Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was much different than I expected. It is a city of 5 million. Most of the roads are made of mud. There is no "good part of town" and "bad part of town". The whole city is made up of some who have, and many who don't. The streets are filled with animals, beggars, crippled people, and well dressed business people. Children beg to clean your shoes or sell you gum. I won't be able to forget the faces of the young mothers who would approach our van with their babies begging for food. Sometimes we could give them something and other times the police officers would "shoo" them away from our van. But despite all of it's poverty, it is a beautiful place. The people make it beautiful. Not only are they a physically beautiful people, but Ethiopians have such a peaceful and gracious spirit. These are some pictures I took from the window of our van.
This one is for you, Christie Breedlove :).
Duane never could get over this scaffolding.
They had their Independence Day while we were there. We saw lots of floats like this one.
This is a typical street.
A soccer game.
This beautiful little boy was running after our van yelling "Chocolate". At first thought I thought it was that voice inside my head :). He was so excited to have the chocolate covered granola bar I gave him.
I can't wait to go back to Ethiopia with all of it's poverty and beauty and grace. I'm praying that God will show me how I can make a difference in the life of more than one of these beautiful children.
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