Changes...

I know this is long,

 but it is so important,

 please, please read...

Life is all about being flexible,

and seeing where God will lead you next.

It's a lesson I am learning.

It is a lesson Kolfe is teaching me.

Earlier this month,
plans for pillowcases were multiplying.

We were making headway on

the cost to purchase

the pillows and blankets...

and then one night God clued me in on

 a greater need for His boys.

You see, all the boys at Kolfe hope

to one day be like our son,
Emnatu, in the photo above.

He has graduated from college,

(although he is still majoring

in something else at night school

 to increase his marketability)

he even has a full time job,

in a society that has had
50% unemployment in recent years.

This is the dream
of these young men,

and all of
their Kolfe brothers.

They want an education.

They want to be successful,

they know without it,

they will have NO FUTURE.

Let's face it...

your kids and my kids will always

have mom and dad to fall back on

if they are really in a bind.

You would never
turn away your child
if they truly needed help.

These boys don't

have that luxury.

They either make a

go of this life,

or they live on the street,

hungry,

hopeless,

and alone.

So what does this have to do

 with being flexible?

Well, there have been changes

 at Kolfe this month.

Changes that will

effect the future

they so desperately desire.

For a long time they have had help

 with the cost of

schooling,

 lunches,

and transportation to class.

Gladney Adoption Agency

 has generously provided and loved

on these boys year after year,

  but they need OUR

help now to continue.

Next year they will have to

drastically

cut back on their generosity

 towards Kolfe.

I have wrestled for a month

 with the direction of this project.

 - - - - -

How do we show up in August

 and hand the kids a

 blanket and a pillow and say,

 "Hey, we know you

really want to

go to school.

I'm sorry about that,

 but here's a blanket instead!"

The answer is... we can't. 

It is not right,

we have to step in and help.

So here's the new plan

We will still:

bring 300 pillowcases,

& buy new pillows in ET,

but any funds raised beyond

the cost of pillows...

WILL GO TOWARDS

getting these boys in SCHOOL!!!

Funds will still go to Gladney,

they are still tax deductible,

but we will be raising money

to directly effect their futures.

I can hear you already...

wanting to help,

knowing that school

shouldn't be

 a luxury reserved

only for children

with parents...

but for ALL CHILDREN.

But, you want to know,

"How much do you

need to raise?"

The answer is the amount of a mountain,

 a mountain only God himself can move...

at least $40,000...

 just to maintain what Gladney

did last year,

 before the addition

of those new 100 children.

So, please pray

about effecting the lives of these

young men and boys next school year.

Because we are ALL

blessed to be a blessing...

To donate for the Kolfe schooling:

1) Send your tax-deductible check to

Gladney Center for Adoption
6300 John Ryan Dr.

Fort Worth, TX 76132-4122

Mark that it is for

Ethiopia Humanitarian Aid

 on the envelope

and write

 "Kolfe School Funding"

on the memo portion of the check.

(We would love to see God working,

so please let us know you've donated!)

2) Or you can donate on-line

(Visa fees will be taken out)

by clicking here

and following the instructions.

Instead of "Pillow Project",

type in "Kolfe School Funding".  

(We would love to see God working,

so please let us know you've donated!)

Blinders off, this is a little closer to truth...

(This is really just a tip of the iceberg. 
 I don't have photos of all of it, nor could I handle
 sharing all of it today... too many tears.)
I am guilty....

Out of respect for the boys,
and my great love for them...

I don't tend to post photos (nor take them) of

the true sadness that is the Kolfe campus.

I show you the happy side, the joy,
 the sacrifice, the love...

  but in truth... there is more to the story.

Kolfe is a run-down, beat-up, falling apart...

Government Orphanage.

That means, there is no official outside funding.

(Except Gladney Adoption Agency
... more on them later)

Yes, Kolfe is gaining momentum
from people in the U.S.

 to help, and even a non-profit
who is on again,

off again in their support...

but the boys have nicknamed themselves

the "Forgotten Boys" for a reason.

Kolfe is a rough place to live...

a place with broken windows,

beds that either don't exist,

or are barely holding together,

lack of adequate food, clothing,

education supplies... you name it,

they are learning to live without it...

The filth, broken glass and trash are everywhere.

268 boys living and surviving together on a campus

that wouldn't be suitable for our dog.

Trying to eek out a life,

that is void of anyone other than each other

to care about their well being.

While I was there in February,

the boys were washing their clothes...

 while standing in raw sewage.

The pipes had broken,

 they tried to fix it themselves, and for days,

 (before Gladney rescued us all)

 the sewage flowed freely.

My driver refused to stay anywhere near it,

 and begged me to leave.

"You shouldn't be here smelling this."

I stayed... he stayed across the street,

a phone call away from the sight and smell.

This is a common site on the new street kids.

I won't even begin to guess as to what that is.

Abraham... a newbie...

The night before, he had come up to me

and simply said, "OWWWWWW"

as he pointed to his foot.

My heart broke as he pulled off his shoe,

and literally peeled off his sock,

ripping it from his flesh.

  The boys and I cleaned his wound,
 wrapped his foot,
(actually, I burst into tears
when he began screaming...
 I had to have the boys take over while
 I tried to simply hold him.)

and called a local friend of mine,

who agreed to bring in a "helper"

the following day to have a look 

(can't call her by her title, since she had to

be off the clock while at Kolfe!)

The good news is that he is now on meds 3 xs a day

and should be seeing some improvement!

This is a photo from a few years back

of the sleeping conditions.

 I would like to reassure you that things are much better...

in some ways they are...

photo courtesy of C. Gingerich

In other ways... things are still the same.

The 96 new children are primarily 

sleeping on the floor.

And no, the kid on the far left, is not trying to

 make a fashion statement with his pants.

Even without the location of the bed, (floor or frame)

sleeping at Kolfe has its challenges.

They are used to it,

but I would not stand for a moment for RATS

to crawl on my children while they slumber.

 Nor, would I want them roused from their bed

by stick wielding police officers who seek to beat first,

and ask questions second.  

They are lucky to have shoes...

and wear them much longer than

 you and I would.  Out of necessity.

The tears of orphans run inside.

If your kid were to graffiti on a wall of your home...

Would they have need to write THAT??? 

"The boys say the way new boys are greeted is

 "welcome to Sona".

Sona is the prison from one of the seasons

 of the TV series Prison Break...

a prison run by the inmates....

not too far off from real life."

~ A quote from a friend who has physically adopted two Kolfe boys. 

Some of the boys couldn't take it.

Kolfe was too challenging for them,

(lack of food, clothing, etc...)

they felt they could do BETTER on the streets.

We ran into a few of them on our way to the Merkato

on Thursday.  My heart broke at the mere possibility

that life on the streets could be better than Kolfe.

Photo courtesy of Laura Hoffman http://www.brightontheirworld.org/

Washing hands at Kolfe usually means

SOAP and water.

They normally have no soap.

When I visit, they ask me for sanitizer

(they love the smelly kind)

or "Mom, you have soft cloths?"

(sanitizing wipes)

Their lack of soap means their hands

aren't truly clean before eating.

They also don't seem to have cups to drink with.

(Some of the older boys showed me that they cup

 their hands under the faucet for drinks...

when I complained that I never saw them drinking.)

From my first trip... the littles picking up trash.

I literally fought the tears when I stepped onto

 the campus last month.  It is bad...

 the somewhat nice campus I left has

been stuffed to overflowing with boys now.

The new boys have changed Kolfe drastically.

  New windows are now broken, there is trash,

and yuck everywhere. 

The boys need clothes, shoes,

 (still, even after purchasing 96 pair)

and something to do with their days.

There is a new version of idleness that has come

 with the addition of these boys.

96 kids... who arrived too late in the year

 to be registered for school.

They will have to wait until September.

  They have nothing to do...  

This is what the boys eat at Kolfe.

(Except for two meals a week when they

get some yummy pasta. Sarcasm!!!)

Growing boys... with little to nourish them.

Yes, the injera is rich in iron,

but growing boys need something

 closer to this next photo. 

This is what they ate at the restaurants with me.

Notice a difference?

Meat and fruit are rarities at Kolfe.

Reserved for special occasions,

or the kindness of visitors.

These were the lucky ones..

they had shoes when I came. 

Although, not great shoes, or in good shape,

 but at least they HAD some. 

Clothes that weren't falling apart, however

was a whole 'nother story.

We hope to fix this, at least somewhat, in August 2011.

So, here's what you can do...

Donate to Gladney (click on "Gladney")

on Kolfe's behalf.

(be sure to put in the notes or memo that the money is for Kolfe)

Gladney adopts out of Kolfe, but more importantly...

they care about the boys.  All the boys,

even the older ones.

The provide medical care when the boys are

very sick, and in need of help.

They pay for schooling when needed,

transportation to the private and the public schools,

they provide graduation clothing,

so that kids like Emnatu, don't stick out

like a sore thumb on graduation day.

WHY???

Because they care!!!

There are countless other things

 that Gladney does for Kolfe...

and they are willing to do so much more with

 funding from people like you and me.

(This post has begun to be updated... it was originally written in 2011)

Do something to help...

because I met them,

they have names,

they have stories,

they have needs...

and together, WE can HELP!!!

Sweet Christmas Surprise....

(American) Christmas Day at Kolfe... 

 was a pretty fun occasion!

A few of the boys have families,

(Wouldn't it be nice if there were more?)

so Skype and email were working overtime.

Thanks to my friend Fekadu,

for playing errand boy for me.

Fekadu stopped by the mission house to pick up

some things I had sent to ET with Emily,

stopped by a lucky fruit vendor and

bought fruit for the entire orphanage,

and then took some Christmas cheer to Kolfe...

all on American Christmas morning!

The perfect day for this delivery!!!

 Our Emnatu had something up his sleeve.

I'm not known for just letting things happen,

(I am the worst kind of planner.)

so I almost spoiled it!

Christmas morning we got a Skype call from Emnatu,

he asked us to close our eyes,

he had a surprise for us,

for Christmas...

this is what we saw when we opened our eyes.

Emnatu John, AYAL John, and Mezgebu John.

Our three sons...

all together, all on skype,

This was Ayal's first time using Skype.

 - - - - -

Our sweet boy spoke right to the

♥ of my love language.

My favorite gift,

sacrifice (Ayal would be sharing a tiny bed

 with Emnatu again)

for the gift he knows his mom loves best...

T-I-M-E!

"Marry Christmass" from the Kolfe boys.

A few images of life at Kolfe Orphanage.