Mintesenot in Ethiopia

This is the first picture we saw of Mintesenot/Alexander. He was three years old at the time of the picture. He is holding a coke bottle cap in his hand, as it is well known in Africa that all Americans love coke :) .

Mintesenot's mother died giving birth to him. In the Ethiopian culture when a mother dies giving birth the baby is to blame. The baby is placed in a box in the ground and left outdoors with no nourishment for three days. If at the end of three days the baby is still alive they are "forgiven" for the death of their mother and are "meant to live."

As the community was preparing to place Mintesenot in the box his grandmother stepped forward to stop them. From that point on she cared for Mintesenot. Having already raised 17 children and grandchildren his grandmother was tired, and often without the resources to care for him.

When Mintesenot was two years old he become very ill, and was extremely malnourished. A man in the community and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints learned of his condition. This man and his wife received a nutrition supplement from the missionaries in their area called Atmit. Atmit is a thin nourishing porridge, high in protein and calories,is easily digested, and since severely nourished people cannot eat solid food, it is an ideal way to get them essential nutrients.

The man's wife nourished Mintesenot back to health and allowed he and his grandmother to live in a hut/shed off of their parents home. When he was three years old my parents Roger and Merrilee saw his picture through an adoption agency and felt impressed he needed to come to their home. As they prayed, and prepared for Mintesenot to come to their home they soon felt impressed that they weren't sure they would be able to help him. They called the adoption agency to ask if they were committed to take him, the agency responded that they had told Mintesenot and his grandmother that he was going to be adopted by Roger and Merrilee.

They continued to pray about the situation and strongly felt they wouldn't be able to help him in the way he needed, but that they needed to adopt him. Not fully understanding these feelings they went forward with the adoption procedures. Not long after making the decision to continue with Mintesenot's adoption they felt impressed to look at adopting another child.After looking through many pictures Roger and Merrilee fell in love with a sibling group of three. Though they never dreamed of adopting four children they couldn't deny the strong feelings and connections they felt for the children.

When Mintesenot was told he was going to be adopted he was sent to an orphanage to become "domesticated," as previously he'd run wild and lived in a shed. Mintesenot didn't enjoy having, rules, restrictions, and discipline in the orphanage.

In July 0f 2008 Roger and Merrilee traveled to Addis Ababa Ehtiopia to pick up Rahel, Jeruse, Ededeya, and Mintesenot. They picked the children up at the orphanage, then went to meet Mintesenot's grandmother and see where he'd lived with her in the shed. The shed had dirt floors, no windows, and a tin roof. His grandmother was so happy for Mintesenot and the bright future he has.

Roger, Merrilee, and the kids spent four days in Ethiopia waiting for the adoption paper work, and travel documents to be signed. As they got ready to fly out of Ethiopia Mintesenot got so nervous he vomited all over Roger. They had a layover in Egypt where Roger had a run in with an official that almost kept them from leaving Egypt. However after three different planes, benedryl for the kids, and 34 hours later the family arrived in the United States.