Saturday, April 14, 2007

How to Call from the U.S.A:

From the States drop the first 0 and add to the beginning: 011-251

So, it should be:
011-251-113712438

When you call from Addis, you add the 0 back to the beginning. It is a
city thing from what I gather, you only use the 0 while physically
calling from Addis. A 9 at the beginning, denotes a cell phone.

You have to scroll down to see photos or
click here for the photos.
More contact information:
The guest house number is 0113712438
Alayu lives here and speaks English
He is at seminary during the day
His cell phone is 0912037409
The Addis Kidan General Secretary is Ermias
His cell phone is 0911458639
The guest house secretary is Elsa
Her cell phone is 0911153162
The country code is 251


Here is what Laura sent me in regards to Elsa:

"We have a new booking person who is at the headquarters

every day and checks email twice a day. The email address is the same as
Yonas' was. Her name is Elsa . I am sending her picture to you in case you
want to put it on the website. Her personal cell phone is 0911153162 so she
can be called anytime, but of course daytime is best. She speaks good
English and is a real asset to the guesthouse operations. Thanks again for
all of your help, Lauralee"
Here is an email from Lauralee from their recent trip:

"One more thing to add to your blog. The two families there this week took their kids to a nearby clinic and parasites were found in all but the baby. It all costs less than $10 including the medicine and didn't take too long. The kids will hopefully be in much better shape when they leave the end of the week. It is in walking distance of the guest house and Elsa went along to interpret and make sure they got what they needed. She also talked with the kids to find out what they understood about God and Jesus. The parents were SO HAPPY. Love, Lauralee"

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

New Contact Information


I got this email on October 10, 2006 from Lauralee:

"Hi to you too!!! We just wanted to let you know that Yonas, the Development coordinator, is now handling guest house bookings as Ermias is often away. His email is dev_akb@yahoo.com (there is an underslash after dev) That will give two addresses for guest house contact. We leave early Friday and wish we could stay longer. All is well. Lauralee and Ray"

Lauralee and Ray helped to start this guest house and spend about half the year in the US and half the year in Ethiopia. They have been Missionaries there for a very long time and now they are in the US about 2 months and then return to Ethiopia for about 2 months- they do this on and off--this way they can keep up their work in Ethiopia by maintaining a source of income in the US. They have family in both places so this works well for them.

Here is the new email:
dev_akb@yahoo.com

You can still always try Ermias- but since he travels so much- we hope that this will be a contact that is more available to families.

They said they have loved meeting all of the families that have come through and have so enjoyed the children.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Have you been a guest at the AddisKiddan guest house?
Please post any comments you would like about your stay- if you have pictures you want me to post here please email me the photos at:
markandemily.barr (@) gmail.com

I would be happy to add comments - pictures and suggestions...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Guest house available for 6 more months
I just emailed Lauralee and asked her if the guest house was still available for families traveling in the fall and she wrote back that they just signed a 6 month contract- so they have it for at least 6 more months or until March 2007.

This is great news!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Directions to the Guest House:
A few weeks ago someone asked what you could ell a Cab driver to get them from the airport to the Guest house.  I asked the folks who started the guest house and this is what they said:

They need to tell the taxi driver to take them to the
residence of the Norwegian embassy which is in the area of Gabriel Church.
That is near the Old Airport.  It is also on the same road as the Korean
Embassy residence.  It is behind the pharmaceutical factory Epharm which is
on Boona Board road.  At the corner past Epharm (heading east) there are
signs which say Norwegian and Korean Embassy residencies.  Turn left there.
It is paved.  Go one block and the paved road makes a left turn and then a
right turn.  Go two more blocks and turn left on an unpaved road that says
"Silician Sisters".  It is the second house on the left.  Honk or bang on
the gate to get someone to open it.    It's a good idea to let them know
about what time to expect you.  It takes at least an hour after you arrive
at the airport.

As many of you know its not like cities here in the US where you can have an address and then people can figure out where that is- we got so we would get in a cab and tell them certain landmarks and then we knew how to get there.  There is also a "Taxi stand"  where you will see a bunch of Blue cabs on the main road right near the guest house and those cab drivers might also know where to go.  Its very very very close to the younger AHOPE orphanage (a stones throw) and that is the "old layla house" and its also close to the new Layla house and the CWA care center.  but not a short walking distance like it is for the younger AHOPE house- that you can walk easy in 5 minutes from the guest house.

I hope this helps!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Why was this place so great for us?
The head of our agency really liked this home because it was so close to the agency. He also liked that it was a Christian Home and that it was so clean and the staff was so loving and the fact that it was a lot less money- especially for meals.

It was by far the cleanest place I was in Ethiopia- because there are no carpets or over between families- it makes it actually cleaner than most hotels I have ever stayed at here in the United States. Especially the bathroom!

It made our transition with the boys easier- for instance when Maren was crying in the middle of the day for 30-90 minutes- Mark could take him into our room to cry- (this was at nap time) and I could take the baby in the living room to play or feed a bottle- giving them both some space from eachother and also space for Mark and I to interact with the kids alone and meet their needs. This was also the case when the baby needed a nap - but Maren wanted to play- I could put the baby to nap in the room and then we could still play outside with Maren-this was so nice and not something you could do at a Hotel. We never felt "cooped up."

It was great to have the boys playing outside or in the living room while we made a meal - or while the staff made it for us. It was so nice to have a place to keep food and warm up bottles and disinfect nipples so easily! Having a kitchen was so great.

And you can take walks outside and get a taxi easily that does not charge the hotel rates which were double the rates we got. so from the guest house the taxi cost 30 birr- from the ghion or Hilton it cost 70 birr. Consistently.

Friday, June 16, 2006

They have decided to charge the mission rate for adoptive families- so that will be cheaper than the rates I have listed below- and they have the ability to house guests until September- the buyers have agreed to let them do this- they will probably be searching for a new home for the fall- but if you are traveling this summer- I highly recommend this as an affordable and homelike option for your adoption.