Ethiopia Trip One: Hannah's Hope

Hannah's Hope is the name of the transition home that our son currently lives in. It is a beautiful, very clean facility. There are two houses and another building that has a kitchen/offices, etc. We never got a formal tour, but we did peek into some of the rooms when we had down time.

Israel's crib/bassinet. His crib neighbor is soon to be home with his forever family!

Laundry line/ cleaning station

To the left is the baby napping room, to the right are the big kids bedrooms. Upstairs are the baby bedrooms.

Baby nap room- kids lie in moses baskets, piles on the floor, floor cribs, bouncy seats- all with blankets covering their faces. It was a chorus of coughs and sneezes when we were there!

One of the big kid bedrooms

View from the balcony

Every day they clean ALL the outside crocs and the inside flip flops (you take your shoes off when you go inside the houses)

One day two of the toddler boys were a little fussy, so Almaz opened her window and a special mother lifted them up so that she could play with them to make them happy!

Hannah's Hope!

We are so thankful for the wonderful staff that care for the children at Hannah's Hope. It is clear that they love our son and that they are doing their best to care for all of the children there. The facilities were so clean. No child was left crying for very long. If our son must be in an orphanage, I'm glad he's there (but with that said, NO CHILD should be in an orphanage and I want him home yesterday!).

 I was amazed at how many people are on staff there, and it also made me think that we don't pay enough for our agency fees if we are paying for all of their salaries PLUS the people in the US! When people ask "why does adoption cost so much?" they should also think about what kind of care the kids are getting, and how many people rely on those agency fees. We would pay anything necessary for our son, and to know that we are getting such high quality of care for our son is so reassuring.

Another special part of our relationship with Hannah's Hope is that we can bring donations. We brought two tubs and two large suitcases FILLED with donations of formula, diapers, baby toiletries, adult deodorant, baby blankets and booties, sidewalk chalk, etc. I saw the special mothers immediately put the forumla to use. It is through donations that we can have such high quality products for our kids and it is a beautiful circle- what we bring may not benefit our son (like what we bring on trip 2), but will be put to use by other kids at HH, just like other families' donations have benefited Israel.

I think about those sweet women and men who are loving on our son and all of the kids and it makes my heart happy. I love watching the videos we took of Hannah's Hope where the special mothers are talking and playing with the kids, or chatting in the background in Amharic. Ethiopia is so beautiful, and the people at Hannah's Hope are no exception. I will be forever grateful for those people who pour out their lives for orphans, who are caring for my son in my absence, who know what makes Israel happy and how to comfort him or put him to sleep. Knowing that we had to leave our son in Ethiopia was terrible, but knowing the level of care he is receiving makes it a little better!