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It's April 2011 and
we're back in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
We were here 2 years ago
and met some fascinating people and saw some remarkable Compassion projects
and one of the people that
deeply impacted us was Ganet.
Back in 2009
we visited a Compassion project in Ethiopia that
included a church, a school
and a child survival program.
We spent some time with the children,
teachers and some of the Mum's and Dad's seeing some of the amazing work.
It was a very happy place with lots of singing, games and excitement.
As we were about to leave the project
we noticed a woman with a young child crawling away,
she was clearly disabled.
Later that day we learnt more of her story.
We set out on a long walk
along stony paths and across fields to a small
isolated house.
That's where we met Ganet.
I'm John,
thank you for letting us come to your home.
Can you tell us and little bit about your story though.
In terms of my history, my mother
had four children, and I was the second.
I was born a cripple and can not walk,
but when I was old enough
my mother told me to go out and get some work.
It was the dry season so I found work minding the onions.
When the onions were ready
I'd cut them down and put them in a pile.
I was paid very little for this.
One day when I was working I was *** by a man and became pregnant.
Once I was pregnant, I was too much of a burden for my family to take care of me
so I was chased out of my home.
At that point I prayed to God saying
"How can I raise this child?
You gave me this child, please help me look after it.
It's life is in your hands."
After I prayed, Compassion came into my home
and now my child will be taken care of
and will be able to get to school.
The only hope I have is attending a church. When I come back from church I am at peace,
I pray and read the Bible.
So despite your circumstances, which are very difficult,
you know in your heart that God loves you.
Yes, and when you have to go somewhere,
you go and crawl on the on the ground
like this
and the baby holds on. (She taught him to hold her firmly)
To do this to the church,
this must take how long?
It takes me about an hour to get to church.
It's very hard in the rainy season,
the journey is very tiring,
the most important thing is hearing God's word.
Can I just speak to you think you are listening now.
Don't you ever complain that
it's difficult to get to church.
Can you believe it
this woman, this disabled woman
with a child on her back, has to crawl through this rugged wasteland
to get to church, but she won't
not do it, because she wants to hear God's word.
It kinda wakes us up, doesn't it.