Addiskidan Baptist Guest House

2007-04-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-04-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

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"

2006-10-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

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...

2006-09-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-09-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-07-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-06-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-06-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

General information:

This is info that I cut and pasted directly from emails with the folks who started the guest house. The internet was not working while I was there- but I believe someone in the main office was checking it- it took a few days for them to respond to me via email- but I did get a confirmation that way. You can always call- ask for Ray- if he is not there you can ask for "Al" or call Erimius on his cell. Ray will be there until June 26th and then heads back to the states until August.

The address is K. 15, W. 23, H. 1080. You need to write that on your entry form. Or you can just say you are going to stay at the Hilton Hotel. They don't have street names and numbers like the U.S. The telephone at the guest house is 0113712438. The country prefix is 251. Ermias Zenebe's mobile phone is 0911458639. We assume that someone from the orphanage will meet you at the airport. They know where the guesthouse is. Let us know if they won't.

Yes, there is room. It is $16 a night per person in the main house or
$13.00 per night in the smaller rooms behind the house. Breakfast is
available at $2.50 per person. Children 2-12 are half price and babies
are free.

Everything you need is there--bedding, towels, dishes, etc.

It is very safe- there is a day and night guard at the gate at all times. You can lock your door- though we never did because we were the only ones staying there besides Ray. They are very safety conscious and were careful with our belongings. I felt much safer here than I ever did in the hotels I have stayed at in other African countries.

Here is some contact info for people mentioned:
Missionary guest house:
(you don’t have to be Baptist, we aren’t, they just ask
that you are Christian), rate is $16 per person per
night, less for missionaries (I think $9 or $10 each) –
they did our laundry (we gave a donation for this), and
they will cook for you for little money. They have warm
water, though sometimes water is not available. You
share two bathrooms, the kitchen and living room with
other guests.
addiskidan@ethionet.et
phone number from USA:
011-251-11-37-27-637
from Addis, drop the 011-251 and add 0
011-37-27-637
cell phones start with 911, home and office with 111

Also- there is a SIM guest house- but I have found that it is often booked very far in adavance because they have so many mission teams. The baptist house has only been around 9 months. One thing to know is that it may be sold this month and they may not be able to keep it- they are hoping that the person buying it will still rent it out to them- please ask about this when making reservations.

SIM missionary guest house (bigger, a bit more
expensive)
011-251-11-515-0660 or 551-3726 ask for Maxine or
reservations

2006-06-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Cost:
16.00 per adult a night
1/2 that for children 2-12
0-2 free

Ray and I talked about possibly having a special adoption rate for families adopting 3 or more children. He was considering that.

Where you really save is on the hotel taxes and also on food. CWA will take you to the grocery store and you can pick up some staples to have for the week. If you cook and use the gas stove it costs 1.00. If they cook for you its a few dollars- I forgot to bring the fee sheet home with me. They will do your laundry for a donation and that was really nice for us since we did not bring a lot of extra stuff for ourselves.

You could do a spaghetti dinner for a few dollars for you whole family and those who have stayed at the Ghion, Hilton or Sheraton can tell you they paid a lot more for a simple (and not always that great) spaghetti dinner at the hotel. Also- we all know that sometimes a kid just wants a bowl of cereal but you end up paying for a breakfast buffet.

Our whole bill for 10 nights- two adults a kid and infant- including phone calls- was 500.00- and it could have been less but we always let Ray cook when we were home- he liked it and so did we-Phone calls are cheap to make in Ethiopia but 2.00 a minute to call the us. we made only two calls- the first one to my mom to tell her we were ok and to spread the word was 13 minutes and 26.00. The second was a very quick call about work - 6.00. Your best bet is to schedule times for family to call you or use an internet cafe phone to call home.

10 nights at the hilton would have cost about 1500.00 - about a thousand dollar savings. And the perks were wonderful.

2006-06-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

This is the Addiskidan Baptist Guest house - a view from the gate- the porch is great to sit on- but after Maren came we had to hide the key- because it’s probably not the safest for a curious toddler! They were fine with locking it while he was up and about and hiding the key! :)

This is the driveway area- this is where we played a lot of soccer, blew many bubbles, and played with our little cars. Mark got a soccer ball from the guy at the end of the street- he has this little hole in the wall store- Mark said it was like their version of a 7-11. He bought Maren the soccer ball for 1.50, and one day a candy bar, and mostly they went and hung out with the guy and became friends. Dagne thought it was funny that when he would pick us up we would be saying "hi" to all of the local neighborhood folks. When you first see this little "shop" you are wondering what on earth he is selling, and then you realize how practical it is.

This is Ray Lindholm who has been a missionary in Ethiopia and a few other countries in Africa for - well- ever. He and his wife come and stay for two months and then return to the US for two months on and off throughout the year. Ray was there while we were and he was wonderful- entertaining, a real raconteur, and so wonderful with our children- completely understood Maren's meltdown's and often was the one who could bring a smile to his face by playing with him and being really silly with him. It was also great that he is fluent in Amharic and could tell us what he was saying. He actually felt that Maren might be older than what they have said based on his language skills- this is something we would never have been able to figure out on our own or in the US- only while still in Ethiopia when he is still using mostly Amharic and hasn't lost any of it could this be assessed.

They do this cool weaving and he completed this rug while we were there.

This is Maren in the Garden playing with the hose - its no swimming pool at the Hilton- but he had a lot of fun plying with it.

This is the Living Room

This is the Kitchen

This is the Dining room, which is really part of the big living room

This is one of the guest rooms

This is our room--yes its pretty messy! :) We had a big bed and then a bunk bed- which was key because we could stash stuff we did not want Maren to get into on the top bunk- there is also a wardrobe and nice windows which open for fresh air. Maren liked playing in the big wardrobe. The room was a good size for us. There is another really big room - but Ray was in there That one has a bathroom in it. There were 4 or 5 rooms in the main house and then these little rooms out back. You would want to be in the actual guest house with your kids I would think.

This is the main bathroom. It was really clean and has a hot water heater- which we did not know how to use the first two days (brrrr...) its easy- you need to switch it on a little bit before you want the hot water. We were able to bathe the kids in the tub and I also gave Yabsera a traditional Ethiopian Bath with Hana's help!

This is Kidist the Manager and Hana who keeps the house and does much of the cooking and cleaning. They adored our children and treated them like their own. Hana walked me to AHOPE a few times and stayed with me their while I visited. Her English is not wonderful- but she really wants to talk and so we spent a lot of time talking and sharing stories.

These are from when we are leaving and saying goodbye- it was really sweet. Eliyu is Kidist's husband and speaks English pretty well - he is in school and studies hard. If you call and Ray or Lauralee are not there you may want to ask for eliyu or "Al" because he is the next best English speaker of the bunch. Al wants to help- he took Mark to buy coffee and Beri beri and a few times helped us get a cab.

There is a taxi stand about a block away- a 5 minute walk and you get a cheap cab to the Hilton or Churchill road- 30 birr- but when you come back the cabs at the Hilton, ghion, Churchill road will always charge you 70 birr and you can sometimes talk them down to 60 and if you are lucky 50 birr. If you can get the same cab driver or ask him to wait for you- it will be cheaper. This photo is of the taxi stand - there are always about 6 blue taxis at this corner near the house so you can go anywhere at any time.

This is Kidist doing a coffee ceremony- she did this several times while I was there including our first night. While she did it Ray explained all of the origins and history around it. She seems to really like doing this and did them almost daily and the coffee was incredible!