Hello!
I wanted to dedicate a whole blog to these wonderful women and their stories.
First off, house moms do more of the hard work of a mother than the fun parts. These women live in one of the rooms in a house. They cook and clean, which takes up most of their days. They are in the kitchen up to 12 hours a day sometimes, especially ingera days! They wash all the clothes by hand and, they taught me, so trust me, it’s exhausting!
They go to market and church, but most of all, they go from house to house for coffee ceremonies.
They have very busy days doing things that would be easier if they had what we have in America: washing machines, ovens, cars, etc. But it’s their culture and is normal to them. Its just a part of life to spend all day doing these things, and I admire them for that.
On top of all their responsibilities, they are the father and mother figure of the house. Most of the time they have to throw the hammer down between the children, because they are village kids. It was hard to remember that sometimes. Then they’d do something and I’d be reminded that the beginning of these kids’ life was so bad that they were brought here. My kids especially. In House Five, all 4 kids came in only October of 2018. That meant that all of them had parents die, or living conditions that were so concerning that they had to be pulled out. So, to all parents out there, I’m sure you could imagine what it’d be like to raise and take care of a bunch of kids from completely different family situations, coming together and becoming a united family.
It was more towards the end of our time in Ethiopia when I was sitting with the house moms one Saturday morning; we chatted away and washed our laundry. The oldest “kid”, Meskerem (she’s 19), didn’t have school that day, and was making us coffee right there amongst the washing bins.
We paused for a traditional coffee ceremony.
While we were sitting there, Magersa, one of our ministry hosts, walked up. He speaks very good English and started to translate for us.
Aberu, one of the house moms, was talking about her terrible back pain, which had caused her to lay in bed for days at a time while we were there. I’d walked in a couple times before, and saw her covered in sweat and asking for prayer.
Since I was curious, I started asking Magersa why she had all this pain, at what point she began her story.
/ ABERU /
She was married at about 15 years old to a man who was much older. This man beat her in every way possible, to the point where, when he was done, she wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for weeks. I was absolutely horrified by this, but Magersa confirmed the sad truth that most men beat their wives. It was almost a way of life. It really shook me up. Hearing it talked about in such a casual way, was so weird. They didn’t seem to think it was wrong.
That man beat her for years. She had no rights and no way out. He would leave all the time and be with other women. He played pool all day, and did whatever he wanted, which again, is very normal for men all over Ethiopia. While he did all of that, she had a job, worked the farm, cooked, cleaned, and birthed two children.
The man ended up dying, which allowed Aberu to leave, but didn’t give her many options that didn’t involve starving to death. She had no rights without him. She ended up making a decision, a true sign of love, to send her children to live with her mom, in hopes of giving them a better life.
She was at a breaking point when she came to work as a laborer at Hope about 5 years ago. By this point, she had two more, much younger kids, from her second husband, who had also left her.
Providing for three as a laborer was really tough. The organization saw her situation and invited her in as the second house mom for Hope! She came when there was only two houses, two house moms, and maybe 8-10 kiddos. Her own two live in her home. Sintu is 12 and Abheti is 9.
/ Tarunish /
After translating her story, Magersa went on to tell me about Tarunish, the first house mom (aka the OG) at Hope.
Tarunish was also in a marriage where there was a lot of physical abuse. They were very poor. She had 5 beautiful children with this man: Meskerem (19), Dereje (17), Dalchala (15), Sintu (13) & cute little Malesa (7).
When Malesa was born, Tarunish’s husband left her for another woman. He also converted to Islam in the tiny village where we lived, meaning they would often run into him. He tried to convert them, but Tarunish is a strong and rooted Christ Follower.
When he left, things really went South, because there were so many mouths to feed and not nearly enough food. Since Tarunish just had a baby at that point, it was really hard to find a job.
By the time Malesa was 2, they were really struggling. They had absolutely nothing. It’s hard to describe the severity of the situation, but I will try to give perspective.
In American standards, the people in this village have nothing. Everyone lives in huts, walking miles and miles for water. Most are self-sustaining farmers without a real income. To make money, they’d sell produce at the market.
Now, Tarunish and her kids had nothing to those standards; they were starving.
Until one day, Tarunish got a labor job building the guesthouse for Hope! Pretty soon the Organization saw her situation and hired her as the first house mom ever!! Her and her five children moved in! 🙂 They still live in house one.
Tarunish is such a wise woman. She carries herself like an elegant queen: humbly, patently, kindly living her life. She has such a warm presence and always, always welcomed me in for coffee and never let me clean… even when it was my ministry to do so!
All of her kids are in school and are thriving. I loved watching some of the men on my squad really dive deep into relationships with the two older boys. Not having a father figure has really effected them, and during our three months there, they had fellow men to teach and guide them.
/ Ruut /
Ruut was one of the first house moms that I met and had one of the first testimonies that I got to hear. She is 20 years old and has this job!!! It’s probably why we became such quick friends! We’re so close in age!
She is the oldest of five children, and when she was 14, her father passed away. Her mother went to work full time and Ruut became the new mother. Her siblings were young: 12, 9, 7, 2. She learned how to cook for them, clean up after them, and how to be firm in the most loving way. It was a hard season for their family, because money was so tight, and again, so many mouths to feed. She got to 10th grade, which is very common, and then did one year of beauty school!! That’s why she was highly sought after when my squad went through their weave phase. I’ve lost count of how many times she’s braided my hair, especially on Sunday’s. Everyone dressed up for church, which meant nice, neat, and braided hair.
She had to quit beauty school because her family needed money more than education, so she got this job! I love her story because it’s a reminder that God makes all things good. Yes, her father died, and it is so tragic. No family should have to go through that pain in such conditions. But it gave her this incredible job where she gets paid so well at so young of an age.
I pray for her often. Mostly that God will send me back so I can see her again, or that He sends her to America. Every time, He gently reminds me that in the end, I will see her in heaven. I normally sigh and say, “I know dad”.
After spending so much time with these ladies and getting the privilege to hear some of their stories, it gave me a much bigger appreciation for HopEthiopia: how they provide jobs and homes for those that need it the most. It’s a family- a place to call home.
Thank you to Ralph and Glenda for listening to God’s vision for this compound and making it a reality.
FUNDRAISER UPDATE: ADOPT A MONTH!
SEPTEMBER (TAKEN!!! YAYAYA!!!!!)
OCTOBER (TAKEN!!!!! WAAHOOOOOO)
NOVEMBER (TAKENNNNNN!!!)
DECEMBER (taken!!! Whoop whoop!!)
JANUARY (taken!! THANK YOU!!!)
FEBRUARY (TAKEN!!!!!!!)
MARCH (NEEDED!!!)
APRIL (NEEDED!!!!!!)
MAY 31st flying into Florida
June 3rd flying H O M E ! !
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Ways YOU can Join me on my Spiritual Journey:
1. Pray. I will need a multitude of prayers ranging from strength, wisdom, clarity, love, joy… The list goes on. Whatever your heart desires and feels is right, pray. Here at HopEthiopia, we have a little boy who’s legs don’t work. Pray healing over his body please!
In Nicaragua, pray for jobs. Most of the country is unemployed and it’s really taking a toll on families. Pray for God’s provision over these people.
- SPREAD THE WORD! Tell everyone about my trip and show them my blog.
- SUBSCRIBE! When you subscribe you will get all notifications when I post on my blog about my trip and any updates!
- If you would like to donate to me still, please donate directly to me and not World Race. I AM FULLY FUNDED but I am now raising money for flights!! I need to buy 3 plane tickets for my trip home on June 3rd and for PSL which is a week long “after the race” conference in Georgia at the end of June. Thank you for everyone who has donated already. It’s been an incredible journey!
Venmo me : Marguerite-SanMartino
