One of the things I was most excited about before our trip was the "goat feast" as we had deemed it. I have read about many groups traveling to Ethiopia and purchasing goats for a community feast and I was really excited that I would get to be a part of an event like that.
I was also excited because I remembered that live meat was the only "real" meat in Joshua Gebeyehu's mind when he first came home! Joshua Gubs absolutely craved protein in his first months at home. NO matter what was on his plate, what he ate most of was protein. I credit that to his body just knowing what it was lacking most. Because protein was what he loved most, it is what we fed him most. He ate pounds of sausage, ground beef, chicken, and pork chops in his first months home. He was always happy to eat - but until Chad brought home the first pheasant of the season, we did not see true joy in eating from our young son.
When Chad came home with dead birds in the back of his truck, Joshua was totally thrilled. He insisted on touching the birds. He watched as Chad gutted them. Joshua made sure he was right in the middle of it all, holding open the garbage bag as Chad got rid of the entrails. It was obvious that our little guy understood that THIS was meat!
After the meat was harvested, we thought it should be nap time. Joshua was far to excited to sleep. He kept saying, "eat bird? eat bird?!" Finally we gave up on the nap and cooked the bird!
I have always wondered if Joshua was surprised when he ate it, as he had many meals similar to the grilled pheasant breasts every day!
In Ethiopia there is NO refrigeration in many places. So the only kind of meat is fresh meat! It is also very uncommon for the children of Jemo to eat meat. Most of them only have meat on holidays. I know that is hard for us ND beef eaters to imagine, but it is true!
On Tuesday morning the bus made an unexpected stop on the way to Jemo. The mighty Solomon (our incredible bus driver) figured out a way to cram the HUGE bus into the tiny parking lot of a nearby bank. Helina, Fikre, and Troy went inside so that Troy could exchange the American money we had brought with to purchase food for the feast into Birr.
Helina and Troy returned to the bus. Solomon and Fikre disappeared to a nearby (?) market to purchase the goats. (OK, so I am told they are not goats, but sheep. However they sure looked like goats to me! In Amharic they are called boog.)
We all sat in the bus. Some napped, some chatted, some got bored and started playing soccer in the bank parking lot. Helina tried to teach us to count to 5 in Amharic while we waited, with limited success! Her English is FAR better than our Amharic!
After maybe 45 minutes, Firke, Solomon, and 4 or 5 sheepherders rounded the corner and chased 6 sheep into the bank parking lot. (FYI, the 6 sheep cost under $300 American.)
One thing I LOVE about being in Ethiopia is the adventure! This is not odd there! But to us it was a hoot!
They quickly started tying their legs together with twine, calf-roping style.
My handsome husband jumped right in to help.
Next they lifted the sheep onto the top of the bus!
It was a tall bus.
Once all 6 sheep were lifted to the top of the bus, they were roped onto the luggage wrack like suitcases. As we drove you could hear them knocking around a bit, but it was mostly quiet. Solomon, our incredible driver, took corner and bumps slowly to minimize the risk of a sheep falling off and escaping!
It really was something!
When we got to Jemo, a crowd quickly gathered!
The men of Jemo were very happy to help us unload the sheep.
One thing that surprised me is that the sheep did not fight much. Once they were tied, they were fairly still and peaceful as they were being hefted to the top of the bus, back down, and finally into the Jemo compound.
Once they were inside the Jemo compound they were set free.
And they calmly began eating the tall grass inside the compound.
I suspect this man found my fascination with the sheep hilarious! He did, however, ask me to take this photo of himself! I bet he would be thrilled to see it!
The sheep spent all day Tuesday munching grass surrounded by playing children.
Wednesday, mid-morning, the butchering began. It was a quiet process, free of fanfare. While the children were doing various activities, the men silently took the sheep, one at a time, to the back corner of the compound and slaughtered them.
I may have missed it entirely, except that Sierra and Grant had insisted on being informed so that they could watch! Curious kids that they are - they took the following photos!
As soon as the meat was quartered, it was taken to the women of Jemo who worked all night long to prepare the feast for the children.
Thursday, our final day at Jemo, we spent the morning doing activities with the children. At noon we brought them all in to the church for lunch. We were probably more excited than the children.
Before they ate they each went outside to wash their hands.
As they washed, mountains of food began to appear at the alter.
(How beautiful is that?)
Chad and Fikre prayed a blessing over the meal.
The children's response was precious.
Then the food began to be passed.
Each child received a heaping plate of injera (ET sourdough flat bread, sega wat (meat stew), iab (goat cheese), and a potato dish that I can not remember the name of.
The portions were HUGE!
So were the appetites!
I am so grateful for the labor of these incredible Ethiopian ladies.
I can not begin imagine how much work it was to prepare all this food!
I asked Helina to thank them for me, and their response was "God Bless you more!"
That is so humbling. It is almost frustrating even.
Providing that meal was not all that hard, financially, for our team. But preparing the food was impossible - we have no idea how to cook Ethiopian food. To me it was a fairly unequal partnership, our "blessing" causing them much labor. Yet, I appreciate their gratitude - no matter how undeserving I may feel.
We formed a chain, trying to get plates of food to hungry children as quickly as possible.
The children waited very patiently. I was amazed by the patience of Ethiopian children many times during this trip.
Here is a closer shot of the food.
The sega wat (red stuff) was Chad's favorite!
The young girl on the right offered to feed me a bite of her food - a practice in Ethiopia called gursha (sp?). It is an act of love and devotion. It was a moment I will not forget. A sweet young one, who eats only injera most days, offering a never-been-hungry American a bite of her feast.
The children each received a bottle of soda to drink.
They preferred orange soda to Pepsi!
After the children were fed, the ladies insisted that we eat.
My former anti-Ethiopian food eating husband LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the sega wat.
He truly could not get over how delicious it was.
In fact, he uttered some words that I never, ever expected to hear coming from his mouth!
"Could I please have some more injera?"
Coming home, food is what I am struggling with most. In America we have SO much food. I throw away food every day. That does not happen in Ethiopia. If there were leftovers, they were saved for the children waiting outside the church. Bits of buns that another child had eaten from were saved for one more hungry. When the children were finished feasting, their plates were not scraped into the garbage. They were scraped onto a large tray. That tray was brought outside and fed to neighbors who were thrilled for the nourishment, no matter who nasty we snobby Americans may think it.
This is an injustice that I do not know what to do about. Every time I scrape a plate into the garbage, my heart feels heavy. And when I dump too old to eat left-overs from my fridge into the trash, the tears are near the surface.
For now, I offer my regret and my willingness to be part of a solution to God and wait on Him to lead me. I can continue to be more and more careful about consuming all the food my family purchases, but what else may He have me do?
