I have no idea who I am writing to right now. I have officically survived the worst day of my life to-date. This journal entry is not what I had anticipated it to be at all. I figured, in my ignorance, that it would be a wonderous day-my first day on the job and on the road to a blossoming career. However, today, I have had to leave the only man I have ever loved and pictured spending the rest of my life with. He has been shattered and though I know I am suffering, him having to return to our home alone, after being gutted of all my belongings is much worse than I can imagine.
From here, I do not know where I will go. What is keeping me 'moving forward' is knowing of the potential impact my work may have on the children in most need of my attention.
Life Happened :)
Beamlak & I January 27, 2007
About Me
- Bettina
- It's difficult to write this section now that Beamlak is finally home! How amazing! Well to summarize... I turned 26 years old on April 15, 2009 the day my daughter, Beamlak became a U.S. Citizen - exactly one year after I was able to "officially" begin the process to bring her home. I met her January 27, 2007 and I can say that without a doubt, my life has never been the same. My life now is amazing, beautiful, difficult, exhausting, lovely, precious, adventuresome, routine, surprising, and about a million other adjectives. We're just settling in and I'm trying to soak it all up!
The Waiting Child
The Waiting Child
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plea as you go by
'Does no one want a child of three?
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
And then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.
-Debbie Boddie
I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.
I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plea as you go by
'Does no one want a child of three?
I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.
I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no one want a child of four?
I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.
Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
And then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.
-Debbie Boddie
Starfish Poem
As I walked along the seashore
This young boy greeted me.
He was tossing stranded starfish
Back to the deep blue sea.
I said, 'Tell me why you bother,
Why you waste your time this way.
There's a million stranded starfish
Does it matter, anyway?'
And he said, 'It matters to this one.
It deserves a chance to grow.
It matters to this one.
I can't save them all I know.
But it matters to this one,
I'll return it to the sea.
It matters to this one,
And it matters to me.'
-- Anonymous
*There are more than 6 million orphans in Ethiopia. Orphaned due to malaria, TB, AIDS, drought, flooding, war, migration and lack of basic health care. Anything and everything you do to support even just one makes a huge difference - don't undermine your contribution.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Ghandhi
This young boy greeted me.
He was tossing stranded starfish
Back to the deep blue sea.
I said, 'Tell me why you bother,
Why you waste your time this way.
There's a million stranded starfish
Does it matter, anyway?'
And he said, 'It matters to this one.
It deserves a chance to grow.
It matters to this one.
I can't save them all I know.
But it matters to this one,
I'll return it to the sea.
It matters to this one,
And it matters to me.'
-- Anonymous
*There are more than 6 million orphans in Ethiopia. Orphaned due to malaria, TB, AIDS, drought, flooding, war, migration and lack of basic health care. Anything and everything you do to support even just one makes a huge difference - don't undermine your contribution.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
~Mahatma Ghandhi
Blogs I Read
Ethiopian Resources
Organizations Assisting Orphaned and Abandoned Children in Ethiopia
- 121Ethiopia (assists Kechene Children's Home)
- Adoption Adovcates International (humanitarian aid)
- African Child Policy Forum (advocates for change through policy)
- African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace
- Gladney's Bright Future Camp
- Mary Joy (Child Sponsorship with Birth Families)
- Selamta (Child Sponsorship - Foster Care)
Organizations Assisting Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa
Schools of Interest
- Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
- Center on Philanthropy
- Heller School for Social Policy and Management
- Institute of Public Affairs (U of MN)
- Institute for Social Studies (The Hague)
- School for International Training Graduate Institute
- University of Denver
- University for Peace
- World Learning
"Fear grows out of the things we think; it lives in our minds. Compassion grows out of the things we are, and lives in our hearts."
~Barbara Garrison
~Barbara Garrison
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