I wrote the following post a year ago, but decided to pull it to the top of the blog for a couple reasons. First of all, this book just became available in paperback. It is also available in audio CD format, an excellent option for commuters who don't have a lot of time to read.

Another bit of news: Melissa Fay Greene now has an 'occasional' blog where she is sharing stories about her life, including details about the recent arrival of two sons from Ethiopia. I particularly enjoyed this post.

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If you are searching for a fuller understanding of orphans and HIV in Ethiopia, boy, do I have a book to recommend to you! "There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children" is the latest book by Melissa Faye Greene.

I know dozens of families who decided to adopt after reading Greene's New York Times article: What Will Become of Africa's AIDS Orphans? This latest book of hers is certain to make more people aware of the plight of children in Ethiopia.

It tells the story of an Ethiopian woman named Haregwoin, who after losing her daughter to HIV, opened her home to children orphaned by HIV. Woven in with Haregwoin and the children's story is the story of HIV in Africa. I have read a fair bit about HIV, but I was staggered by the statistics.

In the year 2000, Ethiopia had the 3rd-highest rate of HIV in the world, behind only South Africa and India. If you would have lined up all the people in the world with HIV that year, every eleventh person would have been Ethiopian. And chances are, behind every person who was HIV positive, there stood a child or two who was dependent on that person for their very life.

But just as shocking as the numbers of people affected by HIV is the fact that if these people lived in the Western world, they would live. Not only the children, but the parents as well, in many cases long enough to raise their children to adulthood. The antiretroviral drugs have gotten so good these days that HIV positive people in the US routinely live decades after diagnosis.

But in Ethiopia, where people struggle for the every meal, most do not have the resources for these expensive, life saving drugs. And so they simply, quietly die, leaving vulnerable children at the gates of kind strangers like Haregwoin or huddled alone in the houses for neighbors to find.

I have this book on loan from a friend, but I plan to buy a copy for myself and for my daughters. If ever as adults they look back at their beginnings and wonder why their birth parents were not able to parent them, Greene's book provides a powerful view into the reality in Africa around the time that they came to us.

I find it very poignant to read the stories of the children helped by this woman. Children who found families. Happy endings.

My daughters were there in Ethiopia, during that very time frame, in the midst of all that. And somehow they too by the grace of God and the kindness of strangers made their way safely to family - to me.

I am forever grateful to the people in the world who give their lives to children in need. Because of them, there are children all over the world who are growing up strong and safe and happy and loved. Thanks to this book, we can read all about it.

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Interviews with Greene
Part One
Part Two