We are thrilled to
finally be able to announce that we will be adding another child to our family through the miracle of adoption!
Since adopting Alina Jayne in 2006, we have known we wanted to have more children. In fact, I have always wanted 2+ children with Matt. After taking a year to settle in after arriving home from China, we started to seriously look at adopting again. We looked at EVERY conceivable program available, researched more agencies than we even knew existed, talked to many other families who adopted about the countries they had adopted from, their experiences, and the agencies they used. In January, we were excited to have finally decided not only to move forward with the process, but were relieved to have decided on an agency and a country! By this time, we had finally whittled our long list of possibilities down to 3 countries. We had a very difficult time deciding between South Korea and Ethiopia, but ultimately decided that we felt more comfortable with the familiar-Asian kids! We sent our preliminary application to an agency for an adoption from South Korea (and were accepted), and started to slowly gather some of the hundreds of documents needed for an international adoption.
……………but something did not feel right about our choice. We kept feeling like we were leaving something behind. As if we had left behind the country of Ethiopia, simply because it was easier to stay inside our comfort zone. This was such a struggle for me, as since we had begun researching the possible countries, I had felt such a connection to Ethiopia (it was exactly the same connection that I felt when we were preparing to adopt from China). Each and every time I would picture our next child, the child I saw in my mind was Ethiopian (just like the child I pictured in my mind in 2005 was Chinese)-but our application was for South Korea!
In early June we officially withdrew our application for the adoption from South Korea-and started doing in-dept research about agencies with Ethiopia programs. I talked to
MORE people who had adopted from there, researched
MORE agencies, and we did
MUCH soul-searching. We submitted our application to our placing agency on July 16th and to our home study agency on August 6th. So now it is officially safe to make this announcement!
We are just now starting to work on the 10 hours of required adoption education, starting to collect some of the seemingly endless documents needed, scheduling appointments with our Social Worker, and then once again preparing our home for a new child-
sigh! So much to do!!! All said, it will take us a few months to get through the home study process and gather our documents. Once all of the home study appointments are done, and the documents are in hand (remember from the last time, that endless pile of documents is the
dossier), the dossier will make its way to Ethiopia. From there we start the official wait for referral, which will likely take 12-18 months (
if we are lucky). We are requesting a child 0-30 months, preferably a girl but are also open to a sibling group of 2 girls or a sibling group of one boy and one girl-just like we were with Alina Jayne, but this time, we are open to older children. We wanted AYAP (as young as possible) when we adopted Alina Jayne!
Anyone who knows me and followed our first blog knows I am really into education and learning/teaching the history, culture and customs of our child’s birth country. I will not disappoint you this time around! Please read the history lesson below!
Check back often-things are sure to be interesting on this new journey!!!
Ethiopia is a land of rich soil, rich culture and yet, extreme poverty. It is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa near the Red Sea. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the north, with the capital city of Addis Ababa (meaning “New Flower”). The country has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages, with the official language being Amharic. The religious communities include Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
Ethiopia is the only African country that was not colonized under British rule, and its culture and traditions stretch back more than 3,000 years. It is one of the oldest countries in the world and was the home of the Queen of Sheba. The empire, which started with Sheba's son, Menelik, continued until 1974 when the death of Haile Selassie marked the end of the 3000 year old dynasty. Following his death, there was a civil war in the country until 1991 when a transitional government was formed. The seventeen years of civil war bankrupted the country of Ethiopia.
Ethiopians are a very proud and gracious people who respect one another and cherish their children. This graciousness remains despite extreme challenges. Nearly half of all Ethiopians live below the poverty line. The country’s economy is based largely on agriculture, which suffers from frequent droughts and poor farming practices. In this nation of over 77 million, the life average life expectancy is a mere 48 years. The infant mortality rate is nineteenth highest in the world. An estimated 2.1 million Ethiopians are living with AIDS.
It is estimated that close to 4.8 million Ethiopian children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and other diseases of poverty. Despite all of the challenges, families try their best to support each other and care for the children. When a parent is no longer able to care for a child due to death or illness, another relative will often take that child to live with them. They try to keep the children with biological family members for as long as they can. Sadly, despite the best of intentions, extended families are often simply unable to care for all the orphaned children due to their own failing health and extreme poverty. The Times They Are A-Changin'"Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'"
Copyright ©1963 Bob Dylan
Ethiopian Meal
Happy Birthday!!
Sheng Zi Wo Xin (Born in My Heart) & My Heart is in Africa
