Meeting Family

Honeybee was very anxious to meet her grandmother and sister. I won't share too much of that story since it is Lisa's story to tell, but I will say that Honeybee has an amazing family. I was very honored to share that visit with her. She had been looking forward to this for the entire trip, so she had trouble focusing on breakfast. She spent the entire meal telling us how much time we had before we would be late. When Berhanu showed up, she informed him he was late and she was not happy. He was very apologetic, and as it turned out her uncles were next door waiting for us. The hardest part of the meeting was that she no longer speaks Amharic. She was uncomfortable with everyone talking to her, and they were surprised that she couldn't answer all of their questions. She would look to Heather, Michele and I, and all we could do was shrug and empathize.



It didn't occur to me until half-way through breakfast that we should have eaten lighter than we did. I mentioned that the families usually feed you when you visit so maybe we should go easy on the bread. I was right. We were greeted and set down to a feast of injera, shiro, green salad and Fanta. We were a little hesitant about the green salad, since all of the travel advice says: "Do not eat fresh vegetables that have not been peeled." We could not graciously say no, so we partook and prayed that no one got sick. No one did, praise God. We spent two hours with Honeybee's family, and then we were off to meet Nes's mother.

We met Nes's mother at the bus station. She was accompanied by her sister and a neighbor who gave us directions to their home. She keeps her emotions under control very well, but when she greeted me it was with a huge hug. We rode to her home arm in arm. She lives in a room off of the neighbor's house. She also provided a lovely meal and coffee. Biruk's mom was also there with her sister and her baby. I am so very thankful that God put Nes and Biruk in the same little corner of the world, and with a family that I love so dearly. Andrea had sent pictures with me to give to Biruk's mother. The boy's moms are very happy to see them together and to be able to keep in touch. They both asked to see the boys before they die, which was just heartbreaking. These ladies are young and are both on medication for their HIV, and yet they continue to live each day thinking they will die soon. Nes's mom had lost her job as a cook and laundress, and is now selling what she can at the Mercado. She asked if Nes still has a bad temper. I told her that it was getting better, I didn't tell her he only loses it when he is playing Wii. How do you explain Wii to a mother who is barely keeping herself in existence? It is questions like that that make me re-evaluate my priorities. Nes has an aunt who is very young and very pretty and loved having her picture taken. I am so very glad to have met all of these people, and to have seen their homes. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the differences in our lives. The circumstances that would cause a mother to give up her child because she knows she cannot provide enough for him to survive. I know what a precious gift he is, and I am very thankful to have him in our home, but I so don't deserve it. We spent a couple of hours with the family and then moved on.

When we got back in the van, Berhanu suggested we go back to our hotel, rest a bit, and then meet for lunch. We all stared incredulously. Lunch? Are you serious? We had had three breakfasts. He laughed and suggested we rest and then they would pick us up to go shopping.