We wake up to the news that M is missing $200 from the locked cabinet in her locked room in our locked house. The news is upsetting to all of us, since it was clearly an inside job, meaning that either Genet, Mifta or Eyob stole the money. We decide to talk to Mifta and Genet, and offer to give them the chance to return the money before we talk to Sidisse, the director (Eyob wasn’t on duty so we couldn’t speak to him). M tells them how sad she is to have the money taken, and that she will leave an envelope on the table, in case they want to return the money. No one does.

When we go to the office to put our remaining money in the office safe, Abebe invites us on a field trip. He is going across town for a home visit, to meet the mother of a child who is joining the home support program. We pile into the van with Abebe, Gelila and Tigist, roasting as we drive past the university. We stop at the hospital to drop Tigist and see Baby S. She is in a room on the top floor with two other babies, all of whom look as teeny as she is. She has breathing tubes attached and looks very sleepy. Abebe tells us that she is actually very healthy looking compared to the bright-eyed, almost chubby little girl who just left for America, who was also hospitalized for a while. We stand in the crowded room for a while, and then say goodbye to Baby S and Tigist and get back in the van.

On the way, we pick up the director of another orphanage and her social worker, and then the boy’s mother. We drive through a marketplace selling clothes, and past a crowd of teenagers who have encircled two girls trying to beat each other up. Abebe cracks up and tells us girlfights are common in Ethiopia. We teach him the word for catfight, which only makes him laugh harder. We leave the market and bump our way down a rocky road, waving to the kids on their way home from school. At one point, one little boy points to M and yells, CHINA!

We turn down a narrow alley and stop outside a line of tin sheds. We walk through the gate, past the barking dog and into the first house. We all come inside to meet the 4-year-old boy and survey the accommodation. The house is about 5 by 8 feet, the floor is made of plastic tarps and the walls are lined with newspapers, one of which reads You can still smile with HIV/AIDS. There is one lightbulb dangling from the ceiling, and a barrel full of water stands in the corner next to the door.

The mother is probably in her mid-20s, and could be a supermodel in another life. She speaks softly to Abebe as he asks her about her life, telling him about how her son’s father has disappeared and she came back to Addis from Eritrea. The little boy has huge brown eyes and whispers to us as we shake his hand. As his mother talks, the boy lies down on the single mattress on the floor and draws, silently. Abebe asks the mother if she is positive, and when she says yes, he asks if she knows her status. He tells her she can go to the Worldwide Orphans office to get tested, but she tells him no. She works near there, and if people see her going in, they will know she is positive and she will lose her job and maybe her house. There is no good solution. It only takes about a half hour for Abebe to interview her, and eventually we leave the stifling room, thanking her and shaking her little boy’s tiny hand, wondering what will happen after we go.