The Davis Moon Project arrived in Addis Ababa with over 2000 lbs of books and school supplies. We will be picking up another 2000 lbs of supplies here in Ethiopia. All supplies will be given to orphanages and schools.
After the long flight in we took some quick cat naps grabbed lunch and headed to the Kebebtshay Orphanage. This is a state run orphanage with kids up twelve years old. Also they have practically zero budget.
This was one of the most rewarding afternoons of my life. There are no words to express how warmly we were greeted. Our group started in the “big kids room” where we were swarmed by beautiful little faces eager to be read to and held. After spending some time with the big kids we moved to the baby room to and finally to the baby ICU where we feed and held babies that seemed to be too small to be real. I tried to tell myself while holding these tiny infants would be good for them but really it was good for me. There is definitely a joy to these children who have absolutely nothing that I hope to find. When it was time to leave the kids escorted us to the van and sent us off with lots of love, hugs and kisses. This is where the tears came in both for the kids and for the DMP volunteers.
I have not kept up with what is going on in adoption world the last year or so and I was saddened to hear that Ethiopia has closed almost all of their international adoptions. Currently there are more 4 million orphans in Ethiopia and only 1.5 million are in placement, meaning they are in an orphanage, foster care or have a received a referral for adoption. Also an orphan is defined as someone 12 and under. If the kids reach 12 without being adopted they are on their own. There are so many wonderful children here and they all deserve food, love and shelter. Thank goodness for organizations like Davis Moon Project that reach across the world to impact these children’s lives.