Almaz in Ethiopia

Many of you may know Almaz, a fabulous woman and former roommate of mine who followed God's call a couple years ago to begin working with orphans in Ethiopia. I visited her in January 2007, and at that point she was just getting started so we spent a lot of time furniture shopping for cribs and little toddler chairs. This time around, operations are in full swing at Hannah's Hope, a home for children waiting to be adopted through All God's Children International.

Over the last two and half years, Almaz and AGCI have placed over 200 children with adoptive parents from the US. There are currently about 25 small babies and 35 toddlers and older kids living at Hannah's Hope as their adoptions are processed.
I actually got to see as four sets of parents picked up their kids- it was very emotional on all sides, as it is a long road for both the children and the parents. Besides adoption, the agency also has a sponsorship program to support poor families.

Almaz expressed that she sometimes feels she is 'getting eaten up' by the job, with its heavy demands and responsibilities. However, she also said that the story of any one of those 200 kids makes it all worthwhile!

Besides helping out feeding babies and playing with the older kids, I also just got to enjoy some fun with Almaz. We got a lot of coffee and Italian food around town, took a little weekend trip to a resort/lake south of Addis Ababa, went running together (just like the old days), and just generally enjoyed some good laughs and girl talk. Needless to say, I am very very proud of my old roomie!

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Just another day at the office for Almaz!