Please note: We are not including all of the details of our visit with Sakari's birthmother, as we feel some things are too personal and belong only for Sakari to share in the future if she so desires.
Last night was one filled with lack of sleep. Huxley was up for hours in the night and we were depleted of energy in the morning. But we all knew today was a day that we had looked forward to and had anticipated. We enjoyed our great breakfast at the Ethiopia Guest Home and gulped down our coffee and joined Fikadu outside the gate. He was taking us to Kality and the Miskaye Children's Home to meet Yewobdar…unbeknownst to us, it wouldn't just be her.
Through the foggy windows (it's been cold and rainy all morning), we see the heavy traffic and slowly it gives way to industrial areas and finally took a left turn onto a dirt road. I've been here before, but this time the nervous energy takes over. Sakari was excited, but also overwhelmed and felt tired. We've talked about this day as a family for a long time. We can't believe it has been thrust on us so quickly and with such divine orchestration. We have always known that Yewobdar loved Sakari (Misrak – her given Ethiopian name) so much but couldn't support her. We have always talked about her birth mother and celebrated her bravery and ached at what she must have gone through. We always wondered if she had a sense of humor, was she tall, what was her hair like, her smile, her personality…it was like she was a missing piece to our family's beautiful puzzle, especially since I (Caleb) had a chance to meet Alemitu (Huxley's birth mom) earlier on this trip.
Several of our questions were about to be answered as we waited outside the gate. We were warmly greeted by Tenaye and Emebet. These were the two women who made this happen for our family. We were told that she was waiting for us inside the home's living room. We walked up the stairs through the rain, took an immediate right and there THEY sat! Yes, they. Yewobdar, Membera and Berhan. Yewobdar stood up the second she saw us and walked straight towards Sakari and just as their steps met, she broke down in tears and started hugging her, kissing her and touching her hair…we had done our best to prepare Sakari for this and she responded beautifully by letting her hug her, kiss her and cry all over her while she hugged her back. These 32 seconds of sheer beauty were captured on video.
Now, back to "them"…right after Yewobdar embraced Sakari, we were introduced to her 10 year old half sister, Membera and her 10 year old cousin, Berhan. We now had 3 more pieces added to our family's tapestry. We discovered that Sakari is from the Amhara region and Yewobdar is from Gojam. Her mother has passed away and her father is blind. Yewobdar tries very hard to make a living and provide for her daughter. She seeks work daily as a day laborer usually hauling heavy loads of rocks, etc. at construction sites for mere cents per day and even then she has no consistent income. Her story is like so many that I have heard before, but this time – it's personal. Membera goes to school and boy, does Sakari LOVE her! She was enthralled to find out that she had an older sister in Ethiopia! Yewobdar used to work as a mobile bar lady in this area that is known for local bars and prostitution. To our knowledge, she only worked at the bars to do her best to provide for her children, as she had no other option. She is eager to learn a trade like preparing and selling food stuffs or other goods depending on the market. She is resilient, smart, funny, beautiful. In fact, her name means, "the most beautiful, there is no more beauty beyond this peak". We were so happy to see so many resembles between Yewobdar and Sakari.
She told us that she would love it if Sakari decided to become a doctor and wanted her to love God. As she gazed at Sakari lovingly, she seemed happy, content, comfortable and very proud to see the precious girl that she birthed fulfill her potential. Sakari was full of her usual fun antics and even sang for them. We asked Yewobdar if she had ever thought that she would ever see Sakari (Misrak) again and she confidently told us that she KNEW that she would. She showed us the last picture that she had of Sakari at 3 months old, one that we had never seen, it was nothing short of incredible. She shared through agonizing tears that season of hardship that led to her allowing Misrak to be adopted…and how grateful we are that God picked us to be her parents! There is so much that we have yet to process and obviously, we have not shared it all. But, we knew that when we left that we were not saying goodbye, we know that we will see them again and look forward to that day. Now, we have faces to names and more stories and pieces to share with our daughter. Mere syllables cannot express what we experienced today, but we know that is was another manifestation of the redemption or "beza" that God has been weaving through every day of our time here in Ethiopia. They are part of who we are and now, we get to be a part of their lives too.
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