Africa here I come!!

The bags are being packed... there's packages of toys everywhere... and theres piles of cloth diapers all over our living room. If you've ever spent any time in the Hedberg household you know that can only mean one thing. We're going to Africa! And the destination is to 2 different countries on this continent that I never thought I would grow to love this much.

When my mom started doing adoptions 12 years ago I never dreamed that I would benefit quite as much from this as I have...and in more ways then one. I've gotten to catch the wave as she took me with her to many amazing countries and while she did all of the hard work I got to love on the kids everywhere we went! But at the same time I have been moved tremendously by what I've seen and the lives that have been changed through adoption. What started with just Guatemala expanded to about... maybe 10 other countries...? (I should really know. But I dont. Sorry.) And throughout those years I've lost track of how many times I've been to Guatemala, (8... maybe 9? Once again, i'm sorry. It wont happen again :) Along with that, I've had 3 amazing trips to Ethiopia. It is really cliche to say, but I've fallen more in love with that country every time I've gone. I've met the sweetest and funniest nannies that I look forward to spending time with, especially in the evenings as they share their coffee and tea with me and they try SO hard to teach me Amharic! hah. But, this time Ethiopia will not be the only destination on our 3 week stay in Africa. We will fly to Addis Ababa on August 12th but after about a week and a half there we will be going to The Democratic Republic of CONGO!! This will be my very first trip to the Congo and and I'm very VERY excited.

I began this summer working on a project for the office (CCI) that involved a lot of research about the Congo to inform the adoptive families a little bit about the country. While my mom thought that by me doing this project for her that it was helping her... instead it was actually causing something far more astronomical to occur. Unbeknownst to her, she was lighting a fire in me that would not be put out without a trip to the faraway land myself. I was learning all about this country and it was stirring up quite an admiration for these people. They have been fighting for their freedom for over a century without much help from the outside world. They finally achieved this goal in 2008... just in time for the rest of the world to become aware and finally start sending troops to assist in the Congo War. It is a great country that is on the mend from all the hurt and damage this war has caused for it's people, and a country that I would be honored to visit. And therefore, this newfound passion for a country that I'd never been to was born.

It's hard not to compare Ethiopia to Congo. The fact the Ethiopian adoptions are now slowing down tremendously (--> For more info), and adoptions from the Congo are increasing, it appears as though Congo is essentially "replacing" Ethiopia in adoptions. And the fact that the government is closing down adoptions from Ethiopia is awful. It's painful to meet sweet wonderful kids that are so deserving of a family and want nothing more in life, to have to come to the realization that that may not be possible for them. This may be my last trip to Ethiopia at it will be, at the very least, heartbreaking to leave them there. I do hope things turn around for the country, but there are lots of good that may come out of this as well.

Congo, a country that has been forgotten about and ignored by the rest of the world for so long has suffered one of the most deadly war's in history -taking almost as many lives as the Jews during the Holocaust and an increasing number of lives every day- is now finally being noticed. Just from what I've seen from pictures and video from my mom's previous trip, the orphanages appear abandoned and are in far worse condition then I've ever seen anywhere else. And these "homes" are full of kids that don't have anywhere else to go after many have lost their parents in tragic ways. I'm excited to see what this potentially wonderful program in the Congo may be able to do for the orphans there. Not only will many of these kids find homes that had no hope of this before, but people will hopefully become aware of the awful conditions these children are living in and many people will be moved to help in creating a better future for the children that will call these orphanages "home".

Soooo. That is my first informative rant, and if you care to hear me do this some more and update on the trip along the way stay tuned over the next month for more of it!

It goes without saying that I'm very excited for this trip and have been hoping for this opportunity all summer and feel so lucky that it's actually happening! A better way to phrase this I guess is: "My mom's got the best job in the world"!!

I do appreciate your prayers and support so much! And hopefully I don't screw up too much in my attempts to speak French...

I will update as much as the internet will allow me to,

merci pour vos prières! (But before you go and get impressed, you should hear me try to pronounce that...)

Julie :)