Day 1

I’m looking out the window of my room staring at the wall that surrounds our house. It has been raining steadily all day. Vibrant flowers and vegetation are everywhere. I arrived last night after a fifteen and a half hour flight. Thankfully there were no complications and after I collected my luggage I was greeted by Lyston and Matt. Lyston is in charge of the operations of Cherokee in Ethiopia. He travels back and forth between the U.S. and Africa many times a year. Matt is here to manage the house until mid-August.

We also have several Ethiopian “helper friends” who handle all the needs of the house. There is no need for me to make my bed, do my laundry, or cook meals because Asni and Hannah do it all. They are wonderful people. Everyone that I’ve encountered has greeted me with a smile. The people are known for their hospitality, politeness, and warmth. It has been an assuring thing to see that kind of interaction between visitors and locals.

When they brought me to the house, the garden and living room were lit with candles. The walls are decorated with pictures of Addis and homemade art. Books line the shelves. It is obvious that people staying at the house experience community and a connection in this place. There is a little dog (I forget its name) that has made the Cherokee house his home. The girls that have already been here for several weeks welcomed me in and heated my dinner: pizza, salad, and fruit. Lyston says it’s ok for me to eat fresh food at the house because the water is bleached. How assuring!


The Cherokee House. Inside our house.

Lyston is going back to the states tomorrow which leaves Matt with a house full of girls. I am in the master bedroom with a girl named Rebecca. We have our own bathroom (which we share with others) and a desk for our laptops. She and I are the oldest. She is a teacher in North Carolina. The other girls are either seniors or recent graduates from UNC.

My bedroom.

Even though they’ve only been here a couple weeks the girls are all comfortable taking public transportation on their own and have established a work routine at various institutions. Today, I went with Rebecca and Paige to the Mother Theresa Orphanage in Asco. We wore mud proof shoes, raincoats, and rolled up pants. The streets are muddy during the rainy season and the taxis are minibuses that cram in as many people as possible. There is no sense of personal space in Ethiopia, and it is not uncommon to see men holding hands as they walk. We had to take three different taxis to get there which only cost about $1.


Walking to the taxi stop.

As we approached the orphanage, three little local boys came up and took my hand; the four of us walked to the gate hand-in-hand. It was my first encounter with the dear children here in Addis. The Asco orphanage cares for children that are HIV positive. Paige has a degree in nursing so she spends all day in the sick ward. Rebecca spoke with the head nun, Sister Maria, about teaching the kids since school is out. As we walked around the compound the toddlers pounced on us…grabbing and clinging, craving attention. The baby ward has rows of cribs; all of the babies are wrapped in warm blankets looking up at us and smiling. I simply picked one up and held her as we walked around. There are five nuns that run the orphanage and the rest are volunteers. I met a Jewish girl from Israel and a teacher from Germany.
Around noon we returned to the house and fixed lunch. I plan to relax the rest of the day and then tomorrow we are celebrating the Fourth of July (somehow the days got confused) by having a party and killing two sheep. I’m looking forward to that…