Yezelalem Minch - Help For Ethiopia

For those of you that don't know us already, our names are Mike and Jill Wald. We started our adoption process a couple years ago with all of the paperwork with Ethiopia. In May 2010, we brought home our 2 year old daughter Birtukan Milka from Mussie Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia through Bethany Christian Services. While we were in Ethiopia, we stayed at Morning Coffee Guest House, owned and operated by the most amazing woman we have ever met in our lives - Birtukan Sinshaw. While not everyone is called to adopt Internationally, there are many things that YOU can do to help these orphans and widows. For $30/month, you can change the life of a child.


The History Of Yezelalem Minch
When Birtukan was a child, she was a sponsored child through World Vision Ethiopia. While she had all of her educational and nutritional needs met, she believed all sponsors were rich. She graduated from High School and joined the staff of World Vision, where she had the opportunity to read many letters written by sponsors. One letter changed her worldview completely. It said "I am a crippled man, and I do not have much money. However, I have a strong love for you and that is why I intend to help you. This is my pleasure." In Ethiopian society, a crippled individual is considered the poorest of the poor. Birtukan asked herself, "I have hands, I have feet, what can I do to help these in need?" Ten years later after leaving World Vision, she noticed many children with no parents living in the streets near her home. She started to help two orphans taking them into her home as a single woman. Fortunately after her marriage, her husband Nesibu agreed to her vision that these little ones should not be left behind - Yezelalem Minch. He now manages the programs of YM. In 2002, YM became a legal non-profit organization. Birtukan spends her time making beautiful jewlery, running the Morning Coffee Guest House, and works at YM as an advisor for administration and all of her orphans.


What Does Yezelalem Minch Do?
Yezelalem Minch is an organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that provides an outreach to children whose parents have died of AIDS, while providing support and meeting needs of families that have taken in orphaned children.

YM helps meet basic physical needs (food, clothing, shelter, medical care), educational opportunities (schools, uniforms, school fees, tutoring and after school programs, and hands on science education), and a home-based family setting with care from a Christian house mother for those children without extended family to live with.

What Can You Do?
Sponsoring a child is $30/month. With your financial help, YM will be able to meet the needs of the children currently enrolled through YM. You will be assigned a specific child, and your sponsorship money will be used to help this child receive the food, education, and medical care that they so desperately need. You will be sent a photo of your child, along with regular correspondence.

How Do I Become A Sponsor?
YM currently has partnerships with Bethany Christian Services and Helps International Ministries. You can contact BCS or HIM for more information on sponsorship. The easiest way would be to go to HIM's link, print off the sponsorship form, and mail it to HIM's address. You can choose to send a check in each month, or automatic withdrawal. You can also contact YM directly at yezelalemminch@yahoo.com for immediate information on your sponsored child.


How Do I Contact My Sponsored Child?
You can send your letters and care packages to YM's address in Ethiopia, and can also email your sponsored child at yezelalemminch@yahoo.com. I am also in frequent contact with adoptive families that visit Ethiopia and YM often, and would be able to help you coordinate them carrying a care package to Ethiopia for you. Email me at jillwald@mchsi.com if you are interested in coordinating that.


My Blog About Our Visit To YM

My Video About YM Sponsorship

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50 sponsors in 50 days for 50 children at Yezelalem Minch

Home 1.5 Months

Life Video

Mike and I finally watched Birtukan's life video last night. Although it was really awesome to see, it was also very difficult to watch. We were able to see her home town, her birth mom, where her birth mom works and lives, and 'a day in the life' for what her family experiences every day.

My heart not just aches, but it now BURNS for her birth mother. So many painful things in the video that weren't clear from our visit with her that make me sad that I didn't know those things during our visit.

And after watching it, it reminds me why Birdy gets so upset (and not just angry, but physically and emotionally distraught) if she thinks she's not going to get her meal, or if I make her drink her milk first and she thinks that's all for lunch. There's more to that, than being 2yo. She's seen hard things during her life, and I need to just keep reminding myself of her struggles.

I will never forget the last words spoken to me from her Ethiopian mom - "Thank you for what you are doing." So do it right, Jill. Do it Godly. Do it just like her mom would have wanted it done. Do it like Birtukan deserves.

So many people love her.

PS - Just some more info on the life video. There are 3 discs - one is written to open on a computer, one is more general about her life in the orphanage, and one is very specific regarding her life before the orphanage and birth family. The last video is something that we won't show Birtukan until she is older, we are able to easily communicate with her, and she is able to understand and process the video in a healthy way. We feel like these things are Birtukan's private story, and it's her story to share with whomever she wants to when she is old enough to make that decision; so we won't be sharing the private info or pictures from the video with anyone without her permission. Until then, we will keep her videos private and safe for her to watch at a later time.

Day At The Dentist

Today was Birtukan's first dentist appointment! Myself, Jackson, and Maddie also had appointments with Dr. Karbacka. We love him, he is so good with kids, patient, honest, and caring. Our kids can be somewhat of a trip, and he is always so good with them! He and his wife also just adopted a child within the last few months, so it's nice having both a dentist and doctor that shares that with us!

We don't have any pictures of Birtukan's trip to the dentist, because...well, by kid #3 you're lucky to just remember that you have a dentist appointment, much less remember the camera! So yah. Sorry kiddos! She did a really good job, though! Our dentist let her watch Maddie during her cleaning, so she could get used to things a little bit. Then for her visit, she sat on my lap and I thought she was going to scream. However, with a little gentle coaxing, she voluntarily opened up her mouth for him, showed him how she could brush her teeth, let him put the mirror in her mouth, and even let him scrape a couple of her teeth for plaque!

He said that overall, he was really impressed at the quality of her teeth! No signs of decay or cavities; which is surprising, since she hadn't brushed her teeth her entire life! She was really excited about her new tooth brush, but even more excited about the little toy car she got for doing a good job - which she probably would have still gotten if she had done a bad job, but it was nice leaving the office without her screaming. (Maddie left screaming, but that's another story for another day!)

Be Still, Beloved

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God..."

Jill, you are so calm. I don't think that things could be rough at all at home, with how you act right now. You are so quiet. You don't seem ruffled in the least bit. How can you not be pulling your hair out right now with everything that Maddie is doing, and how she is behaving? How can you run after 2 toddlers and a 6yo without going crazy each day?

Well people, there are some days that I feel crazy. There are some days that I literally pull my hair out. There are days that I'm not calm, that I'm not quiet, and I lose my temper, I have yelled, and at times I'm totally 100% ruffled. Some days I am the crazy lady that I never wanted to become. The lady that I know God doesn't call me to be.

Sometimes situations in life aren't put there to make us happy - they are there to make us holy. To draw us closer to Him. Would I really be leaning on God right now if everything in my life was perfect? If things were as calm as could be? If my children had no behavioral issues? If I didn't experience things that made me literally fall on my knees and cry out to Him for a peace and comfort that only He can give? I would like to say YES, but honestly, sometimes I don't know. I think that sometimes God uses things in our life to bring us closer to Him, and this my friends is one of those times.

Please don't get me wrong - I love all three of my children with all that is in me. But some days, I don't have much left in me. I need to take those moments to look at my three wonderful children in their sweet little faces and remember that they are a gift from God. God trusted ME with three of His children, to raise in His love. I feel so honored to be the mother of Jackson, Madelyn, and Birtukan. And some days, I just need to be STILL and realize that He is God.

PS - Birtukan loves her Sonic slushies!!! ;-)

Birtukan's Second Update

These are pictures from Birtukan's second update, taken at the end of February 2010. This is the last official update we got of her until we picked her up in May.

Three Little Monkeys

The Wald Family Zoo Rules
Attachment And Survival

1. Don't Feed The Animals

The zoo animals have scientifically formulated diets to ensure their health and well being. New foods could make them sick or hyperactive. It is also very important for mommy and daddy zookeeper to be the only one to feed the animals, so they can associate them as their primary caregivers - not the zoo visitors. This also includes gifts and toys for the animals, which can easily overwhelm. This is crucial to a happy, well adjusted, and attached baby zoo animal. So please - no feeding the animals. If you have a snack for the animals, please give it to the zookeepers privately and they will feed the animals at their regularly scheduled feeding time.

2. Do Not Stick Your Hand In The Cages

Rails, moats, and other barriers between you and the animals are there for everyone's safety. Please let the animals play freely in their natural habitat without outside interference. And please always remember; it is the responsibility of mommy and daddy zookeeper to correct and redirect the animals to keep everything consistent, not zoo visitors.

3. No Flash Photography

If you wish to take pictures of the animals, please contact mommy and daddy zookeeper to check for animal availability and cooperation. We ask that all photography be kept to a minimum, as it can be overstimulating having new visitors at the zoo causing bright flashes of light.

4. Quiet, Please

Please do not play loud music. Keep your voice quiet and calm, and keep a distance from the zoo animals so they don't get over stimulated or scared. All voices, sounds, and faces are a lot for a baby zoo animal to process and a lot of disruptions in their routine can make things very difficult for them.

5. No Pets Allowed

Pets, leashed or unleashed, are not allowed into the park because they may disturb the zoo animals. Please leave your pets at home. The zoo animals are also currently prohibited from visiting places with pets. Some natural habitats where our zoo animals originated fear pets, for good reason, and therefore become very afraid when around pets of any kind.

6. Enjoy Your Visit

The zoo is a wonderful place to visit, learn, and relax. Our few rules help ensure an enjoyable and safe experience for all visitors, mommy and daddy zookeeper, as well as the animals.

Birtukan's First Update

These are pictures from our first update while Birtukan was still in the orphanage, taken at the end of January 2010. The picture of her kicking the ball with a little boy is her friend Bereket Johnson. He is also the boy pouring the pitcher of water, while Birtukan is in the background of that picture. Oh yah - he's in the background of her putting a sweater on, too. They must have been best buds! ;-)

Home Two Weeks

Birtukan's Two Pictures At Referral 1-4-2010

We've been home for a little over two weeks now. WOW, time has flown! Things during that time have gotten both better and worse. Birtukan is adjusting really well to being here, a lot better than I thought! Sleeping has gotten worse with her over time, and she has become to the queen of stalling at bedtime. "Mommy, kaka! Shint! Birtukan potty!!" Ummm, nice try Birtukan, but you just sat on the potty three times and you're fine. My new rule is that at bedtime, Birtukan isn't allowed to use the toddler potty seat cushion - she needs to sit straight on the toilet and hold herself up (which she is more than capable of doing) to make things not as comfortable for the whole bedtime stalling. This really helped last night, but she was upset that she didn't get her cushion.

I've also noticed that she's crying a lot more at bedtime now than she was before, and I think a lot of this is her processing her grief. I'm trying to do my best holding her, rocking her, rubbing her back, etc at bedtime - but honestly, it's really difficult to do at times. I'm tired, I'm frustrated, I'm worn out, and I'm trying to calm down and comfort Birtukan while having Maddie running around the house screaming. Not really conducive to a quiet bedtime routine. But we're doing the best we can, and I guess that's all I can ask for right now.

Maddie is still having a really hard time adjusting to everything. It's hard to tell what's just her normal difficult personality, and what's because of having a new sister. I'm trying to keep things calm around the house for her and be extra patient - even during times that normally she would get in trouble for. I'm trying to spread the grace. But with the spreading of the grace, my sanity is being worn extremely thin.

Do not yell. Be slow to anger. Do not lose your temper. Do not raise your voice. Take a second to breathe before responding. Be patient. Do not discipline from anger, but rather in a productive way to mold the heart of your child. All of these things are great in theory, and things I am really trying to implement. Not always successfully, but I'm trying.

I remember being so excited to get Birtukan's Video Lifebook from the orphanage, and being able to see more about her birth family and village, and life before we met her. The video is sitting on our computer desk, starting right at me as I'm typing this. The same video that I would have given my left leg to watch, just a month ago. The same video that right now, I don't even want to open and watch. The second I get some quiet time during the day, the last thing I want to do is bring out something really emotional. I have no more emotions to give at the end of the day right now.

Hopefully this too shall pass...

Birtukan's Picture 5-30-2010; Home For 2 Weeks

Hello Again

Today the Smit family came over to play and for lunch; a family that also adopted from Ethiopia, and live about a half hour away from us. We thought it was funny that we lived so close, and met for the first time in Ethiopia.

Their son was actually born in the same village as Birtukan and was at the same orphanage during the same time frame as her. We traveled to meet and pick up our children at the same time, too! Although they were both shy and quiet around each other at first, they soon warmed up to each other and played outside. It was neat hearing them speak their native language to each other!

The Best Of Times, The Worst Of Times...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....

I think that would sum up how things have been in our household over the past week. Birtukan is adjusting better than I anticipated she would, and really is a happy child most of the time. She is still battling giardia and has really bad diarrhea about 10+ times a day. I finally got her medicine down her after three attempts and different prescriptions, but I'm not sure how long it will take until we notice a difference.

Of everybody, I would say that Maddie is having the hardest time adjusting. She has always been extremely difficult, strong willed, and temperamental - but she has reached levels of attitude this week that I never dreamed possible. Potty training with her is also very difficult, and she is still in diapers - with no light at the end of the tunnel of being potty trained, at 3.5 years old. It seems like there are at least two people in the house screaming or crying at a time; one of which is always Maddie.

Birtukan has been bonding extremely well with everyone in the house. She makes eye contact, seeks both myself and Mike for comfort, initiates hugs and kisses, loves to spend time with Jackson and Maddie, and recognizes that Mike and I are her parents when in a group of people and always seeks our approval for things.

The only sign of grieving so far in Birtukan I've noticed is at nap time during the day. She goes to bed fairly well at night, but there is a lot of crying from around 11:00am - 3:00pm. I don't want her to "cry it out" right now because I know she is grieving and needs a lot of extra comfort, snuggles, and attention - so I'm spending most of those hours holding her, rocking her, talking to her, trying to put her back to bed, rubbing her back, etc. That leaves much of the day with my attention on her alone, which makes me feel like I can't give Maddie the attention she needs right now. I feel like I'm stretched really thin all day long, and count the seconds until Mike gets home from work. Birtukan does very well with Mike, but I think that she is very manipulative of him. She already knows how to push the limits with both myself and Mike, and knows who will give in to what.

I'm thinking about going back to work a little earlier than anticipated, just a few hours a couple times a week, to get out of the house for a break. Yes - going to work to get some rest and relaxation, the thought of it is ridiculous. But honestly, I just need to get out of the house to regenerate myself so I can be the mom and wife that I need to be. Right now, I feel like I'm slipping.

Fun Times At The Park

Ethiopia: Day 11 (5-15-2010)

Today we were able to go to Yezelalem Minch - an organization in Ethiopia that has an outreach to children whose parents have died of AIDS, while providing support and meeting needs of families that have taken in orphaned children.

Morning Coffee Guest House (MCGH) owners, Birtukan and Nesibu Sinshaw, are also the founders of Yezelalem Minch. It was amazing to be able to see their passion for orphans in Ethiopia and hear about all of the wonderful things they are doing through YM. By staying at MCGH, you are supporting their mission work in Ethiopia and therefore supporting the children that are served through their organization.

For $30/month, you can sponsor a child through YM. 90% of your sponsorship goes directly to Ethiopia to help your sponsored child to receive community support for AIDS orphans, basic physical needs (food, clothing, medical care), educational opportunities (school fees and uniforms, tutoring and after school programs, and hands on science education), and a home-based family setting with care from a Christian house mother for those children without extended family to live with. If you aren't able to commit to monthly sponsorship, you can always make a one time donation. Without the help of people that are willing to donate, these children will not have basic opportunities that ALL children deserve.

I am so glad to have been able to visit YM's Saturday feeding program during our trip to Ethiopia. We were able visit the main office, see the feeding program, visit the boy's house, see our sponsored child, and travel to her house and visit her mother. The trip was priceless, and I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see first hand all of the things being done in Ethiopia; but my heart also breaks for all the things that NEED to be done for the people of Ethiopia. Especially the children.

___________________________

We started our visit at the YM's headquarters and got a tour of the office. We were able to speak with someone there that told us all about YM's programs, which was really neat to see first hand.

We went for a short drive to the Boy's Home, which he said currently had 4-5 children living there with a house mother. These children are orphans with no extended family to live with, and are in the process of being adopted by families outside of Ethiopia. This is also the location where the feeding program is. Each Saturday, a group of ladies that have received training from YM cook a meal for the children that are served through YM's community program. These children are able to receive one good meal a week. YM also pays the ladies cooking to prepare and serve the meals, so not only have these ladies received training but they have also received a job and income. Sponsorship and donations to YM help pay these ladies salaries.

As soon as we got to where the children were, they were all so interested in practicing their English with us! People in Ethiopia are all so kind and loving, it was really an amazing experience to see first hand the love that these people have to give not only to other Ethiopians but to crazy little Jill visiting from Iowa! The children were really fun to talk to.

After spending a little time at the feeding program, we were introduced to our sponsored child, Biruketayet. She was very quiet and shy, but such a beautiful little girl and so sweet! We had a gift to give her, which she was super excited about the shoes. We then were able to take a little drive with her to her house, where she lives alone with her mother. Her mom is very sick and dying of AIDS. After her mother dies, there will be no extended family to care for her.

We walked up the long dirt path to her house through an old rusty gate that was falling down. Once we were inside of the gate, there were a few "houses" there that I don't even know how to describe. We took a few more steps, where there was a little house with a sheet hanging for a front door. We followed Biruketayet through the sheet and inside of her house. The inside was probably about 5 feet x 10-15 feet in size. This was where they lived, with a dirt floor and one cut out window.

Her mother was laying in bed looking very sick. We spoke with her for a few minutes through the YM translator, who became teary when he spoke with her. She said she felt like giving up - what's the point of trying at life, when you know you are dying? She said that they didn't own the house they lived in, and she worried how she was going to pay rent to be able to stay there. They typically stayed somewhere long enough to still have free rent until they were kicked out, then moved somewhere else. She had a Bible sitting next to her bed, and Mike quoted a verse for her. The translator found it in her Bible and read it in Amharic. I had to keep pinching my leg to keep myself from sobbing.

We are so blessed. Even poor people in the US are blessed. You have no idea what the meaning of "extreme poverty" is until you see it first hand, and even then, you are too shocked to be able to actually grasp it. Birtukan was with us during our visit, and she slid off my lap and walked around, and I just kept thinking "This could have been Birtukan's life. This would have been her life." And I felt my heart break again for all of the children that ARE living that life, and will continue to live that life.

When it was time to go, her mother reached out to shake my hand. I crawled up into her bed/chair with her, gave her a traditional Ethiopian "4 kiss hug", and just held her for a while. Another person in Ethiopia has stolen my heart, and will forever remain in my prayers.

LIVE James 1:27.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.