Once our eyes are opened we cannot pretend we do not know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls knows we know, and holds us responsible to act. Proverbs 24:12
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Ordinary Hero....A Day at the Dump
I was going to post about our weekend and give a bit of an adoption update until this came across my Facebook. I watched, and it brought me to tears. So many times I have wished that we could sell everything and moved to Ethiopia, and once again the feeling swept over me. They have so little and are still so happy.....we have much, and....well, are unhappy and still want more....what can I say? I cannot wait until I am fully immersed in Ethiopian culture and society, I just want to soak it all in.
I'll post about our weekend and tell you all what's going on in "Adoption Land" very soon. Watch the video....hopefully it will stir something deep within you.........
We are parents to 11 children, six bio, 2 adopted from Ethiopia and 3 still in process in Ethiopia. We are currently waiting to be approved by the U.S. embassy so we can travel to go and get our son. Our last two children in Ethiopia will still be in process for a while.
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"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
Ethiopia is home to 4 million orphans, or 12 percent of all children. More than half a million were orphaned as a result of AIDS. The number of orphans and needy children in Ethiopia is rapidly increasing, largely due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 2004, it was estimated that 568,000 Ethiopian children had been orphaned due to AIDS. By 2014, this number is expected to rise to 2.1 million.
Map of Ethiopia
Where in Africa is Ethiopia?
Ethiopia Stats
*One in ten children die before their first birthday
*One in six children die before their fifth birthday
*60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted due to malnutrition
*The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years; the average life span is 37 years
*Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school; 88% will never attend secondary school
*Ethiopia has the highest HIV/AIDS population in the world
*Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
*Only 24% of households have access to safe drinking water
*82% of the population survives on less than 1 dollar a day
*Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
Would You Drink This?
Click on picture to learn more
A Glimmer of Hope....for Ethiopia
Followers
Where In The World?
Our Adoption Timeline
Nov. 15-24, '08--Thinking about adoption again, seriously.
Nov. 24, 2008--Decided to buy a ticket to the "adoption rollercoaster"!
Dec. 8, 2008--Sent in application to first agency.
Dec. 9, '08--Hired our homestudy agency, "Families Through Adoption" and started the paperwork.
Dec. 18, '08--Accepted into the Ethiopia program at first agency.
Dec. 19, '08--First meeting with social worker (Todd and I).
Jan. 2, '09--Went and got our criminal background checks done....passed, by the way :)
Jan. 7, '09--Second meeting with social worker (Me and Kids).
Jan. 29, '09--Cancelled contract with first agency.
Feb. 3, '09--Sent in application to AAI.
Feb. 6, '09--Accepted into AAI's Ethiopia program.
Feb. 10, '09--Homestudy officially in writing process.
Feb. 11, '09--Received acceptance package from AAI.
Feb. 18, '09--Received rough draft of homestudy.
Feb. 23, '09--Received dossier pkt. from AAI.
Feb. 27, '09-Homestudy faxed to AAI!
Feb. 28, '09--Dossier to AAI!
Mar. 5, '09--Papers sent from AAI to State Dept/Embassy for certification.
Mar. 18, '09--Sent I-600A application in to USCIS.
Mar. 26, '09--Dossier to Ethiopia and officially on waiting list!!
April 2, '09--Went and got new POA notarized and certified, sent to AAI.
April 10, '09--Got fingerprinted.
April 27, '09--Received USCIS approval to bring a foreign orphan into USA for adoption.
November '09--We were approached by our agency about taking in a young girl (originally from Ethiopia) already here in the U.S. that was needing a new family. Decided that she was meant to be here with us!
December '09--One week before Christmas, we traveled to meet and pick up our new daughter and bring her home!
May 2010--Meeting with social worker to do Hana's first post placement report. Found out that we need to update our homestudy, finger prints and USCIS approval. Back on the paper chase!
July 15 '10--Got re-fingerprinted
August 24 '10--Received "The Call"...Referral of a 2 1/2 year old girl
August 26 '10--Accepted referral of our precious Tihun
November 11 '10--1st court date...didn't pass. Missing a letter from the Oromo region and judge notes that our dossier says we are expired. We did our re-fingerprinting and homestudy updates so we weren't expired but the judge didn't have our updates. Rescheduled court date for Nov. 26.
November 15 '10--Requested permission to adopt "Z" a 9/10 year old boy
November 17 '10--Officially adopting "Z"
November 22 '10--Z's file was submitted to court
November 26 '10--Passed court and Tihun is officially ours!
January 28, 2011--Arrived back at our agency's care center and picked up Amayah Tihun Pastoor!
February 5, 2011--We arrive back home with Amayah.
March 7, 2011-- Z's court date--Didn't pass...asked to wait...no word on what's next.
April 18, 2011--Zinaw passed court! He is officially our son!
1 comment:
This touched me Wendy. Deeply. Thank you.
Lola
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