This is a photo filled will extreme hardship yet great hope. Meet the family from house 7 in the children’s village at HOPEthiopia. Hope is an orphanage a few hours outside of Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital. I had the privilege of spending a whole month with these amazing people. Hope is filled with incredible humans from the kitchen ladies, to the children, to the house moms and this family is no exception. I want to tell the story of the family in this photo because I believe everyone’s story deserves to be shared and truly heard.
Abaruu, a widow, is the house mother of these 3 children. She has many children of her own but they are much older and no longer need her to take care of them. She was living a troubled life in the village filled with long days of manual labor and not much money. She was sought after by Hope to be a house mom in the village when the 2 boys on the right showed up – Lulhule and Robirra.
They are 2 of the 4.5 million orphans in Ethiopia and unfortunately their stories are similar to many others. Robirra, in the middle, was abandoned at the gate of HOPEthiopia where Ralph, one of the founders, found him in a comatose state unresponsive. He was rushed to a local hospital a few towns away. They told Ralph his state was due to abandonment, malnutrition, and trauma. He spent the next 3 years at a different local orphanage that had some experience with handicap children. This is where Robirra and Lulhule meet. Lulhule, on the right, unfortunately has a similar story. He was found on the side of the road. He was born with malformed limbs, he has 2 clubbed feet, and only 2 fingers on his left hand. Lulhule spent his younger years at the orphanage with Robirra until it was forced to shut down this last December. That’s when both of these boys moved to Hope.
Finding a house mom to take care of these boys wasn’t an easy job. Lulhule can‘t walk due to his legs, but can crawl and is mobile. Robirra on the other hand is unable to walk, talk, and eat on his own. Every house mom did not have enough space in their home and or time to give them the attention they need. That’s when Abaruu was called. Abaruu was happy to come to Hope to be the caretaker for these two precious boys.
Fedessah, the boy on the left, is the latest addition to this sweet family. He is actually the grandson of Abaruu. He was brought to Hope when his mother no longer wanted to be his caretaker. She up and left the village and moved to Addis Ababa. The smiles in this photo truly says it all. This family is filled with so much joy and so much hope! Fedessah loves to be picked up and spun in circles until he gets so dizzy he falls. Robirra loves to play with balloons. Lulhule loves to play soccer and has a pretty impressive kick. I’m going to miss their big smiles and sweet I love you’s everyday but I fully believe these boys are the future of Ethiopia and have bright futures ahead.
Many Ethiopian children might be fatherless on this earth but they have an eternal Father who’s love and hope never fails. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes: but its leaf will be green, and it will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8
