Ethiopia

Processing Ethiopia has been hard. Compared to what we have, most of the people have nothing. The amazing part is that we never heard as much as a complaint. People just seemed grateful for what they DID have. The people are also very hard workers. AMAZING. It was hard to take in all that was going on outside the window of the van. People everywhere. Some begging for money, others just going about their day. I just wanted to do something to help someone but it was hard to give accept to the people we knew or the ones at the van window. What I did realize is that anything we did give was something great to those who received it. I was so happy to tip/give to all the nannies, the guards the driver. So Birr is the money in Ethiopia. We could exchange 1$ for 12 Birr. Then we could give a begger 1 birr and they could buy bread with that. Ok - that's like less than 10 cents. What can you even buy in the US for 10 cents? $100 birr is less than 10$. Handing out those 100's was like no big deal to me. CRAZY!! Also what is crazy is just how little these people made/make. One example is Fikrus birth mom. She worked as a laborer aka construction. She worked very hard for 1 birr per hour. At the end of the day she would have $12 birr. That is like 1$. Can you even imagine? So let's put this into perspective. I bought a canister of formula while I was there for 150 birr. If you are only making 12 birr per day, it would be REALLY hard to provide for your new baby. My heart breaks. We then would go to the Hilton for lunch. Our total one day was close to 2000 birr. Some highly educated people make about that in a month. UNBELIEVABLE. I have so many other thoughts that I don't even know how to express. I do know that I am so grateful for what I have. I have a great life and beautiful family. Ethiopia will always be a part of our hearts.