When you think you have so little…
One morning, my teammate took me to the dump in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
A couple of weeks ago when we were in Bahir Dar, I heard on the news that a big dump collapsed in Addis Ababa and hundreds of lives were buried under all the trash. It seemed so far from us, and the news didn’t move my heart. However, I knew the scene—people searching for other people, and trying to find family members.
Now, two weeks later as I stood in the dump , it looked better, depending on how you define better. The story remains that many people died, and families have lost their loved ones. The houses that collapsed are gone, and the government is cleaning up the place.
It still smelled horrible. We walked up the trash hill and I saw some people going through some of the houses that collapsed. They were probably searching for their belongings.
My teammate went on top of the trash hill, I stayed back because of the smell. I watched and started praying for the families who had lost everything.
Then after a couple of minutes, one of the men I was looking at walked to me. I asked him what he was and doing and he spoke some English words. He showed me his house—some wooden sticks and green fabric was all that was left of it. I felt very sad. He didn’t have anything anymore. Then he told me about his life before. He remininced about music, friends, family, fun, food, and visitors. I stood beside him for a couple of minutes and we were both silent as we watched the remnants of his house.
I imagined how it was before the tragedy and saw the joy he must have had. After, I looked at the man and his face was drawn. I asked him if he had lost any family, and he nooded and told me yes. Tears welled up, and he told me his mom didn’t make it. She ran but it was too late. His words hit my heart, but I could not just cry. In my silence, I prayed for this man.
Writing this story made me cry. The story that seemed so far away when I was in Bahir Dar was suddenly very close. Seeing the sorrow and hurt in the eyes of this man made me realize that I have been so selfish in thinking that I don’t have much. This man lost everything—his home and his mom. The only thing I can do is pray and hope that people will help him. Please remember the Ethiopian people and pray that they might find hope again.
One photo of the place where all the houses were, the government already cleaned it up.
In the middle of this picture is where the leftovers are of the mans house.
