World Vision child sponsor Demetra Proestos recently travelled to Ethiopia to meet her sponsored child Dawit. As you also sponsor an Ethiopian child, we thought you might like to hear from Demetra about her experience.
It's currently 4am in Ethiopia but my body clock is all kinds of wrong so I decided to take advantage of being awake by letting you know how my visit went. It was truly incredible! There are not enough words to adequately describe how I feel.
Sending and receiving letters is a heart-warming thing in itself, but physically being around your sponsored child and their family is on a completely different level!
The World Vision staff picked me up in the morning to drive me to Dawit's home. We went by the World Vision office first. They showed me a presentation that covered all the work they have accomplished in the last 12 years, as well as their current projects and future plans. The statistics and photos were very impressive and I'm proud to say that I am able to contribute to the hard work they are putting in.
We walked a short distance to Dawit's home and were greeted with open arms. I have never felt so much love and appreciation. Dawit’s mother had prepared a variety of different foods for me and the staff.
We had a traditional coffee making ceremony where I was asked to pour the coffee. I don't drink coffee, so it was incredibly difficult for me but I took a sip to try it! I was happy to be part of their traditions and really wanted to show respect for their culture.
Dawit is a quiet and shy boy but I really felt how happy he was to see me. Meeting him, his brother, sister, mother and friends was absolutely heart-warming and we all found it hard to say goodbye.
When the visit ended, the World Vision staff took me on a tour of different projects they had previously mentioned to me including water distribution tanks, wells and even Dawit's high school.
I was very happy to be able to see all of the improvements because it really put things into perspective. It’s hard to really grasp the enormity of it all when you’re so far away in Australia.
I feel so absolutely privileged to have been able to visit Dawit and see his community. I strongly urge every sponsor to make the trip to visit their child if they can. It is absolutely worth it in every way.