Hello to all of my grandchildren!
I started to miss you the day I left Harar! I am so thankful and happy I was able spend time with you this July. One day, I am hoping to be able to spend a lot more time than one week with all of you. I hope that time will come sooner than later.
I have so many special memories from my trip. I loved the welcome you gave me and that you call me Grand Ma. I never thought I would be so blessed to have 95 grandchildren (including Christina). God has really given me such a gift in all of you! I feel so lucky.
The Team Tesfa Awards ceremony and party, playing games, singing, dancing, the Canada Day party, giving and receiving hugs and cuddles and just being with you has given me so many memories that I will think of until I can see you and be with you again. I am so proud of all of you. I know that you work hard at school, you help in the shelter and you all try your best to be good and loving to the other children, to Tesfa, Kal and the others who care for you.
The Team Tesfa Awards are given to recognize, acknowledge and reward the children who have achieved the top of each category. I am so thankful to be a part of the Awards Ceremony. I want to say to all of you whether you have received a Team Tesfa Award or not, when you do your best, when you give your best effort to anything you are involved in, I am going to be as proud of you as I am the winners of each of the categories. My mom has told me since I was young that “if something is worth doing, it is worth doing very well.” We are not all going to get the best marks in our class, we are not all going to be the top athlete, we are not all going to be the most creative and that is okay. What is important is that you are doing the best you can do and that you are working to be the best you can be in all areas of your life.
When I am in Harar with you, I want you to know that I would really like you to talk to me and tell me what you do to do your best, what you are proud of about yourself, what you have difficulties with, what makes you happy, what makes you worried, what makes you sad, what makes you laugh. Do you know what I am saying? I am saying that each of you is very important to me and I really would like to get to know each of you. It is harder because I don’t speak your language but Tilahun can interpret for me and we can get to know each other through his interpreting.
Do you know what I am excited about? I am excited to see you as you grow up, finish school, decide what you would like to do with your lives and how you will serve others. What I value the most in others is how they give of themselves to show compassion and care for others. Some of you have already decided to help others through your volunteer work and that makes my heart sing. I am so happy that our organization is able to make it possible for you to celebrate your birthdays. Our volunteers and donors want you to feel special and recognized and celebrated.
My birthday was on August 12 th and I turned 56 years old. I cannot believe that in four years, I will be 60 years old!! That seems so strange to me that I could be that old. When you are very young, you think of 60 as being old but now that I am getting closer to being 60, I don’t think of it the same as I used to. Julia and I went to the beach and packed a picnic lunch to eat there to celebrate my birthday. We had egg sandwiches, watermelon, potato chips and cookies. We had a really nice day at the beach. One of my favourite places to be is by the water. When the sun is shining, it looks like sparkles on the water. The beach we like to go to is about one hour away (by car) from our home. The water is very shallow for a long ways and you can walk out a long distance before you cannot touch the bottom of the lake. Some days, the wind is strong and the waves are big and Julia and I love jumping over them. We have been visiting that beach since Julia was very young.
This is the last week before school starts here in Canada. The children are all thinking about the summer ending, who will be their teachers, will their friends be in their classes, what will they wear on the first day of school (most schools do not have uniforms here) and probably feeling excited about a new school year starting, a bit nervous and a little sad that the summer is almost over. How are you feeling about school starting soon? Do you feel excited? Do you feel a bit nervous? Are you going to miss the time you have to play and relax that you have in the summer?
Are you having fun with all the games, toys and activities Tesfa is putting out for you to use through the summer? I had so much fun and it brought so much joy in my heart to see you all playing and having fun with the things our organization has sent for you to play with.
Efnan, are you still helping the other children with doing the puzzles? You are so good at puzzles. Please practice doing the puzzles so when I come back next time, we can have a contest with groups and how fast you can put a puzzle together. I know one thing I should bring each time I come to Ethiopia … Smarties! Am I right? I think you all loved our Canadian candy/chocolate called Smarties. Would you like to have a Canada Day party every summer I can come and be with you? That was such a fun day!!
Here is something you don’t know about your Grand Ma … one way I make money is as a baker. I bake scones every Thursday for customers who order in advance and come and pick up the scones at the end of the day. I have four flavours … plain, raisin, cranberry/orange and blueberry/lemon. On Thursdays, I start making the scones around 7 in the morning and I finish cleaning up around 7 at night. It is a long day but it is nice to know that people like my baking enough to order them. I have sent pictures of me baking and of my scones. Do you recognize me with my baking outfit on?
Always remember that your Grand Ma loves you and cares about you and that you have more than 100 volunteers and donors who also love you and care about you. You are very loved!
Be ready to give and receive a lot of hugs and cuddles when I can come back to Harar and be with you!
Grand Ma