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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Day 7 Part 2

On the way to Wenji















So...the road is getting worse as the terrain is getting drier & drier. There were cactus and deep dry gulches. As we went further along, closer to Wenji, we notice more use of horses....horse drawn carriages (with truck tires) and horse pulled plows. It felt like Amish country! Except, here were some horses just standing in the middle of the road, in the middle of a 2 lane road....we are told that is what they do with the old horses that are of no use to anyone anymore...they put them out there hoping they would just get hit....that is too sad to me....Anyway, we kept on & on & finally began to see the sugarcane. Wenji's sole survival revolves around the sugarcane plantations & the sugarcane production that season for the factory...no rain...no sugarcane...no jobs....abundant rain...abundant crops...lots of jobs...Rumor had it we were to tour the factory. We all voiced that we thought we should see birth families first...we've kept them waiting long enough. We finally got to Wenji & the van stops at this place that had a rose garden. After we picked up one man, another man came up to the van door and shook most everyones hand. It wasnt until much much later that we figured out who these 2 guys were. The first was from the sugarcane factory, the other was the orphanage director. At first we had them confused....but it didnt really matter....we were clueless the whole trip thus far anyway.... The orphanage director said it was so much (dont remember how much) to get the sugarcane factory tour. Somehow, the Harrris' ended up paying for everyone....we go in this building I dont know what it was....like a community center...some people were sitting at tables having drinks...some were watching a movie on a screen...We all made a BEE line for the bathroom....a stinky 1 seater in the pitch black...I dropped my sunglasses on the floor in there and left them....we all shared our TP and hand sanitizer... We kind of then wandered out the back door when I first heard word that the birth families were here!?!? What? What in the world? Was this the orphanage? Where were we anyway? We get outside nervous, anxious and emotional. Slowly but surely each couple was hooking up with their birth families. We found out that one family's birth mother was not here because she was sick in the hospital. It was not Annsleigh's birth mother? We asked about Tihunes (Annsleigh ) mother? Tesfu asks the orphanage director and he said something back...Tesfu tells us Tihunes mother is not coming, but the orphanage director acted like he didnt know she was supposed to be here. Anyway, we just stood around with the other couple whose birth mother was sick and took some time to take pictures of the grounds for they were pretty. The other couple was told that they were going to get to go to the hospital to visit the birth mother. I thought that was great & we wondered where the hospital was. We tried to pass the time but man, this was a sad emotional moment for me....not getting to meet Annsleighs birth mother. Anyway, finally the other families all took their pics and said their goodbyes & hugs & we were told we were going to the factory now. The one family needing to visit their birth family in the hospital said, "No, visit birth family first!" They were told "No, hospital not near here..." So..... we were all herded along to walk thru the rose garden. We took a group pic there & then we were all told to get in the van so we can get to the hospital so this family can visit their birth mom....OK.....here we all go....Just as the van was pulling away... the orphanage director took whatever donations we had and left...that was the only way we knew he was the orphanage director. As we left I asked..."What about the orphanage?" No answer.... Then it seemed to all of us that "Did we really just pay for families to visit birth mothers?" Alot of this just really didnt feel right....strange.....just very very strange....the day goes on and gets even more strange...

1 comments:

Frances Williams said...

oh no, you didn't get to meet her? I'm so sorry! that trip sounds so strange. we went to holy savior as well, but nothing like that at all. can't wait to hear the rest of the journey, were you able to go to the orphanage? its sounds crazy.