Ethiopian Farm with Markus

PORTUGUES ABAIXO

It was a very busy and productive week. To close it with a golden key, as we say in Portuguese, we had the pleasure to visit Mary's parent's farm.

We took Marcus along. Marcus is a 10 year old boy who we met last week while visiting Ajaiba's house. He got lost from his parents when he was 6 years old, and nobody knows where he is from, or how it happened. Marc thinks his parents died and someone took him to Addis Ababa, but we are not sure of anything. He lives in a very poor area/box inside the police station and eats when he gets lucky. We talked to the police and several neighbours and they all told us he is a good boy. He was very shy but I believe he also had a great time. At least he ate a lot hahaha When he saw the soy beans he went insane and collected a full bag of them. We don't know if he remembered them from the time he was a small kid, or if he knows it from Addis Ababa. This week I am having him tested at the public school to see if he can enter grade 1. It would be great if he could because then he can have at least two meals at the school. He has no documents or family that anyone knows of. He is quiet and polite for a boy raised alone on the street. He doesn't know much about things we know about, and opening the juice box for him was a mystery. He didn't know there was a hole for the straw. Simple things of life….

Hunter was so happy to see us last night, jumping around, and slept next to Marc on his pillow to make up for the loneliness of the day.

PORTUGUES

Essa semana foi super ocupada e produtiva. Pra fechar com chave de ouro, como nos falamos em portugues, nos tivemos o prazer de visitar a fazenda dos pais da Mary.

Nos levamos o Marcus com a gente. O Marcus e um menino de 10 anos de idade que nos conhecemos semana passada quando nos fomos visitor a casa da Ajaiba. Ele se perdeu dos pais quando ele tinha 6 anos de idade, e ninguem sabe daonde ele veio, ou como isso aconteceu. Ele nao se lembra de muita coisa. O Marc acha que os pais deles morreram e que alguem o trouxe pra Addis Ababa, mas ninguem tem certeza de nada. Ele mora numa caixa dentro da estacao de policia e ele come quando da sorte. Nos conversamos com os policiais e com varios vizinhos e todos nos falaram que ele e um bom menino. Ele ainda esta bem timido com a gente mas nos acreditamos que ele se divertiu bastante. Bom, pelo menos ele comeu muito hahaha Quando ele viu os graos de soja no campo ele ficou louco e colheu uma sacola cheinha deles. Nos nao sabemos se ele lembra dos feijoes de soja do tempo que ele era pequenininho, ou se ele conhece isso de Addis Ababa.. Essa semana ele vai fazer um teste na escola pra ver se ele pode entrar no primeiro ano. Isso seria otimo porque ele poderia comer duas refeicoes na escola. Ele nao tem nenhum documento ou familia. Ele e um garoto quieto e bem educado pra um menino criando sozinho na rua. Ele nao sabe muito sobre as coisas que nos sabemos, por exemplo abrir uma caixinha de suco pra ele era um misterio. Ele nao sabia que tinha um furinho pra enfiar o canudinho. Coisas simples da vida…

O Hunter ficou muito feliz de nos ver quando nos voltamos da fazenda, e dormiu pertinho do Marc num travesseiro pra compensar a solidao do dia todo.

Markus collecting beans, you never know toromrrow, better to be prepared. Another highlight of this trip is that when he saw several almost empty coke bottles after lunch, he put them all together and make an almost full bottle. Marc said he is for sure a survivor.

Mary's father. Funny story: When we moved from Dubai I gave Marc's hat to Mary. In India he asked me about the hat: don't know....... When we arrived at the farm he said: OHHHHHHHHHH THERE IS MY HAT hahahaha

Relaxation... funny? Markus wanted to go home. Home?

Shoe Shopping Trip/Compra de Sapatos

Today we went shoe shopping with our 21 kids. They were so excited to be in the car, and talked all the way to the shop. It was a governmental shop and we bought shoes for about 6 dollars. The initial plan was to get socks and t-shirts as well, but I got scared and decided to wait a little bit. We believe food is priority, and although we have enough money for food for November, we are not very sure about December.

The boys spent lots of time with Marc, and they had lots of fun at the shop. The girls had a special look in their eyes, probably it was the first time in their life they didn’t inherited shoes from someone else, I think they felt special.

On the way back we dropped the kids in several different areas of our neighborhood and went to Ajaiba’s home. As Genet had said they do live in a plastic house (picture attached), and all the kids from the neighborhood came to see what was happening. Marc attracts kids so much, and they love his skin color. There was one boy who screamed when he saw him, it was so funny. Then I calmed him down saying Marc was a good boy.

I talked to Ajaiba’s mother today and asked her to think about a small business for her. We are willing to help her to start something up, so she can be independent and raise her 5 kids.

My brother says it is easy to help these kids with other people’s money. Maybe he is right. But one thing he does not know, it is about the feeling we get when we are with them. They are more relaxed now, and kiss and hug us all the time. Ababa smiled today for the first time, Ababa means flower, and Addis Ababa means New Flower.

Well, there are more news!! On the second Saturday of November we will meet with them at school and give them an art’s morning. My painting teacher is coming as well as some of Marc’s talented students. I will bake cakes and bring juice for them. I wish you could see their screams when we told them about it in the car hahaha They were so happy, especially about the cake hehe

So, please pray that we will be able to continue our work with them. Today we heard from a guy at the school that they are doing better in the classroom after they started eating properly. And Abdi, the boy who had stomach problems is cured now that he has regular meals at school.

I would like to thank, once again, all of you that helped and are helping us to feed these kids. May God bless you always…

PORTUGUES

Hoje nos fomos comprar sapatos com as nossas 21 criancas. Eles estavam tao agitados de entrar em um carro and matracaram todo o caminho ate a loja. Nos fomos numa loja do governo and compramos os sapatos por 6 dolares. O plano no inicio era comprar meias e camisetas tambem, mas eu fiquei com medo e decidi esperar um pouco. Nos acreditamos que comida e o principal, e apesar de nos termos dinheiro suficiente pra Novembro, nos nao temos certeza sobre Dezembro.

Os meninos brincaram bastante com o Marc e se divertiram muito na loja. As meninas tinham um brilho especial nos olhos, provavelmente foi a primeira vez na vida delas que elas nao herdaram os sapatos de alguem, eu acho que elas se sentiram especiais.

No caminho de volta nos entregamos as criancas em varias esquinas da nossa vizinhanca e fomos na casa da Ajaiba. Como a Genet havia dito eles moram em um barraco de plastico (fotos anexas), e todas as criancas da vizinhanca vieram ver o que estava acontecendo. O Marc atrae as criancas sempre, and eles adoram a pele branquinha dele. Teve um menino que comecou a chorar quando o viu, foi muito engracado. Ai eu o acalmei dizendo que o Marc era um bom menino.

Eu conversei (com traducao) com a mae da Ajaiba e pedi que ela pense sobre um pequeno negocio pra ela, Nos queremos ajuda-la a comecar alguma coisa, pra que ela fique independente e consiga criar as filhas

O meu irmao fala que a facil ajudar as criancas com o dinheiro dos outros. Talvez ele esteja certo. Mas uma coisa ele nao sabe, e sobre o sentimento que nasce nos nossos coracoes quando nos estamos com elas. Eles esta mais relaxados agora e nos beijam e abracam todo o tempo. Ababa sorriu hoje pela primeira vez, Ababa significa flor and Addis Ababa significa Nova Flor.

E tem mais novidades!!! No Segundo sabado de Novembro nos vamos nos encontrar com eles na escola e proporcionar uma manha de arte pra todos. Meu professor de pintura vai nos ajudar e tambem umas alunas talentosas da escola do Marc. Eu vou fazer bolo e comprar suco pra todos. Eu queria que voces vissem os gritos de felicidades quando nos contamos isso pra eles no carro hahaha Eles ficaram super felizes, especialmente com a parte do bolo hehe

Rezem pra que nos continuemos a fazer o nosso trabalho com eles. Hoje nos ouvimos de um cara na escola que eles estao melhorando na sala de aula depois que eles comecaram a comer regularmente. E o Abdi, que tinha problemas de estomago, esta curado agora que ele come regularmente

Eu gostaria mais uma vez de agradecer a todos voces que ajudaram e estao ajudando a gente a alimentar essas criancas. Deus os abencoe sempre…

They love Marc, so do I hehehe

We went to a governmental small store, the shoes were cheaper there, handmade..

They all fit in our Toyota Land Cruiser!!!

Sahiba, Ajaiba's mom. They live in this plastic house. One mother, 5 daughters, no father.

Neighborhood kids. This is the day we met Markus. Marc called me and said: he is an orphan...

More Good News/Mais Boas Noiticas

EM PORTUGUES ABAIXO

Dearest Sweet Donors

I am sooooooooooooooooooo happy to tell you that today I have paid breakfast and lunch for our kids for the month of October. It was such a good feeling and I would like to share it with you :)

Today the tailor came and got their measurements, their uniform will be ready next week. For now it s only one set of uniform, and Ajaiba and Elyas are getting Princess and Prince clothes for the weekend.

Next week I am going to buy the dinner bit, wheat and lentils (hepefully more), and will deliever it to the parents.

We face a problem with the other kids at school as they feel jealous of them. So I am avoinding to be there on the breaks for now. The dinner food will be delivered to the parents so the kids don't feel threatened. It s normal as they are all poor, but our kids are the poorest, and they sure deserve lots of treats.

Love,

PORTUGUES

Queridos doadores queridos

Eu estou muitoooooooooooooooooo feliz de contar que hoje pagamos pelo cafe da manha e almoco das nossas 20 criancas por um mes. Eu senti tanta felicidade que queria dividir isso com todos.

Hoje o alfaiate tirou a medida de todos e o uniforme deles fica pronto semana que vem. Por enquanto e so um uniforme, e a Ajaiba e o Elyas vao ganhar tambem roupas de princesa e principe para os finais de semana.

Semana que vem eu vou comprar as provisoes para o jantar, trigo e lentilhas (espero que o dinheiro de pra comprar mais coisas) , e vou entregar pros pais deles.

Nos enfrentamos um problema com as outras criancas da escola que sentem muita inveja deles. Entao, eu estou evitando de ir la durante os intervalos. A comida pro jantar vai ser entregue pros pais , ai as criancas nao vao se sentir ameacadas. Isso e normal, por que todos sao pobres la, mas as nossas criancas sao pauperrimas e com certeza merecem tudo que nos estamos fazendo por eles.

muitos beijos,

Brazilian Angels !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Em Portugues abaixo.

Dear All

Yesterday we delivered the first dinner pack for our opssss not 20 anymore…. Our 21 kids. We have also adopted a girl. Her story is very said and all the teachers asked Genet to include her in our group. Her father raped her and is in jail, and her mother came from a camp in Sudan. I do not know many details but I will try to get involved with the families as I told you before.

The shopping for the dinner pack was crazy and funny. On Saturday we went to Merkato, and I drove all around the biggest market in Africa. There we got cooking oil, hair oil, soap and shiro which is a special power they use in Ethiopian food. The day before yesterday we finalized the shopping with 100 kg of beans and 100 kg of pasta hahaha they call it macaroni…. Our craft’s room looks like a little shop. I am not delivering 200 kg of anything at once, but it was cheaper to buy in bulk and we have room to store it.

That’s what is in the dinner pack:

• 1kg potatoes
• 1kg carrots
• 2 kg beans
• 2 kg macaroni
• 1 cooking oil
• 1 hair oil
• 2 bars of soap
• 1 kg of shiro

The new girl got a different pack because we were not counting on her, but I added extra cooking oil and extra carrots to make up for other things missing. She also got all the stationary we had given to the other kids in September as we had extra stored at home.

We have enough money for food in November and there are more donations coming from the US and Brazil.

Marc helped me a lot , and loaded the car.

Last minute news: Yesterday late afternoon I got a call from Marc. That’s what he said: “The biology teacher ordered 500ml of milk, but they misunderstood the order and delivered extra 18 liters of milk. He cannot keep it or use.” So……………….. this morning I took it to our kids. The lady who works at the cafeteria protects our kids a lot, she fights the older students because of them so today I decided to compensate her for the good work, and also to keep her motivated at her task to feed our kids. I will be paying her 10 dollars every month, and she was very happy indeed with a little extra income every month. She makes 30 dollars a month working at the school. She is in the pictures of the milk breakfast!

God is such a good guy… I dreamed a lot about giving milk to the kids, and then he sends us this nice gift.

And there is more, we are going to receive a donation from the Brazilian Angels (Joinville). My friend’s friend asked for donations for our kids as birthday present, it was so emotional to hear these news. Thanks you Brazilian Angels !!!!!!!!

And there is even more hahahaha Today I asked permission to the school director to paint the area where they eat. He allowed, and Marc and will ask some students from his school to help us on a Saturday morning. The kids will be there and will also participate.

PORTUGUES

Queridos

Hoje nos entregamos o primeiro kit jantar pras nossas opsssss nao sao 20 …. Pras nossas 21 criancas. Nos adotamos outra menina. A estoria dela e bem triste e todos os professors pediram pra genet acrescenta-la no nosso grupo. Ela foi estrupada pelo pai e ele esta na cadeia agora. A mae vem de um campo de refugiados no Sudao. Eu ainda nao sei muitos detalhes mas vou tentar me envolver mais com as familias como eu ja falei pra vcs.

As compras pro kit jantar foram engracadas. Sabado nos fomos ao merkato e eu dirigi por tudo no maior Mercado da Africa. Nos compramos oleo de cozinha, oleo de cabelo e shiro que e um poespcial usado na cozinha Etiope. Ontem nos finalizamos as compras com 100kg de feijao e 100kg de pasta hahaha they call it macaroni.. O Nosso quarto de pintura parece uma venda. Eu nao vou entregar 200kg de nada de uma vez so, mas ficava mais barato comprar em grande quantidade and nos temos lugar pra guardar o que ficou pro proximo mes.

Isso e o que tem no kit jantar:

• 1 kg batatas
• 1 kg cenouras
• 1 kg feijao
• 2 kg macarrao
• 1 lt oleo de cozinha
• oleo pra cabelo
• 2 barras de sabao
• 1 kg shiro

A menina nova recebeu um kit different por que nao estavamos ocntando com ela, mas eu adicionei 1 lt de oleo e mais cenouras pra compensar as outras coisas que ficaram faltando. Ela tambem recebeu os cadernos e materias que nos demos pras outras criancas em Setembro por que nso tinhamos extra em casa.

Nos temos dinheiro suficiente para comida em Novembro e tem mais doacoes vindo dos USA e Brasil.

O Marc me ajudou muito e colocou todas as sacolas no carro.

Extra extra, noticias frescas: Ontem de tardezinha eu recebi uma ligacao do Marc. Ele falou “O professor de biologia encomendou 500 ml de leite mas eles nao entenderam direito e entregaram 18 litros a mais de leite. Ele nao pode usar isso pra nada” Entao……………… hoje de manha eu levei tudo pras nossas criancas. A senhora que trabalha na cantina protege as nossas criancas e ate briga com os outros alunos maiores pra defende-los. Ai hoje eu resolve compensa-la pelo bom trabalho e tambem mante-la motivada no trabalho de alimentar as nossas crinacas. Eu vou pagar 10 dolares pra ela por mes, e ela ficou muito feliz com esse extra. Ela ganha 30 dolares por mes na escola. Ela esta na foto do café da manha com leite.

Deus e muito bom mesmo, eu sonhei tanto em dar leite pras criancas e ai ele nos deu isso de presente.

E tem mais, nos vamos receber uma doacao dos Anjos do Brasil (Joinville). O amigo do meu amigo, vai fazer aniversario e pediu como presente doacoes pras nossas criancas, foi emocionante ouvir isso. Valeu Anjos do Brasil !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

E tem mais ainda hahahaha Hoje eu pedi autorizacao pro diretor da escola pra pintar a area que eles comem. Ele autorizou, e o Marc vai pedir pra alguns alunos da escola dele pra nos ajudar num sabado de manha. As criancas vao estar la e tambem vao participar

We received this from ICS, they placed a wrong order. Funny part is, our kids are so used to having tea, that they found milk kind of different hehe

Milky breakfast

My King has such a big heart, helped me loading the car for the delivery, and with a smile on his face !!!

Never thought hair oil was so important hahaha

Dinner pack, what a happiness !!!!!!!!!

We bought big bags of beans, cheaper.

And I spent hours weighting the beans and making little bags ufffffffff

My house looks like a market hahaha