Tsehei and Aberash: Our Help We Couldn’t Live Without!

Photo1: Tsehei and Anne at a Christmas Tea

Photo 2: Aberash and Keegan outside our kitchen

When we were preparing to come to Africa, one of the biggest unknowns
was having a house helper. While we knew that having house help is
common throughout much of Africa, we weren’t sure how comfortable we
were with the idea. We wondered: would she live with us? Would we
have privacy? How do we be friends and bosses at the same time?
After seven months we’ve adjusted just fine and would even like to see
some aspects added to the American culture!

Our “house-helper” is named Tsehei. She is 28 years old and lives
with us in our compound. Tsehei is from rural Ethiopia and is
incredibly devoted to the Orthodox Christian Church. Tsehei has been
one of the greatest blessings to us in Ethiopia. She does far more
than we expected and for that we are so grateful. Like all house help
she keeps our house and compound clean, does our laundry (washes by
hand, hangs them to dry, and irons), and does our dishes. She also
cooks our breakfast and reheats our dinners. In addition to these
normal tasks, she helps us as foreigners with ever day life. She
speaks very good English, so she is always able to answer our
questions, give us directions, tell us about culture, and even helps
keep us in line! She takes us to Merkato, a huge and intimidating
open-air market where we would be overwhelmed without her, and
negotiates prices for us. She translates for us when we try to talk
with people in the neighborhood. And when we do mismanage our
shopping and forget something, Tsehei often fills in and buys the
items we’re missing. She gives us advice about the best places to
shop, hospitals, places to avoid, and any other information we need to
know. She does all this in addition to her everyday tasks. In
Africa, keeping up on the household duties is a full time job because
things need to be cleaned everyday; laundry is an all day event, etc.
Because these “ordinary” things take so much effort, everyone has a
house-helper, regardless of class. Our life here would be infinitely
more difficult without Tshei!

We feel that we’ve found a comfortable balance of friendship with
Tsehei. We’ll occasionally ask her to eat with us or go to an event.
We communicate freely about our days, how we are all feeling, and are
beginning to discuss deeper things like culture and church. She is
like an older sister in ways but the dynamics of being her “employer”
can make that awkward. Still the balance is challenging; we tend to
wonder if we are doing enough to be friendly as we value her so much.
We try to balance loving and treating her as family with the “work”
side.

In addition to Tsehei, we also have a cook during the day, Monday
through Saturday. For us the food situation in Ethiopia has been more
challenging than we expected. Shopping takes lots of time - there is
no Wal-Mart! – and we have to pick up a few items each day, often
going to multiple stores on our walk home. Everything is made fresh
and from scratch (there are no processed foods or frozen meals here!).
So every meal takes time, creativity, and planning! Doing just the
planning and shopping can take an entire Saturday, and we don’t even
cook it! So that is why we are thankful for Aberash. We don’t have
enough hours in the day to plan, buy, prepare and cook ourselves.
While Aberash has many specialties that we love (cinnamon rolls,
lasagna, and pizza!), we’ve learned that Ethiopians view food
differently than Americans. As Americans we want variety; most
Ethiopians eat virtually the same food three times a day. Most locals
have their house helpers also do all the cooking. However, because we
are foreigners and have more “unique” meals that take additional work
and preparation, a separate cook is needed. Whether it’s her age or
her home cooking, Aberash is close to being our Ethiopian Grandma.

While having a house helper and cook sounds extravagant, it’s no
different than having a microwave, washing machine, dishwasher, and
constant Wal-Mart access. We recognize the cultural norm and that
life without Tsehei and Aberash would be unbelievably challenging. We
are blessed continually by them. We try to be a blessing to them in
return.

Our House: Part 4

In our slow description of our home in Ethiopia, we've saved the best
parts for last! In this update we'll briefly describe the most
important rooms in the house, our bathroom and our kitchen.

We have one of the nicest bathrooms we've seen in the city! The
bathroom is simple but quite large. We have a full-size bathtub,
which we initially planned to turn into a shower. Unfortunately there
is rarely enough water pressure to really have a shower. When we say
there is no pressure, we're serious. The faucet has a shower head
attachment that has perhaps 50 holes that water is supposed to rush
through. Typically about 5 of those holes give a little stream for
us. It takes us 15 minutes to fill the tub a few inches, just enough
to cover the bottom so we don't have to feel the cold sides. So even
though we're technically in the tub we still have to use a pitcher to
wash and clean ourselves. (Attention possible visitors: with a little
patience, say 30 minutes or 60 really, one can have a real bath!)
We're just happy for hot water!

The only interesting thing about the toilet is that instead of having
a handle to flush, there is a knob on top that you pull. We had never
seen that before, but it is standard in all of Ethiopia—as are "squat"
toilets. We are also blessed to have a toilet seat, one of few we
have seen outside of our home. It even has one of those built in
plastic lips that serves as a handle! The sink leaks rather
frequently. Now that the weather is heating up, one highlight of the
bathroom is that it never gets sun, so the tile is nice and cold after
walking home from work in the sun.

So, that's the bathroom…pretty much like any American bathroom, minus
plush rugs and matching towels. One important thing to note: here in
Ethiopia the world is the toilet here – we have yet to go outside and
not see men peeing randomly in the streets. Considering this, we feel
lucky to simply have a bathroom.

Like the bathroom, the kitchen is functional and simple. We have a
medium-sized fridge, a large toaster-type oven, and a
smaller-than-average gas stove. There are two cabinets, one for
storing pots and pans and the other for our small assortment of
dishes. Other than some small glasses (I miss big plastic cups!), all
of our dishes are plastic.

Like every other part of our house, we cannot complain about the
kitchen. We used to spend little time in the kitchen because Tsehei
and Aberash, our cook during the week, did most of the cooking and
dishes. We'll write a post more about the lack of variety for meal
options. Lately, however, we've been getting creative and began
cooking more ourselves. While Aberash is an expert at cinnamon roles,
pasta, and Ethiopian food, we can eat it only so much. When the
internet has worked well enough to provide recipes, and when
ingredients are available, we'll cook our own favorites—tacos,
enchiladas, and grilled cheese. Recently we have even made calzones!
We are very appreciative of the care packages we have recieved from
Keegan's parents! They have helped the food adjustment tremendously!
We have also been able to find a few "American" things at some of the
supermarkets. They have been hard to find but we have BBQ sauce and
Mountain Dew in the fridge (saving them!) as well as Ice Cream in the
freezer. On our shelf of food we have salsa, syrup for pancakes,
coffee, and plenty of the essentials.

Now you know all about our home. As time passes we are slowly making
the house more of a home. In a bedroom we now have pictures up, so we
now have pictures of friends and family spread along the wall. It
only takes a few familiar and loved faces to make us comfortable!

Our Home: part 3

Life in Africa is supposed to have a slower pace. People typically take it easy more often than in the United States. Apparently we either are the exception or at least feel like the exception. Life has felt filled to the top lately, so much so that we have not even made time for updating this here Blog! So, we’re behind a bit and will attempt to catch up in the coming weeks!
Earlier we began giving details about our home. We shared about our compound and our bedroom. We’ll begin our catching up by sharing about our living room. Soon you can look forward to the joys of our bathroom and kitchen!
The living room also serves as our dining room. When we got here we had a separate dining room, a tiny, bare room with an empty echo. So we decided to combine them and moved our small, 4 person table into an open space in the living room…and voila, just like home in the US! The room is dominated by one very long and very low-to-the-ground couch. There is also a matching loveseat and two matching chairs. They are all a dirty gray, not our favorite color. But because we love each other, we sit only in the love seat. The rest serve as “eye candy” to distract you from the remarkably white walls. Above the long couch is our artwork, which we purchased at a price that was 90% less than the original quoted price, yet was likely still too much. It’s a very brightly colored painting that depicts the story of Queen Sheba and King Solomon (Short Synopsis: They fall in love and have a child who eventually returns to Israel and steals/borrows/receives the Arc of the Covenant. Or so the Ethiopian version goes.)
On the floor of the living/dining room is a large rug that is not soft. Actually, it’s more like a mat. We have our first ever glass-topped coffee table and a TV that is the same as our one in the US (Meaning: HUGE!). Along one wall are windows and a door that opens onto the driveway that serves as our patio. Facing these windows is our table with its plastic, green and white checkered table cloth. Other than eating and occasional TV, we don’t spend much time here. But it is nice to have room to host people.
After describing it, our house may not sound like much, but it is exactly what we need. Recently we received a bit of perspective about the house. A young man I (Keegan) had been getting to know from walking around invited me to see his house. We walked less than a block from our house into a field full of shack houses. Danny took me to a tiny room that is his home. It is one room, perhaps five feet square, with a straw mat on the dirt floor that serves as his bed. There is no running water, no bathroom, and one little light bulb. Imagine your closet made out of tin, but without the carpet. Cracks let in the cold night air and the roof doesn’t stop the rain. Beside his “bed”, Danny showed me his possessions—a backpack with one set of clothes and an old walkman. Even Danny is lucky in comparison to the many that sleep with only a plastic sheet covering them. We don’t have to go far to find these clear reminders of how greatly we are blessed.

Adventures in Cairo

Most of you know that we spent our Christmas vacation in Egypt.
After a few weeks back in Ethiopia, we've reflected enough to finally
tell a little about our time in Egypt. However, if you've been there,
you'll agree that writing about Egypt is futile—words fail to capture
the magnificence, history, and beauty of Egypt.

We went to Egypt planning to be awed by the Great Pyramids of Giza.
With the largest Pyramid standing fifty stories tall, we certainly
were awed. While riding horses through the desert around the
pyramids, we were stunned by the size, perfection, and workmanship on
display. Nearly 5000 years ago, how was man able to do such a thing?
Not just how, but why?

Despite the incredible pyramids, they represent only a fraction of the
splendor of Egypt. In south Egypt (upper, as they say), Luxor was one
of the highlights of our trip. Just as striking as the Pyramids,
Karnak Temple in Luxor is still nearly 4000 years old and just as
impressive. We were most impressed by Hypostyle Hall, one of its many
halls. Inside the Hypostyle Hall are 116 massive columns, some 20
meters high and 15 meters around. 116! All are carved with 360
degree hieroglyphics, once in bright colors. The hall feel endless,
with light and shadows cutting around the columns as if walking
through an ancient and perfect forest. While we were there I tried
taking countless pictures, bending down to the ground in homes of
getting a full column in the frame. But it never quite worked. Even
video failed to capture the place. And while Karnak is the most
impressive of the ancient temples, we saw five others, all amazing and
ancient.

Also in Luxor is the Valley of the Kings, home of the tombs of the
Pharaohs of Egypt…some of them. Imagine this: cut down and into the
side of a rock mountain, a hallway (hallway fails…more like large
driveway) leads over 100 meters down into the rock. Every surface is
perfectly flat, squared, smooth, and covered in brightly colored and
raised hieroglyphics. After over 350 feet, you enter into a massive
room, at the center of which is a sarcophagus the size of a truck,
carved from a single piece of granite. Imagine building this over
3000 years ago, the effort and skill required to do it, and then
imagine closing it up in hopes that nobody will ever find it. That is
the Valley of the Kings, or rather one of 62 tombs found there.
Clearly I could spend pages describing what we saw in Egypt. Even
after pages, I would feel frustrated that my words don't adequately
convey what awesome treasures are there. In order to grasp the scope
of human history and ability, everyone should see Egypt once. As an
American, it helped put into perspective the newness of our society
and nation.

Egypt was full of other highlights for us. We took a wonderful and
relaxing cruise down the Nile, watching the most important river in
history flow slowly by. We enjoyed some taste of modernism and
technology—high speed Internet, air conditioning, and even the taste
of home at McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and even On the Border. All of
this spoiled us and made for a memorable vacation and escape from life
in Ethiopia.

Nobody warned us about how hard it would be to come back. When you go
on vacation, you always go home at the end. I think our minds were
expecting home…really home. Instead we came back to Ethiopia, only
partially home, and so vastly removed from even the amenities of
Egypt. At first we were bitter, annoyed by everything from loud
churches to beggars. Other expats tell us this is normal, which is
comforting considering the guilt I later feel after shooing away a
starving child. Now after a little more time, we're finding a
healthier balance with life in Ethiopia and our calling for being
here. Overall, our vacation helped provide needed rest, time
together, and some wonderful memories to share.

Opportunities to Help

Dear Friends and Family,

We apologize for not posting an update or prayer email in quite a long
time! We've written a few posts but due to internet access have not
been able to upload them to the web. So we'll play catch up with some
posts later. We decided to put the most important post/prayer email
up first.

Our most recent post is something very dear and close to our hearts
for many reasons. Primarily three reasons… Adoption, Ethiopia and
Close Friends. We have some close friends, Doug and Danielle Banker
from Colorado Springs, who are in the process of adopting siblings
from Ethiopia! They have completed all their paperwork and homestudy
and are now in the waiting process. Like I said this is very close to
our hearts.

First, because of Adoption. As many of you know I was adopted along
with my younger brother, Gideon. We think it is wonderful that Doug
and Danielle are willing to bring not just one child but TWO into
their home. They are truly providing life to these children. These
children will have opportunities that they would never have. And more
importantly they will experience love and belonging. Adopting is one
of the most selfless things that a family can do. My whole life is a
testimony to the change and impact that can happen when parents decide
to adopt!

Second, Ethiopia. We've now been in Ethiopia for over 4 months. We
love the country, culture and especially the people. We plan to share
with you more and more as time goes, but the poverty is reality for
millions of people in this country. They need our help. They need
your help. Doug and Danielle are responding to this need; they are
tremendously changing the lives of two children.
Third, they are our close friends. We've known Doug and Danielle
since 2004, when they participated in a young married bible study we
helped lead. Doug and Danielle have been impactful in our lives in
many ways. They have been examples to us by living their faith with
width (knowledge) but more importantly depth (living). Specifically
they are inspirational in their marriage, finances and community
building. Personally, they have provided us with true accountability
and fellowship. We could write more and more about them, but the most
important thing we can say is that they WILL be amazing godly parents.
We've already seen them in many ways trust God through their adoption
journey up until now.

You might be asking why we're telling you all this? Before we left
the US, many of you knew that we were not fundraising while we served
in Africa. But many of you did ask us to let you know about any
financial needs or opportunities where you could help Ethiopia. So,
here is the first opportunity for those who are interested and able.
We know the timing isn't best, with the financial crisis and with
Christmas, this might not the ideal time to ask. Nonetheless, what
better time to give a gift that really does GIVE LIFE, than Christmas.
Our prayers and dreams are that those in our "community of support"
would bless Doug and Danielle as they step out in faith and trust God
to provide for them and their soon to be children. We'd encourage you
to send ANYTHING to show that you too believe in what they're doing.
Maybe that is only $5 right now or maybe for some of you it is $1000.
Whatever amount it is…I know that the encouragement and the support is
more important than the dollar amount to them. I'm sure if there are
other resources or ways that you can help (outside of monetary),
they'd love to talk with you. You'll find this address on our blog.
We want to thank you for reading and if you are able… giving! Most
importantly, please pray for Doug and Danielle. They'll have many
special memories as well as many challenges ahead! We'll be providing
updates about Doug and Danielle as time goes on!

Many Blessings,
Anne & Keegan

A Great Way to Help

Yes, friends and family, we are still very much alive! We've gotten very busy lately and have not made time for updates. Whenever we did prepare an update, it also coincided with lousy internet. So, we'll be posting some more, real updates soon. As for now, let us tell you about a way you can help Ethiopia.

As we prayed and considered moving to Africa, a great many friends encouraged us along the way. Doug and Danielle Banker were one couple particularly involved in the process. While Doug and Danielle were encouraging God's plan for us, they were considering a significant step in their own lives. Around the same time we decided to move toEthiopia, Doug and Danielle decided to adopt children from Ethiopia. As we walk the streets of Addis and see countless orphans, we realize what an amazing thing the Bankers are doing. Below is a letter from the Bankers. Please read it over and consider joining them in this Christmas season.

Dear fellow brothers and sisters,

The Bible tells us in James 1:27 that "pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world". Isaiah1:17 says "Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow." This is the calling my wife and I have humbly and graciously answered.

Our journey began shortly after Danielle and I met when we both shared our interest in adoption and how we'd be open to it in the future. This past winter, after being married almost 3 years, we decided it would be the right time for us to pursue this dream of ours. Since that first conversation we have had a heart for the continent of Africa and the struggles that many of the people there face daily. More recently, our hearts have steered in the direction of Ethiopia.This direction took place around the same time MarlAnne and Keegan Combs found out they'd be taking their calling and ministry to Ethiopia.

One of the most blessed relationships the Lord has brought Danielle and I is MarlAnne and Keegan Combs. Watching their journey come to fruition with their going to Ethiopia has been inspiring and praiseful (though we miss them like crazy!). Since their arrival several months ago Danielle and I have started the adoption process, completed all of the paperwork, have gone through many hours of training required by the agencies and are getting ready to submit our dossier to Ethiopia awaiting our referral. Words cannot even express the excitement we both currently share as our "paper pregnancy" is about to begin! After long consideration we have decided to submit a request for 2 children under the ages of 36 months, most likely blood siblings. Due to this request our wait will likely be longer than usual. Therefore,we're hoping to receive our referral in late 2009 or early 2010. Once this happens, we'll go over to Ethiopia soon thereafter to meet our children!

As many of you may already know with adoption comes many challenges. Issues with the child's heath, language barriers, attachment disorders, high financial requirements and many others are very likely to occur. Thankfully, we have many great resources at our hands to take advantage of to help us through each of these trials/tribulations. Danielle and I have been saving up for this process knowing we would want to pursue adoption. Due to this we initially chose not to pursue raising support financially. The Lord has changed our hearts to be open to others who may want to in some way, shape, or form assist us in His heart for the orphans of this world. If you would be interested in helping us we would wholeheartedly welcome any form of generosity. We thank you for your prayerful consideration in taking part in our journey.

In His Loving Name,
Doug & Danielle Banker
930 N. Logan Ave.
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
719-268-0866
daniellebanker@yahoo.com

Our Home: Part 2

Of our nearly three months now in Ethiopia, we have spent the majorityof the time in our bedroom. While we have a living room with couchesand a TV, the couches are so low to the floor and unlike our formercouches that we're only in the room to watch TV or eat. Our bedroom,on the other hand, is warm and comfortable. So for this over-dueupdate, we'll focus on the simple setting of our bedroom.

The bedroom is, of course, dominated by our bed. But it's so muchmore than a bed. Because we have the bed pushed up against a wall, weoften sit and lean against the wall with our legs stretched out beforeus. So it is also a couch or chair. When we have to work at home, weusually do so sitting there on the bed, so it also serves as our desk.We occasionally eat while sitting on the bed, making it our table.The bed itself isn't really a "mattress," but really a large foam pad,but it's surprisingly comfortable. Well maybe that is anexaggeration, let's say we've gotten used it and it is still the placewe sleep, can we really hate it! The pillows that came with the houseare also foam, nearly two feet thick, and nothing close to soft.Thankfully we brought our own pillows with us. While not quite ourbeloved down comforter, we do have a nice, flowery comforter thatKeegan constantly kicks off the bed in the night.

In addition to the bed, we now have some furniture in our room! Thisis very exciting for us considering the first month or so we only hadour bed to comfort us. But now we have splurged and have a shelf weuse for our books, Anne's makeup, shoes, various electrical chords andadaptors, and clean clothes waiting to be put away. A coffee tableserves as our night-stand, which is usually full of books, medicinebottles (Yes, Mom, we're both taking our vitamins!), our tiny alarmclock, and whatever Keegan happens to bring home in his pockets.

One wall of our bedroom is dominated by three ceiling-high closetsthat are more like cabinets. One for Keegan's clothes, one forAnne's, and one for random items. Because there are no drawers orshelves, we are technically still living out of our suitcases, whichwe use as a "drawer" to organize the clothes in the bottom ourclosets. We have limited hangers so our clothes are double or tripledon the few hangers we have!

The best part of our bedroom is that along one wall is a series ofwindows and a glass door that opens out to a small patio overlookingour courtyard. On lazy days we'll often open the curtains all the wayand lay on our bed basking in the sunlight. We're thankful that ourroom can become such a sunny, warm, and relaxing place. So that's our bedroom. While it is not fancy, the bedroom makes ourhome truly feel like a home. Having it as our sanctuary significantlyeased our transition to Africa. Lately, though, we are spending lessand less time in the bedroom. Between our recently added Amharicclasses, business at work for both of us, and more and moreopportunities to get together with friends, our schedule is startingto become very much like it used to be…busy!