Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children

Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children
What could be better than an Ethiopian welcome, FOVC style?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Woliso (Amelia's home town)

My heart has been yearning and hurting for Ethiopia this week.

Going through some of our paperwork today, I found a document that sheds a tiny bit of light on Amelia's first days. She was born (or at least, she was found) in a place called Woliso. Woliso is in a rural area about seventy-seven miles from Addis Ababa, the capitol city.

During our time in Ethiopia, we never left Addis Ababa. I looked around on the internet, and found some photos from Woliso, and also a YouTube video. I have to say, it really strikes me and haunts me, to see where Amelia would have lived (or even died), had her first mom not found a way to give her a chance.

Here are some of the pictures I found:

This would be a kitchen area. I recognize the various pans and the
coffee pots that are everywhere in Ethiopia

A beautiful, but primitive, hut on a hillside.

It looks like there are monkeys in Woliso!
Such a sweet little girl.
The countryside looks green and beautiful.
Another little girl (can you tell I'm a girl mom?)
This is the school.
A beautiful place.
Another sweet little girl (yep, I'm still a girl mom).
I think that is coffee on the donkey's back.
On the way to town...
I think this would be "in town."
Finally, here's the link to the YouTube video I found. It was made by members of a humanitarian relieft organization who visited Woliso. More than anything, for me, it provided images and insights into life in the place of Amelia's heritage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxgjMxDozCc

3 comments:

Shawn said...

Amazing (I type with the tears welling up in my eyes)! What a beautiful area. I know you will bring Amelia back there one day, and, you never know, maybe you could find some of her birth family.

Shawn

Leah Reeves said...

Wow, IAN is going to be working with a care center in Waliso. I think a few of the new referrals are from Waliso. I looked it up the other day and could not find much, so that you!
Yes, the song on our video is by Avelon, beautiful isn't it.

Leah Reeves said...

You have been tagged! Visit by blog for the rules.

Leah