The village of Hossana

When we received the referral for the boys, we found out that we have the opportunity to travel south of Addis to the village of Hossana to meet Levi and Jesse's biological family. Most likely it will only be their Ethiopian mom. The father is suffering with illness and someone needs to remain behind to tend to their small piece of farm land. Conditions there are incomprehensible for us to relate to. They grow food to survive and most families are having a difficult doing this with. Starvation is a reality to most of these families, education and medical treatment is virtually unattainable. Our boys have most likely never been to a doctor until they entered the care center 3months ago now.

Layne and I have cried many tears imagining this meeting. What will we say? The picture in my mind is crying uncontrollably and wanting to hug and hold this woman, assure her of our love for these beautiful boys and the commitment to love them forever. I long for her to tell me as many details about their childhood as can be translated and what she wants them to grow up hearing about their Ethiopian family and their country of birth. We will always be very open with Levi and Jesse about how much they were loved by them. In a way our whole family will now be grafted into this family on the other side of the world.

My intent in writing this post was to record the list of items we have been told to pack for our day trip into VERY rural countryside in the southern region. Layne and I have never traveled out of the country before and we can't think of a better first experience than to bring home the boys God has ordained to be a part of our family forever.

Trip South Packing List( We will be gone from the orphanage about 13 hours)

water for the whole day
snacks for the day
hand sanitizer
baby wipes for cleaning
cameras
pictures or our family and the boys for the Ethiopian family
map of the world with Iowa circled and united with a line to Ethiopia(most of these people have never been educated or seen a world map)
bug spray
sunblock
medications(malaria meds, Advil)
handkerchief to cover face and protect from the dust
All packed in a comfortable backpack

Thats all for now
Tanya