I didn't even know it when I decided to go on the trip, but my mom's sponsor child lives in Ethiopia. They had started sponsoring him about 2 years ago and even though I wasn't the one writing him letters, I was given the chance to meet him. He doesn't live in Addis but Compassion would bring him in so that we could spend a day together. There were two other people on our trip who had sponsor children from Ethiopia too so it was planned that on our last day would be all get to meet them. He and his family lives about 180 kilometers outside of Addis in a mid-sized town. He came with his dad and the social worker for the project where he's enrolled. They actually came in the night before and got to stay in a hotel which I'm sure was a special treat and something he'd never done before. We met at the Ethiopian version of an amusement park which was basically mini fair rides. They had bumper cars, a ferris wheel, merry go round, and a spinning swings that just about made me sick. They also had a really big arcade with games and Dawit liked the car games the best. You don't get to drive in Ethiopia until your 19 and most people never will but it's still the most exciting thing for a ten year old boy. We got a chance to talk through translators and go on some of the rides. I'll admit that it was a little awkward at first and the conversation was pretty slow but I took some pictures of our family to show him which helped a little. Like most ten year olds in Africa, his first love is soccer and he would really like to be a soccer player some day. But if that doesn't work out maybe he'll be a doctor. : ) I took a few gifts for him and his family as well. It was mostly practical things like toothbrushes, soap, and a washcloth which were more appreciated by his father than him but his very own soccer ball made up for the practical nature of everything else.
We guessed that he probably liked soccer and took a soccer ball to him. It was definitely his favorite thing. This is a video of him playing with it. He was really good. A sports club is one of the things offered at his project and his team won the tournament between all the surrounding projects. He was very proud and even the social worker couldn't help but brag a little bit about it.
As quiet as he was during our meeting, I'm sure he'll be the star of the show back at home. With his back of goodies, soccer ball, and arcade experience under his belt, he'll probably talk about it for weeks. His father was extremely grateful since Dawit's sponsorship lifts a financial burden from his shoulders. He has three other siblings at home and jobs are hard to come by. They were gracious and wonderful people and it was very special to meet them even if I'm not the one sending the checks or letters. Family is family and they are now a more real piece of ours.
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