Four years ago, a Warman couple adopted two siblings from Ethiopia. As the months passed, the children grew to love their new parents and their home.
But as happy as the children seemed, it was evident something was troubling them. It turned out that they had a third sibling back at home and missed him dearly.
Four years ago, Tseganesh and Misgana's lives were completely changed. In Ethiopia, they lived with their grandmother in a hut with no water and little food. Their future was uncertain --while in Warman, Saskatchewan, Treena Constantinoff and her husband Ryan Killoh knew their future had to include children. An overseas adoption was carried out.
"The first time I met the kids, I bent down to give Tseganesh a hug and she wrapped her arms around my neck and it was like a scarf, just heat, the sweetest hug I've ever had. And she looked at me and said 'hi dad'. She said 'daddy, mommy' and I said, that's right," said Killoh.
As time passed, and the children adjusted to their new surroundings, the new parents sensed Tseganesh was always in anguish over something her limited vocabulary couldn't express.
"She was trying to tell us about someone named Tesute. It took about six months for us to figure out that she was talking about an older brother that was still in Ethiopia," said Constantinoff.
She contacted the orphanage in Ethiopia which helped her locate the village where Tesute lived with his grandmother. After searching in the village, Constantinoff found the hut Tesute was living in.
"Then a little brown face peeked out of the hut, somebody said that's him. He came over and came right into my arms and it was a big celebration," said Constantinoff.
That night she told her husband the news. Almost immediately, Killoh told her to "bring him home."
The couple waited until Constantinoff returned to Saskatchewan to tell their children, who were very excited to the brother they missed dearly.
"I didn't want to let him go and I never thought I'd see him again," said Tseganesh.
It was a two-year process to get Tesute home and it cost the family a lot of money. When people from the community heard, donations poured in.
"All of Warman has rallied around us and they've been so generous and so supportive. They've put on two fundraisers for us. There were 'bring Tesute home' posters all over the store windows with his picture on them," said Constantinoff.
A couple they had never met even gave Constantinoff her flight to Ethiopia to pick Tesute up.
As the weeks count down, the excited siblings anticipate what it will be like for their 11-year-old brother when he arrives.
"He's going to be like, what's this white stuff? Why is it so cold?" laughed Tseganesh.
At midnight on February 24, friends and family await Tesute's arrival. After two long years, the family is whole. A sister no longer dreams of holding and kissing her big brother, a brother no longer longs for his siblings on the other side of the world.
