Ethiopia Day 2: Embracing Hope

Picture thirty or more three year olds running around, playing ball, peek-a-boo, climbing on your lap, playing with your hair -- and you probably think about a typical preschool, right?  Embracing Hope is just like any preschool I've been to, except there was a tree in the middle of their playroom.  And their playroom had no roof.  And it was in Ethiopia.

Christy Shannon graciously talked with us for over an hour today next to that tree.  We peppered her with questions about how they got started, how they operate, who they serve.  Meanwhile, her own children came in and out, asking for diapers, pushing kids on a merry go-round, and navigating preschoolers arguing over a ball. 

Embracing Hope started in 2009 after Christy and her husband realized the need for single moms in Korah to have daycare for their children so that they could hold down a job.  Korah is an area of Addis Ababa known as the forsaken place.  It's a city within a city and is home to the trash dump, along with an entire community of people who live and work there. EH started with about twenty kids and now serve 108 children.  The kids attend preschool and kindergarten right there at their facility  and receive two meals and snacks during the day.  Embracing Hope takes a holistic approach to serving these families by providing other services to the moms - literacy classes, groceries, and health care, and mentoring.  Some of the moms even work right there making beads which are sold as necklaces and bracelets.  Andy tried to make one and failed miserably, even though the women graciously told him, "Gobez," which means good job.  ;) You can read all about Embracing Hope on their website.  Please do -- it is an incredible ministry doing incredible things.

The children were absolutely precious, as you can imagine.  I had three little girls fighting over my lap, and one bossy one kept pushing the other two off.  :)  A little boy was fascinated with Andy's adam's apple and all wanted to touch his face.  Many stretched their arms out to be picked up or slapped a high five when prompted.  These are children who could be trailing behind their moms while they sift through trash but instead they are making friends, learning the alphabet, and being nurtured by a staff who loves them --- all so that they can go home at the end of the day with a mommy who loves them more.

There's so much more to write about this day but our internet is very spotty, and it is getting late, so it will have to wait.  We have fallen in love with this country and this culture already.  Our hearts are breaking, but not broken, because we see the hand of God everywhere we go, and we know He is redeeming us all in this journey.  Much love from Ethiopia! Ciao!