Today I am going to write about something that I am passionate about, and something that is very near and dear to my heart. Today I am going to write about AHOPE.

AHOPE stands for African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace. AHOPE Ethiopia is an orphanage for HIV+ children in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. AHOPE Ethiopia is a NGO (non-governmental organization).

AHOPE for Children is the non-profit corporation licensed in the state of Washington that funds AHOPE Ethiopia. AHOPE for Children is also recognized by the U.S. Treasury... more

A Year Ago Today…

We finally, finally were home sweet home.

We left the hotel in Washington DC at a really icky hour… I think it was 5:30 a.m. Josh and Ben had slept from the time they laid down Saturday afternoon until I woke them up to get ready that morning, so they had gotten lots of rest! We said good-bye to my Dad and were feeling good going into this last leg of our journey clean and well-rested.

Things got kind of yucky here though…we got to the airport with plenty of time…checked in, got some fruit and snacks at a little gift shop and sat at our gate waiting to board. We waited and waited. We finally boarded, and then we got on the plane and waited and waited.... more

A Year Ago Today…

We were back in the good old USA.

But not before a grueling 19+ hour flight!

I have to say that Ben must have been the best behaved kid ever in the history of air travel. First he fell asleep before we even took off, and then he slept for over six hours, until we landed in Rome for the cleaning/refueling/crew change nonsense.

Then he woke up, and decided he loved this airplane stuff. He was perfectly content having our undivided attention, a bag full of toys and snacks, his own little TV and headphones! I had brought a few DVD’s that we watched during the week on our little portable DVD player, and he enjoyed those until the battery... more

After the prayers there was cake and soda for everybody and then the kids all played. Ben made sure he got a photo with all of the teachers and nannies and all of his friends. He totally understood that this was HIS going away ceremony, and was excited and happy through it all.

We had a blast with these "rocket balloons" that one of the other families brought...the kids LOVED them (and so did the nannies!). Josh somehow became “the balloon man” and it was hilarious to see him buried in kids, all screaming for a balloon. We got lots of video and photos and then it as time to go back to the hotel to shower and finish packing. It was really emotional for me to watch Ben saying good bye... more

A Year Ago Today…

Was our last day in Ethiopia.

Our last day in Addis was wonderful. We got up early to go shopping on Church Hill Rd. We had found a cab driver that we really liked, and he took us to a great store that had everything we wanted. We loaded up on scarves, key chains, t-shirts, a table cloth, carved wooden animals and other little trinkets and souvenirs. We also stopped at a couple of book shops to find some Amharic/English children’s books.

When we got back to the hotel, I went to use the internet café to email home... more

As we were getting ready to leave and saying goodbye to everyone (close to 100 people had come out at this point) I hugged the grandmother and told Ben to give her a hug and he started to cry.

It broke my heart... I know he must have been thinking about leaving them all last year when they took him to the orphanage. He was obviously loved and cared for there. She pulled him close and spoke to him in Amharic, and then told me that she had told him that they love him, but that they we were his parents now, and we were good parents, and they wanted him to go with us and have a happy life. I was crying, Ben was crying and lots of others were crying, but the grandmother never did. She... more

Anyway, our trip to Assala was a lot of things. LONG, tiring, dirty... but really eye opening too. There was tons to see and the country side is truly beautiful. We saw everything from lush green landscapes to areas totally dry and baron. I am glad we got out of the city and got to see more of Ethiopia.

When we got to Assala, we first went to the grandmother's home, where they fed us traditional food (Dan was such a trooper... he is not a brave eater and he ate it all, just to be polite!) We met some of Ben’s cousins and family members, and they all seemed happy to see him. He was shy but polite. We loaded back into the car to head to the house where Ben had lived.

As we... more

A year ago today…

Was a wild day!!!

We woke up early to get ready for our trip to Assala. We had breakfast, packed stuff for the long day trip and met Benjamin’s grandmother and aunt outside for pictures.

Besides our concerns about Benjamin’s emotional well-being on and after the trip, we were also a bit worried about logistics… We had been told we would be traveling in a four-wheel drive vehicle. When we were told the night before that we would be driving the grandmother all the way to Assala as well, I asked if we had a big enough vehicle…We had Josh, Benjamin, Dan, a driver, the grandmother and myself…six people. They assured us that we would have a big enough car... more

Continued...

I did my best to compose myself and when we got to the home for the older children, I was grateful for the distraction. Josh quickly had all of the kids, including Ben, involved in a rowdy game of soccer and watching Josh with all of those children was one of my highlights of the entire trip. Dan and I got to talking with the director, and we got a tour of the compound and met some of the children.

The interview went great, and I was asking her questions that would be suitable for the fundraising video, but in the back of my mind I was also curious about HIV, the treatments, the prognosis, etc. for personal reasons.

I realized there was a lot I did not... more

Continued...

Although I had been unsure if emotionally it would be a good idea for me to visit AHOPE before we got to Addis, at this point in our trip, I was not even worried about it. I felt that I had seen so much since we got to Addis that I would be fine. I had seen so many beautiful, sad and needy children. I had seen so many heart-breaking images. I had seen desperation in the eyes of so many people. And yet I had also seen the love and hope that still some how managed to shine through, and I knew that I would be fine at AHOPE. The day... more