Introducing..."Little David"

(As usual, this post is too large, I will post a picture of little David and a couple of the children in my next post. Also, in my next post I will tell you about visiting the slum that these children call home)

We had the honor while we were in Addis Ababa, of visiting one of the projects of an organization very close to our hearts. It is called Hope International Development Agency ( look it up, it's awesome)

We have supported this agency for many years and were really delighted when it was arranged for us to be dropped at one of their sites in Addis, and get a glimpse at the work being carried out at the grass roots level.
We visited a school that is being run for the orphaned and street children of Addis. When we arrived, we had a brief overview of the project, meeting all the staff and the incredible Project leader, Freihwot.
After she had given a small tour of the offices and the newly constructed HIV/Aids clinic, (the waiting shelter was enormous and hundreds of people come to get the free testing..much needed), we went to the school to meet the children.
I was constantly reminded of opposites while driving around Addis, especially the back streets and into the slum areas.
Full/empty, rich/poor, have/have-not, joy/sorrow, beautiful/ugly, peace/anguish...the list went on and on in my head. I watched as kids played with stones at the side of the road. Dirty, hungry, wrapped tightly in poverty, and yet they would jump up with huge grins and wave frantically, screaming with delight if you smiled or blew kisses to them.

The school was actually an experiment of doing "Summer school", which I think just meant that the kids got a meal when "official" school was out. We entered into the facility that was being lent to Hope by a local public school and we couldn't get out of the van because of the crowds of children thronging around to greet us.

I get a lump in my throat when confronted face to face with these crowds of orphaned children. These are not looking at me from the T.V or out of a magazine, these are real, warm little children bumping into me and scrambling to hold just one of my fingers...yes, I usually walk around with ten children hanging onto my arms!
I look into their eyes, and realise that they are looking at me like an alien has just dropped out of the sky. We are so far removed from each other on so many levels. They have no idea of my life or my lifestyle and yet they know it feels good when I hold their little hands. I always have to swallow hard as I kneel down and hug them, because I think to myself,
"Right now, at this moment in time, they are actually happy"
I love to give "high fives" and stroke their hair and show them their picture on my camera, always a huge hit.
We stood in the middle of a crowd of the younger children and had a few pictures taken and suddenly, I felt as though I just could not take another minute of this. I found it hard to breathe, my eyes started to run with tears and my heart felt as though it was in a press. I had an overwhelming urge to scream about the injustice of this. These were little kids, they shouldn't have to be scrambling to get their own food, watching their parents die and taking care of siblings.
I thought that if I could just get everyone I knew on a plane and stand them in the middle of this crowd of children, then we could all help to raise awareness. We could really do something. I mean, we could...right????
I pleaded with God.
"Where are you?, You cannot be here in this mess, where are you for these children?"
I felt a tug on my arm and a little face beamed up at me,
"Photo?"
I was introduced to "little David" he was an orphan (of course), he smelled very bad, he was in filthy clothes, I could see the lice in his hair...and he was beautiful...just beautiful. I wanted to take him home.
I took a picture of this little boy looking up at me because he wouldn't let me walk away, he just hung onto my hand and then clung onto my leg as I started to walk.

I watched Frehiwot with all the kids, smiling at them, laughing with them, hugging them and I suddenly thought...you ARE here God. You are working through these staff tirelessly slogging it out in these awful conditions, you are here as Hope reaches out to children and families like this all over the country (the world).

All the children kept looking at Moses and Ayana and saying something over and over, trying to touch them, trying to stroke their hair...
Frehiwot explained that they were asking why we had black children with us. She said that she had told them that we had adopted them.
They were just wanting to touch them. She said that they were saying,
"These are the lucky ones"

I think a little piece of my heart actually did break that day.