Contrasts

The contrast between rich and poor, haves and have-nots in Ethiopia is STARK.

We saw family homes that took up whole streets, just round the corner from family homes that consisted of a few bits of corrugated iron cobbled together.

We saw pampered boys and girls attending a birthday party at the Hilton and we saw starving children clinging to their mother's hoping to eat that day.

We saw people drive round in brand new flashy cars and other cars that looked like they were held together with nothing but sticky tape.

We saw the love and devotion of a crowded church congregation and the selfishness of people who didn't want to step outside the Hilton as it was "dangerous out there!"

We saw the unearned privilege being born white gets you - we were politely ushered through while non-whites were searched or asked to pass through metal detectors as we entered shops or high end hotels.

We saw children living in an orphanage who have nothing to call their own play and share nicely (and also one little boy run off and hide the toys he managed to snatch lol) and we saw spoilt Western teens complaining their manicures weren't up to scratch.

We saw staff working under conditions that would be unthinkable in the West, who still managed to be loving and caring to the children they were looking after.

We saw ETHIOPIA :-)

We saw a little snippet of life in a faraway country that is going to be part of our family for generations to come. I hope we can convey some of what we saw to our future child and have them grow up proud of the country he/she was born in and the people that nurtured him/her until he/she could join our family.