stacked with piles of donations. We have a "packing party" every year where many of our friends come over to fill the bags with each of these items for every child. The people who come to the packing party also prepare care packages for unsponsored children so that every kid gets a care package.

With heavy suitcases in hand, we descend on the care points ready for action, knowing that Candy and Lori have made sure we have everything we need. We know as well, that no matter how much planning has been done, things are very fluid once we get to Ethiopia so we are sometimes making it up as we go.

In the past, we have spent the entire day with the kids at Meserete. The plan was always that half of the kids would come in the morning and half would come in the afternoon. That never really happened, as some of the kids had so much fun they'd come twice. We also learned that some were skipping school to attend. We also used to have a structured rotation where the kids would cycle among rec, craft, and singing stations. That also had mixed success as kids would often prefer one or more of the stations so would find a way to participate even longer at their favorite activity.

Our general schedule this year is to spend the morning with the younger kids at CHDA in the morning, do home and IGA visits during the mid-day (along with lunch) and then go to Meserete between three and four, after the older kids were done with school. While it was important that we don't encourage anyone to miss school, it also limited how long we could spend there because we wanted to be done before it got dark so the kids weren't walking many miles to get home on unlit streets.

Tuesday is our first day of VBS. Rob, as the pastor, generally begins the day with a Bible study. The theme this year is "God Loves Me". He leads the kids through the scripture and lesson, through a translator. The lesson is modified for the audience as there is a significant age group between the two care points.

After the lesson, the kids go through stations. The CHDA kids are split between rec and crafts. Tuesday's craft with Myndi and Angel was play doh. It was fun seeing how creative the small children were with the play doh, making houses, crosses, bowls, and animals; some of one color and some of multiple colors. They are also able to color the picture pages that are partially made of black felt. Ty and Glen set up a volleyball net and hit beach balls back and forth. Meanwhile, Michael, Brian, and I were out back distributing care packages.I love handing out care packages. I love seeing the smiles on the kids' faces when they hear the letters translated to them and see the photos of their sponsor families. One little girl started crying as the letter was being read to her. All week, they will be bringing their letters and photos to us, asking if we know their sponsor family. During the care package distribution, we will have our pictures taken with those who we do know the sponsor. Members of our church and many of our friends sponsor kids, so it's fun to see familiar names pop up as they come back to get their gifts.

The last half hour is informal. There's a little bit of play time. I had fun getting down on the ground with the little ones, having them climb over me, under me. around me. I hug them, they hug me. I tickle them, they try to tickle me (I'm not ticklish). The entire courtyard is filled with the sounds of laughter. Off to the side, the parents are smiling. Rob has said that one of the goals of the week is to allow kids to be kids. That's what is happening.

Next, we head inside the church where each of the kids receives a banana and a small loaf of bread. After they finish, we do a closing prayer and the kids come to say good-bye. They're trying to shake hands, but we're teaching them "the American way to hug." Then they find their family member and head off. We pack up and leave. Many of the kids are still outside the gate, so there is another round of good-byes as we slowly make our way to the van.

Next we go visit another IGA. The woman who has started this business is the mother of a girl at Meserete. She buys the freshly picked beans used for shirro (an Ethiopian meal), dries them on large tarps on the roadway outside her house and then separates the beans so that only the yellow ones are left (some of them are green). It's a painstaking, time consuming process. She makes about $400/month. Her hope is to submit another proposal to open a small restaurant at her home. During our meeting, I asked her about how the IGA has made a difference in her life. I felt bad when she started crying. She talked about (through the translator) how being able to provide for her children has made such a difference in her life, that she now has enough money to provide food for her children. She is HIV+ so it is hard to get work and to get loans. She also talked about the impact the sponsorship program has had on her family and her daughter. It was a touching moment. I think all of us were a little moist in the eyes.

After lunch at the hotel and a little down time, we headed over to Meserete. The activities were similar to the morning, but we gave less structure. Kids could go and do whatever they wanted. There is no play doh for the older children. There is also a period of free time at the end when they are receiving their bread and bananas. The day's activities have loosened them up and the church is filled with laughter. Michael and Ty are constantly surrounded on all sides by kids, mostly girls...

We head back to the hotel for dinner and preparations for the next day.

Wednesday and Thursday are essentially the same structure, except that Brian does the Bible lesson, continuing on the theme of "God Loves Me". He did a really nice job tailoring the stories and the lesson to his audience. On Thursday, since most of the care packages have been distributed Brian and I set up a station of games such as checkers and Jenga. There are also barrels of plastic monkeys, most of which disappear by the end of Friday, and pick up sticks, which also disappeared.We also had Connect Four, which we only took out for the older kids since the pieces were so small and it's harder to explain it to younger children. All of the games were big hits.

Friday was structured a little differently. Before we started though, we visited Wollo University, a school that some of the older teens are now attending. The school specializes in science and engineering. The campus is only ten years old, but was bustling with activity. We had to pass through a guard gate to enter the campus, at which the guard took our passports to hold while we were on our tour. I must admit to a bit of needless anxiety as he was there to return them as we left. While walking on campus, we ran into Rahel (Rah-hell), one of our translators of many years. She is in her last year of receiving a degree in mechanical engineering. I hope we get to see her next year, but it is unlikely as she expects not to be able to get work in Kombolcha.

Next we head to Meserete. The last day is similar every year. Rob talks about Jesus washing feet and the significance of that action. Then we wash the kids' feet. And then they want to wash ours. I don't know how many times Michael and Ty had their feet washed, but they were probably the best smelling feet in the country, if not the continent. Then it's on to the feast. Every year we raise money to provide a feast on the last day. The cost had increased dramatically this year, so we were unsure if we were going to be able to do it, but Hillsong Church provided the funds. We have lamb (as fresh as lamb can get, carrots and potatoes, bread, injera, and more. There is also a very rare treat; soda. There is always enough food for the kids to come back for as much as they want. Then we spend an hour playing. It's free time, but Jenga, checkers, and Connect Four are very popular. There is also face and nail painting. It's so great to see these kids being kids, and acting like they don't have a care in the world. I know they have tremendous burdens, and I hope that this was a time that they could let go just a bit. After our good-byes, we proceed to CHDA for our last time with them. We don't have a feast, but we do hand out bananas, oranges, bread and soda. There is enough that we also give the parents and other family members outside food as well. Lots of smiles, lots of laughing, lots of kids being kids.

We head back to the hotel for a brief break before heading back to Meserete for dinner. The church has held a potluck dinner for us each year. It's a chance to meet some of the church leaders. They are always very thankful for us coming. Glen and Angel stayed behind because they are not filling well. The church leaders gave each of us a certificate and scarf. The pastor said that he was especially impressed that we came given the political unrest in the country. He said that our coming shows even more our love for the children.

Interesting tidbit: Ethiopian names are such that a child has a given name, but the surname is the first name of the father. For example, Daniel's name was Fitsum Daniel as Daniel was his father's name. When Michael received his certificate, he noted that it said "Michael Tom" for his name.

After a short program and a sermon from Rob, we head back to the hotel. The plan is for us to fly back to Kombolcha (which didn't white work out. See my separate post about our adventure.) Tesfaye is leaving at 5:30am so we need to have our bags packed and to him. (In retrospect, we should have left with Tesfaye at 5:30am).

It's been a wonderful week. I wish we had more time to spend at each of the care points. I'm going to miss it here. During one of the leaders' talks, he notes that Ethiopia is our second home. That's very true. While I'm ready to come home, and sleep in my own bed and shower in my own bathroom, with hot water and water pressure, a part of me is always in Ethiopia. I can't wait to be able to return.

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