Gladney Part 2

  This post is not well written, but these are my honest thoughts...

  Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to spend the day with Gladney's In-country rep.  He offered to show me around the 3 Government orphanages here in Addis.  These orphanages are not run by Gladney, but they show them to their adoptive families.

  The first orphanage we visited was Kolfe.  This is where the older boys live.  They can stay until they are 21 as long as they are in school.  I had heard a great deal about Kolfe before I left home, so I was very excited to have the chance to see this place myself.  We were unable to spend a great amount of time with the boys, but they all were very polite.  Of the 3 places we went to, Kolfe was probably the most depressing.  Their cafeteria has no table or chairs.  The kitchen was extremely small and simple.  We were told that a couple of boys will share each twin size bunk bed.  I barely fit on one by myself.  I can't imagine living in a place like this.  Yet living on the street would be so much worse.  Gladney is the only adoption agency to show adoptive parents this orphanage.  I wish Kolfe could get more exposure. 

  Next up was Kebebtsehay orphanage.  This is where the younger boys and girls live.  All of the children were so excited to see us.  Every visitor had at least one child holding their hand.  Whenever we entered a bedroom (that would have at least 18 bunk beds per room), all of the children would swarm around us shouting, "You! You! Photo! Photo!"  They know that visitors take their pictures back home and this gives them a higher chance of being adopted.  I took pictures mainly to please the kids, but I was uncomfortable with the situation.  It is so tricky.  By taking pictures of the kids, they do have more exposure and yes, some kids will find homes.  On the other hand, when they start hamming it up for the camera, I begin to feel like they are a tourist attraction, when in reality they are children, no different from your kids at home.  We also saw the baby room at Kebebtsehay.  The good news is that most of these children (with the exception of those with special needs) will be adopted.  There were at least 25 cribs packed in a small room. 

  The final orphanage was Kechene, which is for older girls.  I thought this seemed like the nicest of the 3 we saw.  There is quite a bit of space and the surrounding land is very pretty.  The girls that we spoke with seemed very nice.

  This day really opened my eyes to how many children around the world are living.  I did not even realize how nice Ahope truly is until seeing the Government orphanages.  Ahope truly looks like a palace compared to them.  I am so thankful to Gladney for letting me tag along with their adoptive families on Friday.  This experience has given me a lot to think about.