I would love to introduce to you Jerry and Christy, as well as their 4 children ages 11, 9, 7 and 3. This family comes from a continent not too far from Africa. However, they do come from a cultural background far removed from that of Africa, particularly the Ethiopian one. Ethiopia is an African country in its own world with its unique ways. As most people know, Ethiopia has its own calendar and its own time; I don’t think any other country can get as unique as that. It has a rich coffee culture mainly expressed on a daily basis with potently fragrant coffee ceremonies held in an average home or work place. The coffee ceremony is, for the foreigner, a grand exhibition of how to make good home roasted coffee. In most cases the coffee is accompanied by pop-corn and honey.
Even with the intoxicating pull factor of coffee, the country itself is not particularly inviting. Addis is a city unlike many other. The streets are lined with dirt and decomposing animal matter which produces unpleasant smells especially on account of rainy weather. The dead animals on the streets draw an audience of scavengers such as the vultures that wait eagerly on the roof tops for their moment in time. Those who dare to tread the streets late at night have given reports of hyenas indulging in the generously laid out feast. Even more heart wrenching is the presence of poor and sick disabled people lying helplessly on the pavements of the city. It is very rare to see the paving ground on which you walk because for about every third step you take their is either a disabled mother sleeping on the floor with her newly born baby or a helpless man with a bleeding head crawling vainly to get help from those who are much stronger than him.
Consider these to only be the nation’s hardships that are immediately visible to the eye. Far beyond what meets the eye is a greater poverty battle which can only be seen by those who dare to look harder and gather up the courage to fight back. Eradicating poverty can seem as futile as attempting to fill a bucket with the ocean. This is not only discouraging but also disarming. For most of us Ethiopia will be a country that we tick off our ‘list of countries to visit’ but the Shannons will tell a different story. This is a family that has walked away from the comforts and luxuries of a first world country for the sake of serving the precious people of Addis Ababa.
In the heart of a very poor community neighbouring a rubbish dump, the Shannon family has found a home and established what I love to call a revolutionary day care centre. I call it revolutionary because many people establish Day Care Centres for their own benefit and profit. They seek to enrol children who have the means to be part of their Day Care program. It is an inspiring privilege to find those who have established a Day Care Centre for a purpose far beyond themselves. The aim of the Day Care is to accommodate young children whose parents cannot afford to send them to such a facility, especially one of such a high quality. These young ones, born to unemployed mothers, often have to spend most of the day on their mothers’ backs while accompanying them on job hunting escapades. As a result, the child’s development is compromised and the mothers’ employment opportunities are deterred.
This revolutionary Day Care has truly proven to be an empowering solution to the vicious cycle fostered by poverty. Mothers bring their precious children early in the morning as they make their way to search for means to provide for their families. After a successful day of hard work the mothers return to their healthy and cheerful kids. As a team we were very honoured to spend a full day of learning and investing love into the children’s lives. Being close witnesses of their early childhood development and their healing was like seeing the miracle of nature in a growing plant. Even more rewarding was seeing the joy in the mothers’ faces as they marvelled at the wellbeing of their beloved ones. Beyond the skills empowerment offered by the Shannons, the mothers also seemed to be empowered by the mere fact that their kids were well looked after. They were inspired to work harder and even start up their own businesses in order to empower other women of their own background.
The Shannons have risked what most families would not be prepared to part with for an investment with an immeasurable return. The opportunity to serve with this family was not only inspirational and challenging but also full of adventure with an ‘infant’ twist. Our global jackets became the default snot wipers when toilet paper could not be found within the time it takes for snot to flow from the nose to the lips. The sound of babies crying for attention, as well as for other unknown reasons, became the music player that had no pause or stop button subject to our control. We became expert agents of feeding times that made any decent meal or dish unidentifiable after being squashed and mashed all over the place prior to being swallowed. We witnessed the miracle of babies learning to walk while grabbing on to our legs for their dear lives. Others, who had mastered the art of walking, could not be stopped by anything that moved and therefore earned the title ‘walker taxes ranger’. We also learned to endure the warm vibrations of a baby’s uncontrolled response to nature’s call while sitting on our laps!
Written by Kagiso for Explore Africa