Bringing pictures from home

Awassa, Ethiopia:
In Pittsburgh I read a Post Gazette article about Ethiopian boys who were adopted by American families. One of the boys, M, was from Awassa. I contacted the boy’s family in the US. His mom, Kim, and I devised a plan to take images of M back to his relatives in Ethiopia. Kim made a video and put together a long letter and care package of photos. She worked through the adoption agency to reach his aunt in Awassa. At first the agency discouraged us. Things get messy quickly. For the family who gives up a child having a stranger come around—especially a white stranger—can be a disgrace. Kim persisted. Somehow a bunch of undelivered letters from M’s aunt were surfaced in the agency office. Kim got a phone number for the agency’s Awassa office. All I had to do was to deliver the package and videotape M’s aunt’s message.

I contacted the social worker in Awassa. It took a set of emails and more approvals. He met me ahead of time. The agency was freaked because I am a photojournalist. We set a date to meet. I’d imagined what M’s aunt might look like. I was wrong. She had on a bright purple pants suit. She looked about my age. The agency office was tiny and dismal, lit by failing florescent lights. The only decoration was an official looking map of the country. I played Kim’s DVD on my laptop for M’s aunt. The social worker patiently translated the long letter. I videotaped the meeting. I couldn’t guess what Mahari’s aunt was feeling. She said that she prays for M and his American family. I felt relieved to safely deliver the messages and that Kim and I had run the gauntlet to make contact, but I still wasn’t sure how the encounter translated socially. M’s aunt had looked interested, but tired and anxious through the meeting. I wasn’t sure if it was just a bad day, the stress of the meeting or any one of a host of emotional triggers that the meeting could have pressed.

I found out M’s aunt’s reaction the next day. A young man approached me. He asked if I knew Kim. He introduced himself as M’s cousin. He wanted to send a letter back with me. I knew then that the encounter had been a good one for both sides.

Months later Kim had contacted me with an update. She had kept up with the family in Ethiopia through email. A real relationship had developed through cyberspace.