Wiki Walking

We took a long walk around Addis Ababa on WikiMapia and found to within a couple of blocks of the house where my kids lived in Ethiopia. We located two nearby churches, the grade school they attended, and a police station that is "very close!" They just couldn't relate the aerial view to the streets they may have walked on or the distance traveled from the churches or school to home. But it was fun to see the general area. Hopefully we will all be able to take a trip there someday. I've told them we'll go once they graduate from high school, but the more I research and learn, the more itchy I get to go sooner.

Mutant Ninja Laundry

How can two small children generate so much laundry? And get it so dirty? One of the first questions I took to my network of parents was "how do I get their clothes clean?" (The answer was OxiClean, and it does work pretty well). I am also so thankful I can do much of this towering mountain of laundry at work. Yes, I did say 'at work.' I work in an appliance showroom and we have a live laundry display. I sort and pre-treat at home, then pop it the washer when I get to work. A couple of short breaks to switch loads and fold and I am done. I still do socks and unmentionables at home ... for one, I don't want our unmentionables spread all over the employee lounge and two, all those small items take longer to fold and I don't want to take undue advantage and jeopardize my good fortune. And yes, that is Ninja Josiah inside the laundry basket. They like to hide under the clothes and then pop out and "scare" me! Or I will call around for whoever is missing, feign giving up, and then pick up the basket and carry it away to dump elsewhere. This elicits many giggles, but is getting very hard to do -- they weigh about 55 and 64 pounds!

Ethiopia Reads Founder Named Top 10 Hero of the Year by CNN

Thursday, October 09, 2008
Yohannes named Top Ten Hero of the Year by CNN

Denver, CO -- Yohannes Gebregeorgis, a native of Ethiopia and children's literacy advocate, has been named a Top 10 Hero of the Year by CNN. Mr. Gebregeorgis was selected from more than 3,000 individuals nominated by viewers throughout the year. Finalists were selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of judges that includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall and Deepak Chopra. The Top 10 Heroes will be recognized in CNN's "All-Star Tribute" to air on Thanksgiving.

Mr. Gebregeorgis was first recognized as a "hero" by CNN in May for his work championing children in Ethiopia. A former political refugee who worked as a librarian at San Francisco Public Library, Mr. Gebregeorgis is the co-founder of Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit organization that works to create a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books. In a country where 99% of schools have no libraries, Mr. Gebregeorgis and Ethiopia Reads are improving lives, one book at a time.

ABOUT YOHANNES GEBREGEORGIS

ABOUT ETHIOPIA READS

Still praying for Samuel Phillipson

Please continue to pray for Samuel Phillipson. He is a 3-1/2 year old boy adopted from Ethiopia just 6 weeks ago. A week ago (on October 4) he was critically injured in a tractor accident. He lost both legs below the knee, his right arm is seriously damaged, and he suffered trauma to other areas of his body. He is improving and God has done miracles already in his healing. He has been moved out of intensive care and is starting to interact with family and visitors. Praise and hallelujah!

You can follow Samuels' healing journey and offer emotional support for his family at their Caring Bridge website.

An account has also been set up at the Premier Bank in Sullivan Wisconsin to help the Phillipson family during this time of need. Samuel will need many more surgeries over the next few months and he will have a lengthy stay at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. The family will also need to make accommodations to their home and vehicle to allow Samuel to be able to get around in his environment. All of this will come at a hefty price.  We cannot imagine what a rough road lies ahead for this family. But we know that our God will supply all of our needs as He promises in His word. Please pray for guidance in supporting the needs of this wonderful family in their time of tragedy.

"The Samuel Phillipson Fund"

Checks can be sent to: 

Premier Bank 

PO Box 38 

Sullivan, WI 53178

Checks should be made to Samuel Phillipson Fund or to Carole Phillipson with 
Samuel Phillipson Fund in the memo portion.

The following was taken from the Phillipson blog

Samuel was injured today in an accident involving the tractor. He was airlifted from the park behind our house to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee. We need prayers.

Currently he is still in surgery and will need many, many more. He has lost one leg below-the-knee and the other they are trying to save to the ankle. One arm is broken near the shoulder but the elbow is more critical - open fractures with tissue damage/missing.

His pelvis is also fractured on one side. His buttocks and back are injured and he needs a colostomy. If he continues to do well in surgery tonight that will be performed now.

His vitals are good. He was awake up until surgery where we were able to kiss him.

Please lift him up. He's such a precious, vivacious, mischievous guy.

Marty and I are good and feeling the prayers and have our faith to sustain. It is the other children (Paul especially and Mary) that I worry about - they are with their Uncle Mike and Aunt Sheryl at our house tonight . . . . all the kids are piled in bed together (Paul usually sleeps with Samuel).

We love you all. We appreciate the power of prayer. We have a caringbridge.org website titled samuelphillipson that does not require a password and will keep all the medical stuff there.

Blessings to all. We praise God that we are His children and that we are in such a place where Sam is being tended to so well.

Family Math Night at school

The kids' grade school has monthly featured events to promote fun in learning. Recently it was math night! There were tables set up around the gymnasium with games an activities all related to math and numbers. The kids moved around the tables playing the various games to earn tickets. All of the tickets then went into a raffle for fun prizes. Naomi won a Farkle game!