Ethiopia Adoption

Spring is here and summer planning has already started in many of our homes I'm sure.  In my house we start planning camps in February when Girl Scout Camp registration opens. As parents or potential parents of Ethiopian children we have a responsibility to keep some of the culture in our homes.  I truly believe that we owe this education to our children and to their homeland. While I believe that attending activities that embrace our children's heritage I also know (from experience!) that our children don't always embrace our activities!  Last year Mita balked at going to a New Year celebration, so we let her invite a friend. She was much  more willing to go since she didn't have to hang out with… [more]

The adoption process is always a complicated one fraught with worry.  A roller coaster ride that leaves you feeling a bit dizzy.  One of the reasons we decided on Ethiopia was the fact that it was a stable program and pretty straight forward.  This was two-three years ago mind you.  Our adoption went very smooth, yet still caused me to obtain more than a few gray hairs! Recently some changes have been made to the Ethiopian adoption process that have changed the program dramatically.  I have tried to simplify some of the changes for you. Here is the link to the State Department for the entire message. Starting May 9, 2010, At least one parent now has to appear at the court hearing… [more]

I love Ethiopia.  I can remember thinking about Ethiopia when I was a girl. The news of the awful famine had a profound effect on me even as a small child.  Then, of course, choosing Ethiopia as the country of our adoption led Hubby and I to learning quite a bit about Ethiopia.  While I will never be a professor of Ethiopia, I still feel apart of this great country.  On a recent min-vacation I took a friend to eat Ethiopian food for the first time.  It was enjoyable to share this food with her and she enjoyed feeling apart of our family.  The kids were not there, but it still felt homey when I was in the restaurant. My previous posts… [more]

The Ethiopian adoption program is more popular than ever.  Over the past ten years or so, adoptions have gone along without huge problems and the program is considered a stable one.   This has attracted many adoption agencies to Ethiopia and in the last year or so the system in Ethiopia has been bogged down.  What used to take 6 months now can take 12.  Prospective parents who assumed they would be able to adopt a child in a little over a year are now waiting much longer. Earlier this year, court cases were suspended for abandoned children for an investigation.  There has also been a change in public perspective in Ethiopia about adoptions and traveling parents are having to stay at guest houses… [more]

Traveling to visit or pick up your child from Ethiopia can be a very busy time for families.  Now is a good time start learning about cholera, however, as you don't want to get sick while your meeting your new kiddo(s).  There has been a recent outbreak all over Ethiopia, including Addis Ababa.

According to the American Centers of Disease Control and Prevention:

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease… [more]

When looking at our checklist of things to put in our dossier the Letter to Ethiopia was one of the items I didn't think much about at first.  In my mind it was one of the easier items to complete.  When sitting down to write it, however, I started to panic.  I couldn't help but think that one wrong word, one poorly written sentence and Boom the adoption is stopped.  This gives you a look into my frazzled dossier-driven mind.  My agency actually sent a sample letter and it read so simply that I was sure it wasn't enough.  This is when I had to trust my research and my agency.  I did write a letter similar to the sample one… [more]

As I have mentioned in posts pasts, I am not a great cook. I do, however, try to make Ethiopian food occationally. I was excited to find berbere at a reasonable price in small amounts a few months back. I have used in in Ethiopian food and whenever another recipe calls for a spicy pepper. I have done this for MONTHS. I have told the kids everytime I used it for MONTHS. Tonight I make a chicken in a crock pot and used berbere to spice it up a bit. I mentioned this to the family and Mita and Enu went crazy. "You have berbere!" "I want some, I want more!" They rolled corn on the cob over it, dipped chicken in it and Mita… [more]

When traveling to any country it is common courtesy to learn some of the language. Hello, thank you, where is the bath room are all good things to know. I have to admit that when traveling to Ethiopia I did not take much time with learning these words. Hubby had learned a few and I was on a high stress level that made learning a bit difficult. Happily, I picked up on a few words quickly and felt like I was showing some respect. My accent of course was horrible, but accents aren't my thing. My spanish accent is pitiful and a bit red-neck to be truthful! Here are a few words and phrases that you can easily learn and put… [more]

It is that time of year again! Yes, it is back to school for most, but Ethiopian families know that September means New Years! September 11th to be exact. Yes, that is a strange day to be celebrating in the U.S. I am aware, but it falls where it falls. When the rest of the country doesn't follow the same holiday calendar you do, you have to be flexible! Enkutatash, meaning gift of jewels, is Ethiopian New Years Day. A great way to celebrate your families connection to Ethiopia and to share with friends and extended family. Last year I ordered Ethiopian food and had a nice dinner with all the tradition dress that I had. This year it falls… [more]