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Looking back I can see our trip preparation was split into three categories:
1) Collecting supplies for charities and agencies.
2) Getting papers and passports together, and starting vaccinations.
3) Packing the week before.
I will talk about these three categories over the next few days in my blogs, as I could probably fill a book with all my thoughts over preparing for such a big trip!
The first phase was the easiest and most fun part of all the planning. I narrowed down to three agencies or charities to collect supplies for. As you may already know there are many wonderful causes in Ethiopia to give to. I decided to go with what matters to me most: children, children’s health and books.
Our agency cares for about 150 children at a time and is always in needs of socks, underwear, pajamas and shoes. They also needed to send a computer to a school they were sponsoring, so we took up two of our 10 allotted bags (we were traveling with 5 people) for the computer. I would recommend asking your agency what their needs are.
Through Melissa Faye Greene’s writings I had learned about AHOPE, a home for kids with HIV. It used to be more of a hospice than a medical home, but now the kids get HIV meds, go to school and some are being adopted. They are always in need of medical supplies and other things, like vitamins.
I am a huge book lover and have always loved reading to my kids. When I learned about the first children’s library in Ethiopia and that they have a donkey pulled book mobile, I had to collect some books for them! Ethiopiareads.org gives is a wonderful site that lets you know how you can help.
With these three organizations in mind we got to work collecting supplies. I really recommend this if you have the space. If you don’t have the space, collecting cash donations to buy things in Ethiopia may be a good alternative for you.
Through our local Girl Scout Service Unit, we rented a skating rink and everyone got in for free for bringing donations. We had door prizes for the girls and it was a great night! We collected many items, especially books and medical supplies. We called it Christmas for Ethiopia and had it mid-December. The flyers had some basic information about Ethiopia, so the girls would be learning as well as having fun.
Our church deacons agreed to let me put a box in the foyer for supplies and I put educating inserts in the bulletin for a few weeks. We got a wonderful response and also some cash donations. Since our bags were full we ended up taking the cash and giving our girls’ class at the children’s home a great fieldtrip to a “Chuck E. Cheese” type of arcade! Needless to say this was a first for them and they loved it!
While traveling to Africa with two kids, ten bags and a grandma wasn’t always easy, it was worth it to make a little dent in the huge needs of Ethiopia. Collecting supplies was a great way to educate and prepare our family and friends for bringing our girls home. The process was also a way for my oldest, Meg, to feel more involved with our adoption plans.
Mandy,
Your posts are very helpful. I will sit down sometime and just enjoy all this information.
I do have a question. Do you know anyone who has adopted from Ethiopia where the majority of their income is not on their tax return? Most of our money is not taxable right now but that makes it really hard to prove we have any.