Preparations for traveling to Ethiopia are underway! Donovan and I have not yet gotten official word on our travel dates, but it looks as though we will leave in late August. That gives us 6 or so weeks to plan our trip to bring home Noemi! Oh. My. Goodness.
We expect to be checking quite a bit of baggage at the airport, all to house goodies that will be donated to AAI’s children’s compound where Noemi lives. Wanna House is where the babies and toddlers reside and Layla House is where the older children live and attend school—all on the same grounds in Addis Ababa. AAI’s mission has always been to care for, educate and adopt children that are a greater challenge to find families for, either because of special needs, sibling groups or age. So, even though AAI lovingly cares for many babies, older children are what make this agency tick. This was one of the many reasons that we fell in love with AAI.
Donovan and I have been in conversation with staff and have decided to collect sneakers for the children at Layla House. The grounds consist of concrete floors and a concrete play yard where soccer is a favorite game of choice. The children go through shoes very quickly and are constantly in need of well fitting athletic-type shoes. And besides, who doesn't get all giddy over a new pair of shoes? We hope to fill many tubs with new sneakers– the greatest need is for boys and girls, children's sizes 6-13 and youth/adult 1-7. If you would like to send us a new pair of your favorite Air Jordans, Kangaroos or (my favorite) Zips, send me a message and I’ll send you our address! Our goal is to have 200 pair of sneakers to take with us…approximately one pair for each child!
If sneaker shopping isn’t your bag but you’d like to be a part of the fun, donations for the extra shipping expenses would be tremendously helpful.
My email address is julie@robertswitmer.com for anyone who would like to make arrangements.
