By Samantha Payne
Day two in Ethiopia has been wonderful. We were able to visit the transition home for America World. I spent most of my time with the children that have special needs. There were several that could not walk or really move any of their limbs on their own. Most would thrive from physical therapy or other services that just aren't easy to access or they don't even have here. I loved the time spent with them! We also played games with the other children. The younger ones loved the balloons that we brought to play with! It has been a great experience so far and I feel blessed.
America World not only helps with orphan care and adoption, they also have a ministry of orphan prevention.
They have a sponsorship program to help families that are in need of a little help to support in caring for a child because of poverty. There are 107 families in the sponsorship program, and today at the transition home, we were able to meet four of those families. The situations that caused the child to be at risk of becoming an orphan were all unique, but there was a commonality of love, pride, and true affection from the caregiver accompanying the child to the meeting.
We met a grandmother who works hard selling bread and goods to provide a home for her 8 year old granddaughter, an aunt who is caring for her hospitalized brother's 11 year old son, a grandfather with an exceptionally bright 9 year old grandson, and a soft spoken mother who became a single because of her son's medical hardships.The families were so gracious to share their stories with us and answer all of our questions that were translated to them.
We were excited to provide each of the families with a gift bag of goodies, macaroni, and large bag of teff, which is a grain used in making injera bread.
Day two in Ethiopia has been wonderful. We were able to visit the transition home for America World. I spent most of my time with the children that have special needs. There were several that could not walk or really move any of their limbs on their own. Most would thrive from physical therapy or other services that just aren't easy to access or they don't even have here. I loved the time spent with them! We also played games with the other children. The younger ones loved the balloons that we brought to play with! It has been a great experience so far and I feel blessed.
America World not only helps with orphan care and adoption, they also have a ministry of orphan prevention.
They have a sponsorship program to help families that are in need of a little help to support in caring for a child because of poverty. There are 107 families in the sponsorship program, and today at the transition home, we were able to meet four of those families. The situations that caused the child to be at risk of becoming an orphan were all unique, but there was a commonality of love, pride, and true affection from the caregiver accompanying the child to the meeting.
We met a grandmother who works hard selling bread and goods to provide a home for her 8 year old granddaughter, an aunt who is caring for her hospitalized brother's 11 year old son, a grandfather with an exceptionally bright 9 year old grandson, and a soft spoken mother who became a single because of her son's medical hardships.The families were so gracious to share their stories with us and answer all of our questions that were translated to them.
We were excited to provide each of the families with a gift bag of goodies, macaroni, and large bag of teff, which is a grain used in making injera bread.
unloading bags of teff
Thank you so much for sharing with us and giving us a glimpse into your days!
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