Hi Everyone,
Things are so great in Ethiopia! I love the kids and the clinics have been great. We spent two days in Addis Ababa doing clinic duties and I have been helping in the Pharmacy–now I guess that I have a new career option if I get bored with being a psychologist. I never dreamed that I would be filling prescriptions!
On Friday we split up into two groups. One team flew to Bahir Dar and my team took a 3 hour or so bus ride to Zeway. We all just returned last night after a couple of days of clinic. The people were amazing and the kids were so sweet. They just greeted us when we walked up-wanting to shake hands and hug us 
Some had practiced English phrases and would say “Hello, my name is ____. What is your name?” Very sweet. I don’t have access to load my pictures yet, but you will just melt when you see them!
So just some background info and a few stories. First, Ethiopia has about 5 million orphans–beautiful children without parents–some are lucky enough to live in an orphanage–others have to struggle with living on the streets. I just heard that there are 750,000 children living on the streets in Addis alone. And I have to tell you–the streets here in Addis scared me when we first got here so I can’t imagine being a child and having to survive on the streets. I don’t know if it’s just typical Western paranoia or if it’s legitimate, but we have been told not to walk alone–even during the day here so imagine a vulnerable child with no one to protect him or her. It is the wet season so it rains almost daily and there are no sidewalks in Addis that I’ve seen, so you either walk on the edge of the road or through the damp or muddy sides of the road. I can’t imagine sleeping out there. It’s so important that we do what we can to help these children forced into the circumstances through no fault of their own.
On Thursday, a 14 year-old boy came to clinic. There was some confusion as he had a Mission of Mercy case number, but others who knew the child that the number belonged to said that it wasn’t him. When asked about it, he explained that he was worried that he wouldn’t be treated if he didn’t have a case number and that his friend gave him his case number. His parents were both dead and he has a grandmother, but spends lots of time on the streets. His grandmother told him that he had a rare case of TB and that would have to take meds the rest of his life. Well one day, he was on the streets and a beggar had his hand out with his meds in his hand. I guess that they do this to show that they have AIDS. He also had a sign that he had AIDS in his hand. This boy looked at the meds and they were the same ones that he is taking. So a fourteen-year-old boy learned that he had AIDS through a beggar. He went to his grandmother and confronted her about it and she said that he could never tell anyone or he would be ostrocized. Not knowing could also cause him to unknowingly spread the AIDS virus. Of course, Mission of Mercy took him on as one of their children and will continue to help him. The local government does provide AIDS medications once someone is in their system. What an amazing story of a friend trying to help his friend get some answers and treatment by sharing his own case number–pretty amazing.
OK, on a lighter note, the coffee is fantastic here! It’s thick like in Brazil, very strong, and is so yummy! It is very hard to be a Vegan here, so have caved to the fact that I’ll have to have regular milk in my coffee and I’m paying for it! I have a milk allergy–have since I was a child–and just realized as I’m typing this that my stuffy nose is due to all of the milk that I’ve been getting by way of coffee. I had a chance to eat Wat and Endura a couple of days ago. These are traditional Ethiopian foods of spicy lentils and a special Ethiopian bread. I heard that people either love it or hate it. A man showed me how to eat it the traditional way and it was so good. By the way, no stomach issues as of now. I’m being pretty careful, so hopefully, it will last!
By the way, I appreciate each and every one of you for your love and support. I promise to add pictures when I get home and more stories later about my adventures here in Ethiopia. I will tell you more stories later–there are lots of good ones
Peace and love,
Donna
