Moore Park Grace Centre Adventures www.gracecentres.org :: Read more about the Grace Centre

The current operators of the Grace Centre are Andrew and Dee Knife who have five children living at the Centre; Lidya, Joshua, Sara and two other little ones that cannot be named. Sara (14) and also the latter two (a brother and sister (2)) are Ethiopian and in the process of adoption.  

So the first day of the new year we spent getting to know Andrew and Dee. The main house also functions as a care centre for children in transition to adoption. Andrew took us on a guided tour around the various homes around the Bahir Dar neighbourhood that function as baby and childcare/after school care centres, Each home is around 100-300m from the main house (HQ).

There is plenty to do and fix around each home. Main concerns are plumbing and water issues which partly rely on an un-reliable water supply which offers mediocre water pressure at the best of times. Due to this lack of pressure, water pumps are often needed to boost supply to gravity feed water tanks. When something breaks down its not as simple as calling in a plumber to fix... it becomes Andrews responsibility or any willing volunteer.

We spent most of the 1st and even 2nd and 3rd planning the repairs required which of course involved several trips to the local market strips to buy supplies. Other areas of need in the care homes are washing lines, swing and play sets for repair, gardening, alot of door/lock work and electrical maintenance. Ian could live here for a year and still have something to fix.

Michael made the most of his time working on several locks at the "Volunteer House". He was able to repair two locks which were maybe 50% operable. This was an important job as this home will be transformed into the new baby day care centre when we leave.

A group of people did some baby training to look after "transitional" babies to allow some Grace staff to take time off for Genna (Ethiopian Christmas).

The biggest task has been installing a ground water tank at the "Volunteer home" (soon to be baby day care centre) from which water will be electrically pumped into the header tank to pressure supply the house. Lead by Ian, most people have managed to contribute something to this project and its been fantastic to watch the team work together using what sometimes limited materials and supplies we have to achieve a result.

The food here has been amazing and his provided by the Grace (Ethiopian) staff every morning, lunch and dinner. We eat scrambled eggs, pancakes, enjura with various Ethiopian style meats, spaghetti, lots of Coke, fruit, salads, home made pizza and the odd meal at a Bahir Dar restaurant.

Its been a real blessing being here so far and the work the Centre does here is an incredible blessing to the people in Bahir Dar. There are little and big lives that have been and are being transformed by the love and care that is provided by the various baby and child care operations in the homes that surround the Grace Centre HQ. Praise the Lord!