Coming face to face with my sponsor child!

Wednesday 28^th October 2009. I hesitantly board an Ethiopian Air flight from the capital, Addis Ababa, to the small town of Mekele. It was one of those flights that stop at various towns along its route, similar to a bus. I am the only person on the small aircraft to get off at this stop, so wouldn’t you know, I’m the only person in the airport!

As I pluck my lonely bag off the carousel I can’t be sure if what I’m feeling is doubt, excitement or a mish-mash of the two.

Of course, to compound my nervousness and anxiety of traveling alone, World Vision were NOT at the airport to greet me as was planned.

Standing outside the airport, alone, with no taxis, no buses, no other person in sight, I pull my trusty Blackberry from my bag and dial the hotel. Perhaps they could come and pick me up.

“I’m sorry Miss, but your reservation is for tomorrow. Unfortunately we do not have any rooms available for tonight.” Said the receptionist at the ONLY hotel in Mekele.

The tears start to trace their trail down my face. 

SHIT, SHIT, SHIT. What the f#*k do I do now?

After an emotion laden frantic call to my sister back home, fifteen minutes later a World Vision 4WD comes thundering up to the curb.

“I’m so sorry!” came the response from the burly man inside. “We had you down as coming tomorrow!” I secretly try to wipe away the tears so he cannot see I’ve been crying.

After the World Vision team works their magic to find me a room in the hotel, I try to fall asleep, giddy in the knowledge that I will be the first ever white person to visit the village of Samre, the home town of Dawit!

The next morning there were four of us in the four-wheeled drive. Melese, Kifewtou, Gideon and I. It is a beautiful day. I can smell the appetizing aroma of spiced meals being prepared through my open window as we pass small villages on the way to Samre. Women with corn rolls in their hair carry babies on their backs, children plough the fields whilst their fathers herd camels or cultivate the wheat.

I’m jolted around in my seat for an hour and a half as we drive over rocks that have fallen onto our dirt road. Although the landscape is harsh, it is beautiful and I feel transported to another time in history.

At last, as we round a bend, I glimpse a small town perched atop the crest of a mountain. “There is Samre,” says Melese, and my tummy fills with butterflies. Very soon I will meet Dawit.

 As we make our way through the small town of Samre, word spreads fast. There is a white woman driving through town! I can’t help but feel that perhaps they have been waiting for me as people line the streets to catch a glimpse.

The car slows down outside a small shack. It is a one room, mud brick house with a weather beaten tin roof. 

Instantly I recognize him (Dad, he IS real!).

I am invited inside where there are two small single beds to sleep a family of four. Borrowed chairs are tightly squeezed into the already cramped space and we are offered traditional Ethiopian coffee and warm bread, cooked on a spattering of twigs placed on the earth floor.

My visit is not what I expected. Dawit is so shy. His native language Tigrinian is translated into Ethiopian then to English, so conversation is very stilted.

After visiting Dawit’s school, it is time to say goodbye. I have traveled over continents and have taken five planes to get here, and it is over already. I don’t want to say goodbye.

But for now, I have to be content in the knowledge that I have met him, he IS real, I’ve seen what World Vision are working on in his village, and we’ll always have this moment.

We hug. 

Through language and cultural barriers, I know he is grateful for my journey, as I am grateful to have met him. This has changed my life.





To read about my other experiences in Africa, click here.