Tufah

Sophie's story will be just that... Sophie's story. Thanks to the help of Hanania, we were able to learn more than we thought we would about our little girl. We were able to see the orphanage where she stayed, meet the police officer who found her, and even see the exact spot someone left her. But we aren't sure yet how many of these details we will make public, or what we should make public. We are still trying to process all we discovered, and some of the details are heartbreaking for a parent. If you know us in real life, I'm sure you will hear more details. We aren't trying to keep thing secret, just to limit what is available to anyone with Google.

This is the orphanage where she spent the first month after being found. It is a tiny little building, with beds for about six infants (all full when we visited) and about 4 older kids.

These are her "first mothers," the nurses who first took care of her. We were able to show them recent pictures on the iPad. They all remembered her and seemed very happy that she was growing and healthy. It was very touching to see that they actually remembered her, knew her by name, and obviously cared about her (and all the other kids they see.)





Then we headed to the police station to meet her "first father," the cop who took the call to pick her up. He was a vey nice guy who came in on his day off to talk to us and fill us in on the details not in his report. He even joked that we were making him a father at such a young age. He, his boss, and a few other cops hung out with us for quite a while and talked about Tufah, adoption, and the kids they find. Just as at the orphanage, it was so touching to see that the cops cared about the kids they had found. They all recognized her when we showed them pictures, and even said they hang updated pictures of the kids they have found in the police station.





We also filled in a missing piece of the puzzle. Her name on the original police report was Tufah, with an "h." At some point in Toukoul, they dropped the "h." We asked the cops, and it was definitely Tufah. We also asked Hanania why they would name her Tufah, which means "apple" when we haven't seen an apple anywhere in the whole country. She said that in Ethiopia, apples are considered beautiful and valuable, because they are so rare and precious.

Bingo.

Then he took us to the exact place he found her, and described some of the details. These are the details and pictures we will keep private. We can say that it was overwhelming to stand in that exact spot. What do you do there? What are you supposed to think?

This was the reason we came so far.

And after a few minutes, we looked up at the wall over where she was found and saw the reason behind the reason we came.





Sophie Joy Tufah Addink.... The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Psalm 126:3)