Genna Eve 2009
Genna is the celebration Christmas in Ethiopia. It is a time of attending church and feasting with family within the Coptic Orthodox Church tradition. Many of the mothers and workers at the Grace Centre do not have the means or family connections to be able to celebrate Genna as they may have when they were themselves children in the villages around Bahir Dar. Rather the Grace Centre has become 'family' to many of them. On Genna eve, the children at the Grace Afterschool Care Centre, and the staff and visitors at the Grace Centre were invited to afternoon tea. The bursts of laughter and excited chatter of a dozen or more exuberant children greeted us as we entered the compound. The staff & volunteers were ushered to our seats around the coffee ceremony, where little cups perched among cut grass and popcorn strewn on the ground as the focus of this Ethiopian celebration.
Each class group performed a play, told a story, sang and danced for us in the shade of the overhanging trees. While it was all in Amharic, we enjoyed the fun and delight of the children with them. As the children sang the deep aroma of roasting coffee filled the compound with the thin trail of incense wafting through it. After the performances, gifts were ceremonially given to each child. These consisted of an empty formula tin (Grace uses a lot of formula!) which could be used as a drum and for storage in their homes. Inside each tin was a new change of clothes for each child, and soap for their mothers. While we enjoyed popcorn and the freshly brewed coffee, the children excitedly changed into their new outfits to be ready to surprise their mothers when they came to collect them.
Read Fantaye and Getti's story
Read about Baby Day Care
Read Lawaye's story
