Street Kids Startup

We are all fine and there is a degree of peace for the moment. We don't feel under any particular danger for the time being but will need to keep a breast of situations as they develop as things can happen quickly.
Just hours before the trouble broke out a week ago, through the university students, we were able to launch our pilot project for street kids. They were able to get some of the kids off the street just before the shooting broke out. It was a very dangerous place to be on the street and the police were chasing down anyone they suspected of throwing stones and were arresting them or in some cases shooting them. Our own language helper narrowly escaped as did the core group that is meeting at our place Saturday nights. They indicated they were running for their lives as police came on campus and were shooting wildly. This was followed up by several nights where the police would come at night with lists of students and take them from their beds. Most of the students have since been released as well as most of the thousands that they took prisoner from the surrounding areas of town. Most of the opposition leaders as well as many newspaper editors have been arrested and are being charged with treason. If convicted they could face the death penalty. Last year I taught computers to the son of one of the chief opposition leaders (the current mayor of Addis Ababa). Pray that peace and sensible minds would prevail on all sides and that it would diffuse the current powder keg. Troops have also been amassing on the border of Eritrea. We live on the main road to the north and for two weeks convoys of troops and equipment were heading for the border. It is estimated that there are 300,000 troops now amassed on the border.
In spite of all the unrest we are continuing to be encouraged by the development of the urban ministries program. When we were doing some survey work last year we discovered there was a university here and that there was a large Christian Fellowship in the university. Immediately we sensed that the key to tackling the overwhelming needs facing this area may be to mobilize the university students. God has given us a core group of key leaders that meet weekly at our place for prayer and planning. Before we even connected with them they were already forming plans on what they could do. We thought it was going to take years to develop a relationship with the students to the extent that they would be interested in doing something concrete about the needs in Bahir Dar. It happened almost over night and the pilot project, though in it's infant stages, is up and running, for which we are very thankful

Streets of Bahirdar

Yilalu is a 15 year old girl living on the streets in Bahir Dar. When she was 5 years old she was kidnapped from her home and forced to work in the home of her kidnapper. She was greatly abused by her abductor and lost her left eye. 7 years later she escaped and started searching for her home. Till now she has not been able to find her family and is living on the streets of Bahir Dar.
Habtel is a 7 month old living on the street. Her 17 year old mother lost both her parents and had been living on the streets. A man who she didn't know raped her and now she has a baby who will grow up knowing nothing but street life.
According to government estimates there are 5 to 6 thousand kids living on the streets in Bahir Dar. The primary cause is that both parents died. They are deprived of shelter, food, education, medical help and most importantly family. Most will end up in lives of crime to survive. Many say they see only blackness and death for the future.
We have started to gather some information and try and understand what is happening in Bahir Dar. We are humbled and amazed at how God is putting together the pieces for us. The vision we had was to mobilize the University students to tackle some of the issues and act as big brothers and sisters to the destitute children. We didn't know how we were going to convince students who have a very heavy study load to give of their time for these castaways. But, God has already been guiding other people's hearts just as He has ours, and God has already put us in touch with a core group of university students who have the identical vision, they simply lack the resources to carry it out. We plan to meet weekly with this core and (with God's guidance), start to put together an action plan to tackle these overwhelming needs and hope to expand it to include prostitutes and other destitute women and girls who end up on the streets.
Sue has started the home schooling program with the girls. They are enjoying it and according to their teacher, both are doing well.

Arrival in Bahir Dar

It was evening as we arrived in Bahir Dar to start our second year of service in Ethiopia. As I turned the key and opened the door of our new home a big lizard dropped on my head. It's a good thing it wasn't Sue opening the door or the whole town would have known we arrived.
We are thankful to John and Phyllis Coleman who have loaned us the use of their Land Cruiser while they are in Canada. It has sure made the move north a lot easier. The trip north from Addis was spectacular at times as we crossed the Blue Nile gorge winding our way down several thousand feet and back up the other side.
Animals and market goers considerably slowed our trip and it took nearly 12 hours to complete the trip. It has been an eye opening experience trying to get settled in Bahir Dar as there is a scarcity of most things and household furnishings of any description are frightfully expensive. We scoured the town in search of a simple wooden chair to buy and came up empty. Sue asked some local help to purchase some simple groceries, thinking they would be more successful than us. Sue had 7 items on the list but the local help came back with only one item, however, we were informed that bananas would be available in the afternoon.
Sarah and Rachel have already been hard at work planting a garden. We also have passion fruit and mango trees on our property that we are looking forward to.
Our house is made of mud but it is not a mud hut. It is simple but adequate and we are starting to get settled. A kind couple from Canada, Brian and Cindy McConnell donated a water purification system for us to take with us to Ethiopia. We have that installed and operational.
We arrived on New Years Day. Ethiopia has their own calendar and it just turned 1998. They have not yet entered the new millennium. For all those who want to celebrate the ushering in of the millennium again you are welcome to join us in Ethiopia in a couple of years. I would not want to be a sheep in Ethiopia around New Year as the roadside was full of people buying sheep for the big New Year's feast.
We are in Bahir Dar to set up an urban ministry among the many street kids, AID's orphan's and women-at-risk. It is an overwhelming task before us as Bahir Dar has the highest HIV rate in Ethiopia and more than half the town seems to be under 20 years of age. Since no project agreements have been formed yet with the government I am teaching part time in order to have a residence permit. Initially I was going to be teaching English but the school has asked me to teach computers instead. This will probably work out better for me plus hopefully give some valuable skills to the Ethiopian kids.
The story of the school I am teaching at is incredible. Fray and her husband (both Ethiopian) are an incredible example of self sacrifice and trusting God to help them turn a hopeless situation into something of triumph. Both are well educated, have lived many years in the States and could have settled for a comfortable life but they have dedicated themselves to doing something for Ethiopia. He became a Doctor and opened a practice in Bahir Dar that saw 35,000 patients last year. He is now opening a medical school. His wife started a quality school that has grown in a few short years to 1300 students and has plans to expand to High School in the next year or so. We are happy to be able to join them this year and do what little we can to help them.

Election Unrest

Things have remained calm in the capital for the past few days as the European Union, the UN and US have put pressure on the government and opposition parties to seek a peaceful solution.
How long this will remain is anyone's guess as there are continued reports of mass arrests by the thousands.
We have reopened school and only have a few days until school is over. For Sue, school has already ended. She is feeling on cloud 9 to have it over. She was told that her class had one of the highest class average's in the history of the school and Sue was in the top half of her class. She worked very hard at it as Amharic did not come easy for her.

I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of a wild boar outside our tent. Then I realized the sound was inside the tent. I was disoriented trying to figure out where I was. When I finally got my bearings I realized I was on a trip to the south of Ethiopia with my Grade 9 class and the wild boar was the erratic snoring of one of the students. (towards the end of the trip they insisted I have a room of my own due to my own snoring).
Our trip took us south to the Bale Mountains, an area my Dad pioneered in opening a base for the SIM. We went by horseback up into the mountains but weren't able to reach our target due to heavy rains and impassable rivers. We had to turn back and were able to set up camp at the first base camp for the mountains. It rained heavily but we stayed relatively dry and safe in our camp. It caused us to wonder, however, how the rest of the trip would play itself out as almost everywhere we were to go was dependent on the weather.
The next day we got on the bus, were able to swim in some hot springs at Wando Genett and set up base at Lake Awasa at the Norwegian guest house. Spirits were still high and things were going as well as could be expected. The next day would be the challenge when we would try to get a bus up rugged mountain roads to Chencha.- Any rain could spell disaster.
On the way up we encountered one bus where the sides of the road had caved in and it had rolled into the ditch. The bus was totaled, however no one was seriously injured. We took the driver with us as we continued our ascent to Chencha. Miraculously we had no rain and made it up to Chencha without incident.
In Chencha we visited a Church that has become a leader in Ethiopia in self-improvement projects for the people as well as cultivating numerous herbs that treat everything from HIV to cerebral malaria. They introduced apples to Ethiopia. At first apples were something strange and few people wanted them, however now they can't keep up with demand and it is spreading to other areas of Ethiopia.
The battery on our bus cracked and leaked acid, leaving us with a bus that wouldn't start. By the time we got the bus started (using a jump start) it was growing late. Our destination for the night was Arba Minch. We had the choice of going back the way we came which would have been 3 hrs and we would have had no lights (battery dead) or going straight down the mountain (1hr.) on a very treacherous road. (no vehicles had made it up that day). We chose straight down and miraculously vehicles that had been stuck all day and were blocking the road, cleared just minutes before we got there all the way down. There's nothing like a harrowing ride down the Chencha mountain to challenge your prayer life.
The next day we took a trip on to Lake Chama where we saw plenty of monster size crocodiles and hippos. The walk out to the boats was a little disconcerting as we had to wade through knee deep water in spots with crocodiles less than 100 metres away not to mention 150 types of snakes in the area with 2/3 rd of them being deadly. The students took it in stride and the weather cooperated. I think it was the only afternoon we didn't have rain.
That evening we had a monster storm. It flooded under our door and by morning I was soaked since I was sleeping on the floor. A driver who was sharing a room with me had made his bed on a table (he was afraid of bugs and snakes on the floor). We nick-named him Noah as he was the only one ready for the flood.
From Arba Minch we were planning to travel further south to Konso, Turmi and El Duba. This area is home to the Hammer and Buna tribes. We abandoned our bus and picked up two more land cruisers to make the trip. The road, however, had been cut in too many places and the risks too great for the short time we were to visit these places.
Fred Van Gorkam, who accompanied us on this trip and who had worked for 14 years among the Buna, had himself been washed down river in a land cruiser. God miraculously spared his life and his family as they had several young children in the cruiser at the time. It was a difficult decision to abandon the quest for El Duba, however, the parents of the kids are probably just as glad that we didn't pursue it. As it was we crossed several places where flooding had washed out the road.
Fred told us the difference that the Christian message of peace with God through His Son has made to the Bunna people. They have lived in great darkness all their lives and have been at constant war with neighboring tribes. The men all have notches on their chest showing how many men they have killed. Any efforts by government or education to change them has failed. In areas where Christian believers have been established it has brought peace to the area. It has paved the way for schools, clinics, education and even police to move in where previously they feared to go.
It was a great eye opener for the Grade 9 class and also a time of personal reflection on their own lives and values. For some, I believe, it was a turning point in their lives. We had many opportunities for devotions, Bible study and personal sharing.
When we couldn't complete our trip to El Duba we returned to a base at Lake Langano where we helped Dan and Kimberely Scheel with some of the work that needed to be done around the place. I had gone to school in Ethiopia with Dan years ago. It was a great reunion and time to reminisce. They operate a clinic at Langano that sees 15,000 patients a year.
This weekend is elections in Ethiopia. There is some concern for peace and stability. I am also traveling to the north this weekend as it is the last opportunity I have to make arrangements for our return next year. Pray for peace and stability
Sue is busily wrapping up her language course with many exams and presentations in the next couple of weeks. The girls are continuing to enjoy and do well in school.

Bus Crash!

We were on our way for a school outing. Our Bus was loaded with 59 students. I was seated directly behind the driver but couldn't see much because a partition was between the driver and me. The driver suddenly slammed on his brakes to avoid a mini-bus taxi that stopped abruptly in front of the bus. The driver swerved to avoid crashing into the taxi. The fellow sitting beside me, who had a clear view said "Oh NO". He very courageously jumped up and flew into the arms of two adjacent lovely ladies (he claims he was protecting them from the crash). We had swerved right into the path of an oncoming bus.
The driver of the other bus tried to avoid a head on collision and struck our bus a glancing blow as it then proceeded to roll into the ditch. Miraculously there were only bumps and bruises on our bus, including the driver and there were no life threatening injuries on the other bus.
This last week was March Break for the school and we made a return trip to Bahir Dar to try and finalize arrangements for next year. We are hoping to start an urban ministries program in Bahir Dar that targets street kids, women-at-risk, orphans etc. Since there are currently no project agreements with the government we can't get work permits for that. We can't get project agreements unless we have someone there to do the necessary research and write them up. So our first job is getting there. This next year I plan to teach part time at Bahir Dar Academy and continue to lay the ground work for future urban ministries.
On this trip we met Fray Shibaba, the director of the school, and her husband. Both have incredible stories. Her husband was imprisoned for many years while the communist regime rampaged Ethiopia for 17 years. Many of his colleagues died in prison. On occasion when they were very sick, prisoners were taken to the local government hospital for treatment. He was so appalled at the conditions with people dying in the waiting room that he vowed if he survived prison he would become a doctor. While in prison he met a Christian (most of the jails were filled with Christians during the communist era), and he also became a believer.
To make a long story short he now operates a private practice in Bahir Dar and saw more patients last year than the government hospital (more than 35,000). His wife (a former patient who he rescued from the verge of death) also became a believer and tried to open a school.
Because of their faith they experienced great opposition and received death threats, were on hit lists, and experienced many attempts to shut them down. They persevered and in only 4 short years, Fray now has more than 1200 students at the school and all the government officials and everyone else are now sending their kids to the school. She says it all happened by prayer.
Sue had an opportunity recently to teach massage to HIV/AID's patients who SIM has organized support groups for. By learning to give massage to each other, it is hoped that they can offer pain relief and emotional support to each other. The response to the teaching was very positive and Sue has been asked to come back and do some more teaching on massage and stretching.

Northern Historical Route

The Simien Mountains are called the roof of Africa, with good reason. At many points you are high up on plateaus looking down on mountain ranges thousands of feet below you. Over the Christmas break from school we had the opportunity to travel through much of northern Ethiopia- including a return trip to Bahir Dar and north to Gondar and Axum. Many of the peaks in the Simien mountains are over 4,000 metres high.
A few teachers from school joined us including Jim and Andrea Rawson, Sarah's Grade 1 teacher (Miss Jennie Ruim) and a good friend from Canada, Karen Zabawa. Karen previously accompanied us on our two trips to China for our adoptions of Sarah and Rachel. She found Africa a little more challenging than China and is just now getting over her flea bites. She is also involved in other charities one of them being starthrowerfoundation.org
We had left for Bahir Dar a few days earlier than the rest of the group to meet with several leaders concerning the urban ministries program that we hope to launch next year. Since there is an exorbitant amount of red tape to go through for getting a program approved by the government, we may initially start out by teaching some English and or computers part time at a local school in Bahir Dar until we get our feet on the ground and have the time and resources to put together an official government approved urban ministries program.
After a few days the rest of the travel group joined us and we visited some of the island monasteries, blue nile falls and several other local attractions around Bahir Dar. Many people from the outlying areas still come by papyrus boat to market the same way they have for a thousand years.
New Years Eve we spent in a police station. Some say I can't go anywhere without ending up at a police station. While we were visiting a local village, where they make papyrus boats, all of our jackets were being stolen from the van. Our guide insisted we try and get them back (we were also heading for the Simien mountains where it can go below freezing). Our guide along with the local police and village elders pursued the thieves until all the jackets were returned (around midnight).
Soon we were on our way by Land Cruiser up to Gonder and from there to the Simien Mountains and Axum. Gonder was the capital of Ethiopia for 250 years with a succession of kings making their home there. There are many interesting castles and old palaces to be explored. I remember visiting Gonder years ago and seeing live lions running through the ruins. It kind of added to the adventure. Fortunately there weren't any lions this time.
From Gonder we went into the Simien mountains and then wound our way up and down spectacular mountain gorges on our way to Axum. The trip was uneventful apart from flea bites and hundreds of cock roaches appearing as soon as the lights went out. We decided to leave the light on in the bathroom to avoid "the crunch in the night".
On the route to Axum we saw lots of burned out military vehicles, remnants from the various wars Ethiopia has been involved in over the last 20 years.
Axum is the home of the Queen of Sheba, the famous Queen who visited king Solomon. The Amhara tribe claims to be descendants of the King of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The Ark of the Covenant also is said to be in Axum guarded by the Orthodox Church.
At one time the Axumite kingdom was the most powerful in the ancient world with its kingdom extending all along the Mediteranean. Axum was also a cultural centre of a quite advanced civiliztion. We visited the Queen of Sheba's palace, her pool and varius underground tombs etc. Only about 2 or 3% of Axum has been excavated so there is still a lot of history to dig up.
We were running short of money by the time we hit Axum and we had to pool all our resources as a group to cover our hotel bills and travels in Axum. There is no using of credit cards, ATM's or any way to get money. Everything is cash only.
We are back into routines teaching at school and Sue with her Amharic studies. The girls are enjoying school and will be participating in Field Day over the next couple of days. Field Day is a long tradition at Bingham that goes back to the days when I was a student here. It is essentially a major track and field event where everyone in the school has to participate in at least two events.