Bogale's Story Part Three:

The Most Amazing Day
In Amharic, the word muday means "a tiny container full of little treasures." Muday certainly embodies her name; standing at all of four-and-a-half feet tall, she is a dynamo of energy and light, and brilliant ideas. She planned an outing for the children, one funded through the generosity of the Friends of Fresh and Green. All I can say is, the day was a true miracle, and the fact that I got to witness it is one of the greatest blessings of my life.

Only a handful of the children had ever been in a car, and certainly never a bus. Bus rides, which cost about 13 cents in Addis, are unimaginable luxuries far beyond their means. Imagine, then what it was like for the kids when a giant yellow and green bus showed up to take them on their grand adventure!

Above, the mad dash for their first bus ride!

Yet that was just the first of many surprises Muday had in store for the kids. Our "magic bus" took us to Vera's Wonderland, the Ethiopian version of Disneyland. There was a Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, a giant magic carpet slide and various other dizzying delights. The kids' already giant brown eyes got as wide as saucers when they realized that they were going to be allowed on each and every one of these rides in this fairy tale-come-to-life day.

For the volunteers, it was almost overwhelming to share in this experience. Having witnessed the extreme poverty of their home life and then seeing them climb aboard with joyous abandon and giant smiles, well ... we had to keep turning our heads to keep from letting the children see our tears.

But Muday had one more surprise planned for this day of days: ice cream cones! None of the children had ever experienced anything like it. They had never tasted anything that cold, they really had no idea what it was, or if it was edible. And if it was edible, how did one go about eating it?

I'll never forget this: one of the first kids to get a cone, a little boy ... the top fell off and he just kept walking! He didn't know that was "the good part." We had to go get him: "Hey! Come back! You get another one!"

Once they got the hang of it (licking as opposed to biting, and yes, the cone was edible too), confusion turned to amazement and then to giggles and then to delight. Muday, the guiding force behind Fresh and Green, knew that nurturing the students' spirits is just as important as nurturing their bodies and their minds. This most amazing of days will be one they surely will remember for the rest of their lives.

Above, Yabisira (center) with Bogale (right) and Bogale's brother (left).