Last year, three children at the Thomas Center died of pneumonia, waiting for their new families. Take a minute, look at your children, and think of this. I am not exaggerating or speculating when I say that they could easily have been my children. When Lina came home, she had giardia, salmonella, and a respiratory infection that left her with reduced lung capacity and required steroids and breathing treatments to get under control. Our American doctor was worried that she might need to be hospitalized. If pneumonia had raced through the Thomas Center while she was still there, her little system might not have been strong enough to fight it, and plenty of the children there are much weaker than she was. The worst part is that these kids were so close to a new life, where things like that wouldn't threaten them anymore.
But here's the problem. Although handwashing is attended to with near fanaticism (people who eat with their hands are very clean), all clothes and linens are washed by hand, because there is no other way. Almost no one in Ethiopia, including our guest house, has a washing machine. Everything - clothes, sheets, diapers - is washed by hand in cold water, and then hung to dry in the cool damp air. It can take days for clothes to dry, and that's only if you have time to wait - otherwise, they just get worn wet. There are forty five children at the Thomas Center, coming in from various orphanages or even more desperate situations, bringing with them a constant barrage of parasites, bacteria, and viruses. Without a way to keep the most basic things clean, there is no way to stop the spread of disease.
Earlier this year, my mom traveled to Ethiopia to launch the Ethiopian Women's Empowerment Fund. She was able to visit the Thomas Center, and take a picture of the washing machine so many of you helped to buy.
To say I was astonished to see such a big machine is an understatement. It's been in operation for quite some time. Just thought you'd like to know.
Thank you.
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