Wednesday, after lunch, was THE moment we had been waiting for. . .
GIFTS!
We were really excited to deliver the gifts that the sponsors had sent to the children. Our team had decided ahead of time what could go into the gifts. Because the rainy season is soon approaching, we chose blankets to be the main part of the gift. We also enclosed a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap, a headwrap style headband for the girls and a matchbox car for the boys. Lastly, but we were to discover MOST IMPORTANTLY, we asked sponsors to send a photo of themselves for the child and a short letter/note.
We took great care in packaging these gifts. I am so thankful for the team of people that came to my office and helped me! Because of our careful method, I never once doubted that all the children had a gift! Several times as we were handing them out people came to me and said, "I can't find a gift for ______" but I never had one moment of concern. I knew that we had a gift for each and every child!
Distribution of the gifts was a long process. There were 150 kids and each waited fairly patiently for their turn. The procedure was simple and organized - thanks to Helina!
The child's name was called and they came up to get their gift. Then they waited to open it with the next available translator. We had three translators. Along side each translator was a BCC team member. There was also a photographer assigned to each station. The child came up and the team member helped them open their gift. We usually found the toy car for the boys, which they received with wide grins! We "crowned" the girls with their headwraps, deeming them "konjo!" (beautiful) Then we found the photo of their sponsor.
The photo was their favorite part! Seriously! If the sponsor did not include a photo the kids were so disappointed! I had made photo cards for each gift that did not include a personal photo. The "generic" photo was of all the Life Club kids at our church. It was accepted, but not with the joy that the personal photos of sponsors were.
We then read the child the letter from their sponsor. They were translated line by line by our amazing translators. The kids loved that. They listened carefully, smiling and nodding in response to the words.
We then took a photo of each child. We made sure to get the photo of their sponsor in the shot, too. When sponsors were present, they gave their child the gift they had prepared for him/her. Similarly, if someone close to the sponsor was there we made sure that person gave the gift. (For example, I was called up to give the gift to Dawit, the child my cousin sand her family sponsor.)
But - enough words, take a peak at the joy!
We had been asked to capture a smile from this little guy!
We succeeded!
Family united!
Netsanet.
Oh, my! She was a c.u.t.i.e p.i.e!
I was amazed at how the kids did not rip into their gifts. I was told that by the end, they were peaking though! My kids would not have made it nearly as long, however!
You can see how intrigued the children were with their sponsor's photos!
I can not stress enough how they long to know you!
It is really cool!
Crowning another Konjo girl
Look at how she beamed!
Here I am introducing Dawit to my cousin's family.
He liked the drawing you sent Abby!
This is one of my favorite photos of the day.
Both adults and kids had fun!
He has the same look as my kids get when I make a joke. A polite grin! At least the translator laughed!
This little guy, Sophie, was on all our publications telling about Jemo.
It was cool to give him his gift, since I had worked with his photo so much!
These two were too cute not to include in this post!
Here is my mom reading Desaleng his long awaited letter!
Think he liked it?
(I just love him!)
She had waited and waited for her turn.
Before leaving for Jemo, I had promised her sponsor I would find her and hug her.
Here is proof that I did just that!
(It was so cool how God worked out these gifts. I did not read letters all day, but in the time I did, God sent most of the kids whose sponsors had asked me to check up on them. It was really precious!)
Evidence that the crowd was getting a little rowdy waiting!
This young man is sponsored by good friends of Chad.
He was so pleased with his new blanket!
Chad was so pleased to meet him!
Although this photo is not very good, this was the FUNNIEST moment of the day.
After all the children had received their gifts, Fikre started talking to them. Fikre is an excellent teacher. He spoke with the children often, giving instructions in Amharic. I could not understand what he was saying, so I allowed myself to tune him out for a moment and took a moment to collect my thoughts. Suddenly I notice that the room had become absolutely silent.
I glanced at Fikre and noticed that he had begun to show the children how to brush their teeth. From their reaction there was no doubt that they had never witnessed this before. Their mouths were wide open as they stared in amazement at Fikre brushing his teeth. When he spit out the toothpaste foam, they giggled in amazement.
It was really something! I have no doubt they all went home and tried out this new skill!
After that, they headed home. They had their gifts securely stowed in the backpacks they had made earlier in the day.
The HopeChest staff made sure that each child had someone older waiting to walk them home, ensuring they and their gifts made it safely to their destination.
Sponsors - thank you for loving these children and sending them gifts. For many of the children, it was the first gift they had ever received.
And if you did not send a gift, do not feel guilty! We made sure that we had a gift for every child. NO one was left out! However, please send your child a photo. I promised them I would ask and ask and ask until they all received one!
Tomorrow, I will tell you about meeting our sponsored son and daughter!
My family just keeps growing and growing.
That makes my heart happy!
