More info on Andualem/Andrew

What a crazy last couple of weeks! I want to blog about it, but, well, I actually don't. But I will, I think, later.

I want to tell you what we've learned more about our Andrew. He got this psychological exam done on him at our request. During that, they asked him extensive questions and got a lot more information about him and his life. It was heart-wrenching to read this to say the least.

So some of the original information they gave us on him was not correct. Here's a little bit more about him. Very interesting and very very sad!I think I'll just take parts of his report as it is written for you to see.

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"Andualem has one sister and two brothers. He is the last born in his
family. They all used to live together as a family. This life got disrupted at
the dreadful experience the family faced at the death of their beloved
mother. Later, to make the matter worse, their father died. To this day, he
remembers the scene of their parent's sickness and death, especially his
mother's. She used to vomit and cough a lot. Andualem knows that his
parents died of HIV/AIDS.
His elder brother works at cement factory and used to help his parents
financially. Subsequent to his parents death he continued to pay school fees
of his brothers and sister and also took care of other expenses. However, his
income hardly covers their basic needs. For this reason, not before long he
gave up on keeping his youngest brother. As a result, he gave him away to
an orphanage center. The day he brought Andualem to the center, he
convinced him as if he is taking him to the Lion's Cage, a Zoo found in the
city.
It has almost been two years since he joined the center. Since that day he
never saw or heard from any of his family. This always breaks his heart. He
wishes to see his family, especially his sister.
Here at this center, he got shoes, clothes and eats three times a day.
Moreover, they bought him the learning materials he needed in his
schooling. Now he is in grade one. The beddings are clean and he sleeps
comfortably. He added the home is good: it has electricity and water for
bathing.
In the future, he hopes to get a parent who can adopt him. He wants to get
educated and help his sister and his two brothers. He said, “He wants to be
„አገር ገዢ‟ or „AGER GEzji‟”, which could be interpreted as country leader so that
he can help his family....

Likes and dislikes
He likes to watch movies, play football. One thing he doesn't like is fighting
and when people hit him.
Wishes and dreams
He wants to be a country leader to help his brothers and sister in the future.
Happy times:
He is very grateful to be hosted in such an orphanage. Compare to what he
used to have, back home with his family, this is incomparable. He had to pay
to get shower and there were times he used to skip meals"...

_________

Yeah, if that doesn't make you cry, you're dead inside.