BE MY VALENTINE

Starting this Friday, when you purchase a HopeChest Project T Shirt, you are providing an orphan in Ethiopia with a new pair of shoes and a new shirt. 1 shirt = 2 gifts for a child.

Your contribution will provide basic needs & the greatest gift of all - Love. Make this a Valentine’s Day you will never forget. Wrap your hearts around each face and pray for them every time you wear your shirts. Your gift of $25.00 is a special way you can show crazy love.

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BAREFOOT

We are barefoot today :)

Queen of Sheba

Fil surprised me last Christmas with a scarf from Ethiopia. There are many different types of scarves that we saw when we were in Ethiopia. This is a silk scarf with images of the story of the Queen of Sheba. I did not get it when we were in Ethiopia but Fil remembered that I loved it and he asked our dear friends (the Laughners) when they went to pick up their son to get it for him. It was a big surprise to find it under the Christmas tree. I love scarves and I have a nice collection (I wear them). We finally got it framed. It is a huge picture and we all love it. I am still trying to find a translation for the story and I came across a few interesting stories of Queen of Sheba. It is a big part of Ethiopian history and we are proud to display it in our house.

Memories from Ethiopia - people of Addis Ababa

I only have a few close up pictures of people in Ethiopia. They do not like to be photographed by strangers and most of them ask for money (a lot of money if you ask me). I was told to give them at least 10 birr each (that was around $1 at that time). I do have many pictures of children from various orphanages we were able to visit but I am not allowed to share them (Ethiopia has a very strict policies about posting pictures of children on the internet).






I got these pictures on the way down from Entono mountain. These women look for wood all day long. It pays just enough for them to feed their families for that day.

Even though people did not like to be photographed we were able to talk to many of them. They are all very sweet and very proud of their heritage. Most of them were very happy about Jordan and her being with us (we did get few odd looks). Other then that we were well received where ever we went.

Memories from Ethiopia - Flowers in Addis Ababa

There are so many pretty flowers all over Addis. The city's location and warm weather makes it an ideal climate for many different kinds flowers.

I will start with roses. We saw many of them every day at the Hilton hotel.


The rest of the flowers I found all over the city.

Enjoy!

Memories from Ethiopia - Textures

I am slowly getting though my pictures from our trip. Anyway here are some textures from this beautiful country.

Can anyone recognize this wall? It is from the TH. I loved all the palm trees around the city of Addis. The temperature was perfect to begin with (around 80 F with low humidity everyday and sunny).





Walls

Steps to the kings palace on Entono mountain
Wall around the palace

roof inside the palace.

Memories from Ethipia - Windows & Doors

I will start this blog with a picture of the door that means a great deal to us. For those who do not recognize this door it is a door to TH (transitional home) where Jordan stayed for four months. We got to walk through this door several times during our visit to Ethiopia. The first time we actually got to drive though it and believe we are one of the few groups who actually got to drive though it.

The next three pictures are door to a church on top of Entono mountain.


I will end this blog with another door that means a lot to us. This is the entrance to an orphanage where Jordan came from.