THOMAS CLAN: The Chronicles of Ethiopia

Monday, August 18, 2008

The Chronicles of Ethiopia – Part Four

Why We adopted From Ethiopia……
And Garrett’s Story.

The answer to that question is hard to put into words; the short version is that we felt like that is how God wanted to expand our family. The long answer is we prayed for months and pursued lots of options and at the end Ethiopia was the door that was opened. Ethiopia has 6 million orphans throughout its country and 250,000 in Addis Ababa alone. The simple truth is that 50% of those kids will not live to see age 5 and most if they do live will spend their life living on the streets begging for what they need. It’s a desolate situation that needs immediate attention and action. While we believe that we did what we were called to do in helping one child we know that our work in Ethiopia is not done. And we are looking forward to God’s call and direction in our next journey to Ethiopia.
Garrett was born in the Mizan region of Ethiopia, which is located in the south. He was born and cared for by his mother him until she passed away when he was around 5 months old. His aunt then cared for him for a few months; but the burden of another child to feed was just too much and she took him to the local center. Because he was healthy and she was able to petition for his adoption and he was transferred to Addis Ababa and placed in Toukoul and then God placed him with us! Toukoul is a French run orphanage that has done amazing things in Ethiopia. They not only house and place kids for adoption, but they work within the community to help families stay together. Because creating an environment where parents are healthy and can keep/care for their children is really the best possible solution. The staff of Toukoul is amazing they really love the children and do everything in their power to give them the best possible life. It was a true blessing to have spent time with them and to see all the wonderful work they are doing! Here are some picture of the people who cared for Garrett (and us) while he was at Toukoul.