Day 4: Bahir Dar & Bete Histanat Orphanage

We were so looking forward to day four of our journey - the day we flew up to Bahir Dar to see where Lucas spent the first two months of his life. He was at the Debra Tabor (next posting) hospital for 13 days then moved to the Bete Histanat Orphanage in Bahir Dar, where he spent his second month. Before heading to the airport, we got to spend a little time with Lucas. He'd just woken up, so he was very sleepy but damn cute!!! A volunteer knits hats for each of the babies. I wish we could have taken this one with us.

BAHIR DAR. The flight to Bahir Dar was a breeze and only took an hour. Here are shots of the airport and the construction out front. Scaffolding in Ethiopia is not your standard metal framing rather Eucalyptus branches. You see them EVERYWHERE in Addis and throughout Ethiopia. The Eucalyptus tree was introduced in the 1800s and is a valued resource for the people. They use the branches for construction framing, as seen here, and to build their homes.

THE PAPYRUS HOTEL. Here is a shot of the pool. When we got there, it was packed with people. You couldn't have given me a million dollars to get that water..it was seriously brown, but everyone looked like they were having a blast. Our room was just okay.  All the beds in Ethiopia are rock hard..LOL. Malaria is the number killer in Ethiopia so we had to sleep under a net to keep the evil mosquitoes out. The first night we had drinks and dinner "poolside" where we met a couple ladies from Oklahoma City and had the best time! They'd emigrated from Ethiopia 30yrs ago and were there visiting family and friends. The picture below is an early morning shot from the hotel balcony and the video is the main street in Bahir Dar. The little blue cars are taxi's...which come from India.

THE BETE HISTANAT ORPHANAGE. The Orphanage just moved into this new compound and are doing so much work with the grounds including drilling for water so they have their own pump. They wouldn't let us take pictures of the babies/kids but I was able to get a shot of Lucas' crib. The baby room was filled with about 30 cribs and every one had a baby in it...ranging from 2wks to 1yr. Only two nannies were on staff and it was feeding time, so there was a lot of crying. It was heartbreaking to see this many babies but I was assured ALL would be adopted. The orphanage does 95% of their work with French families and 5% with the WACAP group. You will also see a woman holding a basket. She's the orphanage cook and wanted us to see the injera she'd made...very impressive. The picture of the man at the bottom is Ato Eyayu...he is the Project Director and our guide for the next two days.