3 Weeks and Counting

Just 3 weeks until I go to Ethiopia! I am so excited. I can hardly wait to meet all those sweet children, experience life in Ethiopia and meet the other women going on this trip. I am taking along donations from my bible study group....lots of cute clothes for the kids, medicine, educational games, soccer balls and lots more. I have received monetary donations, too and will be evaluating what else I need to buy for the orphanages. We are supposed to bring all of our clothes and stuff in a carry on bag and use our checked baggage for supplies for the orphanage.

I arrive early in the morning on the 30th before the group from the US arrive that night. I am hoping to get to visit the Fistula Clinic that day. You might have seen Dr. Catherine Hamlin on Oprah. She is an 80-something year old missionary doctor that opened a clinic for young women in Ethiopia that suffer from fistula. A fistula is a hole created when they have babies (often very young and without medical attention) that constantly leaks urine. This makes them an outcast from their families and society. Dr. Hamlin performs a surgery on the women and most of the time they are healed and able to go back home and live a normal life. Each woman gets a new dress and enough money to get back home. For women that they are unable to heal, she created a beautiful place for them to live. She is also opening a midwifery school. Read more about it at

www.fistulafoundation.org

My trip to Ethiopia runs into our Spring Break, so as soon as I get back to Doha, I am flying out to meet Bill and the kids in Thailand. Literally, I fly into Doah at 2am and my flight to Bangkok leaves at 8 am. I will be in 3 countries, 2 continents all within 24 hours.